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The Spanish friars were the crucial elements in the Westernization of the Philippines, and in spreading the Christian faith in that part of the world. Though missionary endeavors played a key role in their project, the Spanish Friars were merely one arm of a broader Spanish colonial endeavor.
During the Spanish colonial era in the Philippines, the Catholic Church wielded strong cultural, political and economic influence in the Philippine archipelago. A feudal society, institutions largely favored land-owning Spanish peninsulares (originating from the Iberian Peninsula) and the Catholic friars.
Among the early proponents of Filipino nationalism were the Insulares Padre Pedro Peláez, who fought for the secularization of Philippine churches and expulsion of the friars, Padre José Burgos whose execution influenced the national hero José Rizal, and Joaquín Pardo de Tavera who fought for retention of government positions by natives ...
The Philippine priests and lawyers of that time, with the exception of the sons and daughters of Spaniards, principales and criollos (Latin Americans), [9] [n 1] knew Latin perfectly well because the educational system was wholly religious. The friars also opened many medical and pharmaceutical schools.
The friars feared that their dominance in the country would become a thing of the past, and that they needed something to justify their perpetuation, with the mutiny providing such an opportunity. However, the Philippine Institute was introduced by the Spanish government as an educational decree fusing sectarian schools once ran by the friars.
It consisted of five Filipinos, eleven Spanish civilians and five Spanish friars. [ 49 ] : 362–363 They had the ability to vote on reforms, subject to ratification by the Home Government. [ 49 ] : 363 However, none of the reforms were put into effect, due to the friars fearing that the reforms would diminish their influence.
The 1902 Philippine Organic Act was a constitution for the Insular Government, as the U.S. civil administration was known. This act, among other actions, disestablished the Catholic Church as the state religion. The United States government, in an effort to resolve the status of the friars, negotiated with the Vatican.
Pelaez was born on June 29, 1812, to Jose Pelaez, the Spanish alcalde (mayor) of Laguna and his wife Josefa Sebastian, a Filipino from Manila. When both of his parents died in 1823, he was taken in by the Dominican friars in Manila. They sent him to study at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran where he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree.