Excerpt

Spanish attempts to subjugate the Cordillera became particularly intense from the middle to the last part of the 19th century due to revived colonial interest in the Philippine archipelago with the opening of the Suez Canal in the middle of the century (Corpuz 1997, Legarda 1999). There was also a renewed effort to stimulate commerce and agriculture and exploit the great wealth of the island’s timber and mineral resources. New economic policies and programs in the archipelago were triggered by the sudden collapse of the Spanish Empire during the Napoleonic invasion. In its attempt to regain its lost glory and consolidate its possessions, Spain continued its territorial projects in the now independent America and maintained its links with the overseas provinces of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines (Capel 1994, 58). In these territories Spain launched new, more organized projects that would systematize the generation of knowledge about colonized bodies and spaces. Such endeavors included new surveys and geographical reconnaissance projects which were to serve as the basis of a modern administrative structure (Capel 1994).[…]