Colonizer s’ Economic AtrocitiesBy Bernard Jomari B. Razote

From the Spanish Colonial Rule to the American Period to the Japanese Regime,economic control and domination has been theulterior and main motive of every era. Theeconomic policies of each period undoubtedlyfavored that of the colonizers, which causedadverse effects to the Filipinos.

When the Spaniards came into thePhilippines, the ulterior motive was to search forspices such as nutmeg, clove, and paprika,which they can sell at a higher price when theygo back to their mother country. However, asthe years passed, the economic desire of theSpaniards rose from search of spices to totaleconomic domination in the Philippines.

In the span of two hundred years,Spanish colonizers managed to establishmonopolies in different agricultural fields suchas tobacco and hemp, which paralyzed theeconomy of the Philippines. Agricultural landswere also taken away from the farmers by thefriars, which made the Filipinos poor andunproductive due to loss of lands. Galleontrade, from Manila to Acapulco was alsoestablished; however, for many years, it waskept closed to the Filipinos. Hence, for twohundred years, Filipinos were stagnated by theloss of economic participation in the Philippines.Due to the monopolization of many industriesmade by the Spaniards, the Filipinos were notable to participate in different economictransactions. Also, even though galleon tradewas opened until 1815, it only involvedSpaniards living in Manila, which had adverseeffects to the Filipinos, since they were notallowed to participate in most of the trades.

In the time of the Americans, Filipinoswere allowed to participate in trades with itscolonizer. However, due to the rapid industrialdevelopment of the United States, the transferof goods from the Philippines to the US waslimited, since an influx of manufactured goodsforced the Americans to search of a market thatwould consume such goods. Hence, Filipinosserved as consumers of the finished productsinstead of being producers, which deeplyaffected our economy. Although there wereyears that no tariff or limit was placed onPhilippine goods coming into the United States,the continuous flood of American productshindered the Filipinos from establishing a stableand independent economy.

In the Japanese Period, the economicparticipation of the Filipinos was almostinexistent. Since it is time of war, the Filipinoswere limited to any economic activity. Due tothe fear of raids and bombings, there washardly any exchange of goods that happened.

 Also, even if the Filipinos were allowed to buyor sell goods, only Mickey Mouse money wasallowed to be used, which technically had novalue. Hence, the Filipinos again werestagnated economically in the Japanese period,due to the ongoing war at that time.

Summing up from the Spanish Era tothe American Period to the Japaneseoccupation, it can be said that all of thecolonizers had negative effects in the economicaspect for the Filipinos. Although there weretimes that Filipinos were allowed to participatein economic transactions, it was overshadowed

 

by the economic policies that they imposed,which hardly favored us. As a result, theseeconomic atrocities by the colonizers created adeep cut in our economy, since it deprived usfrom having any participation in most of theeconomic transactions.