Cronica Semi Historia [sic] De Filipinas Y En Especial De Las Yslas Bisayas Desde 1877 á 1887
Resumen del Libro
Document, dated 1887 in Manila and signed by 13 landowners from the towns of La Carlota, San Enrique, and Pontevedra, outlining causes of the lack of progress in the Philippines, and containing recommendations for reforms in the areas of agriculture, local government, tax collection, and administrative oversight. Between 1860 and 1877, agriculture flourished in the islands, especially the production of sugar cane, due to favorable foreign loans, investments in machinery and tools, the great fertility of the Philippine soil, and exemptions for farmers from the hated diezmos or tenths. One of the major causes of the current deterioration of Philippine agriculture was the re-imposition of the diezmo on farmers already paying taxes. Unfortunately, it may be too late to repair the damage already done. Recommendations endorsed by the landowners include conducting a cadastral survey to determine the extent and ownership of farmlands, opening land registration offices to reduce abuses and falsifications in land transfers, establishing credit unions where farmers can borrow at modest interest rates, passing a vagrancy law to deal with the indolence and vices of the natives, and substituting a single tax payment for the tax on personal identification cards (cédulas personales), the provincial tax, and the contribution of 15 days of forced labor. The landowners also favor replacing inefficient and often corrupt cabezas de barangay with wardens who will collect taxes, electing local advisory councils to work with officials, and requiring yearly inspections of conditions by government officials. The document is signed by Miguel Perez, Cirpriano Perez, José Perez, Manuel Pacheco, Domingo Tejido, A. Marió, M. Loisin, José Tirias, Zacarías Robles, Francisco Pacheco, and other landowners.
