Principalia Ancestors: Who They Were and What They Did

As a companion article to a previous post on the usage of the title of Don, this article explores who were the principalia in each pueblo as well as what the functions of these people were.

A group of Luzon principalia men

Although the so-called principalia in each town were light years away from the privileges that the Super-principalia families of  Lakandula, Matanda, Soliman, and Mojica received from the Spanish authorities, these municipal functionaries were still better off compared to the rest of their town-mates. In fact, it was the distinction between the principalia and non-principalia in several archival documents that made me more determined in helping ordinary families trace their ancestries. Consider this: in census and tribute-related records during the Spanish period, the Spaniards usually would say something like this, and the inhabitants of the town of (town's name) are Gobernadorcillo Don so and so and his wife Doña so and so and first-born son Don so and so, Cabezas de barangay Dons so and so, their wives Doñas so and so and their eldest sons Dons so and so...and the rest of them. The REST OF THEM (los de mas). While the principalia members are clearly enumerated one by one with their wife and heir, the remaining members of society, the ordinary indios who toiled the fields day and night who had no voice in local governance, were collectively mentioned as the nameless "rest of them".

A former cabeza de barangay and his wife

For some reason, many people become interested in tracing their family trees because of some passed down tales of prominence in their hometown. I wasn't immune to this thirst for principalia forebears. In fact, my late maternal grandfather told me amazing stories of his relatives and how prominent they were in the town of Argao that I had no choice but to search for these famous relatives, which after more than 20 years of tracing my maternal line has revealed a wide array of amazing information, and I discovered that almost all my traceable ancestors on my mother's (and some on my father's) side of the family held the titles of gobernadorcillo, cabeza de barangay, fiscal, among many other titles. Of course, I have not really focused too much attention on this aspect of my family history, but in the course of my research I have become more or less almost an expert on the principalia.

To the average beginner, one might ask who or what is a principalia (also principal or principales). A simplistic definition of the term is that they were the privileged class in each town during the Spanish period. And their privilege was derived from the simple fact that their forebears were the ruling elite when the Spaniards conquered the archipelago. As a compensation to the native rulers the Spaniards created the principalia class to create a ready and direct link between the people and the colonial administration. Throughout the 333 years of Spanish colonization of the Philippines there were several times when the functions of the principalia were redefined. However, for the most part of the history of the principalia the group was composed of more or less the same people. 

A principalia family from Argao, Cebu, c. 1890s.

According to Padre Juan Ferrando, O.P., a former Rector and Chancellor of the Royal University of Santo Tomas in Manila, in his work Historia de los PP Dominicos en las Islas Filipinas y en sus Misiones del Japon, China, Tung-kin y Formosa, the institution (principalia) . . . was much more ancient than the conquest of the Islands by the Spanish Crown. They were the true aristocracy, and the heirs of hereditary leadership that constituted the true nobility.  The authoritative Blair and Robertson compendium defines the principalia as "being composed of the actual cabezas de barangay, ex-cabezas de barangay, current and past gobernadorcillos (the latter called capitan pasado)."

Dr. Norman G. Owen in an article exploring the Bikolano principalia, and perhaps also the only comprehensive discussion on the principalia to date, wrote that "in most cases the term "principal" was essentially political (or sociopolitical) in content. The term and usage was considered absolute, not relative, unlike our term "upper class" today.  There might have been variation in application from scribe to scribe, but each of them seemed to have had a clear idea of who was, and who was not, entitled to be called a Don; rare is the document in which either everyone or no one receives this title. It is clear that the principalia did have a strong economic base, as we shall see; there is a sense in which a poor principal is almost a contradiction in terms. Yet before a wealthy man could obtain recognition as a principal he had to transmute this wealth, by a process difficult to document but not to imagine, into political and social currency.

Former President Jose P. Laurel in his book about the history of local government in the Philippines, further elaborated on the composition of the principalia as being composed of: the gobernadorcillo; the chief of police; the lieutenants of police, field, and large cattle; the former gobernadorcillos; the cabezas de barangay in office and those who had been such for a period of ten years without any bad record. Although these additional individuals were not necessarily principalia, they were elected together with the gobernadorcillo and were most likely from the principalia families. Naturally, this included all the wives and first born sons. The reason why the eldest son was also given preferential treatment, aside from the common practice of primogeniture, was because he was also deputized to assist his father in tax collection.

In some other sources there were also tenientes and awardees of the Medal of Civil Merit that were included in the composition of the town's principalia. Also assisting the principalia were the Directorcillo (sometimes called an Escribano), the Vacunadorcillo, the two Testigos Acompañados, and the Alguaciles. And while all but the alguaciles held the title of "Don" it is unclear if they were actually members of the principalia or simply auxiliary to the body.

And here is where I want to caution researchers who are captivated by the idea of tracing principalia ancestors because of the promise of being descendants of native nobility. While the earliest gobernadorcillos, cabezas de barangay, and other members of the principalia were without question descendants of datus, rajahs, and lakans, the so called principalia later in the end of the 18th century and beyond were no longer from the same breed. According to Horacio de la Costa, the first Filipino Provincial Superior of the Society of Jesus in the Philippines and a recognized authority in Philippine and Asian culture and history in his book Asia and the Philippines, "the barangay had almost disappeared as a kinship group by the end of the 18th century; what continued to be called by that name was merely a territorial or even an arbitrary grouping of tribute-paying families, and the cabeza de barangay merely a member of the municipal council charged with collecting their tribute. Thus, cabezas de barangay and even capitanes del pueblo no longer had in many towns the social ascendancy they used to have in earlier times."  Historian Michael Cullinane also hints of this in his article in the book Population and History: he wrote that the municipal magistrates, who were collectively called the principalia, initially descended from indigenous barangay headmen, called a datu.

The exclusivity of the principalia being reserved only for descendants of native nobility clearly started to change due to several reforms: on December 20, 1863 an educational reform stipulated that "proficiency in the Castilian language, written and spoken, was necessary for those considered to be raised to the rank of cabeza de barangay, which formed the base of the principalia. Dr. Owen further discovered in his research that "the spread of new settlements throughout 19th century Kabikolan might have diluted principalia power, but in some cases there is evidence that principales sponsored, protected, and even led these settlements".

On May 19, 1893, another reform was made. Called the Maura Law after its principal author, Don Antonio Maura y Montañer, then Spanish Minister of Colonies, this law was meant to liberalize municipal institutions in the Philippines. The reform further eroded the structure of the principalia; because of the reform, the principalia was now defined to compose of: 

1. Someone who has been a gobernadorcillo prior to the Maura Law;
2. To have been a lieutenant of justice;
3. To be currently a cabeza de barangay or to have held the title of cabeza for ten years without bad record;
4. To have been a former capitan;
5. To have been a municipal lieutenant during the legal time without any unfavorable standing; and,
6. Someone paying $50 land tax.

Says Dr. Owen: "outside the narrowly economic sphere, the principalia also exercised the kind of predominance that tends to reinforce the theory that they descended from datus. Within the municipality they were largely free to do as they wished, so long as they turned over the requisite taxes and manpower to the government. . .Collectively, the principalia would not hesitate to defy either the priest or the alcalde (though usually not both) if they felt they had a good case to argue higher up; so long as they made no outright declarations of rebellion, Manila would not send in troop, and provincial authorities were weak on coercive power".

Collectively, the principalia had numerous duties imposed upon them by the Ordenanzas de Buen Gobierno. Sections 54 and 92 required them to be in charge of the construction of casas reales (municipal buildings), churches, jails, and other public works, like repairs of roads and bridges. They also had other functions, such as the extermination of locusts (according to Article 58), the persecution of gamblers (Article 29), and other police duties like patrolling and placing of guards (Article 27). And of course, the true raison d'être of the principalia: they had to supervise the collection of taxes, making of the census of the poblacion (again, to know who must pay taxes), and the preparation of the lists of polos y servicios.

According to University of the Philippines professor Jose N. Enriga, "the cabeza de barangay's main responsibility was to look after the peace-and-order situation of his barangay, to see the enforcement of the polos y servicios (forced labor), and to collect the tributes of the inhabitants of his jurisdiction.  In this capacity as tribute collector, he was then an agent of the Royal Hacienda which required him to post a bond, in the form of goods and property, which were confiscated in case he failed to remit his collections within the allotted time.  As compensation for his responsibility, the cabeza was entitled to one and a half per cent (1.5%) of his tribute collection.  He, his wife, and eldest son were also exempted from paying tribute and from rendering the polo y servicio.  His family was also entitled to use Don/Doña and given preferential treatment during ceremonies.  The Gobernadorcillo, or petty chief, on the other hand, was the head of the pueblo.  He was both chief executive and judicial officer.  In cases involving small sums of money and in petty criminal cases, the Gobernadorcillo’s judicial authority was final.  In cases of bigger importance, he was supposed to make preliminary investigation and forward his findings to the alcalde mayor or the provincial governor.  The Gobernadorcillo was in charge of the collection of all manner of taxes and saw to it that the townspeople were productive.  Just like the cabeza, he received one and a half per cent of his collections, was addressed as Don, given special treatment, and received a salary of two pesos per month."

2 documents showing some of the positions of the principalia

The other major positions in the Spanish-era principalia structure were the Teniente Primero or the Teniente Mayor and the various Juezes who were elected together with the Gobernadorcillo.  The Teniente Primero was, as the title suggests, the First Lieutenant of the Gobernadorcillo.  This position has the modern-day equivalent of a Vice-Mayor, except, according to the job description of the Teniente Primero, he was also the head of the Alguaciles or local police, although this function was later taken over by the Juez de Policia.  While there have been varying numbers of Juezes elected in various elections in the town’s history, it is generally accepted that there were three primary Juezes who were always present in almost every election:  the Juezes de Policia, Sementera, and Ganados.  The Juez de Sementera was the Superintendent of Fields and was in charge with the general conduct of planting and harvesting.  The Juez de Ganados, on the other hand, was the Superintendent of Livestock.  A third addition was made sometime in the mid-1800s in the office of the Juez de Policia, who functioned as the Chief of Police and supervised the local police, or the Alguaciles.  The Alguaciles were, loosely speaking, still members of the Principalia, as they were elected together with the other town officials prior to 1863.  After 1863, however, the Alguaciles were probably elected separately, and were drawn from the non-principalia families already.  Other positions were related to specific products of the town, for example the Juez de Algodon and the Juez de Cacao; these were abolished once the town’s cotton (algodon) and cacao productions dwindled.

Other offices were probably appointed, such as the Directorcillo, whose function was to handle all municipal business transacted in Spanish including official reports and generally acted as the secretary and clerk of the gobernadorcillo.  The title was later changed to Escribano.  Then there was the Vacunadorcillo, who was the general Health Officer of the town, and was also exempt from the polo y servicios and the tributo. Finally, the two Testigos Acompañados, which was later changed to Suplentes, were always part of the town officials, and acted as official witnesses to all municipal transactions and documents.

As always, I would like to end this discussion with the advice that genealogy is far better and more enriching if the focus is not simply on the superficial aspects of life, such as focusing simply on tracing principalia ancestors in the hope of finding noble ancestry. What if one discovers that his family's membership with the principalia happened only much later in the Spanish period, thus indicating non-descent from the native nobility? The researcher would seriously be disappointed. That is why, when tracing family trees, one should look at the general picture, of the journey of one's ancestors, and the family's ability to survive and adjust in every passing generation.

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Sources and Further Reading:

1. Report of the Philippine commission to the President, January 31, 1900-December 20, 1900.
2. Jose P. Laurel, Local government in the Philippine Islands. Manila: La Pilarica press, 1936.
3. Emma Helen Blair and James A. Robertson, The Philippine Islands: 1493-1898, Cleveland, Ohio: The A. H. Clark company, 1903-09.
4. Dr. Norman G. Owen, "The Principalia in Philippine History: Kabikolan, 1790-1898", Philippine Studies Vol. 22, No. 3-4. Manila: Ateneo de Manila, 1974. 
5. Michael Cullinane, "Accounting for Souls: Ecclesiastical Sources for the Study of Philippine Demographic History", Population and History: The Demographic Origins of the Modern Philippines. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1998.
6. Fr. Juan Ferrando, O.P., Historia de los PP Dominicos en las Islas Filipinas y en sus Misiones del Japon, China, Tung-kin y Formosa, Madrid: 1870.
7. Jose N. Enriga, “Stability and Change: The Civil Service in the Philippines.” An Introduction to Public Administration in the Philippines: A Reader. Quezon City: UP College of Public Administration. 1993. 
8. Horacio de la Costa. "The Formative Century, 1760-1860," Asia and the Philippines, Manila: 1967.
9. Photos courtesy of the Philippine National Archives, the Albarracin-Alcazaren family collection, and the Saniel family collection

The DONs and DON'Ts of Tracing Principalia Ancestors

Relative to the previous two articles on noble surnames and the Lakan Genealogy, today I will discuss briefly another common mistake that many Filipinos commit when they make their family trees.

For some unknown reason, Filipinos are extremely oversensitive when it comes to the use of titles. A college professor gets slighted when she is referred to only as professor, and not a doctor, if she already has a Ph.D., or perhaps a lawyer would feel insulted if called a "Mr." instead of an "Attorney". I once spoke with a barangay councilor on the phone who greeted me with "good morning this is Honorable First Councilor *FIRST AND LAST NAME*". A short walk around a cemetery, any Filipino cemetery, would give one a sampling of just how important titles are to us that even in death we wish to be memorialized with these titles. For eternity.

These titles today are sources of pride for many Filipinos, and, for the social climbers, these titles are sure signs of social standing. Such titles also adorn the family trees that are found in genealogy books as well as those that are blown up and displayed on the walls at home. Here were see not just Drs. (Doctors) and Attys. (Attorneys) but also Frs. (Fathers), Sis. (Sisters), Engrs. (Engineers), Profs. (Professors), and so much more. And, if we are lucky enough to see family trees that go back to the Spanish period, then we see other titles such as Don, Doña, or even the more ennobling Sr. Don (Señor Don) or Sra. Doña (Señora Doña). 

Many people trace their trees hoping to find at least one "Don" in their relatives as if this would somehow make their history better. While I respect people's reasons for doing genealogy in my experience having a Don in the family tree is nothing but a quaint footnote in our history. Some people go as far as memorializing this title through the name of public markets, schools, streets, cultural centers, and other edifices  In my humble opinion, a DON CRISOSTOMO IBARRA High School does not really ring anything to the listener. It just tells us that someone had enough money to donate the land or materials to build the school. That he was rich and prominent. All shallow and downright useless.

But since we are talking about the title Don, why don't we set the record straight as to who has the right to use the title.

First of all, the title DON is not an acronym for De Origen Noble, as what some people like to believe (maybe to make them more royal, I suppose). In fact, the title Don is the Hispanization of the Latin word dom, which means master or owner and was used as a title of sovereignty in the Roman times. As a title with such lofty roots it was then originally used only by members of royalty, the nobility, and church dignitaries. 

When the Spaniards came to the Philippines the first to use the title were those of high rank in the various expeditions that visited the Philippines. When Legazpi conquered the Philippine islands for his king the former rulers of each barangay or pockets of kingdom throughout the archipelago were granted the privilege of continuing to govern their respective barangays, but this time as agents of the Spanish crown. These nobles became the cabezas de barangay and the gobernadorcillos of each pueblo or town and were known collectively as the principalia.

A scanned copy of exempted individuals, all descendants of
Lakandula. Notice that all children were given the titles of
Don and Dona.

List of exempted cabezas and their spouses, all
bearing the titles Don and Dona.

With the formation of the principalia class also came the benefits. The principales of each town were exempted from forced labor and from paying tribute. It is not clear whether the earlier laws covered ALL members of a principales' family members, but later laws in the colony limited these perks to the wife and eldest son of the principales. This was true among the descendants of Lakandula, Soliman, Matanda, and Mojica. These clans were known as the super-principalia class, which then made them socially higher than the local principalia. These four families had the distinct advantage of having all members enjoy all these perks. However, later Governors-General of the colony revoked this blanket privilege and limited it to the male line and their eldest sons.

Thus, this should be the first lookout for those with principalia antecedents. So while your cabeza or gobernadorcillo ancestor carried the title of Don, only his wife was permitted the title Doña and their eldest son the title of Don, as well. So if your ancestor was a only a second or even younger son or a daughter then he or she should not be listed in your family tree and/or history as having the title. 

List of heirs of former cabezas and mestizos.
Though exempted from tribute they did not
have the title of Don anymore.

It would appear, however, that the title was not granted for life because in several Reservados por Priveligeo documents in the National Archives  the herederos or heirs (the eldest son, mostly) of former cabezas and gobernadorcillos were still listed as exempted from tributes but were listed down without a title. So it would appear that the privileges of the principales did not extend to the second generation.

Most Spaniards and Spanish mestizos in the Philippines were also addressed as Don, although this was not exactly indiscriminately given to just any Spaniard or Spanish mestizo. In fact, Spaniards who were of a lower social standing were never addressed as Don in archival records. Some attained such title when their social status improved (i.e. they became rich and prominent). In the same list of exempted individuals at least three mestizos were identified but none bore the title of Don. The priests in the Philippines were also addressed as Don, and based on church records both the Hispanic and the native priests were addressed as Don.

The Chinese immigrants as well as the mestizo sangleyes also attained the title as their prominence and wealth became too much for the Spanish authorities to ignore. Thus, even before the Americans came, there were many Chinese and Filipino-Chinese men who were addressed as Don.

Later, when the Spaniards left and the Americans took over the title of Don lost all its aristocratic trappings and was simply used by the prominent and the wealthy, regardless of their antecedents. Thus, more and more people appeared in newspapers and documents bearing the title Don and Doña.

Today, of course, the title is an anachronism. Many of the genealogists I know also snort with derision when people get excited at seeing their ancestors written as a Don or Doña in church and other records. For me, I suppose there is no harm in calling your ancestor as a Don or Doña provided they were granted that title. We must always remember that regardless of our ancestors' title (or lack of) we still learn a lot from the life they lived and led.Genealogy, after all, is not just about the titled, but also about the nameless in history.

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Scanned copies of the archival documents from the Philippine National Archives.