3. Content Analysis
History of the Friars Lands
The existence of friar lands in the Philippines 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. Approximately 120 Spaniards were granted either large traits of land called sitio de Ganado mayor and smaller tracts called caballerias.
However, the hacienderos, those who owned the hacienda, failed to develop their lands. One reason is that Spaniards were not expected to permanently stay in the Philippines. Many of them returned to Spain once they were done serving in the country. Also, the livestock market during this time was still small. Thus the Galleon Trade based in Manila, appealed more to the Spaniards because it offered better economic opportunities.
The Spanish friars were able to acquire land through whatever means available to them. According to source, lands were donated to the friars in exchange for spiritual favors. Many Filipinos believed that the friars had no titles to the lands thry owned because they acquired them through usurpation and other dubious means.
When the export of agricultural crops started to blossom in the 18 century, the inquillinato system was put into place. In the system, one who rented land for fixed annual amount, an inquillinos could also lease the land they were renting from the landlord to a kasama or sharecropper who would then be responsible for cultivating the land. The inquillinato system functional as a three-layered system with the landlords on top, the inquillinos in the middle, and the kasama at the bottom.
Hacienda de Calamba Dispute
The Hacienda de Calamba was originally owned by a Spaniards who donated the land to Jesuit friars to allow him to permanently stay in the Jesuit monastery. However, since the Jesuit were expelled from the Philippines, the haciends went to the possession of the Spanish colonial government. In 1803, the land was sold to Don Clemente de Azansa. After his death. It was eventually sold to the Dominicans who claimed ownership of the hacienda until late 19 century.
Rizal's family became one of the principal inquillinos of the hacienda. They rented one of the largest leased parcel of land measuring approximately 380 hectares. The main crop was sugarcane since it was the most in demand in the world market then. The Rizal family got their income mainly from the land they rented. However, when conflicts on land ownership in the hacienda arose in 1883, the family evidently suffered,
Readings
Aguilar, F. (1998). Elusive peasant, weak state: Sharecropping and the changing meaning of debt. In Clash of spirits: The history of power and sugar planter hegemony on a Visayan island (pp.63-77). Quezon City, Philippines: Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Roth, D. (1982). Church lands in the agrarian history of the Tagalog region. In Alfred W. McCoy(Ed), Philippine social; history: Global trade and local transformation (pp.131-153. Quezon City, Philippines: Ateneo de Manila University Press.
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