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Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Osmeña: History of global trade in Cebu
By Antonio V. Osmeña
Estatements
Today, standing beside a Cebu City fire department station is a simple cross. It is all that remained of one of the richest churches in the 19th century Philippines.
Destroyed not by war or natural disaster, the exquisite Parian parish church was demolished in an act of vengeance aimed directly at Cebu’s powerful Chinese mestizo community.
In 1849, after two decades of conflict, the Spanish governor general ordered the suppression of the Parian parish and the destruction of its church.
Thirty years later the Spanish bishop of Cebu carried out that order and the church was disassembled stone by stone-a unique event in Philippine ecclesiastical history and, perhaps, even in the history of Christendom.
This bitter, protracted conflict was but one indication of the rising influence of the mestizo minority in 19th century Cebu and its seminal role in the formation of the city’s modern elite.
The official opening of Manila to foreign trade in 1834 led to the widespread cultivation of commercial crops that were in increasing demand in world markets.
In the 1940s, Cebu’s hinterland and most of the lowland plains along the east coast of the island, were used for sugar cultivation. Crude rolling devices were erected and sugar was shipped to Manila for export.
By mid-century, Cebu province had become one of the Philippines leading sugar producers. Cebu City was well on its way to becoming a major center of commerce. It was the mestizo merchants and ship owners who played leading roles in all aspects of the external trade with Manila and the Visayas, and, as sugar production increased, they reaped considerable profits.
There can be little doubt that the mestizos were among the prime movers in the development of Cebu’s sugar production. But they were not alone in these pursuits. Another important element had appeared—a small but very influential group of Spanish merchants.
Although there were no more than six (almost all from the mother country), these Spaniards played a critical role in the trade with Manila and the development of commercial sugar production, by extending large amounts of credit to primary producers and mestizo middlemen. They acquired land in the city and in nearby municipalities and owned sailcraft, houses and warehouses.
Through their commercial activities, most of them accumulated considerable wealth and settled permanently in Cebu. These Spaniards interacted quite closely with the leading mestizo merchants not only by loaning them money and engaging in business, but also by sharing the higher position in the urban society.
In 1960, the Spanish government issued a decree opening the port of Cebu to direct foreign trade. In 1863, foreign vessels began to appear in Cebu to take cargoes of sugar and hemp for direct shipment to ports outside the Philippines.
By 1866, in response to the new economic opportunities, four major foreign business houses had established agencies in Cebu.
In the mid-18th century, the City of Cebu was bound to Manila by ecclesiastical, bureaucratic and mercantile ties. By the end of the 19th century. Cebu had become an autonomous entrepot dealing directly with the centers of global economy.
The City had tightened its hold over a greatly expanded hinterland and effectively drew away western Leyte, Bohol, northern Mindanao and eastern Negros from Manila’s orbit. For this extensive region, the lines of capital, shipping, imports and exports led first to Cebu and from there to the centers of the world economy
Today, Cebu continues to emerge as the archipelago’s business city because its political leaders and merchants promoted regional autonomy, not national integration. The vibrant Cebuano language resisted the encroachment of a Tagalog-based national language.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (August 2, 2006 issue)
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