RIZAL IN THE CONTEXT OF THE 19th CENTURY
Heroes are said to be the products of their own setting and time. In order to appreciate
and understand the life, works and writings of Rizal, it is necessary to know the 19th
century as an era of profound changes and the brief historical background of the world
and of the Philippines. Like any other nationalist, Rizal's evolving nationalist thought
could be studied within the context of his time - the 19th Century Philippines.
The nineteenth century stands out as an extremely dynamic period in European history.
It was a century of rapid progress. Social, Political, Economic, Education and Culture
developments occurred which affected the Philippines directly and indirectly. The
modernization of living through Industrialization, Scientific Progress, and Political
changes in relationship between the government and the people brought about by
liberal ideas, democracy, and the struggle for nationhood, were the landmarks of the
changes during that period.
Many scholars consider the nineteenth century as an era of profound change in the
Philippines, because of the vast economic, political, social, and cultural currents were
felt.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Economic development is the process by which a nation improves the economic,
political. and the social well-being of its people. This means a focus on innovations,
skills, and infrastructure as well as overall economic growth.
Some of the economic growth that took place during Rizal's time were: The Galleon
Trade, The Tobacco Monopoly, The Opening of the Suez Canal, The Opening of the
Philippines to World Trade, and the Export Industry.
THE GALLEON TRADE
When the Spaniards came to the Philippines, our ancestors were already trading with
China, Japan, Siam, India, Cambodia, Borneo, and the Moluccas. The Spanish
Government continued trade relations with those countries and Manila became the
center of commerce in the East. The Spaniards closed the ports of Manila to all
countries except Mexico. Thus, the Manila-Acapulco Trade, better known as the
"Galleon Trade" was born. The galleon trade was a government monopoly with only two
galleons used. One sailed from Acapulco to Manila with some P500,000 worth of goods,
spending 120 days at sea; the other one sailed from Manila to Acapulco with some
P250,000 pesos worth of goods and spent 90 days at sea. Goods carried by the
Galleon Trade on its first voyage were spices, porcelains, and other luxury goods for
Asia.
The Galleon Trade was the sole means of communication between Spain and the
Philippines, also it served as the lifeline for the Spaniards in the Philippines. During the
heyday of the galleon trade, Manila became one of the world's great ports serving as a
focus for trade between China and Europe.
The galleon trade virtually disrupted the growth and development of the Philippine
economy because Spain barred other European ships to embark their products to
Manila and to other ports of the Philippines. Spain put different modes of barriers to
block the influx of Chinese traders in the economy that flourished and consequently
controlled the retail business. Except Mexico.
The most significant effect of the galleon trade was linking four continents and two
oceans contributing to the development of trade in Asia, Europe, North and South
Americas., It paved the way for the widest possible exchange of material goods and
cultural traditions.
Good Effects of the Galleon Trade
a. It increases the government revenue
b. Conserve natural resources for the future
c. It developed good relationships between countries
Bad Effects of the Galleon Trade
a. It only share benefits to few people
b. Development of the rural areas was neglected.
The Galleon Trade that linked the Philippines with Mexico across the Pacific Ocean
lasted for two hundred fifty years, from 1565 to 1815.
THE TOBACCO MONOPOLY OF JOSE BASCO Y VARGAS
The tobacco monopoly was established to increase the revenues of the government
through the cultivation of tobacco and its export became a profitable venture that
provided additional income to the financially viable and independent of Mexico. The
cultivation of tobacco under government control was confined to Nueva Ecija, Cagayan
Valley, Marinduque, and Ilocos provinces. Each family in the tobacco districts under
government monopoly was given a quota of tobacco plants to raise annually. The crops
were purchased by the government through promissory notes instead of cash for their
labors. In most cases. The government paid the poor farmers irredeemable treasury
notes.
The tobacco monopoly brought considerable profit to the government in terms of
revenues and placed underdeveloped lands to cultivation, but the Filipino economic
difficulties remained the same. The tobacco planters were forced to sell all their produce
to the government. They could not even reserve a few leaves for their own personal
consumption.
The government has the exclusive right to operate and manufacture cigars and
cigarettes. This unjust condition, the tobacco farmers were forced to engage in
widespread bribery and smuggling to evade the strict regulations of the monopoly and
to secure a better price for their tobacco.
ADVANTAGES OF THE TOBACCO MONOPOLY
1. The Philippines became known globally as the largest Tobacco-producing country in
Asia. Filipinos were offered jobs in cigars and cigarette factories and for the first time
that the Philippines ceased to be an economic burden to the royal treasury.
2. It triggered internal trade.
3. Regions where tobacco was best produced became markets for other products such
as rice.
DISADVANTAGES OF THE TOBACCO MONOPOLY
1. Tobacco producers/planters were paid by the government through promissory notes
and at a very low rate.
2. Abusive inspectors, in search of hidden tobacco leaves, sometimes entered the
house of the farmers and took anything of value.
3. To recover their losses farmers entered smuggling and contraband selling of tobacco.
4. More people smoked endangering not only their health but the health of other people
since cigars and cigarettes became known nationally.
5. The abuses and corrupt practices committed by the officials led to the abolition of the
Tobacco Monopoly in 1882 by Governor-General Primo de Rivera.
THE OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL
The Suez Canal was the first canal that directly links the Mediterranean Sea to the Red
Sea. It was opened for navigation on the 17th of November 1869. Egypt nationalized
the canal on July 26, 1956.
'In 1854, Ferdinand de Lesseps, his friend Said Pasha became the new viceroy of
Egypt. De Lesseps immediately returned to Egypt, where he was given a warm
welcome and, soon afterwards, permission to begin work on the Suez Canal. De
Lesseps had been inspired by reading about Napoleon's abandoned plans for a canal
that would allow large ships wishing to sail to the east to go directly from the
Mediterranean to the Red Sea, thereby cutting out the long sea journey around Africa.
The construction began in April 1859, when the first digging was done by hand with
picks and shovels wielded by forced laborers. European workers with dredgers and
steam shovels arrived later. Labor disputes and a cholera epidemic hindered the
construction, and the Suez Canal was completed in 1869, four years behind schedule.
On November 17, 1869, the Suez Canal was opened to navigation with only 25 feet
deep, 72 feet wide at the bottom, and 200-300 feet wide on the surface. In its first full
year of operation less than 500 ships have navigated. Major improvements began in
1876 and the canal soon became one of the world's most heavily travelled shipping
lanes. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 shortened the distance of travel between
Europe and the Philippines. With the establishment of the Spanish Republic in 1873,
more Spanish and European liberals came to the country via the Suez Canal.
OPENING OF THE PHILIPPINES TO WORLD TRADE
In 1834, Spain, following the economic policy of other European countries, officially
opened Manila to World Trade. This stimulated vigorous economic activity in the colony
that brought prosperity to some Filipinos mostly Spanish and Chinese mestizos.
The introduction of modern methods of agriculture and an improved means of
transportation and communication further stimulated economic progress. The Filipino
middle class emerged because of the economic progress. These were the Filipinos who
took advantage of the economic boom when the Philippines was opened to world trade.
They did not only acquire material wealth but also improved their social standing and
influence. Their children were sent to schools not only in the Philippines but also in
Europe. With their newly found prosperity and growing influence, the middle-class
Filipinos clamored and agitated for social and political equality with their colonial
masters, and from their children emerged the initial propagators of the reform
movement.
The growing numbers of foreign merchants in Manila spurred the integration of the
Philippines into international commercial system linking industrialized Europe and North
America with sources of raw materials and markets in the Americas and Asia.
Non-Spanish Europeans were not allowed to reside in Manila or elsewhere in the
islands, but in fact British, American French, and other foreign merchants circumvented
this prohibition by flying the flag of Asian states or conniving with other officials. In 1834
the crown abolished the Royal Company of the Philippines and formally recognized free
trade, opening the port of Manila to unrestricted foreign commerce.
There were thirteen foreign trading firms in Manila in 1856, of which seven were British
and two Americans; between 1855 and 1873 the Spanish opened new ports to foreign
trade including Iloilo, Panay, Zamboanga, in the western portion of Mindanao, Cebu on
Cebu, Legaspi in the Bicol area of southern Luzon. The growing prominence of steam
over sail navigation and the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 contributed to
spectacular increase in the volume of trade.
THE RISE OF THE EXPORT CROP ECONOMY
The economic growth that took place in the late 19th century was attributed to these
crops: tobacco, abaca and sugar that dominated Philippine exports. The government
monopoly on tobacco had been abolished in 1880, but Philippine cigars maintained their
high reputation, popular throughout Victorian parlors in Britain, the European continent,
and North America. With the growth of worldwide shipping, Philippine abaca which was
considered the best material for ropes and cordage, became very important together
with sugar.
Philippine exports were agricultural products, and a rapidly growing population needed
an increased supply of rice. Those who controlled large rice. sugar, and abaca-growing
lands in Central Luzon, Batangas, parts of the Bicol region, Negros, and Panay profited
the most. Not only the Filipino hacienderos of Pampanga, Batangas, Western Visayas,
the friar orders owning the large haciendas of Bulacan, Laguna and Cavite but also the
"inquilinos" of the friar haciendas. During this era, many of these inquilinos were
equivalently hacienderos in their own right, passing on from one generation to the next,
the lands they rented from the friar hacienda, and farming them by means of their
share-tenants or "kasama". The kasama stood on a semifeudal relationship with slight
difference from that which exist between owner-hacienderos and their tenants. The
prosperity which the new export economy had brought to some could be illustrated by
the case of Rizal's Chinese ancestor Domingo Lam-co. When he moved to Biran
hacienda in mid-eighteenth century the average holding of an inquilino was 2.9
hectares, after Rizal's father moved to Calamba hacienda, the Rizal family in the 1890's
rented from the hacienda 390 hectares.
With the friar haciendas rising prosperity, it brought friction between the inquilinos and
haciendas as lands grew in value and rents were raised. A combination of traditional
methods and modernizing efficiency led to disputes, ultimately who should reap the
larger parts of the fruits of the economic boom. Eventually, this would lead to a
questioning of the friar's rights, but it is a gross misnomer to speak of the Revolution as
an "agrarian revolt" in the modern sense. For it would not be for the kasama who would
challenge friar ownership, but the prosperous inquilinos. And their motives would be as
much political and economic to weaken the friar's influence in political life.
THE ECONOMIC IDEAS OF RIZAL
One of his proposed economic reforms was the building of schools of crafts and trades
in all provincial capitals where the people be trained in some gainful occupations and at
the same time, to foster the development of domestic industries. In a statement he
prepared for his trial, he defined his sense of economic nationalism.
"I like unity first, the establishment of factories, banks, and the like. For these reasons, I
have given moral and material support to those who studied crafts and industries in
Europe. I, myself, have spent much time studying ceramics, leather tanning,
manufacture of cement and others. My dream was my country's prosperity."
Since the country's geography was basically agricultural, Rizal accepted the primacy of
land as a vital factor in economic development.
He remarked: "How strange that the Philippines should remain poor despite its fertile
soil?" In the essay, The Indolence of the Filipinos, he believed that the lack of sufficient
incentives discouraged Filipinos to work on the land.
He said: "Man works for an object; remove that object and you reduce him to
inaction.....Every being in creation has his spur, his mainspring, his self-respect; take
away from him and he becomes a corpse."
CHAPTER 2 LEARNING ACTIVITIES
I. Define the following words/terms
1. Economic development
2. Monopoly
3. Inquilinos
4. Hacienda
5. Suez Canal
6. Kasama
7. Feudalism
II. Explain the following guide questions briefly:
A. The significance of the opening of the Suez Canal.
B. Effects of the Galleon Trade
C. How did the opening of the Philippines to world trade contributed to the economic
development of the country?
D. Disadvantages of the Tobacco Monopoly
III. Reflect on the learning that you gained after taking up the lesson on economic
development in the Philippines in the 19th century.