| The Claveria Decree - Why Filipinos have Spanish Surnames |
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Page 1 of 5 Why do most Filipinos have Spanish surnames? It was because of the decree of Governor General D. Narciso Claveria y Zaldua who could not distinguished the indios from one another because of lack of surnames. CLAVERIA'S DECREE ON FILIPINO SURNAMES*21 November 1849 *From the "Introduction" of Dr. Domingo Abella in Catalogo Alfabetico Apellidos (1849). Reprinted by the National Archives in Manila in 1973. Publication no. D-3. During my visit to the majority of the provinces of these islands, I observed that the natives in general lack individual surnames, which distinguished them by families. They arbitrarily adopt the names of saints and this practice has resulted in the existence of thousands of individuals having the same surname. Likewise, I saw the resultant confusion with regard to the administration of justice, government, finance, and public order, and the far-reaching moral, civil and religious consequences to which this might lead, because the family names are not transmitted from the parents to their children, so that it is sometimes impossible to prove the degrees of consanguinity for purpose of marriage, rendering useless the parochial books which in Catholic countries are used for all kinds of transactions. For this purpose, a catalogue of family names has been compiled, including the indigenous names collected by the Reverend Fathers Provincial of the religious orders, and the Spanish surnames they have been able to acquire, along with those furnished by the vegetable and mineral kingdoms, geography, arts, etc. In view of the extreme usefulness and practicality of this measure, the time has come to issue a directive for the formation of a civil register, which may not only fulfill and ensure the said objectives, but may also serve as the basis for the statistics of the country, guarantee the collection of taxes, the regular performance of personal services, and the receipt of payment for exemptions. It likewise provides exact information of the movement of the population; thus avoiding unauthorized migrations, hiding taxpayers, and other abuses. |
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