During the Spanish regime, all Filipino men between the ages of 18 and 60 were required to give their free labor, called polo, to the government. This work was 40 days a year, reduced to 15 days in 1884. It took various forms, such as road and bridge construction, construction of public buildings and churches, felling timber in the forest, shipyard work, and Spanish military service. expeditions Those who did forced labor were called polo players.
Members of the principalia (village aristocracy) were exempt from the polo. Wealthy Filipinos paid annually the falla, a sum amounting to seven pesos, to be exempt from forced labor. Local officials (former and current governors, barangay heads, etc.) and school teachers were also statutorily exempt from polio due to their services to the state.
Obviously, only poor Filipinos who had no social or political standing in the community were forced into forced labor. This practice contributed greatly to Filipinos’ widespread aversion to physical labor, which has only recently been surpassed by attractive wages abroad.
The conditions for forced labor were (1) that it should be used only for necessary public works and construction intended to improve the community; (2) that workers should be paid in full for their work; (3) that mayors should consider the physical condition of each worker, that is, the weak should not work too hard; (4) that workers should not be sent to work in distant lands; (5) that the provision of the service must be scheduled in such a way that it does not interfere with the planting or harvest seasons.
However, all of this was good only on paper; forced labor laws were often violated. Workers were rarely paid their wages. They were separated from their families by being forced to work in distant areas. They were not given food, as required by law; instead they had to provide their own food. Furthermore, they were embarrassingly overworked, and thousands of Filipino workers died on the job as a result.
The Philippine Tribute to the Colonial Government
In order to obtain enough money to pay for the administration of the country and the construction of churches, government buildings, roads and bridges, and transportation and communication improvements, Filipinos were forced to pay tribute called tribute to the colonial government. The tribute was imposed as a sign of the loyalty of the Filipinos to the king of Spain. Those who paid tribute were people over sixteen and under sixty. At first, a tribute of eight reales was collected. The tribute increased in 1598 and a small part, called the sanctorum, went to the church. Due to widespread opposition to the tribute and abuses in its collection, the king abolished it in 1884. In its place, the personal identity card, whose equivalent is the current residence certificate, was introduced.
Aside from tribute, Filipinos also paid other taxes. There were the predial tithes, the donation from Zamboanga and the vinta. Predial tithes were a tax consisting of one-tenth of the produce of the land. The Zamboanga donation, introduced in 1635, was taxed specifically used for the conquest of Jolo. The vinta was a tax paid by the inhabitants of the provinces along the coast of western Luzon to defend the area from Muslim pirates common at the time, as can still be seen from the surviving stone towers (where the bells to warn the town when the Muslim pirates arrived).