MY article last Tuesday (March 30) transcribed a large portion of one of the several ordinances of good governance issued in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period. Surprisingly, the ordinances did not only protect the natives against potential abuses, but they also acknowledged that laws were not being implemented and that the Filipino people were being actually harmed. Most people do not know about the existence of such a thing, as they do not know the existence of the Laws of the Indies, which also affected the administration of the territory and protected the rights of the natives. Public servants, friars and members of the Audiencia in Manila often wrote texts in favor of the Filipino people. I found in the Newberry Library a long 18th-century report about a revolt in land owned by the Jesuits. The judge, after hearing all concerned, passed the sentence and ruled in favor of the native protesters.
Needless to say, good intentions are one thing and their implementation another. As in any hierarchical society, abuses and injustices occurred, but reducing the long colonial period to a situation of permanent martyrdom for the common folk is completely inaccurate and misleading. This would be like if a Filipino in the year 2300 tries to judge the Philippines of today only looking at the criminal records; his/her conclusion would be that the Philippines was just a hopeless territory full of criminals, killers, corrupt people, pedophiles, merciless abusers, etc. despite having a theoretically good set of rules and norms. This would be completely unfair, as it ignores how society develops, how everyday life is lived and how Filipinos follow traditions, have a sense of justice and show certain preferences on how to create a family or spend their free time.
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