LESSON OBJECTIVES
• Discuss how forced labor was used by the Spaniards to colonize the Philippines
• Analyze the role and importance of forced labor to the establishment of the Spanish colony in the Philippines
SUCCESS CRITERIA
DISCUSSION
The Spanish government continued to impose policies to sustain the needs and expenses of the colony. One of these policies was the polo y servicio or forced labor. Like the tributo, the polo y servicio caused the native peoples so much suffering. The colonial government required all able-bodied men aged 16 to 60 years old to work in community projects such as building ships, roads, and bridges; cutting logs; repairing churches; and constructing government buildings for 40 days without pay. In 1884, the 40 days was reduced to 15 days. Others were ordered to cut logs to build galleons, while some of them worked in mining sites. One of the most difficult jobs assigned to the native peoples was to accompany the Spanish soldiers as boat rowers in their battles against the Muslims.
The polo y servicio workers were called polistas. Based on the Recopilacion de Leyes de los Reynos de las India or Law of the Indies, polistas should be paid one-fourth real a day and should be provided with five free daily meals and rice ration. The datu and his eldest son were exempted from the polo. One could be exempted from the polo by paying the falla. Chinese volunteers may be accepted as polistas. The polo should be done outside the planting and harvesting seasons so as not to neglect agriculture which was the primary source of livelihood of the native peoples. It also mandated that polistas should not be assigned to distant places so as not to separate them from their families.
All the provisions of the law on the polo y servicio were not followed. The polistas were not paid because the supposed payment for them went to the pockets of the Spaniards. The native peoples were separated from their families, and they suffered from hunger, sickness, and death due to lack of food since agriculture was neglected.
Some polistas even died due to hard labor. There was a decrease in the male population because most of the men retreated to the mountains to escape from polo y servicio. All these abuses on the implementation of forced labor became one of the causes of the first revolts. The negative attitude of the Filipinos toward manual labor may have been caused by the hardships that were experienced in the implementation of polo y servicio.
CROSS CURRICULAR
VALUES - REFLECTING ON THE HARDSHIPS THE EARLY FILIPINOS EXPERIENCED
EVALUATION
1.Why did the Spaniards implement the polo y servicio or forced labor?
2. How were the lives and livelihood of Filipinos affected by the implementation of forced labor?
3. How did the Spaniards abuse the implementation of the polo y servicio?