Social Structure, Political System and Educational System of the 19th Century in the
Philippines
Significant social, political, and educational change occurred throughout the 19th century,
especially in areas that were colonized, where these institutions were intricately entwined and
influenced the sociopolitical climate of the day. For social structure, there were peninsulares–the
top of the socioeconomic scale, these Spaniards were native to Spain (the Iberian Peninsula)
where they possessed significant decision-making power and occupied the colony's highest posts
in the military, politics, and church. Next up is the insulares–these were Spaniards born in the
Philippines (also called criollos or creoles) in which even though they were of Spanish descent,
they were considered inferior to the Peninsulares and held lower-ranking positions in
government and church administration. Another is mestizos–they were people with native
Filipino or Chinese heritage blended with Spanish. They were important to economic activity
and inhabited the middle echelons of society. Lastly are indios–the vast majority of the
population was composed of indigenous Filipinos, or Indios in which due to their restricted
access to resources, authority, and education, they were frequently the most disadvantaged
minority.
For the political system, the Governor-General was officially chosen by the Spanish Crown as
the greatest level Spanish official in the Philippines into having last say over all political issues
in the colony, the governor general also possessed administrative, legislative, and judicial power
and he was in charge of carrying out colonial policies and royal directives. Spanish friars also
had a significant impact on politics as well as religion as they dominated local government and
frequently served as advisors to Spanish authorities, giving them enormous influence particularly
in rural regions where they had more direct interaction with the populace, friars were active in
civil affairs regulation, education supervision, and the enforcement of colonial regulations.
When it comes to the educational system, religious organizations such as the Dominicans,
Augustinians, and Jesuits controlled education to a significant extent, operating schools at all
levels having he main objective of the educational system was to create faithful Catholics who
would be devoted to the Church and the Spanish Crown that revolved only to religious education
prioritized by the friars over political, scientific, or practical understanding. In contrast, there
were very few educational options particularly for the indigenous Indios. Since schooling was
mostly only available to privileged mestizos and the offspring of the principalia (local elites), the
majority of Filipinos had little to no formal education. The curriculum placed minimal focus on
courses that may foster critical thinking or provide Filipinos the ability to resist colonial control,
instead favoring Spanish and religious education. However, there was an organization of literate
Filipinos called as ilustrados came into existence in which many of them were educated in Spain
or other European nations, and they were exposed to liberal ideals like nationalism, democracy,
and human rights.
