San Jose, Mindoro - Sozialgeschichte einer Philippinischen Zuckerhacienda im 20. Jahrhundert

Abstract One of the major problems in the agrarian history of the Philippines were the haciendas owned by the Spanish religious orders at the end of the 19th century. The deteriorating social conditions on the haciendas in the region round Manila were one reason for the outbreak of the Revolution in 1896. After the United States replaced Spain as the colonial master of the Philippines in 1898, it was decided on political grounds to eliminate the friars as landholders. Thus, in 1904 the San Jose Hacienda on the island of Mindoro was also purchased by the new colonial government. The San Jose Hacienda with a total area of 23,266 ha had been founded by the Recollect Order at the end of the 19th century. The remote and undeveloped hacienda was sold to American businessmen in 1910. In the course of the years they invested several million US-dollars and transformed it into the most modern sugar hacienda in the Philippines. Due to their ignorance of running such a large hacienda in harmony with the customs of the country, they went bankrupt. Thus, the Archbishop of Manila bought the sugar hacienda for a good price in 1929. The business, however, never recovered because of the depression and limitations of sugar exports to the United States. The sugar mill was severely damaged during World War II and, after a short phase of recovery in the 1950s, it was closed down. The sugar plant and all the equipment was transferred to another hacienda on the island of Panay in the early 1970s. Unemployed laborers and small farmers occupied parts of the former sugar land. Until now (1987) they are still squatters, cultivating the land without any titles.