Monique – Red Shaina – Orange Joshua – Blue Angelica – Green

Good morning Sir and classmates! Our topic is about the Agrarian Relations and Friar Lands
during the 19th century. The Reporters are Angelica Navarro, Monique Noga, Shaina Nosares,
and Joshua Perez. (1st vid)
AGRARIAN RELATIONS AND FRIAR LANDS
Let us now discuss the HISTORY OF THE FRIAR LANDS
Estate Formation

 The Existence of Friar lands can be traced back to the

early Spanish colonial period when Spanish
conquistadors were awarded lands in the form of
Haciendas for their loyalty to the Spanish crown. (2nd
Video)

 Approximately 120 Spaniards received grants within a

100 km radius of Manila
 Some were given larger grants that cover 2-3 sitios,
which is also called sitio de genado mayor and some
had smaller units, which is also called as caballerias.
(3rd Video)

(4th video)
 Philip II issued a decree prohibiting future illegitimate
claims.
 Despite the fact that Spanish law stipulated that land
grants does not include areas already occupied by
Filipinos, this was ignored in places with higher
population density.
 Since the number of violations was increasing, Philip II
issued a decree prohibiting future illegitimate claims.
Property had already been allocated by that time, and a
pattern of land ownership had emerged.

(5th video)
  The Spanish hacienderos, on the other hand, were
reluctant and unable to use their land. They then sold
their properties to other Spaniards, who either sold,
mortgaged, or donated them to religious groups.
 The failure of the Spaniards in owning lands is believed
to be because of the impermanence of the Spanish
population, the absence of mining and other large-scale
economic pursuits, and enormous profits in the galleon
trade (attention to trans-oceanic commerce). Ranching
and agriculture were left to the religious orders because
the Spaniards' focus was on trans-oceanic trade. The
religious orders were able to acquire estates through
donations from those seeking spiritual benefit and/or
purchased from other Spaniards.

(6th video) lagyan mo po ng pause every after bullet. 5 seconds lang. thank uuu
Early Period
▪ The Spaniards made use of their land ownership knowledge.
▪ They were gradually adapting and testing the waters.
▪ Although stock was still traded, it was overshadowed by sugar, rice, and tropical fruits.
Sugar was originally planted on restricted plots that were worked by laborers or tenants.
However, the situation changed when tenants began to grow their own sugar and refine it
in the hacienda's mill. A group of laborers would work on a rice field, with the crop split
between the laborers and the hacienda. Rice fields were rented to laborers, who were
charged by the friars in two ways a.) irrigated haciendas- fixed no. of cavans (44kg)
for each unit of land and b.) unirrigated lands- in terms of money but in accordance
with the price of palay at that harvest time.

(1st vid)
Exempted Labor
  Thousands of pesos were invested by religious orders in
the improvement of their estates, which included the
construction of dams and irrigation works on a huge
scale. In addition to their own efforts, the religious
proprietors sought government assistance in meeting
their labor requirements.

(2nd vid)

 The Filipino peasant living in one of the provinces near

Manila gave up a month each year for the state to draft
labor for its own needs.

▪ The hacienderos developed another method of acquiring work as a result of their desire to
escape these unpleasant labor, and an institution known as an indirect repartimiento was
formed.
Repartimiento is a Spanish word for “partition” or “distribution”. It is a system
(3rd vid) which colonists recruit people for forced labor.
▪ The casas de reservas (exempted households) could then be full time workers on the
haciendas.

▪ The colonial government granted a specific number of exemptions to a hacienda in the

17th century, in which the original grant was sometimes followed by other which
increased the number of exemptions.
▪ The 74 reservas on the estates, which had expanded to 168 by 1704, were passed down to
the Dominicans.
▪ The Jesuits rented property to tenants but also maintained certain land, referred to as a
demesne in medieval Europe, that was cultivated under their control.

(4th vid) Demesne is a land attached to a manor and retained for the owner's own use.
(7th vid)
▪ The institution of exempted labor generally achieved its principal goal of populating the
estates and making them reliable agricultural producers for the Spaniards in Manila.
  Biñan and Santa Rosa grew and prospered as a result of
the liberal policy of exemption and quickly became the
Dominican’s most profitable properties.
 The institution has its negative side for Filipinos. Aside
from the increasing burden of forced labor on Filipinos
living outside the estates, governmental supervision
was also inadequate and it became relatively easy for
the hacienderos to exceed their quota of exemption.
 The agrarian revolt broke out in 1745, and one of the
rebels' concerns was the institution of exempted labor
and the excesses that had corrupted it.

(9th vid)

The Revolt of 1745

▪ The peasantry of the Philippines reacted to the economic hardships and cultural confusion
imposed by Spanish rule. In 1745, an agrarian revolt emerged in five regions around
Manila, expressing Filipino rage against the estates.
▪ Two basic issues in the revolt:
1. land usurpation by the haciendas
2. the closing of the haciendas’ land to common use for pasturage and forage, a right
which had been stipulated in the Laws of the indies and had been the traditional practice
on the haciendas.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE HACIENDA DE CALAMBA

▪ Hacienda de Calamba was an estate in the hands of the friars that represented the
inequalities in the Philippines under the rule of the Spaniards.
▪ Before the Spanish friars took over the Hacienda de Calamba, it was formerly owned by
Don Mauel Jauregui, who eventually surrendered it to the Society of Jesus with the
condition that he will reside there and receive a monthly pension of 25 pesos.

▪ However, a decree was raised

expelling the Jesuits, even
those residing
▪ in the Philippines. But since
the promotion for secular
ownership was widespread,
▪ Jauregui was not able to get
his land back and transfer
ownership thereof to
someone
▪ else. After this, the assigned
administrator by the court of
the Hacienda prepared the
▪ inventory reports and
collected debts from the
debtors of the Jesuits and was
then put up
▪ for sale or lease
▪ However, a decree was raised
expelling the Jesuits, even
those residing
▪ in the Philippines. But since
the promotion for secular
ownership was widespread,
▪ Jauregui was not able to get
his land back and transfer
ownership thereof to
someone
▪ else. After this, the assigned
administrator by the court of
the Hacienda prepared the
▪ inventory reports and
collected debts from the
 debtors of the Jesuits and was
then put up
▪ for sale or lease
▪ However, a decree was raised
expelling the Jesuits, even
those residing
▪ in the Philippines. But since
the promotion for secular
ownership was widespread,
▪ Jauregui was not able to get
his land back and transfer
ownership thereof to
someone
▪ else. After this, the assigned
administrator by the court of
the Hacienda prepared the
▪ inventory reports and
collected debts from the
debtors of the Jesuits and was
then put up
▪ for sale or lease
▪ However, a decree was raised
expelling the Jesuits, even
those residing
▪ in the Philippines. But since
the promotion for secular
ownership was widespread,
▪ Jauregui was not able to get
his land back and transfer
ownership thereof to
someone
▪ else. After this, the assigned
administrator by the court of
the Hacienda prepared the
▪ inventory reports and
collected debts from the
debtors of the Jesuits and was
then put up
▪ for sale or lease
▪ However, a decree was raised
expelling the Jesuits, even
those residing
▪ in the Philippines. But since
the promotion for secular
ownership was widespread,
▪ Jauregui was not able to get
his land back and transfer
ownership thereof to
someone
▪ else. After this, the assigned
administrator by the court of
the Hacienda prepared the
▪ inventory reports and
collected debts from the
debtors of the Jesuits and was
then put up
▪ for sale or lease
▪ However, a decree was raised
expelling the Jesuits, even
those residing
▪ in the Philippines. But since
the promotion for secular
ownership was widespread,
▪ Jauregui was not able to get
his land back and transfer
ownership thereof to
someone
▪ else.
▪ However, a decree was raised expelling the Jesuits, even those residing in the Philippines.
But since the promotion for secular ownership was widespread, Jauregui was not able to
get his land back and transfer ownership thereof to someone else. After this, the assigned
administrator by the court of the Hacienda prepared the inventory reports and collected
debts from the debtors of the Jesuits and was then put up for sale or lease.

▪ By 1803, the title of the land was awarded to Don Clemente de Azansa. However, he was
unable to pay the remaining balance.

▪ Thus, the property was

▪ again put up for sale and was
sold to the Corporacion de
Padres Dominicos de
Filipinas.
▪ Thus, the property was again put up for sale and was sold to the Corporacion de Padres
Dominicos de Filipinas.

▪ Because of the progress of the hacienda, settlers started arriving. This includes Rizal’s
parents, Francisco Mercado and Teodora Alonzo. Everyone in the estate, including
Rizal’s family worked very hard until the hacienda yielded more than enough for its
tenants.

▪ However, by June of 1885, for the first time all tenants defaulted in the payment for their
rents because of the low price of sugar and the increase in rent.

▪ To punish them, the administrator invited other citizens to take over the land and declared
them vacant. Some paid and some didn't but the administrator spared the tenants
nonetheless. The following year, because of the locust and the low selling price of sugar,
the tenants once again defaulted. Paciano Rizal started to contemplate whether or not they
should continue to rent given their circumstances. Year after year, the unpaid rents
increased.

▪ By August of 1889, Friar Gabriel Fernandez, administrator of the Hacienda de Calamba,

submitted a formal petition to declare the estate rented and held by Don Francisco Rizal y
Mercado and his family vacant and the eviction of other defaulting tenants.

▪ On 20 March 1890, the Municipal Court dismissed the petition of the Corporacion. The
court reasoned that for the Corporacion’s petition to prosper, it must first prove its
ownership over the subject lands by showing its titles. However, since the The
Corporacion de Padres Dominicos de Filipinas was owned by Domicans, who like the
Francisancans, were prohibited from acquiring earthly possessions due to their rules and
vows of poverty, they were not able to secure title.

▪ On March 29 1890, the Corparacion appealed for the decision of the Court stating that the
issue was not about the ownership, but rather the eviction of tenants for nonpayment. In
addition, the appellant maintained that there were two facts seen, (1) a contract of tenancy
existed; and (2) there was default in payment of rentals. But the representative of the
 appellee argued that under section 1546 of the Law on Civil Procedure, actions for
eviction must be based on the true ownership of the land in question.

▪ However on 1 May 1890,

Judge Celestino
▪ Dimayuga ordered Don
Francisco Rizal Mercado to
vacate the lands in question
within twenty
▪ (20) days. Judge Dimayuga
also ordered the Justice of the
Peace to impose upon the
appellee a
▪ fine amounting to 125 peseta.
▪ However, on 1 May 1890, Judge Celestino Dimayuga ordered Don Francisco Rizal
Mercado to vacate the lands in question within twenty (20) days. Judge Dimayuga also
ordered the Justice of the Peace to impose upon the appellee a fine amounting to 125
peseta (a basic monetary unit of Spain. The evictees then appealed the judgment before
the Audiencia Real in Manila which was also dismissed. From the dismissal, the
appellants appealed before the Tribunal Supremo in Madrid. They executed Powers of
Attorney for Dr. Jose Rizal and Atty. Marcelo H. Del Pilar to represent. Them before the
said Tribunal and before the Minister of Colonies. Unfortunately, their cases were also
dismissed for lack of merit.
 ▪ Although, originally, they were given 20 days to vacate their lands, they were ordered to
leave their homes and their belongings were out on the street in less than 20 days. Some
tenants decided to use force to defend their lands. Thus, they were called ferocious
beasts. Some were accommodated by their relatives. However, due to this ‘mockery,’ the
proprietors again effected dispossessions and evictions against the illegal tenants by
stripping the families of their land, animals, and crops and relatives and friends were
prohibited to accommodate the evicted families. La Solidaridad reported that troops were
sent to destroy the town if the tenants refused to leave the territory and to shoot anyone
who resisted.

Let us now discuss the Agrarian Relations (pause ka ng 5 seconds bago basahin yung susunod na
sentence. Thank uuu)

Let us start with the History of Agrarian Reform in the Philippines

(1st vid)
Pre-Spanish Period
(1ST vid)
Filipinos lived in villages or barangays ruled by chiefs or datus before the Spaniards arrived in
the Philippines. Then came the maharlikas (freemen), followed by the aliping mamamahay
(serfs) and aliping saguiguilid (slaves).

Spanish Period

When the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines, they brought the idea of encomienda (Royal Land
Grants). Encomienderos must defend his encomienda from external invasion, preserve internal
peace and order, and support the missionaries under this system. The encomiendero gained the
right to collect tribute from the indios (native) as a result.

The system, however, degenerated into encomienderos abusing their power. The tribute quickly
turned into land rents for a few wealthy landowners. And the indigenous peoples, who had
previously cultivated the land in freedom, became mere share tenants.

The Dominican Order, which owns the Hacienda de Calamba, prioritizes their own interests by
raising rental prices, causing the inquilinos' income to plummet. This was intentionally political
evident when the Dominicans reached a joint agreement with the colonial treasury.

Ownership

Land is acquired at Hacienda De Calamba by going into a leasing contract with the
landowners, who are Dominican friars, known as the Inquilinato system. The Inquilino
Structure is a three-tiered system that includes the landowners, who are Dominican friars,
the Inquilino, and the Kasamas, or sharecroppers.
(3rd vid)
Production

For the purpose of establishing rents, the lands of Hacienda de Calamba were divided
into three categories, each with its own set of products.

1. Tierras Palayeras - a land suited for rice farming, this land produces palay

2. Tierras Cañadulzales- (sugar land), this land produces sugar cane

3. Tierras Catijanes- includes fishing ground and garden plots

These lands were then divided into three categories depending on their productivity: first
class, second class, and third class, with third class being the least productive. Rice and
sugar, on the other hand, are the major crops grown in Hacienda de Calamba. The
Inquilinos were more reliant on sugarcane, making Hacienda de Calamba, along with the
other two great monastic estates in Laguna under the Dominican estate, the most
important sugar producers.