Title:
WINE & RICE REVENUE
Date Created:
2021-07-26
Description:
In 1701 the Dominican priest Jose Villa wrote there could be no masses because the wine for them from His Majesty was not arriving. Reserves were running low. Officials from Filipinas, he ventured, had been requesting less than is needed from Mexican officials who handled the shipment. Parishes were to become self-sufficient and produce surplus that could be sold. Rice was the favoured commodity. Missionaries were proud to show gains they influenced and the steadiness of attendance at church rituals. Their enemy was often the Alcalde-Mayor according to Villa. Under the civil official were natives obliged to accept the position of gobernadorcillo. The Alcalde-Mayor customarily held gobernadorcillos under his jurisdiction responsible for handing over tributes with matching registries. The latter paid from their own resources any insufficiency claimed by their superior. Indebtedness was punished by imprisonment. When dying in prison relatives had to raise whatever debt he was accused of. The Alcaldes set the prices of goods (often above the usual value) and would leave some with village leaders. If unsold the leader was forced to pick up the tab. Such was life of farming communities in the second colonial century. With profit earned from the land came abuses from those who did not toil.
Subjects:
Jose Villa Wine Abuses Injustice
Exhibition:
Philippine Food 200
Source:
Wine at Mass. Wikipedia
Type:
Image;Still Image
Format:
image/jpeg
Source
Preferred Citation:
"WINE & RICE REVENUE", Philippine Food History, Felice P. Sta. Maria
Reference Link:
felicepstamaria.net/items/coll261.html
Rights
Rights:
public domain