Principalía

The Principalía or noble class was the ruling and usually educated upper class in the towns of colonial Philippines, composed of the Gobernadorcillo (who had functions similar to a town mayor), and the Cabezas de Barangay (chiefs of the barangays) who governed the districts. The distinction or status of being part of the principalía was a hereditary right. However, the increase of population during the colonial period consequently needed the creation of new leaders, with this quality. The emergence of the mestizo culture (both Filipinos of Spanish descent and Filipinos of Chinese descent) had also necessitated this, and even the subsequent designation of separate institutions or offices of Gobernadorcillos for the different mestizo groups and for the indigenous tribes living in the same territories or cities with large population. Hence, this quality could also be acquired, as attested by the royal decree of 20 December 1863 (signed in the name of Queen Isabel II of Spain by the Minister of the Colonies, José de la Concha).

This distinguished upper class was exempted from tribute (tax) to the Spanish crown during the colonial period. It was the true aristocracy and the true nobility of colonial Philippines,which could be roughly comparable to the patrician class of ancient Rome. The Principales (members of the Principalía) traced their origin from the pre‑colonial royal and noble class of Datu of the established kingdoms, rajahnates, confederacies, and principalities, as well as the lordships of the smaller ancient social units (barangays) in Visayas, Luzon, and Mindanao. The members of this class enjoyed exclusive privileges: only the members of the principalía were allowed to vote, be elected to public office, and be addressed by the title: Don or Doña.

For the most part, the social privileges of the nobles were freely acknowledged as befitting their greater social responsibilities. The Gobernadorcillo during that period received a nominal salary and was not provided government funds for public services. In fact more often the Gobernadorcillo had to maintain government of his municipality by looking after the post office and the jailhouse, and by managing public infrastructure.

Principales also provided assistance to parishes by helping in the construction of church buildings, and in the pastoral and religious activities of the priests who, being usually among the few Spaniards in most colonial towns, made success in winning the goodwill of the natives. More often, the clergy were the sole representatives of Spain in many parts of the archipelago. Under the Patronato Real of the Spanish crown, these Spanish churchmen were also the king's effective ambassadors, and promoters of the realm.

With the end of the Spanish rule in the Philippines and with the change of the form of government from monarchy to democracy (under the United States of America), the Principalía and their descendants lost their legal authority and social privileges. However, many were able to integrate into the new social structure of American Democracy, and retained influence and power in another form.

History and evolution

Pre-colonial principalities

From the beginning of the colonial period in the Philippine, the Spanish government built on the traditional pre‑conquest socio‑political organization of the barangay and co‑opted the traditional indigenous princes and their nobles, thereby ruling indirectly. The barangays in some coastal places in Panay, Manila, Cebu, Jolo, and Butuan, with cosmopolitan cultures and trade relations with other countries in Asia, were already established principalities before the coming of the Spaniards. In other regions, even though the majority of these barangays were not large settlements, yet they had organized societies dominated by the same type of recognized aristocracy and lordships (with birthright claim to allegiance from followers), as those found in more established, richer and more developed principalities. The aristocratic group in these pre‑colonial societies was called the datu class. Its members were presumably the descendants of the first settlers on the land or, in the case of later arrivals, of those who were Datus at the time of migration or conquest.

The duty of the datus was to rule and govern their subjects and followers, and to assist them in their interests and necessities. What the chiefs received from their followers was: to be held by them in great veneration and respect; and they were served in their wars and voyages, and in their tilling, sowing, fishing, and the building of their houses. To these duties the natives attended very promptly, whenever summoned by their chief. They also paid their chief tribute (which they called buwis) in varying quantities, in the crops that they gathered. The descendants of such chiefs, and their relatives, even though they did not inherit the Lordship, were held in the same respect and consideration, and were all regarded as nobles and as persons exempt from the services rendered by the others, or the plebeians (timawas). The same right of nobility and chieftainship was preserved for the women, just as for the men.

Some of these principalities and lordships have remained, even until the present, in unHispanicized and mostly Lumad and Muslim parts of the Philippines, in some regions of Mindanao.

Pre-colonial principalities in the Visayas

In more developed barangays in Visayas, e.g., Panay, Bohol and Cebu (which were never conquered by Spain but were accomplished as vassals by means of pacts, peace treaties, and reciprocal alliances), the datu class was at the top of a divinely sanctioned and stable social order in a Sakop (elsewhere referred to as barangay). This social order was divided into three classes. The members of the datu class were compared by the Boxer Codex to the titled lords (Señores de titulo) in Spain. As Agalon or Amo (lords), the datus enjoyed an ascribed right to respect, obedience, and support from their oripun (commoner) or followers belonging to the third order. These datus had acquired rights to the same advantages from their legal timawa or vassals (second order), who bind themselves to the datu as his seafaring warriors. Timawas paid no tribute, and rendered no agricultural labor. They had a portion of the datu's blood in their veins. The Boxer Codex calls these timawas knights and hidalgos. The Spanish conquistador, Miguel de Loarca, described them as "free men, neither chiefs nor slaves". In the late 1600s, the Spanish Jesuit priest Fr. Francisco Ignatio Alcina, classified them as the third rank of nobility (nobleza).

To maintain purity of bloodline, datus marry only among their kind, often seeking high ranking brides in other barangays, abducting them, or contracting brideprices in gold, slaves and jewelry. Meanwhile, the datus kept their marriageable daughters secluded for protection and prestige. These well‑guarded and protected highborn women were called binokot, the datus of pure descent (four generations) were called potli nga datu or lubus nga datu, while a woman of noble lineage (especially the elderly) was addressed by the people (of Panay) as uray (meaning: pure as gold), e.g., Uray Hilway.

Pre-colonial principalities in the Tagalog region

The different type of culture prevalent in Luzon gave a less stable and more complex social structure to the pre‑colonial Tagalog barangays of Manila, Pampanga and Laguna. Enjoying a more extensive commence than those in Visayas, having the influence of Bornean political contacts, and engaging in farming wet rice for a living, the Tagalogs were described by the Spanish Augustinian Friar Martin de Rada as more traders than warriors.

The more complex social structure of the Tagalogs was less stable during the arrival of the Spaniards because it was still in a process of differentiating. The Jesuit priest Francisco Colin made an attempt to give an approximate comparison of it with the Visayan social structure in the middle of the seventeenth century. The term datu or lakan, or apo refers to the chief, but the noble class to which the datu belonged or could come from was the maginoo class. One may be born a maginoo, but he could become a datu by personal achievement. In the Visayas, if the datu had the personality and economic means, he could retain and restrain competing peers, relatives, and offspring.

The term timawa came into use in the social structure of the Tagalogs within just twenty years after the coming of the Spaniards. The term, however, was being applied to former alipin (third class) who have escaped bondage by payment, favor, or flight. The Tagalog timawas did not have the military prominence of the Visayan timawa. The warrior class in the Tagalog society was present only in Laguna, and they were called the maharlika class. At the early part of the Spanish regime, the number of their members who were coming to rent land from their datus was increasing.

Unlike the Visayan datus, the lakans and apos of Luzon could call all non‑maginoo subjects to work in the datu’s fields or do all sorts of other personal labor. In the Visayas, only the oripuns were obliged to do that, and to pay tribute besides. The Tagalog who works in the datu’s field did not pay him tribute, and could transfer their allegiance to another datu. The Visayan timawa neither paid tribute nor performed agricultural labor. In a sense, they were truly aristocrats. The Tagalog maharlika did not only work in his datu’s field, but could also be required to pay his own rent. Thus, all non‑maginoo formed a common economic class in some sense, though this class had no designation.

The civilization of the pre‑colonial societies in the Visayas, northern Mindanao, and Luzon were largely influenced by Hindu and Buddhist cultures. As such, the datus who ruled these principalities (such as Butuan, Cebu, Panay, Mindoro and Manila) also shared the many customs of royalties and nobles in southeast Asian territories (with Hindu and Buddhist cultures), especially in the way they used to dress and adorn themselves with gold and silk. The Boxer Codex bears testimony to this fact. The measure of the prince's possession of gold and slaves was proportionate to his greatness and nobility. The first westerners who came to the archipelago observed that there was hardly any "Indian" who did not possess chains and other articles of gold.

The noble class during the Spanish Dominion

The principalía was the first estate of the four echelons of Filipino society at the time of contact with the Spaniards, as described by Fr. Juan de Plasencia, a pioneer Franciscan missionary in the Philippines. Loarca, and the Canon Lawyer Antonio de Morga, who classified society into three estates (ruler, ruled, slave), also affirmed the pre‑eminence of the principales. All members of this first estate (the datu class) were principales, whether they were actually occupying positions to rule, or not. The Real Academia Española defines Principal as a "person or thing that holds first place in value or importance, and is given precedence and preference before others". This Spanish term best describes the first estate of the society in the archipelago which the Europeans came in contact with. San Buenaventura's 1613 Dictionary of the Tagalog language defines three terms that clarify the concept of this principalía:

   Poon or Punò (chief, leader) – principal or head of a lineage.
   Ginoo – a noble by lineage and parentage, family and descent.
   Maguinoo – principal in lineage or parentage.

The Spanish term Señor (lord) is equated with all these three terms, which are distinguished from the nouveau riche imitators scornfully called maygintao (man with gold or hidalgo by wealth, and not by lineage). The first estate was the class that constituted a birthright aristocracy with claims to respect, obedience, and support from those of subordinate status.

To implement a system of indirect rule in the Philippines, king Philip II ordered, through a law signed on 11 June 1594, that the honors and privileges of governing, which were previously enjoyed by the local royalty and nobility in formerly sovereign principalities (who later accepted the catholic faith and became subject to him), should be retained and protected. He also ordered the Spanish governors in the Philippines to treat these native nobles well. The king further ordered that the natives should pay to these nobles the same respect that the inhabitants accorded to their local Lords before the conquest, without prejudice to the things that pertain to the king himself or to the encomenderos.

The royal decree says: “It is not right that the Indian chiefs of Filipinas be in a worse condition after conversion; rather they should have such treatment that would gain their affection and keep them loyal, so that with the spiritual blessings that God has communicated to them by calling them to His true knowledge, the temporal blessings may be added, and they may live contentedly and comfortably. Therefore, we order the governors of those islands to show them good treatment and entrust them, in our name, with the government of the Indians, of whom they were formerly lords. In all else the governors shall see that the chiefs are benefited justly, and the Indians shall pay them something as a recognition, as they did during the period of their paganism, provided it be without prejudice to the tributes that are to be paid us, or prejudicial to that which pertains to their encomenderos.”

Through this law, the local Filipino nobles became encomenderos (trustees) also of the king of Spain, who ruled the country indirectly through these nobles, under the supervision of the Spanish colonial officials. Their domains became self‑ruled tributary barangays of the Spanish Empire.

The system of indirect government helped in the pacification of the rural areas, and institutionalized the rule and role of an upper class, referred to as the "Principalía" or the "Principales", until the fall of the Spanish regime in the Philippines in 1898.

The Spanish dominion brought serious modifications to the life and economy of the indigenous society. The shift of emphasis to agriculture marginalized, weakened, and deprived the hildalgo‑like warriors of their significance in the barangay, especially in the trade‑raiding societies in the Visayas (which needed the Viking‑like services of the "timawas"). By the 1580s, many of these noblemen found themselves reduced to leasing land from their datus. Their military functions were eclipsed by farming. Whatever remained would quickly be disoriented, deflected, and destroyed by the superior military power of Spain.

By the end of the 16th century, any claim to Filipino royalty, nobility or hidalguía had disappeared into homogenized, Hispanicized and Christianized nobility – the Principalía. This remnant of the pre‑colonial royal and noble families continued to rule their traditional domain until the end of the Spanish regime. However, there were cases when succession in leadership was also done through election of new leaders (cabezas de barangay), especially in provinces near the Manila where the ancient ruling families lost their prestige and role. It appears that proximity to the seat of colonial Government diminished their power and significance. In distant territories, where the central authority had less control and where order could be maintained without using coercive measures, hereditary succession was still enforced, until Spain lost the archipelago to the Americans. These distant territories remained patriarchal societies, where people retained great respect for the Principalía.

(N.B. The increase of population in the Archipelago, as well as the growing presence of Chinese and Mestizos also necessitated the creation of new members of the principalía for these sectors of Filipino colonial society.)

The principalía was larger and more influential than the pre‑conquest indigenous nobility. It helped create and perpetuate an oligarchic system in the Spanish colony for more than three hundred years. The Spanish colonial government's prohibition for foreigners to own land in the Philippines contributed to the evolution of this form of oligarchy. In some provinces of the Philippines, many Spaniards and foreign merchants intermarried with the rich and landed Malayo‑Polynesian local nobilities. From these unions, a new cultural group was formed, the mestizo class. Their descendants emerged later to became an influential part of the government, and the Principalía.

Impact of political and economic situation during Spanish rule on marriage customs of Principales

Although the Principalía had many privileges, there were limitations to how much power they were entitled to under Spanish rule. A member of the Principalía could never become the Governor‑General (Gobernador y Capitán General), nor could he become the provincial governor (alcalde mayor). Hypothetically, a member of the Principalía could obtain the position of provincial governor if, for example, a noblewoman of the Principalía married a Spanish man born in the Philippines (an Insulares) of an elevated social rank. In which case her children would beclassified as white (or 'blanco'). However, this did not necessarily give a guarantee that her sons would obtain the position of provincial governor. Being mestizos was not an assurance that they would be loyal enough to the Spanish crown. Such unquestionable allegiance was necessary for the colonizers in retaining control of the archipelago.

The children born of the union between the Principales and the insulares, or better still, a Peninsulares (a Spanish person born in Spain) are neither assured access to the highest position of power in the colony. Flexibility is known to have occurred in some cases. However, ethnic segregation did put a stop to social mobility, even for members of the Principalía – a thing that is normally expected in a colonial rule. It was not also common for Principales to be too ambitious so as to pursue very strong desire for obtaining the office of Governor General. For most part, it appears that the local nobles were inclined to be preoccupied with matters concerning their barangays and towns.

The town mayors received an annual salary of 24 pesos, which was nothing in comparison to the provincial governor's 1,600 pesos and the Governor‑General's 40,000 pesos. Even though the Gobernadorcillo's salary was not subject to tax, it was not enough to carry out all the required duties expected of such a position. This explains why among the Principales, those who had more wealth were likely to be elected to the office of Gobernadorcillo (municipal governor).

Principales tend to marry those who belong to their class, to maintain wealth and power. However, unlike most European royalties who marry their close relatives, e.g. first cousins, for this purpose, Filipino nobles abhorred incestuous unions. In some cases, members of the Principalía married wealthy and non‑noble Chinese (Sangley) merchants, who made their fortune in the colony. Principales born of these unions had possibilities to be elected Gobernadorcillo by their peers.

Wealth was not the only basis for inter‑marriage between the Principales and foreigners, which were commonly prearranged by parents of the bride and groom. Neither did having a Spaniard as one of the parents of a child ennobles him. In a traditionally conservative Catholic environment with Christian mores and norms strictly imposed under the tutelage and prying eyes of Spanish friars, marriage with a divorcee or secondhand spouse (locally referred to as "tira ng iba" or "leftover") was scornfully disdained by Filipino aristocrats. Virgin brides were a must for the Principalía, as well as for the Filipinos in general.

Children who were born outside of marriage, even of Spaniards, were not accepted in the circle of Principales. These were severely ostracized in the conservative colonial society and were pejoratively called an "anak sa labas", i.e., "child from outside" (marriage).

During the last years of the regime, there were efforts to push for a representation of the archipelago in the Spanish cortes among a good number of Principales. This move was prevalent especially among those who have studied in Spain and other parts of Europe (Ilustrados). That initiative, however, was met with snobbery by the colonizers, who denied the natives of equal treatment, in any way possible.

Towards the end of the 19th century, civil unrest, which was fueled by the arrogance, racial discrimination, hypocrisy, and abuses of western colonizers, occurred more frequently. This situation was exposed by the Philippine national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, in his two novels: Noli Me Tángere and El Filibusterismo. Because of this growing unrest that turned into an irreversible revolution, the position of provincial governor became awarded more and more often to the peninsulares'. Nonetheless, nothing that Spain could do was able to retain control over the once submissive subjects, who felt betrayed, among whom were many Principales.

Certain class symbols

At the later part of the Spanish period, this class of elite Christian landowners started to adopt a characteristic style of dress and carry regalia. They wore a distinctive type of salakot, a Philippine headdress commonly used in the archipelago since the pre‑colonial period. Instead of the usual headgear made of rattan or reeds or various shells such as capiz shells, which common Filipinos would wear, the Principales would use more precious materials like tortoise shell and precious metals like silver or, at times, gold.

The ornate salakots of this upper class were usually embossed with these precious metals and sometimes decorated with coins of value or pendants that hung around the rim of the headgear.

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