Captaincy General of the Philippines

Captaincy General of the Philippines Capitanía General de Filipinas Kapitaniya heneral ng Pilipinas Also: Province of the Philippines, Province of Philippines, Government of the Philippines
1565–1899
Flag of the Spanish Empire (18th–19th centuries; right) Ensign of the viceregal armies (left) Symbol of the captaincy general
Anthem: Marcha Real File:National Anthem of Spain.ogg
Location of the captaincy general in Southeast Asia, including the Spanish governorate of Taiwan.
Original map of the captaincy general.
Capital	Cebu (1565–1595) Manila (1595–1762, 1764–1898) Bacolor (1762–1764)
Common languages	Spanish Tagalog, Cebuano and other languages of the Philippines.
Religion	Catholicism
King
• 1519–1556	Charles I (first)
• 1886–1931	Alfonso XIII (last)
Captain General
• 1565–1572	Miguel López de Legazpi (first)
• 1898	Diego de los Ríos (last)
Historical era	Spanish conquest of Southeast Asia and northern Oceania Hispanic Monarchy: 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries
• Arrival of the Spaniards	27 April 1565
• Treaty of Paris	10 December 1899
Area
• Total	300,000 km2 (120,000 sq mi)
Currency	Real Escudo Peseta
ISO 3166 code	PH
Preceded by Succeeded by Pre-Hispanic Philippines First Philippine Republic Guam German New Guinea

The Captaincy General of the Philippines, also known as the Kingdom of the Philippines, is a former Spanish territory belonging to the Viceroyalty of New Spain, with its seat in Manila, which existed from 1571 to 1830. The captaincy was established by the Hispanic Monarchy in the Spanish East Indies.

It included the Philippine archipelago, as well as the island of Palau, the Mariana Islands (present-day United States territories of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands) and the Caroline Islands (present-day Federated States of Micronesia). The Viceroy of New Spain, with his seat in Mexico City, exercised powers over these territories relating to economic matters, since in all other respects the Captain General dealt directly with the King and the Council of the Indies.

The Philippines was Spanish territory until the end of 1898. On 12 June 1898 the Filipinos under the command of General Emilio Aguinaldo declared their short-lived independence. On 10 December 1898, the Treaty of Paris put an end to the Spanish–American War, and the Philippines together with Guam were ceded to the United States. The Marianas (except Guam), the Carolines and Palau were sold to the German Empire by the German–Spanish Treaty of 12 February 1899.

History

Main article: History of the Philippines

Parade of troops in Manila (1896)

After the conquest of the Philippines in 1565 by Miguel López de Legazpi, the islands of the archipelago first received the status of a governorate and later, in 1574, that of a Captaincy General dependent on the Viceroyalty of New Spain. In 1584 the Real Audiencia of Manila was created, which governed the captaincy whenever it was vacant; the Captain General exercised the functions of governor and President of the Real Audiencia (until 1861).

The first census in the Philippines was established in 1591, on the basis of the tributes collected. The tributes count the total founding population of Hispano-Philippines as 667,612 people, of whom: 20,000 were Chinese immigrant merchants, at different times; around 15,600 people were Latin American soldier-settlers who were sent cumulatively from Peru and Mexico and were dispatched to the Philippines annually, 3,000 were Japanese residents, and 600 were pure Spaniards from Europe. Of these Spaniards, 236 were ennobled and received encomiendas to govern in the numerous provinces of the Philippines. There was also a large but unknown number of Indian Filipinos, because massive numbers of slaves were imported from Bengal and South India. This caused the Indo-European-speaking Bengalis and the Dravidian-speaking Tamils to have a presence in the rural areas of the Philippines. The rest of the population were Malays and Negritos. Therefore, with only 667,612 people, during this era the Philippines was among the most sparsely populated lands in Asia. By contrast, Japan during that era (the 16th century) already had a population of 8 million, and Mexico had a population of 4 million, which was enormous compared to the mere 600,000 of the Philippines. In 1600, the method of counting the population was overhauled by Spanish officials, who thereafter based the population count on ecclesiastical records.

By Royal Order of 17 July 1784 the Intendancy of Manila was created for matters of the army and the royal treasury, with the Oidor of the Audiencia of Manila, Ciriaco González Carbajal, being appointed acting Intendant; he was to apply the Royal Ordinance of Intendants of 1782 for the Río de la Plata. At Carbajal's proposal, four more intendancies were created in the Philippines on 24 November 1786, joined to their respective corregidores, namely: Ilocos, Camarines, Iloilo and Cebu; but these intendancies were abolished by Royal Order of 20 November 1787. One month earlier, on 23 October, the Intendancy of Manila had been joined to the captaincy general. It was separated again by Royal Order of 25 February 1819, rejoined on 14 September 1824, separated on 27 October 1829, and rejoined at the end of 1842.

Until 1822 the captains general were civilians, but from that year onward they were always military men. Throughout the second half of the 19th century, military governments and commands were established, very numerous given the large number of islands and the extent of the district. After long periods of insurrection by the local population and the war with the United States, Spanish rule in the Philippines ended in 1898.

The period 1834–1874 represented a stage of genuine change in the Philippines, which managed to overcome its lag with respect to Hispanic America.

From 1868 onward, liberal influence made itself felt, and the Filipinos felt marginalized at not being able to keep their representatives in the Cortes, which had been obtained under the Spanish Constitution of 1812.

Period of maturity

Reception of the Manila galleon by the Chamorro in the Ladrones Islands, c. 1590

Cabrero maintains that this Philippine splendor was due to several circumstances:

• Maturity of the population.
• Less interference from the religious orders.
• Personal gifts of some governors.

Influence of the Constitution of 1812

Fort Santiago, entrance.

A project, a century earlier than the Commonwealth of Great Britain, made possible the integration of the Captaincy General of the Philippines: in Asia, the Philippine Islands, and those that depend on its government.

"In 1812, and relying on the new Constitution, criollos and mestizos requested changes in the organs of government and equal rights with the peninsulares in holding public office; they fought for new economic guidelines, achieving the abolition of the Royal Company of the Philippines and, in 1815, the abolition of the Nao de Acapulco, which had been the axis of the commercial monopoly."

Territorial division

Around the middle of the 18th century, there were 24 provinces, of which 19 were alcaldías mayores and 5 corregimientos:

Corregimientos:

• Mariveles
• Cavite
• Zamboanga
• Mindanao Moro
• Otong

Alcaldías mayores:

• Albay
• Camarines (later divided)
• Tayabas
• Cagayán
• Ilocos (later divided)
• Pangasinán
• Pampanga
• Bulacán
• Tondo
• Laguna
• Balayán (later called Batangas)
• Leite
• Panay (later called Cápiz)
• Caraga
• Negros
• Calamianes
• Mindoro
• Marianas
• Cebú

Provinces formed later:

• Zambales (separated from Pangasinán)
• Bataán (separated from Mariveles and Pampanga in 1754)
• Nueva Écija (separated from Pampanga)
• Nueva Vizcaya (separated from Cagayán in 1839)
• Ilocos Norte (division of Ilocos in two in 1819)
• Ilocos Sur (division of Ilocos in two in 1819)
• Camarines Norte (division of Camarines in two in 1829)
• Camarines Sur (division of Camarines in two in 1829)
• Samar (separated from Leyte)
• Misamis (separated from Mindanao Moro and from Cebú)
• Iloílo (separated from Otong)
• Antique (separated from Otong)
• Abra (separated from Ilocos Sur in 1846)
• Nueva Guipúzcoa (separated from Caraga in 1847)
• Ticao and Masbate (political and military government separated from Albay in 1846)
• La Unión (separated from Pangasinán and Ilocos Sur in 1850)
• Lower part of the Agno (political and military command)

19th century

Political map of the Philippines, 1899.

Around the middle of the 19th century the following provinces existed:

• Island of Luzon (20 provinces): Tondo, Bulacán, Pampanga, Zambales, Bataán, Nueva Écija, La Unión, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Pangasinán, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Tayabas, Abra, Cagayán (includes the Babuyan Islands), Nueva Vizcaya, Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur.
• Islands of Mindoro, Marinduque, Lubán, Ilin (1 province): Mindoro.
• Batanes or Bataán Islands (1 province): Batanes.
• Island of Panay (3 provinces): Cápiz, Iloilo, Antique.
• Island of Negros (1 province): Negros.
• Island of Samar (1 province): Samar.
• Island of Leyte (1 province): Leite.
• Calamianes Islands (1 province): Calamianes.
• Island of Cebu (1 province): Cebú.
• Island of Mindanao (4 provinces): Caraga, Misamis, Zamboanga, Nueva Guipúzcoa
• Mariana Islands (1 province): Marianas, with its capital at Agaña (island of Guaján).

By the end of the 19th century Spain claimed and already included the Sultanate of Sulu (Joló), which for its part comprised Northern Borneo or Sabah; the claims in Micronesia extended to Palau, the Caroline Islands, the Marshalls and, more vaguely, the Bonin Islands and those now called the Spratly.

1837

A Royal Order of 31 May 1837 determined:

Governor and captain general

Manila.

Military and political governments

Caraga, Samar, Iloílo, Antique, Cápiz, Albay, Camarines Sur, Tayabas, Cavite, Zamboanga, Mariana Islands.

Alcaldías mayores

Misamis, Mindoro, Nueva Écija, island of Negros, Camarines Norte, Tondo, Zambales, Bulacán, Pampanga, Bataán, Pangasinam, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Cagayán, Batanes Islands, Laguna, Batangas, Zebú, Leyte, Calamianes.

Governmental organization

At the end of the 19th century, the Spanish government of the Philippine Archipelago was the exclusive prerogative of the Governor General, sole and legitimate representative of the supreme power of the Government of the King of Spain in these Islands, and as such superior chief in all branches of public administration.

This office was held by a Lieutenant General of the army, in accordance with special laws in force in the Archipelago, advised by two consultative bodies, which were the Junta de Autoridades (Board of Authorities) and the Consejo de Administración (Council of Administration). Independently of the Council of Administration, there functioned a local tribunal for contentious-administrative matters, and, under the immediate orders of the Governor General, a secretariat of the General Government.

For the dispatch of matters relating to the branches of Finance, Interior and Development, the General Intendancy of Finance and the Directorate of Civil Administration functioned as secretariats of the General Government.

Governmental distribution

The partial governments were either civil, or civil and politico-military, or simply military, all of which were divided into certain categories or classes, indicative of greater or lesser governmental authority. Of the provinces of Luzon, some were governed by civil authorities and others by military governors with civil jurisdiction. Generally the military category or rank of the governor corresponded to the governmental powers.

Provinces	Islands	Category or class
Cagayán	Luzon	2nd
Ilocos del Norte	Luzon	2nd
Ilocos del Sur	Luzon	2nd
Isabela	Luzon	3rd
Unión	Luzon	3rd
Pangasinán	Luzon	1st
Zambales	Luzon	3rd
Tárlac	Luzon	3rd
Nueva Écija	Luzon	2nd
Bulacán	Luzon	1st
Bataán	Luzon	3rd
Manila	Luzon	Central government
Laguna	Luzon	2nd
Batangas	Luzon	1st
Tayabas	Luzon	2nd
Ambos Camarines	Luzon	2nd
Albay	Luzon	1st
Sorsogón	Luzon	3rd

The governors, with the exception of the civil governor of Manila, who had the rank of chief of administration of the 1st class, were chiefs of administration of the 2nd class and, in their respective provinces, the representatives of the Governor General of the Islands, the first authority in the hierarchical order and the highest in the administrative and economic orders, since they had under their immediate dependence the depositary administrations of the Treasury and local funds, and ordered the payment of all obligations recorded in the general, provincial and municipal budgets.

Politico-military governments

The politico-military governors had the same powers as the civil ones, except in economic matters, whose management was the exclusive prerogative of the Treasury administrators in the provinces where the governors were not, at the same time, sub-delegates of that branch. The same applied to the politico-military commanders in governments of the same class.

Provinces or districts	Islands	Rank of the governor
Abra	Luzon	Army major.
Nueva Vizcaya	Luzon	Army major.
Mórong and Talim Island	Luzon	Army major.
Cavite	Luzon	Brigadier or colonel.
Corregidor	Luzon	Navy lieutenant.
Batanes	Adjacent	Captain.
Catanduanes	Adjacent	Major.
Mindoro	Adjacent	Major.
Masbate and Ticao	Adjacent	Captain.
Calamianes	Adjacent	Captain.
Cápiz	Panay	Major.
Antique	Panay	Major.
Concepción	Panay	Major.
Iloilo	Panay	Brigadier general.
Bohol	Bohol	Major.
Cebú	Cebu	Brigadier general.
Negros Oriental	Negros	Major.
Negros Occidental	Negros	Lieutenant colonel.
Sámar	Sámar	Major.
Leyte	Leyte	Colonel.
Suragao	Mindanao	Major.
Misamis	Mindanao	Lieutenant colonel.
Lanao	Mindanao	Colonel or Lieutenant colonel.
Zamboanga	Mindanao	Major.
Cotabato	Mindanao	Colonel
Dávao	Mindanao	Major
Basilán	Basilán	Navy lieutenant of the 1st class.
Joló	Joló Archipelago	Brigadier general.
Paragua	Paragua	Frigate captain.
Balábac	Balábac	Navy lieutenant of the 1st class.

Politico-military commands

Name	Island	Province or district	Rank of the Commander
Apayaos	Luzon	Cagayán	Captain.
Cabugaoan	Luzon	Cagayán	Captain.
Itaves	Luzon	Cagayán	Captain.
Amburayan	Luzon	Ilocos del Sur	Captain.
Tiangán	Luzon	Ilocos del Sur	First lieutenant.
Quiangán	Luzon	Lepanto	Captain.
Saltán	Luzon	Isabela	Captain.
Llavac	Luzon	Isabela	Captain.
Cayapa	Luzon	Nueva Vizcaya	Captain.
Binatangán	Luzon	Príncipe	Captain.
Bontoc (District)	Luzon		Captain.
Lepanto (District)	Luzon		Captain.
Benguet (District)	Luzon		Captain.
Infanta (District)	Luzon		Captain.
Príncipe (District)	Luzon		Captain.
Burias	Burias		Captain.
Romblón	Romblón		Captain.
Butúan	Mindanao	Surigao	Captain.
Dapitan	Mindanao	Misamis	Major.
Mali	Mindanao	Davao	Captain.
Polloc	Mindanao	Cotabato	Navy lieutenant of the 1st class.
Glan	Mindanao	Davao	Captain.

Military commands

Name	Island	Province or district	Rank of the Commander
Malabang	Mindanao	Cotabato	Major.
Reina Regente	Mindanao	Cotabato	Captain.
Tucuran	Mindanao	Cotabato	Captain.
Bahía Illana	Mindanao	Cotabato	Lieutenant colonel.
Barás	Mindanao	Cotabato	Captain.
Lebac	Mindanao	Cotabato	First lieutenant.
Slasi	Joló Archipelago	Joló	Captain.
Tataán	Joló Archipelago	Joló	Major.
Bongao	Joló Archipelago	Joló	Major.

Colonization of Taiwan

Main article: Spanish Formosa

A Spanish expedition was sent from the Philippines to conquer Taiwan (Formosa Island) under the command of Antonio Carreño Valdés. They landed in the north of the island (the Dutch had been settled in the south since 1625) on 7 May 1626. The port of La Santísima Trinidad (present-day Keelung) was founded, defended by a fort called San Salvador. Shortly afterwards a new settlement was founded in the locality of Tamsui, where another fort called Santo Domingo was built.

Spaniards and Dutch clashed repeatedly in Taiwan; the weakening of the Spanish presence led them to abandon Tamsui in 1638, while in 1642 a Dutch fleet conquered La Santísima Trinidad and expelled the Spaniards from Taiwan.

Ecclesiastical organization

Main article: Spanish Catholic dioceses of the Indies

On 6 February 1579, the Diocese of Manila was erected as a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mexico. On 14 August 1595 it was elevated to the Archdiocese of Manila, its suffragans being the three dioceses created that day:

• Diocese of Nueva Cáceres
• Diocese of Cebu
• Diocese of Nueva Segovia

On 27 May 1865, the Diocese of Jaro was erected, also a suffragan of Manila.

Governors

See: Governors of the Philippines.

Stamp of the child-King Alfonso XIII.

The Royal Governor General of the Philippines led this Spanish province until its transfer to the United States of America. The Governor also held the title of captain general, a military rank conferred by the Spanish Cortes. From the strategic position of Manila, these rulers controlled the Philippine Islands and the rest of the Spanish East Indies from 1565 to 1821, when they ceased to form part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain and became a separate captaincy general until 1898, surviving until 1899 with the archipelagos of the Carolines, Marianas and Palau.

Philippine ethnic groups

The native inhabitants were the Itas, displaced to the most heavily forested places by Malayo-Polynesian immigrants. The Moros descend from the Muslim Malays who arrived from the south. From contact with Spaniards the mestizos were formed. The foreign population consisted of the Chinese, who monopolized trade, the criollos and the Spaniards.

Industry and commerce

We owe the first map of the Philippines to Pascual Enrile y Alcedo, and the fruit of this cartographic work was the beginning of a vast program of public works, with the aim of isolating the Chinese merchants.

Education and culture

In 1849 Narciso Clavería drew up the first accurate census of the Archipelago, obliging the population to adopt a single given name and surname. The lists were drawn up with geographical names and Spanish surnames, achieving the Castilianization of surnames.

Manila

Manila, Escolta Street, 1899.

Manila was the capital of Spanish Oceania. Around 1830, the overseas provinces of continental America had already been lost, among them Mexico (the point of connection between Spain and the remote Philippine archipelago). The first Philippine separatist currents coincided with this.

Taken by the Americans in 1898, Manila continued to maintain a strong Hispanic character during the first two decades of the 20th century. The United States, in a sectarian effort, decided on the progressive and rapid dismantling of all Spanish cultural institutions, in particular school education and the official status of the Spanish language.

Spanish language

See also: Spanish language in the Philippines

In 2006, it was estimated that there were 3,180,000 Spanish speakers in the Philippines. Most Filipinos bear names of Hispanic origin. As in other Spanish-speaking countries, Filipinos bear two surnames, with the notable difference that the maternal surname is placed before the paternal one.

See also

• Real Audiencia of Manila
• Governors of the Philippines
• New Spain
• Spanish Empire in Asia and Oceania

Bibliography

• Cabrero Fernández, Leoncio. "Filipinas y el pacífico español" en Historia de España, Tomo XXXIV, la era isabelina y el sexenio democrático (1834-1874) Espasa Calpe, Madrid 1981 ISBN 84-239-4982-6 (Volume 34)
• Cavada Méndez Vigo, Agustín. "Historia geográfica, geológica y Estadística de Filipinas". Imprenta Ramírez y Giraudier, Manila, 1876
• Montero y Vidal, José. "Historia general de Filipinas, desde el descubrimiento de dichas islas hasta nuestros días". Three volumes, Madrid, 1887 to 1892.
• Palacios, Genaro. "Proyecto de abastecimiento de aguas a la ciudad de Manila". In Revista de Obras Públicas, Madrid, 1878.