The subdivision of the provinces was into pueblos each under its petty governor or gobernadorcillo. The gobernadorcillo was an Indian and was elected annually. In Morga's time the right of suffrage seems to have been enjoyed by all married Indians,[1] but in the last century it was restricted to thirteen electors.[2] The gobernadorcillo was commonly called
- ↑ Morga, p. 323.
- ↑ Jagor describes an election which he saw in the town of Lauane, of four thousand five hundred inhabitants, in the little island of the same name which lies just off the north shore of Samar. As it is the only description of such a local election that I recall I quote it in full. "It took place in the town house. At the table sits the Governor or his proxy, on his right the pastor and on his left the secretary who is the interpreter. All the Cabezas de Barangay, the Gobernadorcillo and those who have formerly been such have taken their places on the benches. In the first place six of the Cabezas, and six of the ex-Gobernadorcillos respectively are chosen by lot to serve as electors. The Gobernadorcillo in office makes the thirteenth. The rest now leave the room. After the chairman has read the rules and exhorted the electors to fulfil their duty conscientiously, they go one by one to the table and write three names on a ballot. Whoever receives the largest number of votes is forthwith nominated for Gobernadorcillo for the ensuing year, if the pastor or the electors make no well-founded objections subject to the confirmation of the superior court in Manila, which is a matter of course since the influence of the pastor would prevent an unsuitable choice. The same process was followed in the election of the other local officials except that the new Gobernadorcillo was called in that he might make any objections to the selections. The whole transaction was very quiet and dignified." Reisen in den Philippinen, Berlin, 1873, pp. 189–190.
Sir John Bowring's account of this system of local administration is the clearest of those I have found in English books. A Visit to the Philippine Islands, London, 1859, pp. 89–93.
thousand persons, and haughtily exacting the homage and incense of the spiritual ministers of the towns under his jurisdiction, as well as of the parish curates, respectable for their acquirements and benevolence, and who in their own native places, would possibly have rejected as a servant the very man whom in the Philippines they are compelled to court, and obey as a sovereign." State of the Philippine Islands, London, 1821, p. 194.
