• discuss how the encomienda and tributo were used by the Spaniards to colonize the Filipinos

Encomienda

Encomendero

The Philippines is blessed with natural resources and vast tracts of land. When the Spaniards saw that these lands were planted with bountiful crops, they decided to make full use of it. The Spanish conquerors and soldiers who helped colonize the country were rewarded with pieces of land for their services. This reward was called the encomienda.

Encomienda was derived from the Spanish word “encomendar” which means entrusting a task, duty, or responsibility to a person. The person who was given this reward was called encomendero. The encomendero had the right to collect tributes and use the services of the people within his jurisdiction.

However, he also had duties to his people. He was tasked to maintain the peace and order in the encomienda, protect his people from outside forces, and help the missionaries in teaching the gospel as part of the task in spreading Christianity.

The encomienda of Captain Diego de Villalobos of Lisbon in Silang, Cavite was a peaceful one. He treated his people humanely as if he was also a part of the encomienda. He helped build a church and also provided aid and support to the victims of fire in the encomienda.

Types of Encomienda

There were two types of encomienda in the Philippines—the royal encomienda and private encomienda. The royal encomiendas were those tracts of land such as important towns and ports that were reserved for the king of Spain. These were Bagumbayan (Luneta), Santa Ana de Sapa, Tondo, Navotas, and Malabon in Manila; and Lubao and Betis in Pampanga. Meanwhile, the private encomiendas were tracts of land on the mountainsides, hillsides, or along the coasts which were given to Spaniards who have served the king during the time of colonization. Pedro de Chavez was entrusted the encomiendas of Pandacan, Manila and Macabebe, Pampanga. Bataan was granted to Juan Esguerra and Batangas to Francisco Rodriguez. Francisco Liwag and Juan de Macapagal were also granted some encomiendas in Pampanga.

Abuses of the Encomenderos

Instead of protecting and promoting the welfare of the people, some encomenderos abused the native peoples. They imposed taxes and grabbed lands from the people. Since there was no system of tax collection, the encomenderos cheated the native peoples on the amount they should pay. When they had plenty of gold, the encomenderos asked for money. When the native peoples had no money to pay, the encomenderos demanded for gold so the native peoples were forced to buy gold. Those who refused to pay were punished.

The friars also became angry with the encomenderos who neglected their tasks of teaching Christianity. Many of the native peoples who had no means of paying the tribute fled to the mountains to escape punishment. They were called tulisanes or remontados by the Spaniards. These abuses by the encomenderos became one of the causes of the first revolts against the Spaniards.

Tributo

The tributo was considered a contribution of the native peoples to the expenses of the colony and a form of recognition and acceptance as colonized people. The money collected was used for building schools, supporting the church, promoting people’s health, maintaining peace and order, and sustaining the other needs of the government.

The amount of tributo started from eight reales annually per family. One real was equivalent to 12 centavos. Men and women without families were required to pay one-half real. The tributo may be paid in products, jewelry, or gold. In 1590, Governor-General Luis Perez Dasmariñas increased the amount of the tributo to 15 reales until the end of the Spanish rule. Of the total collection, one-fourth went to the church and the rest to the government.

Aside from the tributo, the native peoples were also forced to pay other taxes:

1. Diezmos Prediales – It is a tax for the church (tithe) amounting to 1 real.

2. Samboangan or Donativo de Zamboanga – It is a tax for building defenses against the Moros from 1660–1851 amounting to 5 reales.

3. Vinta – It is a tax for building defenses against the Moros in Bulacan and Pampanga.

4. Bandala – It is the compulsory sale of the products which were produced by the farmers such as rice, coconut, tobacco, and cotton. The government officials dictated the quotas and prices of the products. Most often, the native peoples were not paid for the goods. If their produce was below the quota, the farmers had to buy from other farmers just to meet the quota. Those who were most affected from this were the farmers from the Tagalog provinces and Pampanga.

The cedula personal replaced the tributo in 1884. The receipt of payment served as an identification paper of the native peoples. This paper contained the name, address, and age of the owner. This is the present equivalent of the Community Tax Certificate. All citizens of the Philippines who are aged 18 years old and above are required to pay this.

Research on the encomienda system in the Philippines during the Spanish period, and list down the advantages and disadvantages of the system.