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- Title:
- Farming Family (Part B)
- Date Created:
- 2021-03-06
- Description:
- No one was to employ anyone to cultivate for them. There were fines for deviants. Even traditional leading natives were not exempt. Each family was farming to feed itself and pay its tribute to the King, its required tithing to the church and costs of community upkeep. Where terrain could take it, missionaries had introduced the “carabao-powered” plow toward efficiency and better harvest during the first colonial century. During the start of the second century, our focus for now, food shortages occurred and population decreased. Men of a parish were rounded up for the required 40 days of government service (called “polo”) that could be during the seasons of planting and harvesting. There was no one left home to farm rice. Assigned far from their town to fell trees for ship building, crew, and even fight marauders from the south the men often died or their stints were extended up to 8 months. Cooks (sometimes as young as 7 years old) and other staff of priests were exempt from polo. One native revolt after another due to abuses had to be quelled around the islands. No lay Spanish lived in the towns at this point. The collector came when he could and was not allowed to stay overnight. Missionaries and parish priests were Spain’s culture bearers. And that includes Spanish cooking.
- Subjects:
- Philippines -- History -- 1521-1896 Agriculture -- Philippines Water buffalo Plowing Labor Spain -- Colonies -- Asia -- Officials and employees Revolutions Philippines -- Colonial Influence
- Exhibition:
- 100 Minus 8
- Source:
- Detail from “Man and Woman Riding a Carabao”. Fernando Amorsolo. 1956. Dr. Eleuterio Pascual Collection.
- Type:
- Image;Still Image
- Format:
- image/jpeg
Source
- Preferred Citation:
- "Farming Family (Part B)", Philippine Food History, Felice P. Sta. Maria
- Reference Link:
- felicepstamaria.net/items/coll191.html