#OnThisDay - May 26, 1609
Chinese and Japanese for public works was prioritized but thwarted by Augustinian Recollects
#OnThisDay May 26, 1609, during the early period of the Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines, a law was passed that regulates the services of the Filipino natives by prioritizing the hiring of Chinese and Japanese for public works; and the Filipino natives should be expected to work voluntarily.
The Augustinian Recollects attempted to thwart this order by later asking the king (via letter dated June 30, 1610) that they be released from such restrictions, and claiming that such law would ruin their work in the archipelago. Later on, the king of Spain granted the request of the Recollects.
Philippine relations with the Chinese and Japanese, which began during pre-Magellanic times, continued throughout the Spanish period. At the beginning of their rule, the Spanish authorities cultivated the goodwill and friendship of both Chinese and Japanese in order to retain their valuable economic services and to preserve Manila’s lucrative trade with China and Japan. However, distrust and suspicion marred the Spanish policy. At various times, the Philippines was rocked by Chinese and Japanese uprisings, which were suppressed at the heavy cost of many human lives and much property damage.
During the Spanish times, the Chinese were called Sangleys. The term was derived from xiang and ley; the two words combined means “traveling merchant.” The early Spaniards asked the Chinese traders in Manila who they were, and the latter replied: “Xiangley.” The Spaniards, not knowing the Chinese language, thought that the term applied to Chinese nationality; hence, they applied the name Sangley to all Chinese.
The economic life of the Philippines during the Spanish times also depended on Chinese labor and industry. The Chinese residents were merchants, agriculturist, masons, bankers, painter, shoemakers, metalworkers, and laborers.
Notwithstanding their valuable economic services, the Chinese were not given fair treatment by the Spanish authorities. The increasing number of Chinese immigrants was viewed with suspicion and fear, for a large Chinese community was regarded as a peril to Spanish rule. To discourage Chinese immigration, the Spanish authorities taxed them heavily – 64 reales for permission to stay, 5 reales for tribute, and 12 reales for owning a house.
The Parian (also Parian de Arroceros was an area adjacent to Intramuros) was the Chinatown in Manila during the Spanish times. It played a significant role in the history of the Philippines. Originally, the Parian was situated on the south bank of the Pasig River near the Santo Domingo Church. Upon this site, the first Parian was erected by Governor General Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñalosa in 1581.
Chinese immigrants continued to enter the Philippines, their population thus increased year in and year out. From around 150 Chinese in 1571, the number of Chinese residents swelled to 10,000 in 1588, 30,000 in 1603, 40,000 in 1748, 67,000 in 1886, and 100,000 in 1896.
The first known contact between the Japanese and the Spaniards was in 1570 when Spanish Marshal Martín de Goiti, after capturing Raha Sulayman’s Islamic kingdom of Maynilad, found twenty Japanese residents. One of them was named Pablo, a Christian. Evidently, he had been converted to Christianity in Japan by the Jesuit missionaries before he came to live in Manila. Two years later (1572), Captain Juan de Salcedo, while sailing from Manila to the Ilocos, encountered three Japanese piratical junks off the coast of Pangasinan and drove them away after a spirited fight.
In the early years of Spanish rule, trade with Japan, which began during pre-Magellanic times, was encouraged by the government. Annually in March, Japanese vessels from Nagasaki anchored at Manila Bay, bringing salted meats, utensils, weapons, writing cases, and other Japanese products. They returned home in June, laden with raw Chinese silk, gold, deerskin, wax, earthen jars, and other Philippine exports. In succeeding years, more Japanese ships came to Manila for purposes of trade.
Japanese settlers in the Philippines were fewer than the
Chinese. They were better treated by Spanish authorities and no discriminatory
laws were made against them, unlike in the case of the Chinese. This was due to
the fact that the Japanese were a valiant and fighting people, hence the
Spaniards feared and respected them.
Most of the Japanese immigrants who settled in the
Philippines were Christians. They were expelled from their own country because
of their Christian faith. In 1619, the Japanese population had reached around
2,000, and in 1621, this number increased to 3,000. The closing of Japan to the
world by Shogun Iyemitsu in 1639 stopped Japanese immigration to the
Philippines. Thus, the Japanese population in the Philippines dwindled.
In 1853, Commodore Matthew C. Perry, leading a squadron of American warships, reopened Japan to the world. Consequently, Philippine-Japanese relations were revived. In 1875, a Japanese economic mission visited Manila to promote Philippine-Japanese trade. The Japanese consulate was established in Manila in 1889. Filipino patriots who were persecuted by the Spanish authorities fled to Japan, where they were welcomed.
Sources and References:
1. The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898: Volume
XVII, 1609-1616, by Various, Edited and annotated by Emma Helen Blair and James Alexander Robertson
2. Gregorio F. Zaide, Sonia M. Zaide, History of the Republic of the Philippines, Metro Manila, 1983, 1987, pp. 97, 99, 102, 106
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