Philippine E-Journals

Doctor Don Joseph Patricio de Molina, S.T.D.

Luciano P. R. Santiago

Discipline: History, Theology

 

Abstract:

The life, labors and times of Dr. Don Joseph Patricio de Molina (1741- 1798), the First Spanish-Mestizo Doctor of Sacred Theology, reflected in many ways the little known plight and struggles of, as well as the social ambivalence toward, the Spanish-mestizo, a privileged minority in Spanish Philippines. In that era, the Spaniards and Spanish mestizos constituted the nobility in the Islands, having been exempted by royal decree from paying tributes and performing polos y servicios (forced labor and personal services). However, the mestizos were placed a notch lower than the Spaniards, whether peninsulares or criollos. This is not to mention the fact that a wide gap also developed between the latter two groups.