History of Spanish slavery in the Philippines

The difference of the slavery practiced by the native Filipinos from the Spanish slavery was that it was arbitrary in a sense that datus may take slaves just from committing minor violations from their laws. Also, Philippine slavery was less harsh in a sense that some of them could eat together with their masters and those who did not live in their masters’ houses supported themselves. On the other hand, Spanish slaves worked solely for their masters and everything that they earned were given to them (the masters). A slave owned by a Spaniard debtor could even be rented out to his creditor and work to pay his debt and the slave could also serve a jail sentence in place of his master. Filipinos made other Filipinos their alipins. On the other hand, Spaniards generally got slaves from other races or religions.

White represents the route of the Manila galleons in the Pacific and the flota in the Atlantic. (Blue represents Portuguese routes.)

King Phillip II of Spain who enforced laws against Spanish slavery in the Philippines

When Spaniards conquered the archipelago, the Laws of the Indies served as a compilation of royal decrees for the Spanish colonies including the Philippines. This included a law stating that Spaniards were forbidden to hold Filipinos as slaves since they were under the subjection of King Phillip II. Observing the widespread practice of slavery among the native tribes, the Law was sometimes ignored by soldiers, some acting on their own and seizing natives in various parts of the country. Governor-General Legazpi, upon discovering this, freed the slaves and punished those who took them under the jurisdiction of the monarchy.

Later on, the division of Luzon into encomiendas created a form of compulsory work for the encomenderos, who were given the responsibility of evangelizing the natives working for them. Many held workers for household chores. However, it is arguable whether these workers were slaves in the common sense of the word. A Portuguese visitor noted that there was no Spanish soldier who did not have an Indio or native worker. Even the religious houses held at least one. The king, however, after hearing about this, appointed a minister, called the Protector of the Indios, to investigate and restore the liberty of possible slaves. It seemed unfair to encomenderos to generally abolish slavery though and it would cause economic disruption. The General Assembly of 1586 then proposed three points:

• All children are to be born free.
• No new slaves will be made.
• Slaves will have to pay a fair price for freedom.

The king did not implement this, however, and enforced further laws to punish the Spaniards who held Indio slaves. This opened for a new trend which was illegally importing foreigners, especially Africans. Since they were not under the king's subjection, they were not included in the laws and they were made slaves as a replacement for the Indios. Even some Filipinos acquired these foreign slaves and by 1621, blacks constituted around one third of an Intramuros population. These foreign slaves were mainly employed in Manila and not in the provinces. Some of them were also resold in Mexico during the time of the Manila Galleon Trade to cover transportation costs.

Although the king enforced laws to end Spanish slavery in the Philippines, he did not include laws that may end the native Philippine slavery between the Filipinos. Although it was not completely abolished, it underwent considerable changes during the Spanish occupation. The mangangayaw raids, which were the raiding of barangays for obtaining slaves and territories, disappeared. Tyrannical enslavement also disappeared since the datus were forced to free their slaves and the exchange of slaves in the weddings was not allowed after most Filipinos were converted to Christians. By the middle of the 18th century, Philippine slavery disappeared in areas under the Spanish control. In areas that were not under the Spanish control like mountains in Mindanao and Cordillera, however, it was still present.

Spanish slavery, on the other hand, declined in the Philippines with the decline of slavery in Spain. It was abolished in Spain in 1820, when Spanish liberals took power and reimposed the Spanish Constitution of 1812 on Ferdinand VII, in Puerto Rico in 1873, and in Cuba in 1886. It was completely abolished after industrialization in all places took place during the nineteenth century.

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