Death of the Pandays 17th Century Philippines

by

Roel Cantada

The panday played an important role in the 16^th century barangay. The panday is any craftsman who specialized in metals e.g. gold, silver, steel; and wood i.e. a master carpenter. He is the person who produces weapons, farm implements, boats, wooden houses, and even jewelry. Without the panday these material culture would not be produced, at least not in the same scale as in the 16^th century.

What happened to them in the 17^th century. Why do we, the forbears of the converted Christians or indios no longer possess kalises, lantakas and the balangay boats? Why have these technologies been lost? The answer lies in the way the Spaniards treated the pandays. One clue can be found in the narration of a Spaniard named Sebastian de Pineda in 1619. He said the pandays and other carpenters were employed by the Spaniards to build ships for the Spaniards in Cavite. He also said that although they were supposed to be paid, they were not paid for five years, so many have fled and left the land. Others had been caught in the crossfire of the so-called “moro” wars. His report show how much damage this forced labor wrought on the pandays when he said in 1616 there were 1,500 pandays in Cavite. Then in 1617 the moros captured 400 workmen and killed more than 200 others. Many have died through the severe work and in 1618 there were no more than 200 pandays. (De Pineda 1619) There could be around one panday in a barangay, so imagine how many barangays lost their pandays during the Spanish colonization if in only three years 1,300 of them had perished or disappeared.

The system of forced labor imposed by the Spaniards is known as polo y servicios. Men from 16 years old to sixty except datus and their eldest sons were required to serve for forty days each year starting in 1580. (Constantino 1975) Most of them were used by the Spaniards to build ships due to the Dutch wars (1600-1747), the Moro wars (1570-1898) and the Galleon Trade (16^th century to 1815).

According to Agoncillo and Guerrero (1977) the implementation of the polo y servicios disrupted the village economy. The population of many villages were drastically reduced and farm lands were laid waste. There was starvation in may barangays. And some indios revolted like the revolt led by Francisco Maniago in 1660 in Pampanga. This was followed by the Pangasinenses led by Andres Malong and Ilocanos led by Pedro Almazan. All these were suppressed by the Spaniards with the help of other indios. (Agoncillo and Guerrero)

Reference:

Agoncillo, T.A., & Guerrero, M.C. (1977). History of the Filipino people. (5^th Ed.). Quezon city: R.P. Garcia.

Constantino, R. (1975). The Philippines: A Past Revisited, Pre-Spanish-1941. Philippines: Renato Constantino.

Report of Sebastian de Pineda. 1619. Blair and Robertson. The Philippine Islands.Vol. 18.