THE POPULATION'S CONTROL IN AN EMPIRE IN

DECLINE: PHILIPPINES UNDER THE SPANISH RULE IN

THE 19TH CENTURY
Julio Prez Serrano1
Alejandro Romn Antequera2

Introduction

The Spanish defeat against the United States in 1898 implied the loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico
and the Philippines, causing consequently the end of the Spanish colonial presence in
America, Asia and the Pacific. Not only the Philippines were given to the winner of the war,
but also Guam, whereas the Caroline, the Mariana and Palau Islands were sold to Germany
the following year. In this way, the Spanish Modern colonial Empire of four centuries ended,
even though it was only the corollary of its decolonization in those areas, because at the end
of the 19th century Spain only kept these Asian and Pacific colonies and little extensions of
territories in America.
It was a big challenge to conquer this territory, but it was even more challenging for the
metropolis to maintain it for such a long time, if we take into account the communication
system of the time. These obstacles did not avoid the control of the colonies populations,
showing a great capacity of innovation and quality on the data, probably even better in the
case of America (Alden, 1963: 175). These efforts continued through the 19th century, despite
the loss of these territories. That was due to the populations statistical control policy applied,
although it was later compare with the progress of the metropolis, whose its first modern
census was in 1857.
The distance is even a bigger problem in the case of the Philippines, which are the object of
this study during the final period of the Spanish colonial presence. For example, the beginning
of the colonization happened in 1565, almost half a century after the first contacts with
Magellan (1521). It can serve as an example that the Philippines were under the economic
control of the Viceroyalty of New Spain until the independence of Mexico, given its
proximity. Besides, this territory was considered as part of a military government, Capitana
General de Filipinas, which was composed by the Asian and Pacific territories. This
administrative condition indicates the difficulty to control this space. However, this was not
an impediment to improve its control, especially if we take into consideration that the modern
population statistic began its development in Spain in the middle of the 19th century (Prez
Serrano, 2000). In fact, Spanish authorities achieved to elaborate two censuses (1877,1887)
and a third one had been elaborated when the defeat to the United States arrived. Later, the
new colonial power elaborated new censuses in 1903, 1918 and 1939. These works can give
1

Professor at University of Cdiz (Spain). Director of the Research Group Grupo de Estudios de Historia Actual
(HUM315). E-mail: julio.perez@uca.es
2
Member of the Centre dHistoire Espaces et Cultures (CHEC, EA1001) at Blaise Pascal's University.
Clermont-Ferrand (France). Member of the Research Group Grupo de Estudios de Historia Actual (HUM315).
E-mail: Alejandro.ROMAN_ANTEQUERA@univ-bpclermont.fr

not only an overview about the demography of the islands, it is furthermore very interesting to
analyze the different ways to think and to control the population applied by the two empires,
one declining, the other one arising, and can illuminate our comprehension of the demography
at the end of the Spanish period.
The study of the censuses' publications is the main part of our work. On the one hand, the two
censuses were the most important achievement of the Spanish statistic's politics in those
territories, but they are not the only way to see the evolution and characteristics of the
Philippines population. Besides, there are written publications about the characteristics of the
Philippines, very useful to solve the lack of information of the Spanish Census. On the other
hand, we have decided to compare the Spanish censuses with those carried out by the United
States in their first two decades of rule in the Philippines Islands (1903, 1918). These contain
a very interesting critics about the Spanish Census and another population's data. Thus, we
have the opportunity to study the Spanish period, but we can also compare it to the regency of
the United States.
To sum it up, this paper pretends a first approach to analyze the Spanish State's capacity to
elaborate high-quality statistics of the population in the Philippines in the 19th century. In
addition, this paper will compare the efficiency to other overseas colonies in this period -such
as Cuba or Puerto Rico- and in the region such as Indochina-. Moreover, it will contrast the
similarities and the divergences between two colonial empires that occupied the Philippines,
Spain and ultimately the United States. In this sense, we structure our exposition in four parts.
The first three parts will analyze the sources. Firstly, we analyze the relevance of the religious
factor, secondly we study the characteristics of the civil sources (censuses and civil register)
and finally we compare briefly the Spanish Censuses to those taken by the United States in
1903 and 1918. In the last section of the paper, after the critic of the sources, we try to
reconstruct the demographic evolution of the Philippines in the 19th century. Last, we will
draw the conclusions.

The relevance of the religious factor: sources and population's control

Spains entrance into the statistical period is fundamentally marked by the elaboration of the
census in 1857, the first since those of Floridablanca and Godoy after the vain intents during
the first half of the century3. Nevertheless, this first census was exclusively limited to the
territory of the Iberian peninsula and the Balearic and Canary Islands. However, the Real
Decreto of september 30th of 1858 which validated its results and organized their publication,
fixed in its 3rd article that the following census - planned for 1860 - would include the
american and oceanic possessions and the Guinea Gulf4. In fact, on november 27th 1859, one
year before the date of the elaboration of the census (the night of december 31th of 1860), the
Capitanes Generales of the oversea territories received the orders with a detailed instruction
and "the necessary authority to make modifications if they were recommended by their
knowledge of the people"5. A principle was so established that should persist during the
different countings of Spains oversea-territories in the 19th century.
3

For example the Censo General de Vecinos de 1810 or the Censo General de la Poblacin de 1837 (Reher,
Pombo y Nogueras, 1993: 9-10).
4
Comisin de Estadstica General del Reino. Censo de la Poblacin de Espaa, segn el recuento verificado el
21 de mayo de 1857. Madrid, 1858, p. X.
5
Cit. Junta General de Estadstica. Censo de la Poblacin de Espaa de 1860 segn el recuento verificado el 25
de diciembre de 1860. 2 tomos. Madrid, 1863, p. XI.

The initiative did not show the desired results. In 1860, meanwhile data of Puerto Rico and
Cuba were included6, those of the Asian possessions and the Guinea Gulf could not be. In the
introduction of the census, the intents to enter the population in the Filipino archipelago were
mentioned but postponed until 18657. Because of the swaying Spanish situation, success
didnt come until the following census in 1877 which meant the entrance of this territory into
the statistical period. This date seems late in comparison to Cuba and Puerto and their
metropolis, which already had arrived late compared to European countries but not that late
compared to French Southeast colonies where the first census was realized in Conchinchina in
1901 and the first for the complete Union of Indochina in 1921 (Barbieri, 2007: 95-98).
Nevertheless, there are other sources which allow a knowledge of the evolution of the Filipino
population until the statistical period. The district councils, above all that of Manila,
registered the population with a certain frequency, but the fact that they excluded occasionally
groups like strangers, clerics or garrisons, takes away reliability. Even more, if their purpose
is taken into consideration which is linked to questions of taxation and recruiting which led to
more occultation on the side of the population (Prez Serrano, 1998: 7). Their results were
published in the Guias Oficiales which are another interesting source for the demographic
study of the archipelago. Likewise, those guias used also the data of the clerical sources. In
this case, the initiative started from the archbishop of Manila and the data of indigenous
which had been established in each parish were used, like it occurred for example in 1876,
1885 and 1894. The ecclesiastical data are the most reliable for the study of the demographic
history of the Philippines. In fact, the first data of which we dispose to calculate the Filipino
population - except for the Encomiendas in 1591 - is the one of 1735 and was obtained by the
adding of the ecclesiastical counts. After that date, there are unfortunately no more reliable
data until the end of the 18th century, since a part of the ecclesiastical counts is lost.
This higher quality of the ecclesiastical data also existed in the metropolis where the Spanish
State during the proto-statistical period systematically went to the clerics in order to construct
their statistics, incapable to articulate a system for itself (Prez Serrano, 2000). The
importance of the clerics in the Spanish censuses of the 19th century can be seen through the
instructions for their making, given that the clerics had to be on all levels of the committees
for the elaboration of the census. There always had to be at least two, since 1877 there had to
be even four in the provincial committees8.
The importance of the religious element is even bigger in the Philippines. Its intensity does
not only distinguish it from the metropolis but also from Cuba and Puerto Rico. The control
of the territory was developed above all thanks to the Churchs activity, especially that of the
missioners of the different orders (Augustinian recollects, Franciscan, Jesuits, Augustinian
discalced and Dominicans). The friars had shared the territory and controlled the parishes,
which is an exceptional fact, because it was forbidden by the ecclesiastical legislation except
for the absence of secular clerics. In fact, the religious orders even acted independently of the
archbishop.
6

Cf. ibid. Only Puerto Rico sent the census finished, while Cuba could not take it for the dateline, because of its
bigger extension and the difficulties of its territory. Hence, it was postponed for the night of Mars 14th to 15th
1861.
7
Cf. ibid, p. 3.
8
The censuses of 1857 and 1860 had three levels: provincial, judicial district and municipal. It became two since
1877: provincial y municipal. The census of 1897 repeated the composition of the committees of 1887. Cf.
Gaceta de Madrid, March 15th 1857, Number 1,531; November 11th 1860, Number 316; November 4th 1877,
Number 305, Volume IV, page 377; September 28th 1887, Number 271, Volume III, page 925; November 11th,
1897, Number 315, pages 460-465.

This force of the regular clergy can be only understood by the important role it played for the
State in the control of a distant territory, that was badly communicated and threatened by
diverse exterior powers (British, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese and Moslem). This situation
caused a number of conflicts when the State tried to change it at the end of the 18th century.
The State searched for a bigger control through the royal patronage (control of the
ecclesiastical nominations by the civil authority) and the archbishop of Manila by the
diocesan visits (bishops control of the friars).
However, the States authorities were not looking deliberately for conflict, they only wanted
to assure their control over the islands. In this way, during the following years and practically
during all of the 19th century the State tended if not to cede competences, to respect an
enviable autonomy of action. There was a utilitarian and pragmatically concept behind this
policy. It was based on the acceptance of the friars role in the Philippines as irreplaceable and
necessary to conserve the territory (Blanco Andrade, 2012: 29-30)9.
This performance was encompassed in a more general process to strengthen the Spanish
element in the different spheres of the islands life, as it occurred for judges, militaries,
professors, lawyers It was also reflected in the legal situation of the archipelago with
respect to Spain, reduced to be governed by "special laws" since its courts representation was
eliminated from the Constitution of 1837 (Blanco Andrade, 2012: 31). All this can be
understood as part of an intent to conserve the rests of the lost Empire in the first quarter of
the century. In this process, the friars became functionaries at the cost of an impossible
modernization of the islands, given that not only the possible nationalism was blocked but
also the liberal tendencies fomenting the resentment against the Spanish domination.
The friars role was the key to control the Filipino territory, even respected by the liberal
measures in contrast to what occurred on the Peninsula (Blanco Andrade, 2012: 77-78). This
led to his conversion into a government agent, his religious function losing importance in
favor of diverse political, educational, judicial functions, especially in the most distant
territories (Blanco Andrade, 2012: 8210). In addition to that, he had an important role in the
census as can be understood by the following complaint of the Augustinian Toms Gresa:
9

The friar's figure was strengthened in three ways:

1Their autonomy was strengthened by regulations which increased the power of superiors in relation to their
friars and diminished the power of the diocesan authorities -source of a lot of conflicts in the 19th century-.
2) It was made easier to send friars form Spain, excepting them from the regulations about expropriation, even
extending their seminars to the Peninsula.
3) Their presence was guaranteed in the curates or parishes of the Philippines, which were the spiritual and
economic base of their presence and control of the territory. The problem of this way was to diminish the rights
to parishes of the secular clergy, which was composed specially by natives. This measure generated the clerical
question, in which we can find elements of the first Filipino national consciousness in the sixties of the 19th
century.
10
Among their functions were:
To orient the peninsular authorities about the municipal officers conduct.
To elaborate reports about the gobernadorcillos candidates.
To assist in the justices officer elections, to give their opinion about the aptitudes of the proposed in
each shortlist to three candidates to the alcalde mayor.
To verify the accuracy of the taxes list, presented to him by the barangays head, corroborating with
the souls register census of his parish
To certificate the authenticity the general carts, which are not admitted without it in the royal accounts
department
To certificate the payments of these organisms to its flock
To control the peoples movements who wanted to change their residence, giving a license.

"They overwhelm us with work and trouble, and this with hateful purposes. Has
the census of the population to be done? The curate has to be the principal agent.
Was the urban contribution decreed and must the taxpayer register be done in each
village, etc,? The curate must be the president and take all the work and the
odiousness that it has. Do they know the indigenous wealth? The curate must also
do that. The terrains composition, the tobacco cultures increase? The curate must
also understand that."11
The islands governors needed their participation to face the work of the census, which
demanded not only a certain level of preparation, but also a great influence among the
population, because the Filipinos associated the census to taxes and exactions12, as it occurred
also in Indochina (Barbieri, 2007: 92-95). This guaranteed higher possibilities of success to
the civil authorities in the making of the statistics, but at the cost of making the friars figure
more representative of control. Thus, the Spanish State was obliged to obtain the help of the
religious authorities for the populations control in the Philippines. It was a contradiction in
relation to its tendencies to independence on the Peninsula.

Spanish Census and civil register: lack of information

The problems of the State to exercise its control over the islands in a more direct way can be
seen in the publications of the censuses and in the establishment of the civil register. At the
beginning of the previous section, it was explained that despite the good will expressed in the
census to count the Filipino population, the realization of this wish was not possible until the
third census of the modern series in 1877.
In this case, the Direccin General del Instituto Geogrfico y Estadstico, the institution
recently created and charged with the realization of the census, sent the bases to the overseas
ministry, by a Royal Order of June 19th in 187713. Later, by a Royal Order of November the
first of the same year, the Direccin General deposed, as it was done the two precedent times,
under the supervision of the Overseas Office the work of the elaboration for the American,
Asiatic and the Guinea Gulf colonies. This is why the census publication gives only a
supposition about the existence of great difficulties in the census elaboration in the
Philippines, which were believed to be related to the bad communications and the territorys
extension. Therefore, this time the census was done, as in Cuba, in Puerto Rico and in the city
of Santa Isabel in Fernando Poo, where the problems were much bigger according to the
governors communications14.
The information published about the Philippines in the census is spare if it is compared to the
metropolis, Cuba or Puerto Rico. The census has information about the number of employed
To collaborate continuously in the elaboration of exposures demanded by the superior court of justice,
giving his opinion about different matters.
To collaborate in the teaching, in the nomination of the rural teachers and a first rang role in the high
teaching..
11
Agustino Toms Gresa en Baliuag, Filipinas, el 10 de octubre de 1881, en Orcasitas, M.A., Unin de los
agustinos espaoles, p. 95. (Blanco Andrade, 2012: 84).
12
Cit., Sanger, J.P. (dir.), Census of the Philippines Islands taken under the Direction of the Philippine
Commission in the Year 1903. Volume I. Washington, United States Bureau of the Census ,1905, pp. 13.
13
Cf. Direccin General del Instituto Geogrfico y Estadstico. Censo de la Poblacin de Espaa, segn el
empadronamiento hecho el 31 de diciembre de 1877. Tomo I. Madrid, 1883, p. XIII.
14
Cf. ibid. p. XXIV.

certificates, and the data about sex, legal residence (settled/temporary) and origin
(Spanish/Foreign) are treated separately on the level of the province and the municipality.
This is the basic information that it can offer, it does not even allow to establish the difference
between de facto and de jure population. This possibility exists for Fernando Poo, given that
the variable of absent in the legal residences category was included. Cuba and Puerto Rico
include also this variable of absents, as well as the category of race. Nevertheless, this
category is in the Cuban case mixed with the one of birth origins, which has the variables of
Spanish, Foreign, but also Asiatic and color on the same level. This confusion does not exist
in the case of Puerto Rico, where first the race is distinguished (white/pardo/moreno), and
later the birth origin (Spanish/Foreign).
Anyhow, the census of 1877 has less information in relation to the census of 1860. This one
indicated the legal status (free/slave), questions related to the civil status, the age and there
was also a resume of the professional classification for the provinces/departments, in which
the colored population had less categories than the white one. Nevertheless, the census of
1877 has one improvement for the study in the case of Puerto Rico, because it recognizes the
mixed-race by the 'pardos'. Meanwhile, the census of 1877 is less clear than the one of 1860
in the case of Cuba, which had the category of colons, divided in Mexican and Asiatic, but it
is true that the census of 1877 has detached the municipal level.
The census of 1887 improved the returns, as it is indicated on the page VIII of its introduction
by this sentence in reference to the censuses of the Overseas territories: "the teachings and
the previous practice were used wisely". On this occasion, the Philippines census disposes
also of the variable of absents, which makes the difference between de facto and de jure
population possible. Moreover, the category of vecinos and domiciliados is known, however
they are not published. These concepts are as problematic as in Spain (Cusido, 2012; Roman
Antequera, 2013: 90-93), but this is a more local matter. Besides, Cuba and Puerto Rico have
more classifications. The distinction by the race still existed in Cuba, but information about
sex and literacy is also available. Meanwhile, the census of Puerto Rico, where the censuses
were often established, has extended its classifications including civil status, literacy and age.
At last, it must be indicated that it was possible to enumerate more municipalities in Fernando
Poo.
The datas improvement in the Philippines is not limited to the inclusion of the variable of
absents in the category of legal residence. The surface in square kilometers of the islands,
provinces and districts was also included. Nevertheless, the Direccin General states in the
introduction of the census (page XXXIII), published in Manila, that if it had been possible,
they would have wished to improve some things as: the correction of errors in the
nomenclator; the completion of the population by islands, the inclusion of the variations
occurred in the territory division since the last census; and, the evaluations to be done by
people who are more authorized over the non-reduced indigenous population, named 'infieles',
above all in Mindanao and the Carolinas, a question which is approached in the next section
of the paper. Likewise, it is very interesting to remark that as in the section of the census
introduction dedicated to the archipelagos in Asia and Oceania, the civil censuses are
compared to the ecclesiastical in 1876 and 1885, and also the partials from Manila and Ceb
in 1888. They are considered of good quality for verifying the enumerations, which is a
recognition of the ecclesiastical source, an aspect developed in the previous section.
In this way, the census of 1887 supposes an important advance in relation to 1877 in all the
colonies. Among them, the Philippines continued behind Cuba and Puerto Rico regarding the

quantity and quality of their data, because of the bigger problems of control and the lesser
level of literacy. This advance in the datas quality of the censuses publications could not be
continued by the "adverse circumstances" indicated in the introduction of the census of 1897
(pages XIII-XIV), in which the Philippines were only mentioned by the fact of the return of
the military troops which had combated in 1898.
Finally, we want to explain briefly the situation of the Civil Register Office in the Philippines.
The Spanish Government decreed the starting of this institution for Cuba, Puerto Rico and the
Philippines for January 1st 1885, together with its regulations (November 6th 1884), fourteen
years later than the metropolis (Cusido, 2011: 121). After the defeat, the regulations to
proceed to the inscription of births, deaths and marriages of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the
Philippines in Spain offer a very clear information about the success of the measure. It is
indicated that in the cases of Cuba and Puerto Rico it was possible to transcribe the
certifications from the Civil Register Office, however it was also extended to the parish
registers by the little time of running. Meanwhile, the parish register is the only source to
transcribe in the case of the Philippines, given that the Civil Register Office did not run 15. In
this way, it is very clear that the only possibility to obtain data on the populations dynamic
for this period in the Philippines are the registers of the parishes. Thus, a panorama is
completed in which the two principal characteristics are: on the one hand, the information
about the Philippines is not very abundant in the Spanish civil sources; and, on the other, it is
demonstrated that the Spanish State could not establish an independent system to obtain the
data, depending always of the clerics.

Comparing the censuses of two empires: Spain and the United States
The contrast with the United States' censuses closes our analysis of the sources, comparing
two colonial models. This comparison shows clearly the mentality in which the censuses have
been realized by each country. It must be specified that our intention is not to make an
exhaustive analysis of the United States census' work, which is already presented by other
authors (Sloane, 2002), but to use them to illuminate the character of those realized during the
Spanish regency.
Previously, it was stated that the Spanish censuses have not a great volume of information
about the archipelago. It is more evident by the number of pages dedicated in both censuses to
the Philippines, 38 in 1877 and 28 in 1887 (curiously more completed). The information in
both of them are only tables, without any explanation, except for the general introductions of
the publications of the censuses. This explanation is bigger in the census of 1887, in which the
Overseas censuses have their own space, each territory has a little section explaining the
characteristics and some of the difficulties of the census.
The difference is evident when the Spanish Censuses are compared to the censuses taken by
the initiative of the United States in 1903 and 1918. These are autonomous publications
dedicated to the territory of the Philippines, while in the Spanish case they are included as a
small part of the general census of Spain. The United States censuses have each one four
volumes, which cover the history, geography, demography, the schooling system and
economic matters: land propriety, commerce, communications... There are very exhaustive
15

The first decree was in 1901, three years after the defeat. Cf. Gaceta de Madrid, October 10th 1901, Number,
Volume IV, Page 159. It was necessary to extend the deadline many times. Cf. Gaceta de Madrid, July 6th 1904,
number188, volume III, page 63.

radiographies about the running of the Philippines, related with another conception of the
census than the Spanish one. Our interest about this big volume of information is comparing
the questions related to the demography, that in both of the United States censuses are in the
second volume, titled population, although there are also sections on it in the first volume.
The difference of size and above all the fact that they are independent publications are
evidently differences. First, they indicate the bigger dedication of resources by the United
States, but they also introduce us to the question of how both censuses were conceived. The
Spanish censuses about the Philippines consider the territory as if it was one more of their
dominions, given that they were carried out at the same time as those for the metropolis. The
Philippines were another province, as Cuba or Puerto Rico -whose censuses where however
more often elaborated than metropolis ones- and the possessions at the Guinea's Gulf. In fact,
there are named Overseas provinces and the supervision of the censuses is not in the
government statistic institution, it is in the Overseas Office. The Direccin General of the
Instituto Geogrfico-Estadstico had delegated the taking of the censuses to the governors
from each territory. They had prerogatives to adapt the instructions depending on the context.
This implied in the case of the Philippines more participation of the religious element, given
that the friars were the principal agents of the census. This is logical for practical questions as
the distance and the difficulties of the territory, but it is also related to the colonial conception,
because of a different treatment. This is reflected by the less inclusiveness of the statistics,
which were elaborated by personnel that were not part of the statistics institution, neither in
Cuba nor Puerto Rico.
By this part, the censuses of the United States lay out in their introduction the idea that there
were steps to get the political autonomy. The Americans considered that the Filipinos were
not prepared to achieve it, in part due to the underdevelopment caused by the Spanish
domination - this attack against the former power was logical, but also true-. This is an
element emphasized when the census explained the difficulties to find qualified personnel
among the Filipinos, who were poorly schooled and most of them didn't speak Spanish -the
language used in 1903 for the census-. This was related to the policy of the colony, overall of
the religious, that was contrary to the extension of the literacy. The introduction of the census
taken in 1918 explains that the difficulties to find personnel were reduced in comparison to
the former census, except for the territories inhabited by the 'wild people', because of the
success of the English schooling policy, which allowed to use that time English with Spanish.
The first United States Census in the Philippines was taken under the orders of a Filipino
Commission, which is a change in relation to the Spanish period. But, the director of the
census was a military of the United States, the Colonel Sanger, the same person previously in
charge of the censuses in Cuba and Puerto Rico (Sloane, 2002: 36), which suggests constantly
the comparison with these two territories, not only because of the similar situation.
The census was laid out to the Filipinos as a test of their capacity for self-government, after
the pacification of the territory the precedent year. The reason for this census was to elaborate
an electoral register. In this way, the Filipinos could vote for their own assembly. This was
opposed to the Spanish period because of two reasons. The first was the purpose of the
census, because in the Spanish period, censuses were associated by the Filipinos to taxes and
exactions, considered as a symbol of the metropolis' control. The second was that this idea
opened the access to the responsibilities of the government, which was limited to people who
came from the Peninsula. These concepts were repeated in the census taken in 1918, which
was promoted, at least nominally, by the Filipino Assembly, and whose elaboration was

charged to Filipinos, as for example the charge of the director, however with the help of the
United States. In this sense, the publication of the census was made in the Philippines for
strengthening the idea of self-capacity. Nevertheless, the colonial conception was behind the
behavior of the United States, which assumed the tutor's role of a not prepared people for selfgovernment16.
The categories employed as much in the Spanish census, as in those of the United States
show these questions of mentality more clearly. There were not racial divisions in the Spanish
census in the Philippines, on the contrary Puerto Rico and Cuba had them. In the case of the
Philippines, the key is that Spain had the idea that the indigenous population of the
Philippines were Spanish, in search of a greater union with the Peninsula. So, the reality of the
racial division of the Philippines was masked. The difference with the cases of Puerto Rico
and Cuba was the composition of the population of the archipelago. The Philippines had more
racial homogeneity, as shown the US Census, in which the racial question is very important
(Richomme, 2007).
Nevertheless, the Spanish censuses refer to the question of religion, more than to race. There
are specifications in the notes about the 'mora' population -'infieles' previously mentioned -,
corresponding to the non-Christian population. This population was named 'wild' in the
censuses of the United States, in opposition to the Christians or 'civilized', which show us
their conception of the world. This population is at the origin of the critics of the census taken
in 1903 above the Spanish former censuses, which are considered accurate according to the
Christian population17. The Spanish census have a lack of information about this population,
related to the fact explained in the first section of this paper about the importance of the
participation of the friars for elaborating the census. Therefore, their misrepresentation is
logical in the Spanish censuses, because the influence of the religious is lower. Nevertheless,
the United States census taken in 1903 is neither a reference with a great reliability in this
aspect. The methods employed in Mindanao and Sulu to enumerate people gave as returns
estimations, in spite of the field work18. There were territories very complicated to control,
which Spain did not achieve until the end of the 19th century. The returns about this matter
were improved in the census taken in 1918, when the United States had more control over the
territory, however the difficulties were still great19, as it was explained in the introduction of
the census, in which the references to the Spanish censuses practically disappear20, to insist on
the autonomy of the Filipinos.

A brief panorama of the Philippines' demographic evolution in the 19th century

After having analyzed the sources, we expose briefly the demographic evolution of the
Philippines during the 19th century. We will use primordially the Spanish sources, which are
16

Cit., Sanger, J.P. (dir.), Census of the Philippines Islands taken under the Direction of the Philippine
Commission in the Year 1903. Volume I. Washington, United States Bureau of the Census ,1905, pp. 42-43.
17
Cf. Sanger, J.P. (dir.), Census of the Philippines Islands taken under the Direction of the Philippine
Commission in the Year 1903. Volume II. Washington, United States Bureau of the Census ,1905, pp. 18-19.
18
Vid., Sanger, J.P. (dir.), Census of the Philippines Islands taken under the Direction of the Philippine
Commission in the Year 1903. Volume I. Washington, United States Bureau of the Census ,1905, pp. 25-27.
19
Vid. Buencamino Sr., F. (dir), Census of the Philippine Islands taken under the direction of the Philippine
Legislature in the year 1918. Volume I., Census Office of the Philippine Islands, 1921, pp. 16-26.
20
Vid. Buencamino Sr., F. (dir), Census of the Philippine Islands taken under the direction of the Philippine
Legislature in the year 1918. Volume II. Population and Mortality. Manila, Census Office of the Philippine
Islands, 1921, pp. 19-26.

those which correspond to our period of study, but they do not offer a big quantity of
information. In fact, we will analyze only three aspects: evolution, distribution and the
importance of immigrants. For this, we will use also the data contained in the censuses taken
by the United States period, to complete gaps or to clarify some points.
Table 1. Evolution of the 'civilised' population in Philippines, 1799-1918
Year

Population

Source

% Anual Growth

1799

1 502 574

Buzeta

1800

1 561 251

Zuiga

3,91

1808

1 741 234

Cdulas

1,37

1812

1 933 331

Cdulas

2,65

1815

2 052 994

Cdulas

2,02

1817

2 062 805

Cdulas

0,24

1819

2 106 230

Cdulas

1,05

1829

2 593 287

Church

2,10

1840

3 096 031

Local officials

1,62

1845

3 434 007

Buzeta

2,09

1848

3 745 603

Arenas

2,94

1850

3 857 424

Buzeta

1,48

1858

4 290 381

Bowring

1,34

1870

4 712 006

Gua oficial

0,78

1876

5 501 356

Church

2,61

1877

5 566 284

Census

1,18

1879

5 487 218

Gua oficial

-0,71

1885

5 839 383

Church

1,04

1887

5 992 400

Census

1,30

1891

6 252 957

Gua oficial

1,07

1893

6 333 584

Gua oficial

0,64

1894

6 490 584

Church

2,48

1899

6 703 311

Father Algu

0,65

1903

6 987 686

Census

1,04

1918
9 492 328
Census
2,06
Source: Buencamino Sr., F. (dir), Census of the Philippine Islands taken under the direction of the Philippine
Legislature in the year 1918. Volume II. Population and Mortality. Manila, Census Office of the Philippine
Islands, 1921, pp. 24.

The evolution of the Philippines' population was positive in the 19th century. If the year 1799
is taken as starting point of the 'civilized' population and the year 1903 as its end, the
increment was situated in 5,5 millions people approximately. It supposes a year growth
percentage of 1,49. This process suffered ups and downs, until 1877 the increment was more
important, 1,69% per year, later the rhythm descended to 0,88% per year, for the last quarter
of the century. The turbulences in the end of the century were probably the reason, which
started with the Cavite's mutiny in 1872, followed by the war, but also epidemics, as the
cholera in 1902, played an important role.
The table's data excluded the population named 'wild' by the Americans and 'infieles' or
'moros' by the Spanish, because of the reliability of the measures about their quantity, as much
for the religious' role in taking the censuses, as the fact of living in territories which the

Spanish arrived barely to control at the end of the 19th century. Nevertheless, the data from
the United States Census, a bit more reliable in this field, indicates that this population grew
at 1.41% per year in the first years of the past century. The 'wild' people passed from 647,740
to 932,953 inhabitants. This rhythm is lower than that of the 'civilized' population, which
grew at 2,06% per year, probably due to their worse lifes conditions, less hygiene,
infrastructures and food. In this way, it can be stated that the population started to grow more
quickly after the Spanish defeat, above all when the Americans were better settled in the
territory.
Table 2. Distribution of the population by islands, 1877-1887
Islands
Luzon
Others of the Luzon's group
Visayas
Mindanao

1877

1887

3 251 507

58,40

3 432 424

57,24

103 152

1,85

117 648

1,96

2 039 847

36,64

2 215 965

36,96

162 535

2,92

210 206

3,51

Jolo and Paragua

1 979

0,04

8 881

0,15

Oceanic Islands

8 665

0,16

11 037

0,18

Total
5 567 685
Source: Spanish Censuses. Own elaboration.

100,00

5 996 161

100,00

Table 3. Evolution of the demographic density by islands, 1877-1887

Surface (Km2)

1877
Population

106 216

3 251 507

Others of the Luzon's group

17 152

Visayas

Islands
Luzon

Mindanao

Density

1887
Population

Density

30,61

3 432 424

32,32

103 152

6,01

117 648

6,86

57 714

2 039 847

35,34

2 215 965

38,40

100 725

162 535

1,61

210 206

2,09

Jol and Paragua

16 349

1 979

0,12

8 881

0,54

Oceanic Islands

3 306

8 665

2,62

11 037

3,34

Total
301 462
Source: Spanish Censuses. Own elaboration.

5 567 685

18,47

5 996 161

19,89

The population of the Philippines was concentrated fundamentally in the island of Luzon, that
agglomerated the biggest centers of population, among those especially Manila and the
Visayas, which occupied the central space of the archipelago, with other important centers of
population as Ceb, Leyte... Curiously, the density is bigger in the Visayas than in the island
of Luzon. As to the other islands, the absence of control of the territory by the Spanish must
be taken into consideration. If we compare the volumes of population published in the
Spanish censuses with the data from the census taken in 1903, we can verify the differences
about these populations. The populations of Jol y Paragua increase considerably, achieving
51,389 and 29,351 inhabitant respectively, and the island of Mindanao gets the number of
499.631 people, in which 252,940 are considered as 'wild'21. Nevertheless, this does not imply
the loss of their status as the most densely populated zones (Luzon, Visayas).

21

Cit., Sanger, J.P. (dir.), Census of the Philippines Islands taken under the Direction of the Philippine
Commission in the Year 1903. Volume II. Washington, United States Bureau of the Census ,1905, pp. 123.

Table 4. Evolution of the population by the origins, 1877-1887

Islands

Spanish

1877
Foreigners

% Ext

Spanish

1887
Foreigners

Ext

Luzon

3 223 052

24 875

0,77

3 403 355

29 069

0,85

107 188

122

0,12

123 329

304

0,25

2 035 541

4 306

0,21

221 220

3 745

0,17

161 405

1 130

0,7

208 883

1 323

0,63

Jol and Paragua

1 255

146

10,42

2 504

3 921

3,54

Oceanic Islands

8 662

0,03

11 003

34

0,31

30 582

0,55

5 961 294

34 867

0,58

Others of the Luzon's group

Visayas
Mindanao

Total
5 537 103
Source: Spanish Censuses. Own elaboration.

Finally, in this brief tour of the demography of the Philippines in the 19th century, we will
center our attention on the question of the birth origin of the people. Firstly, we notice the lack
of attractiveness of the archipelago to foreigners, most of the people there were born on the
islands or came (in a little number) from the Peninsula. They were all included in the same
category to improve the identification with the metropolis. The spare presence of foreigners
was caused by the lack of economic attractiveness of the islands, which were not very
developed. Nevertheless, after the second half of the 19th century the improvement of the
situation has caused interiors movements of the population (Prez Serrano, 1998: 17).
If we observe only the data, we could say that Jol and Paragua are the places with the
greatest percentage of strangers, but it is evident that this is not true. We must pay attention to
the data about these islands, which escape the control of the Spanish authorities. In fact, the
principal center of attraction was located in Luzon, the capital, Manila, which in 1903
contained 29,491 of the 56,138 foreigners. A tendency maintained for since a long time ago
(Escosura, 1882).
Table 5. The most important countries of the immigrants in Philippines, 1903-1918
1903

1918

China

41.035

43.802

Japan

921

7.806

Spain

3.888

3.945

United States

8.135

5.774

667

1.140

Country

United Kingdom
Source: United States Censuses. Own elaboration.

Those who were the most interested in residing in the islands were the Chinese, as the table
shows for the first years of the 20th century. It is a long migratory movement. It existed
practically from the beginning of the Spanish occupation. Their number was more than 30,000
people in 1882, which had different occupations, especially the commerce. The second place
was occupied by the Americans in 1903, but in 1918 it went to the Japanese, who were not
present in the Spanish period. The Americans reduced their presence in a situation of bigger
control, while the number of the Japanese grew. Finally, the progressive interest of the British
in the islands caused their increase, whereas a group of Spanish remained in the islands,
despite the defeat of their country.

Concluding remarks

The scarcity of the statistical sources created by the Spanish State in the Philippines, even if it
is compared with another colonies as Cuba and Puerto Rico, is not only a matter of distance or
the difficulties of its geography. The lack of means was an important handicap, which were
supplied by the use of the ecclesiastics, in particular the friars, who became state's 'civil
servant'. This option was not employed in the case of Indochina, where the censuses were
made later and were of worse quality. In fact, this behavior was against the liberal principles,
which were applied in Spain in some phases, but the liberals decided not to apply those new
rules in the Filipino territory.
This wish to keep the control at any price, even if it implied a renunciation of the
modernization of the territory, which would have turned its economy more profitable, is
linked to the loss of the bigger part of the empire during the first quarter of the 19th century.
The Spanish State bet on giving more leeway to the religious orders, which were considered
as being the only ones capable to keep the control in the territory. The price was that the
religious orders prevented all changes which could undermine their power, especially
opposite currents of thought, as liberalism, and they favored a restrictive educational policy the proof was the reduced extension of the Spanish language-. This strengthened in the long
term the nationalist sentiment, which was also fostered by the censuses' elaboration, as
Anderson said (Anderson, 1991), which showed the unity of the territories and was looked at
as another way of control.
The lack of modernization and of a project to improve the Philippines was the base of the
final loss of the colony, which benefitted the United States. The comparison through the
censuses with the new colonial power -a line of research that we would like to pursue-, shows
a great difference of means and capacity to exert power, helped by the possession of better
resources. It is true that the United States had also problems in the territories of Jolo and
Mindanao, as the censuses reflected, but they got better returns in not too much time. This
improvement was visible in the shown indicators, which could be more complete with the use
of the ecclesiastical sources, a line to explore. The indicators do not only show their bigger
capacity to enumerate the population in the problematic territories, but also an acceleration of
the growth of the population and more presence of foreign immigration, due to the
improvement of the living conditions and the economy in the first decades of the century.
This contrast between the achievements of the Americans and the Spanish State which,
incapable of getting the mechanisms to make the statistics going, handed them over to the
ecclesiastic institution, is a proof of its impossibility to develop a modernization project. This
is at the origin of the creation of a Filipino national sentiment, with Rizal as example, which
had to wait until the arrival of the Americans.

Sources and bibliography

Sources
Escosura, P. de la (1882): Memoria sobre Filipinas y Jol. Madrid, 1882.
Gaceta de Madrid:
(1857) March 15th 1857, Number 1,531.
(1860) November 11th 1860, Number 316
(1877) November 4th 1877, Number 305, Volume IV, page 377
(1887) September 28th 1887, Number 271, Volume III, page 925
(1897) November 11th, 1897, Number 315, pages 460-465.
(1901) October 10th 1901, Number, Volume IV, Page 159
(1904) July 6th 1904, number188, volume III, page 63
Spanish Censuses:
(1857): Comisin de Estadstica General del Reino. Censo de la Poblacin de Espaa,
segn el recuento verificado el 21 de mayo de 1857. Madrid, 1858.
(1860): Junta General de Estadstica. Censo de la Poblacin de Espaa de 1860 segn
el recuento verificado el 25 de diciembre de 1860. 2 Volumes. Madrid, 1863.
(1877): Direccin General del Instituto Geogrfico y Estadstico. Censo de la
Poblacin de Espaa, segn el empadronamiento hecho el 31 de diciembre de 1877. 2
Volumes. Madrid, 1883-1884.
(1887): Direccin General del Instituto Geogrfico y Estadstico. Censo de Poblacin
de Espaa segn el empadronamiento hecho el 31 de diciembre de 1887. 2 Volumes.
Madrid, 1891-1892.
(1897): Direccin General del Instituto Geogrfico y Estadstico. Censo de Poblacin
de Espaa segn el empadronamiento hecho en Pennsula e islas adyacentes el 31 de
diciembre de 1897. Madrid, 1899.
United States Censuses:
(1903): Sanger, J.P. (dir.), Census of the Philippines Islands taken under the Direction
of the Philippine Commission in the Year 1903. 4 Volumes. Washington, United
States Bureau of the Census ,1905.
(1918): Buencamino Sr., F. (dir), Census of the Philippine Islands taken under the
direction of the Philippine Legislature in the year 1918. 4 Volumes. Population and
Mortality. Manila, Census Office of the Philippine Islands, 1921.
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