The elections of igorot gobernadorcillos in the Philippines at late 19th century

Abstract

This article analyzes the procedures used at the end of the 19th century for the selection of the “Gobernadorcillos” of the “Igorrotes” of the Philippines, and its peculiarities, in comparison to the system implemented by the colonial administration for the Indian villages. The article outlines the objectives and strategies employed to subjugate the peoples of these territories under the grandiloquent aspiration of progress and evangelization; strategies that were marked by corrupt practices used in the co-optation of the native elites. The common and distinctive profiles that characterized elections in smaller villages, are comparatively studied with respect to the elections held in the principal towns of regions already incorporated into the colonial sheepfold. Lastly, based on the analysis of a varied number of case-studies, the article uncovers the factors that determined the selection of the principal “igorrotes” with regard to socioeconomic, military and religious criteria.