The Ascendance of the Chinese Mestizo

Content Analysis

THE RISE OF CHINESE MESTIZO

            At the beginning of the 19^th century, economic and political changes in Europe were finally starting to affect Spain and, consequently the Philippines. Significant as an impetus to broader trade was the gradual abolition of the monopoly enjoyed by the Manila-Acapulco Galleon. Upon the elimination of the galleon trade, Manila became open to foreign merchants almost without restriction by the mid-1830s. The demand for Philippine sugar and abaca (hemp) grew swiftly, and the amount of exports to European countries increased even more after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.

            The development of commercial agriculture in the archipelago resulted in the presence of a new class. Alongside the landholdings of the church and the rice estates of the pre-Spanish nobility, there emerged haciendas of sugar, coffee, and hemp, typically owned by enterprising Chinese-Filipino mestizos. In fact, some of the families which attained reputation in the 19^th century have continued to play a role in the country’s economics and politics.

            In a larger perspective, the fast rhythm of economic progress in the Philippines during the 19^th century expedited by some mentioned factors resulted in the rise of a new breed of rich and influential Filipino middle class. Non-existent in earlier centuries, this class, composed of Spanish and Chinese mestizos ascended to a position of power in the Philippine society and in due course became leaders in education and finance. These middle class included:

“…the ilustrados who belong to the landed gentry and who were highly respected in their respective pueblos or towns, though regarded as filibusteros or rebels by the friars. The relative prosperity of the period has enabled them to send their sons to Spain and Europe for higher studies. Most of them later became members of freemasonry and active in the Propaganda Movement. Some of them sensed the failure of reformism and turned to radicalism, and looked up to Rizal as their leader.” Vallano, n.d.)

The Chinese Mestizo in Philippine History^*

Readings: E. Wickberg DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0217781100002222

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 August 2009

Our knowledge is still insufficient to allow us to assess the overall significance of the mestizo in Philippine history. But on the basis of what we now know we can make some generalizations and some hypotheses for future study. It is clear, in the first place, that the activities I have described are those of Chinese mestizos – not Spanish mestizos. While the Chinese mestizo population in the Philippines exceeded 200,000 by the late nineteenth century, the Spanish mestizo population was probably never more than 35,000. Furthermore, those who commented at all on the Spanish mestizo noted that he was interested in military matters or the “practical arts” – never in commerce. The aptitudes and attitudes of the Chinese mestizo were in sharp contrast to this.

 Secondly, the Chinese mestizo rose to prominence between 1741 and 1898, primarily as a landholder and a middleman wholesaler of local produce and foreign imports, although there were also mestizos in the professions. The rise of the mestizos implies the existence of social change during the Spanish period, a condition that has been ignored or implicitly denied by many who have written about the Philippines. It needs to be emphasized that the mestizo impact was greatest in Central Luzon, Cebu, and Iloilo. We cannot as yet generalize about other areas.

Third, the renewal of Chinese immigration to the Philippines resulted in diversion of mestizo energies away from commerce, so that the mestizos lost their change to become a native middle class, a position then taken over by the Chinese.

Fourth, the Chinese mestizos in the Philippines possessed a unique combination of cultural characteristics. Lovers of ostentation, ardent devotees of Spanish Catholicism – they seemed almost more Spanish than the Spanish, more Catholic than the Catholics. Yet with those characteristics they combined a financial acumen that seemed out of place. Rejecters of their Chinese heritage, they were not completely at home with their indio heritage. The nearest approximation to them was the urbanized, heavily-hispanized indio. Only when hispanization had reached a high level in the nineteenth century urban areas could the mestizo find a basis of rapport with the indio. Thus, during the late nineteenth century, because of cultural, economic, and social changes, the mestizos increasingly identified themselves with the indios. in a new kind of “Filipino” cultural and national consensus.

Those are my conclusions. Here are some hypotheses, which I hope will stimulate further study:

1. That today's Filipino elite is made up mostly of the descendants of indios and mestizos who rose to prominence on the basis of commercial agriculture in the lattetf part of the Spanish period. That in some respects the latter part of the Spanish period was a time of greater social change, in terms of the formation of contemporary Philippine society, than the period since 1898 has been.

2. That in the process of social change late in the Spanish period it was the mestizo, as a marginal element, not closely tied to a village or town, who acted as a kind of catalytic agent. In this would be included the penetration of money economy into parts of the Philippines. There were areas where the only persons with money were the provincial governors and the mestizos.

3. That the Chinese mestizo was an active agent of hispanization and the leading force in creating a Filipino culture characteristic now of Manila and the larger towns.

4. That much of the background explanation of the Philippine Revolution may be found by investigating the relationships between landowning religious orders, mestizo inquilinos, and indio kasamahan laborers.

It is my hope that these hypotheses may stimulate investigation into this important topic which can tell us so much about economic, social, and cultural change during- the Spanish period of Philippine history

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Readings

Wickberg, Edgar, 1964. The Chinese mestizo in the Philippine history, Journal of Southeast Asian history 5(1):62-100

Wickbery, Edgar, 200. The Philippine Chinese before1850. In The Chinese in Philippine life, 1850-1898, 25-36, Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.

Significance of the Chinese Mestizo

             The expulsion of Chinese immigrants in the Philippines enabled the Chinese mestizo to take over the markets that the former previously controlled. Chinese mestizos became prominent ad influential figure in the area of industry, commerce, and business during Spanish colonization. They owned most profitable business by collecting goods from the northern part of the Philippines and used to sell them in Manila and nearby provinces. Chinese mestizos monopolized the internal trading while the Spanish mestizos gave way to the emergence of the Philippine middle class described as “more active and enterprising, more prudent and pioneering, more oriented to trade commerce than the Indios” (Bowring 1963). They shared economic power in terms of exports. They became landholders, wholesalers, retailers, and owners of the majority of the artisan shops.

            Another significant role played by the Chinese mestizos in the Philippine society was the formation of the Filipino identity. This was evident during the latter part of the 19^th century when they became clearly influential in the economy of the Philippines as a Spanish colony. This caused the Spaniards to be concerned with the ability of the Chinese mestizos to cause discord in the society. By 1800, Chinses mestizos in the provinces began to form opinions regarding the Spanish colonial rule. It was not easy to separate Indios from the Chinese mestizos since they identified themselves with each other socially and culturally. Chinese mestizos shared grievances with the Indios. Evidently, this emerges, this emergent middle class, the Chinese mestizos, revive and increase the growing national opposition to colonial abuses and demanded sweeping social reform.

            The most realistic manifestation of the budding sense of Filipino nationalism appeared in the late 1870’s in the writings of Pedro Peterno and Gregorio Sanciano who were both Chinese mestizos, Paterno and Sanciano wrote about the essence of being a Filipino, defended the dignity of the Filipinos, and explained the supposed indolence of the Indios. Their writings were nurtured by Jose Rizal, a known pride of the Malay race but also a Chinese mestizo. Rizal descended from a pure Chinese ancestor and a long line of Chinese mestizos and mestizas.

            The significant role of the Chinese mestizos in the making of the nation was highly evident of the turn of the century. Their involvement in the armed revolt against colonizers showed that they recognized Spain as the enemy – the oppressor. The Philippine Revolution of 1896 to 1898 was the act of determination on the part of Filipinos – Indios and Chinese mestizos alike – to claim for themselves and for future generations the incomparable birthright of nationhood.