Los (Últimos) Caciques de Filipinas: Las Elites Coloniales antes del 98 by Juan Antonio Inarejos Muñoz

Abstract

Reviewed by: Los (Últimos) Caciques de Filipinas: Las Elites Coloniales antes del 98 by Juan Antonio Inarejos Muñoz Mark Dizon JUAN ANTONIO INAREJOS MUÑOZ Los (Últimos) Caciques de Filipinas: Las Elites Coloniales antes del 98 Granada: Comares, 2015. 157 pages. Juan Antonio Inarejos Muñoz presents a snapshot of late–nineteenth-century municipal politics in the Philippines and thus sheds light on the conditions of the last decades of Spanish rule. Inarejos largely uses archival documents on the elections of gobernadorcillos (mayors) in a wide variety of Philippine towns to catch a glimpse of how colonialism operated at the municipal level and failed to address the problems of corruption. Although he reaches conclusions that are similar to those of other historians who have studied the same electoral process, he delves into aspects of gobernadorcillo elections that have received scant attention thus far. While he does recognize the Spanish friars’ dominant political role in local elections, he goes beyond this trite observation and explores how other actors—such as principales (chiefs) and provincial governors—and other elements—such as economics and race—played their part in the dynamics of gobernadorcillo elections. What emerges at the end of the book is a nuanced portrayal of nineteenth-century local politics whereby different actors used similar mechanisms at their disposal to achieve their own personal ends. [End Page 112] In chapter 1 Inarejos goes over well-trodden ground when he describes how Spanish friars used gobernadorcillo elections to solidify their economic and political position. Although the religious orders already had economic power through their landed estates and political power as representatives of the Spanish Crown, they still intervened in municipal elections to gain greater local political control by resorting to both fraudulent and legitimate means. In Imus, Cavite, the Recollects succeeded in getting a clerk of their estate into the position of gobernadorcillo by holding the election in their convent and disparaging the conduct of the other candidates to colonial authorities (13–21). In chapter 2, however, Inarejos is quick to point out that the friars’ power was not all-encompassing. Reports on the conduct of gobernadorcillo candidates did not come only from the parish priest but also from the Civil Guard, the treasury, and the provincial governor. Conflicting recommendations from these parties demonstrated the lack of a monolithic position on the part of the colonial government. Even the principales themselves were not passive in the face of election defeat. Losing parties filed complaints on election irregularities, which formed the stock-in-trade of the archival sources. Principales could and did use legal channels to challenge colonial authorities even though the final decision on election procedures and results did not always go in their favor as the colonial administration generally preferred to save face. Controlling local offices protected their economic interests, demonstrated their power, and led them one step closer to their vision of greater self-government. While being gobernadorcillo brought political power, not everyone wanted the position because of the financial responsibilities it entailed. The gobernadorcillo had to shoulder any shortfall in the tribute collection. Inarejos claims that this renunciation of political office was more common in urban towns like Manila and Cebu City but not in rural areas. Among the many excuses candidates made to avoid taking office Inarejos deftly deals with the specific issue of race in chapter 3. In Binondo the winner of the 1883 election claimed to be a Spanish mestizo to make him ineligible to be gobernadorcillo of the Chinese mestizo “barrio” (58–66). At the port of Cavite, adversely affected by the abolition of the tobacco monopoly, a group of principales petitioned the government to remove the racial criteria that prevented Spanish mestizos from occupying municipal office because the latter were the only ones who had the financial means to assume such office [End Page 113] (66–69). However, despite being racially restricted to indios and Chinese mestizos, the position of gobernadorcillo was sometimes occupied by Spanish mestizos. In towns where the position was coveted, the principales attempted to get Spanish mestizo gobernadorcillos disqualified due to their racial ineligibility (69–72). Inarejos pushes forward a more nuanced and dynamic notion of race in Philippine history...