Filipino nationalism refers to the establishment and support of a political identity associated with the modern nation-state of the Philippines, leading to a wide-ranging campaign for political, social, and economic freedom in the Philippines. This gradually emerged from various political and armed movements throughout most of the Spanish East Indies—but which has long been fragmented and inconsistent with contemporary definitions of such nationalism—as a consequence of more than three centuries of Spanish rule. These movements are characterized by the upsurge of anti-colonialist sentiments and ideals which peaked in the late 19th century led mostly by the ilustrado or landed, educated elites, whether peninsulares, insulares, or native (Indio). This served as the backbone of the first nationalist revolution in Asia, the Philippine Revolution of 1896. The modern concept would later be fully actualized upon the inception of a Philippine state with its contemporary borders after being granted independence by the United States by the 1946 Treaty of Manila.
Background
In the years before the 11th century, the Philippines was divided into numerous principalities known as barangays, a name derived from Malayan boats called balangays. These small political units were ruled by datus, rajahs or sultans.Philippine History by Maria Christine N. Halili. "Chapter 3: Precolonial Philippines" (Published by Rex Bookstore; Manila, Sampaloc St. Year 2004)
In 1565, European colonization began in earnest when Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi arrived from Mexico and formed the first European settlements in Cebu, founding the Captaincy General of the Philippines. Beginning with just five ships and five hundred men accompanied by Augustinian monks, and further strengthened in 1567 by two hundred soldiers, he was able to repel competing Portuguese colonizers and to create the foundations for the Spanish colonization of the Archipelago. In 1571, the Spanish occupied the kingdoms of Maynila and Tondo and established Manila as the capital of the Captaincy General of the Philippines and the Spanish East Indies. This Spanish colonization united the Philippine archipelago into a single political entity.
Luzon has been the dominant island since the era of Spanish colonialism and played an important role in the national movement. While predominantly Christian, the southern islands (Mindanao, and the Sulu Archipelago) have a significant Muslim population since the 14th century, having been established by traders and missionaries from several sultanates in the wider Malay Archipelago, along the routes that follow Borneo's coast.
Economy
The decline of Galleon trade between Manila and Acapulco was caused by the arrival of the ship Buen Consejo in 1765. The Buen Consejo took the shorter route via Cape of Good Hope, a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast controlled by Portugal. The journey through the Cape of Good Hope takes three months from Spain to the Philippines, whereas the journey of the galleon trade takes five months. The event proved that Portugal was already past its prime in controlling the route via the Cape of Good Hope, which was already under Dutch control as early as 1652. Shorter journeys to and from Spain brought faster trade and quicker spread of ideas from Europe. Also, the growing sense of economic insecurity in the later years of the 18th century led the Creoles to turn their attention to agricultural production. The Creoles gradually changed from a very government-dependent class into capital-driven entrepreneurs. Their turning of attention towards guilded soil caused the rise of the large private haciendas. Various government and church positions were transferred to the roles of the Peninsulares who were characterized mostly in the 19th century Philippine history as corrupt bureaucrats.
During the 1780s, two institutions were established in order to enhance the economic capacity of the Philippines. These were the Economic Societies of Friends of the Country and the Royal Company of the Philippines. The former, introduced by Governor-General Jose Basco in 1780, was composed of leading men in business, industry and profession, the society was tasked to explore and exploit the natural resources of the archipelago. It offered local and foreign scholarships, besides training grants in agriculture and established an academy of design. It was also credited to the carabao ban of 1782, the formation of the silversmiths and gold beaters guild and the construction of the first papermill in the Philippines in 1825. The latter, created by Carlos III on March 10, 1785, was granted exclusive monopoly of bringing to Manila; Chinese and Indian goods and shipping them directly to Spain via the Cape of Good Hope. It was stiffly objected by the Dutch and English who saw it as a direct attack on their trade of Asian goods. It was also vehemently opposed by the traders of the Galleon trade who saw it as competition., "The charter of the Royal Philippine Company was promulgated on March 10, 1785 to last for 25 years."
Education During the administration of Governor-General Jose Raon, a royal order from Spain, which stated that every village or barrio must have a school and a teacher, was implemented. The implementation of the order expanded the reach of basic education during the Spanish era. Also, during the 18th century, modern agricultural tools made many people leave farming for pursuing academic and intellectual courses. After the arrival of Buen Consejo, the Philippines had more direct contact to Europe and the ideas circulating. Thus, the Philippines was influenced by the principles during the Age of Enlightenment and radical changes during the French Revolution.
Secularization of parishes
By royal decree on February 27, 1767, King Carlos III ordered the Jesuits to be expelled from Spain, and from all her colonies. The decree reached the Philippines in early 1768, wherein Governor-General Raon tried to do the Jesuits a favor by delaying the implementation of the royal order in exchange of bribes. This gave the Jesuit priests to hide all of their possessions and destroy documents that could be held against them, which were supposed to be confiscated. The first batch of Jesuits, numbered 64, left Manila only by May 17, 1768. This event caused Raon to face prosecution from the next governor-general, as ordered by the king of Spain. Raon died before the judgment for him was laid.
The expulsion of Jesuit priests from the country resulted to a shortage of priests in the parishes. This prompted the current Manila archbishop, Basilio Sancho de Santa Justa, to launch his favorite project: secularization of Philippine parishes. Sancho reasoned out that priests were only sent to facilitate missions to areas that are not yet much Christianized. Native priests must be ordained to facilitate the parishes since the Philippines was already a Christian country. Sancho recruited every Indio he got to become priests. There was even a joke at the time that there were no one to man the galleons anymore, since Sancho had made them all priests. The secularization partly failed because many members of the newly formed native clergy soiled the parishes with their ignorance, sloth, and the like. One achievement of Sancho's secularization project was the establishment of a school for native boys who aspire to become priests.
The start of Filipino nationalism (1760s–1820s)
The term "Filipino" originally referred to the Spanish criollos of the Philippines. During their 333-year rule of the Philippines, the Spanish rulers referred the natives as indios.
Also during the colonial era, the Spaniards born in the Philippines, who were more known as insulares, criollos, or Creoles, were also called "Filipinos." Spanish-born Spaniards or mainland Spaniards residing in the Philippines were referred to as Peninsulares. Those of mixed ancestry were referred to as Mestizos. The Creoles, despite being regarded by the Peninsulares as inferior to them, had enjoyed various government and church positions, and composed the majority of the government bureaucracy.Renato Constantino, The Philippines: A Past Revisited The sense of national consciousness came from the Creoles, who now regard themselves as "Filipino". It was brought to its advent by three major factors: 1) economy, 2) education and 3) secularization of parishes. These factors contributed to the birth of the Filipino Nationalism. The opening of the Philippines to the international or world trade, the rise of the middle class, and the influx of Liberal ideas from Europe were only a few examples of how the Philippines developed into a stable country. "The first manifestation of Philippine nationalism followed in the decades of the 1880s and the 1890s, with a reform or propaganda movement, conducted both in Spain and in the Philippines, for the purpose of "propagandizing" Philippine conditions in the hopes that desired changes in the social, political and economic life of the Filipinos would come about through peaceful means."
Effect of the progress during the period (1760s–1820s)
The earliest signs of the effect to Filipino Nationalism by the developments mentioned could be seen in the writings of Luis Rodríguez Varela, a Creole educated in liberal France and highly exposed to the Age of Enlightenment. Knighted under the Order of Carlos III, Varela was perhaps the only Philippine Creole who was actually part of European nobility. The court gazette in Madrid announced that he was to become a Conde and from that point on proudly called himself El Conde Filipino. He championed the rights of Filipinos in the islands and slowly made the term applicable to anyone born in the Philippines.
Further progress of Filipino nationalism (1820s–1860)
At this stage, the Creoles slowly introduced their own reforms. Parishes began to have native priests at the time of Archbishop Sancho. The Philippines was given representation in the Spanish Cortes three times (last time was from 1836 to 1837). However, on June 1, 1823, a Creole revolt broke out in Manila led by the Mexican-blood Creole captain Andres Novales. The revolt, caused by an order from Spain that declared military officers commissioned in the Peninsula (Spain) should outrank all those appointed in the Colonies, saw Manila cheering with Novales's cry of "Viva la Independencia" (). The revolt prompted the government to deport Varela together with other Creoles [allegedly known as Los Hijos del País ()], after being associated with the Creole reformists. The Novales Revolt would soon be followed by another Creole plot of secession known as the Palmero Conspiracy, which was caused by the replacement of Creole public officials, especially provincial governors, with Peninsulars.
Economic developments also did a part in making up the shape of Filipino nationalism. Before the opening of Manila to foreign trade, the Spanish authorities discouraged foreign merchants from residing in the colony and engaging in business.. In 1823, Governor-General Mariano Ricafort promulgated an edict prohibiting foreign merchants from engaging in retail trade and visiting the provinces for purposes of trade. However, by the royal decree of September 6, 1834, the privileges of the company were abolished and the port of Manila was opened to trade.