An increase in trade and commercial activity as well as in feudal exploitation served as backdrop for the revolutionary drama that was to unfold in Cebu of the late 1800s.

In 1860, the port of Cebu was formally opened to foreign trade bringing with it an influx of imported goods as well as Chinese immigrants and foreign commercial houses. Before 1860, only 20 Chinese merchants and artisans resided in the port area. In a survey 34 years later, there were already 1,416 Chinese in the province, majority residing in the city and the adjacent San Nicholas district.

By the 1880s, Cebu was already a well-established commercial center. Ships loaded with agricultural products like tobacco, abaca, and sugar regularly left for the United States, England, and Spain. In volume of trade, Cebu ranked third only to Manila and Iloilo.

Foreign commercial houses sprouted following the expansion of trade. Mentioned in the Spanish Protocols are firms like Russel and Sturgis (U.S.), Loney. Kerr and Company (England) and Smith, Bell and Company (England).

When before only the Colegio de San Carlos and several Chinese, Spanish and Cebuano merchants extended credit, these foreign commercial houses offered alternative short-term loans at high interest. Local companies like Osmeña Rita and Co. served mainly as their compradors or agents, receiving cash advances to purchase and transport export crops.

From 1860-1884, cultivation of more tobacco, sugar, and abacca came in response to the increased demand for these export crops. In a drive to expand their agricultural production, local cultivators of these export crops borrowed from the speculators who confiscated land upon default.

The Cebuano economy sharply felt the pains of being tied to foreign trade when sugar prices fell due to its overproduction. Cebu’s sugar exports dropped from 28,195 tons in 1885 to 18,140 tons in 1886.

The opening of the port of Cebu to foreign trade brought more opportunities for foreign and local merchants while heightening the exploitation of local tenant farmers. One Marxist historian comments: “The peasant masses were compelled not only to continue producing a surplus in staple crops to feed and keep the colonial and feudal parasites in comfort but also to produce an ever-increasing amount of raw materials for export to various capitalist countries.”

By: Ybarra