Editing History of the Philippines (section)

===Spanish rule during the 19th century===
[[File:Landing Balanguingui.jpg|thumb|The landing of the [[Spanish expedition to Balanguingui|Spanish expedition to Sulu]] by [[Antonio Brugada]].|left]]
The Philippines was included in the vast territory of the Kingdom of Spain, in the first constitution of Spain promulgated in Cadiz in 1812. It was never a colony as modern-day historical literature would say, but an overseas region in Asia (Spanish Constitution 1812). The Spanish Constitution of 1870 provides for the first autonomous community for "Archipelago Filipino" where all provinces in the Philippine Islands will be given the semi-independent home rule program.

[[File:Maria Clara Gown.jpg|thumb|upright|Filipina mestiza women]]
During the 19th century Spain invested heavily in education and infrastructure. Through the Education Decree of December 20, 1863, [[Isabella II of Spain|Queen Isabella II of Spain]] decreed the establishment of a free public school system that used Spanish as the language of instruction, leading to increasing numbers of educated Filipinos.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fundación Santa María (Madrid)|1994| p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=QDegTDTzMlAC&pg=PA508 508]}}</ref> Additionally, the opening of the [[Suez Canal]] in 1869 cut travel time to Spain, which facilitated the rise of the [[ilustrado]]s, an enlightened class of Spanish-Filipinos that had been able to enroll in Spanish and European universities.

A great number of infrastructure projects were undertaken during the 19th century that put the Philippine economy and standard of living ahead of most of its Asian neighbors and even many European countries at that time. Among them were a [[Philippine National Railways|railway system]] for Luzon, a tramcar network for Manila, and Asia's first steel suspension bridge Puente Claveria, later called [[Puente Colgante (Manila)|Puente Colgante]].

<ref name="Borja">{{cite book|author=De Borja|first=Marciano R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xXpiujH2uOwC&pg=PA132|title=Basques in the Philippines|publisher=University of Nevada Press|year=2005|isbn=9780874175905|location=Reno|page=132}}</ref>

[[File:Ilustrados 1890.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Ilustrado]]s'' in Madrid, {{Circa|1890}}]]

On August 1, 1851, the [[Bank of the Philippine Islands|Banco Español-Filipino de Isabel II]] was established to attend the needs of the rapid economic boom, that had greatly increased its pace since the 1800s as a result of a new economy based on a rational exploitation of the agricultural resources of the islands. The increase in textile fiber crops such as [[abacá]], oil products derived from the coconut, indigo, that was growing in demand, etc., generated an increase in money supply that led to the creation of the bank. Banco Español-Filipino was also granted the power to print a Philippine-specific currency (the [[Philippine peso]]) for the first time (before 1851, many currencies were used, mostly the [[pieces of eight]]).

[[File:Marcelo Azcárraga por Kaulak.png|thumb|upright|Filipino [[Marcelo Azcárraga Palmero]] born in Manila to a [[Biscay|Vizcayan]] Spaniard who was a peninsulares general in the Philippines José de Azcárraga and a Filipina mestiza María Palmero. He became the Prime minister of Spain.]]
Spanish Manila was seen in the 19th century as a model of colonial governance that effectively put the interests of the original inhabitants of the islands before those of the colonial power. As [[John Crawfurd]] put it in its History of the Indian Archipelago, in all of Asia the "Philippines alone did improve in civilization, wealth, and populousness under the colonial rule" of a foreign power.<ref>John Crawfurd, ''History of the Indian Archipelago'', (1820), page 445</ref> [[John Bowring]], Governor General of British Hong Kong from 1856 to 1860, wrote after his trip to Manila:
{{blockquote|Credit is certainly due to Spain for having bettered the condition of a people who, though comparatively highly civilized, yet being continually distracted by petty wars, had sunk into a disordered and uncultivated state.

The inhabitants of these beautiful Islands upon the whole, may well be considered to have lived as comfortably during the last hundred years, protected from all external enemies and governed by mild laws vis-a-vis those from any other tropical country under native or European sway, owing in some measure, to the frequently discussed peculiar (Spanish) circumstances which protect the interests of the natives.<ref>John Bowring, "Travels in the Philippines", p. 18, London, 1875</ref>}}

In ''The Inhabitants of the Philippines'', Frederick Henry Sawyer wrote:
{{blockquote|Until an inept bureaucracy was substituted for the old paternal rule, and the revenue quadrupled by increased taxation, the Filipinos were as happy a community as could be found in any colony. The population greatly multiplied; they lived in competence, if not in affluence; cultivation was extended, and the exports steadily increased. [...] Let us be just; what British, French, or Dutch colony, populated by natives can compare with the Philippines as they were until 1895?.<ref>Frederic H. Sawyer, "[https://books.google.com/books?id=JqfeLUwFNh0C The inhabitants of the Philippines]", Preface, London, 1900</ref>}}

The first official census in the Philippines was carried out in 1878. The colony's population as of December 31, 1877, was recorded at 5,567,685 persons.<ref>[http://www.nscb.gov.ph/secstat/d_popn.asp Population of the Philippines Census Years 1799 to 2007] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120704171010/http://www.nscb.gov.ph/secstat/d_popn.asp |date=July 4, 2012}}. ''National Statistical Coordination Board'',</ref> This was followed by the 1887 census that yielded a count of 6,984,727,<ref name=Gonzalez93>{{cite web| url=http://www.populstat.info/Asia/philippc.htm| title=The Philippines: historical demographical data of the whole country| access-date=July 19, 2003| author=Jan Lahmeyer| year=1996| archive-date=March 3, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303214300/http://www.populstat.info/Asia/philippc.htm| url-status=dead}}</ref> while that of 1898 yielded 7,832,719 inhabitants.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://1898.mforos.com/1026829/7262657-censos-de-cuba-puerto-rico-filipinas-y-espana-estudio-de-su-relacion/| title=CENSOS DE CUBA, PUERTO RICO, FILIPINAS Y ESPAÑA. ESTUDIO DE SU RELACION| access-date=December 12, 2010| author=Voz de Galicia| year=1898| archive-date=May 13, 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100513030017/http://1898.mforos.com/1026829/7262657-censos-de-cuba-puerto-rico-filipinas-y-espana-estudio-de-su-relacion/| url-status=live}}</ref>