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Political Structure During Spanish Period

The political structure during the Spanish period in the Philippines was headed by the King of Spain and divided into executive and judicial branches. The executive branch was led by the Governor General, who represented the King. The judicial branch investigated abuses of power by creating bodies like the Residencia court and Royal Audencia advisory council. Local governments also existed at the provincial, municipal, and city levels to implement laws and collect taxes under leaders like the Alcalde Mayor. The social structure stratified people into classes like the indigenous Indios, mixed Chinese and Spanish mestizos, highest Spanish Principalia administrators, and highest-ranking Peninsulares born in Spain.

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Jopaii Tanaka
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844 views4 pages

Political Structure During Spanish Period

The political structure during the Spanish period in the Philippines was headed by the King of Spain and divided into executive and judicial branches. The executive branch was led by the Governor General, who represented the King. The judicial branch investigated abuses of power by creating bodies like the Residencia court and Royal Audencia advisory council. Local governments also existed at the provincial, municipal, and city levels to implement laws and collect taxes under leaders like the Alcalde Mayor. The social structure stratified people into classes like the indigenous Indios, mixed Chinese and Spanish mestizos, highest Spanish Principalia administrators, and highest-ranking Peninsulares born in Spain.

Uploaded by

Jopaii Tanaka
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Tanaka, Joanna Paula B.

BSN-III

Political structure during Spanish period

The political structure during the Spanish period was headed by the
King of Spain. It is divided into two branches namely- The Executive branch
and Judicial branch. The Executive branch is headed by the Governor
General. He must be a “Peninsulares” of a Spaniard born in Spain. In
addition, he is the King’s official representative and is considered as the
highest ranking official in the Philippines. The Governor General had the
power to appoint and dismiss public officials, except those personally chosen
by the King.
The Governor General position is often abused so much that the
Spaniards created another branch, namely the Judicial branch to investigate
such abuse of power. Under this branch, there were bodies created such as
the “Residencia.”
It was a special judicial court to investigate the performance of a Governor
General who was about to be replaced. Another body that was created under
this branch is the “Visita.” A government official sent by the Council of Indies
in Spain was obliged to observe conditions in the colony and report it directly
to the King. Finally, the highest court in the land named the “Royal
Audencia” was formed under this branch to serve as an advisory body to the
Governor General. This body has the power to check and report on the
Governor General’s abuses.
The Spaniards created Local Government Units (LGU)for the provinces-
Provincial, Municipal and City Government. The head of Provincial
government is named “Alcalde Mayor.” He represented the Spanish king and
the Governor-General. He also managed the day-to-day operations of the
provincial government and implemented laws and supervised the collection
of taxes. The municipal government is governed by the “Corregidor.” He
governed the provinces that were not yet entirely under Spanish control.
Both were paid a small salary but they enjoyed privileges such as the
INDULTO DE COMERCIO or the right to participate in the GALLEON TRADE.
Larger towns became cities called: AYUNTAMIENTO. It became the center of
trade and industry. The “ayuntamiento” had a city council called the
CABILDO. CABILDO is composed of: ALCALDE (MAYOR) REGIDORES
(COUNCILLORS) ALGUACIL MAYOR (POLICE CHIEF) ESCRIBANDO
(SECRETARY)
Social structure during Spanish period

During the Spanish era, people were often classified based on their
social class status. The largest number of people during that time belonged
to the so-called “Indios.” These were persons of pure Austronesian ancestry.
They are considered as the lowest social class.
The “mestizos” were under the Chinese and Spanish mestizos’
social class. Chinese mestizos were described as rich, active and intelligent
group of people. On the other hand, Spanish mestizos were described as a
mixture of local and Chinese population. They often referred to themselves
as “criollo,” wanting to claim pure Spanish blood and fearing descent on the
colonial social ladder.
The “Principalia” was the highest class reserved for Spaniards. They
were the administrators and high government and church officials.
The “Insulares” were Spaniards born in the Philippines who took
important positions in the Spanish government of the Philippines.
The highest-ranking social class was called the “Peninsulares.” These
were the Spaniards who were born in Spain.

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