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Nerva, Katharine Joy Ramirez, Angelica Hi166- J Cigar for all: Tobacco in the Early 20 Century Philippine Society
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When one talks about the history of tobacco in the Philippines, one usually associates it with the Tobacco Monopoly that was established during the Spanish regime. Our knowledge then is mostly in the context of the political and the economic. What we often overlook is the equally important social aspect, especially from the grassroots level. This is what this paper will aim to present and this will be done by first presenting a background on the tobacco industry and then by transitioning to how the industry was able to influence the social lives of the Filipinos. The presence of tobacco in the country dates back to the last quarter of the sixteenth century when it was introduced by Spanish missionaries from Mexico. As pointed out by Francisco Leandro de Viana, crown attorney of the Audiencia of Manila, tobacco was mostly consumed by the Spaniards in the country and the Indios. However, it was only in the late eighteenth century that the Spaniards capitalized on this widespread use.
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At the end of the galleon trade, Governor-General Jose Basco organized a reorientation for Spains colony. The new economy of the country was established to maximize production of cash crops, contributing much to the income of the country. Part of this effort was the tobacco monopoly started in 1782. The monopoly limited the selling of the harvested tobacco plants by the Indios to the government which, in turn, manufacture these and either export them to other countries or sell them back to the Indios. Throughout its hundreds of years of operation, the monopoly became the major agricultural source of revenue for the government as it brought millions of profit. (See Appendix 1) Upon the abolition of the monopoly, private enterprises began to enter the industry. The most prominent one was the Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas which built the first and largest cigarette factory named La Flor de Isabela in 1885. Following this, cigarette factories began to increase in number and this continued even until the American occupation. To illustrate this, approximately 300 cigarette factories were operating in the country by 1910.
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Most of us have long been aware of the fact that colonial exploitation reached another peak through this business in which the increase in revenues and profit benefitted the colonizers more than it

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Henry O. Jacobson, Tobacco in the Philippine Islands (Manila: Bureau of Printing, 1914), 1. Edilberto C. de Jesus, Establishment and Organization, The Tobacco Monopoly in the Philippines: Bureaucratic Enterprise and Social Change, 1766-1880 (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1980), 29. 3 Ibid. 4 Patricio Abinales and Donna Amoroso, State and Societies, 1764-1898, State and Society in the Philippines (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2005), 76 5 Ibid. 6 Ibid. 7 Jacobson, Tobacco in the Philippine Islands, 2. 8 Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas (Barcelona: H. Miralles, 1925), 15. 9 Jacobson, Tobacco in the Philippine Islands, 14.

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did the Filipinos. However, we also recognize that, as tobacco became a major export product, it introduced more job opportunities to the Filipinos.
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Within this broader context of the economics and the

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politics, tobacco consumption among the Filipinos also began to increase radically. During the American occupation, an annual consumption of cigarettes amounting to four and a half billion was recorded.
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The

Filipino consumers was not limited to the adult male demographic but in fact, included people of all sexes and ages. From this, we can see that the influence of tobacco has extended beyond its role in the realm

of the political and the economic and has, in fact, successfully permeated that of the social, trickling down from the factory workers and even to the very basic unit that is the family. Of notable importance is the fact that most tobacco factories employed women ranging from their twenties to their fifties.
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The vital role that cigarreras played in this industry radically changed prominent
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views that women back then were mostly confined to their homes . Women workers were preferred over men because they were seen as more adept and patient in the task of rolling cigars and were less capable of being dishonest and fraudulent.
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However, far from being subservient, cigarreras were

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reported to have also organized strikes to campaign for better working conditions.
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These resulted in

them observing regular working hours, being subjected to work regulations, receiving standard salary and in being accorded with leave benefits.
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In fact, as an Australian writer noted, the women of the

Philippines seemed to enjoy more independence more than anywhere else in Asia primarily because of the economic edge that they had.

Apart from playing a huge role in the advancement of women in the society, tobacco, with its direct consumption, was integral to the daily lives of the ordinary Filipino family. A number of foreigners, much to their surprise, have noted the very public consumption of tobacco by women and even of children. Even early in the morning, girls and women were seen smoking as they walked to their respective destinations.
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In 1900, a foreigner who witnessed an afternoon Filipino play wrote that he saw
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how nearly every woman from different walks of life smoked a cigar even inside the theatre.
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In another

article, it was asserted that, in fact, a Filipina who does not smoke is a rare exception and that it was considered good etiquette to offer her a cigarette. However, in case she is not offered any, the Filipina

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Jonathan Best, A Philippine Album: American Era Photographs, 1900-1930 (Makati: Bookmark Inc., 1998), 71. Ibid. 12 Ibid. 13 Maria Luisa T. Camagay. Working Women of Manila in the Nineteenth Century. (University of the Philippines Press, 1995), 3-5. 14 Ibid., 21 15 Ibid.,5 16 Ibid., 2. 17 Ibid, 3. 18 The Character of the Filipinos, The Mercury, April 27 1899, accessed February 8 2014, http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/9446811. 19 The Filipino and Civilisation, Marlborough Express, May 28 1908, accessed February 15, 2014, http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=MEX19080528.2.16&srpos=5&e=-------10--1----0filipino+cigar-. 20 The Fair Filipina, Star, December 8 1900, accessed February 8, 2014, http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgibin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=TS19001208.2.12&srpos=23&e=-------10--21----0filipino+cigar--. 21 The Filipino Girl, Sausalito News, January 6, 1900, accessed February 15, 2014,http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgibin/cdnc?a=d&d=SN19000106.2.89#.

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will produce one from her stash and ask for her company to light it up.
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To a foreigners eye, the blatant

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smoking habit often robs the Filipino women of the dignity and grace that he often associates with them.

Perhaps the most salient indicator of the huge influence of tobacco in society is its incorporation into the family life. Dubbed as the family cigar, a certain form of smokes which measured from fifteen inches to a foot long was usually stored away on a hole in a bamboo post.
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This was stored just high

enough for the youngest family member to reach it. In 1907, a man who has returned from the Philippines iterated his experience of a queer form of hospitality - that of being offered the family cigar that was used communally by every member.
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Europeans and Americans are said to have been wary of what they
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deem as an unhygienic and embarrassing gesture of hospitality.

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Another etiquette which a foreigner

found intriguing was that of not flicking away the ashes, as is customary in other cultures, when a Filipino asks one for a light from a cigar.

However different the foreigners might have perceived it, the cigar was an important part of the Filipinos daily lives. A certain Mr. Frank Read, an Australian national who lived for twenty years in the country, observed that it was so important that natives who could not afford the manufactured cigars would get the tobacco leaves and roll them themselves.
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For some, the sight of children smoking while

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playing in the streets may have been controversial but this seemed to bother no one from the locals. In fact, they see this practice as being born and bred in them.

As we can see, smoking had become so ingrained in the Filipino culture so much so that a New Zealander who visited in 1907 went on to assert that the Filipinos love for smoking equalled that of their love for cock-fighting.
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Their jobs even included time allowances for this form of leisure and it seemed as
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though the act of smoking was acceptable at any time of the day.

In one observation of the Filipinas, a

dainty lady was seen as storing away the cigar on a crevice in the balustrade before entering the church for her religious obligations and afterwards retrieving the cigar and walking away while puffing vigorously.
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All of these illustrate how the influence of tobacco was not only significant to the political and economic spectrum of the Philippines but in fact it also encompassed a huge part of the social spectrum from advancing the economic lives of women by introducing jobs for them to the integration of its
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Ibid. The Filipino and Civilisation, Marlborough Express, May 28, 1908, accessed February 15, 2014, http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-. 24 Filipino Family Cigar, The Straits Times, October 3, 1907, accessed February 8, 2014, http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19071003-1.2.22.aspx. 25 Ibid. 26 Ibid. 27 Ibid. 28 Where Cigars are Cheap, Wairarapa Daily Times, August 9, 1909, accessed February 8, 2014, http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=WDT19090809.2.4&srpos=18&e=-------10--11---0filipino+cigar--. 29 Ibid. 30 A National Pastime, Otago Witness, October 30 1907, accessed February 8, 2014, http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgibin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=OW19071030.2.399&srpos=14&e=-------10--11----0filipino+smoking--. 31 Ibid. 32 The Filipino and Civilisation, Marlborough Express, May 28, 1908, accessed February 8, 2014, http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=MEX19080528.2.16&srpos=5&e=-------10--1----0filipino+cigar-.

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consumption to the daily lives of the Filipino families. From all of these, we gain a grassroots perspective on how the Philippine society was like during the prevalence of the tobacco industry and a deeper understanding of its cultural implications especially to the women and the children.

Appendix 1

Year 1830

Profit 732,818 1,142,001 1,307,467 1,514,035 1,649,939 Income (Pesos)

Tobacco Monopoly

1840 1850 1860 1870

Source: Ed. C. de Jesus, Tobacco Monopoly in the Philippines (Quezon City, 1980), 206.

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Filipino Family Cigar, The Straits Times, October 3, 1907

A National Pastime, Otago Witness, October 30, 1907.

The Fair Filipina, Star, December 8, 1900.

The Filipino and Civilisation, Marlborough Express, May 28, 1908

Where Cigars are Cheap, Wairarapa Daily Times, August 9, 1909

The Filipino Girl, Sausalito News, January 6, 1900.

The Character of the Filipinos, The Mercury, April 27, 1899.

7 REFERENCES

Primary Sources Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas. (1925). Barcelona: H. Miralles. Jacobson, H. (1914). Tobacco in the Philippine Islands. Manila: Bureau of Printing. The Fair Filipina, Star, December 8, 1900. Accessed February 16, 2014. http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgibin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=TS19001208.2.12&srpos=23&e=-------10--21----0filipino+cigarThe Filipino and Civilisation, Marlborough Express, May 28, 1908. Accessed February 15, 2014. http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgibin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=MEX19080528.2.16&srpos=5&e=-------10--1----0filipino+cigarSecondary Sources A National Pastime, Otago Witness, October 30, 1907. Accessed February 8, 2014. http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgibin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=OW19071030.2.399&srpos=14&e=-------10--11---0filipino+smoking--. Abinales, P., & Amoroso, D. (2005). State and Society in the Philippines. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc. Ateneo de Manila University. The Student Guide to the Code of Academic Integrity of the Loyola Schools. Accessed February 18, 2014. http://www.admu.edu.ph/sites/default/files/The_LS_Code_of_Academic_Integrity_Student_Guide. pdf Best, Jonathan. A Philippine Album: American Era Photographs, 1900-1930. Makati: Bookmark Inc., 1998. Camagay, Maria Luisa T. Working Women of Manila in the Nineteenth Century. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 1995. Filipino Family Cigar, The Straits Times, October 3, 1907. Accessed February 8, 2014. http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19071003-1.2.22.aspx Jesus, E. C. (1980). The Tobacco Monopoly in the Philippines. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press. The Character of the Filipinos, The Mercury, April 27, 1899. Accessed February 8, 2014.http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/9446811. The Filipino Girl, Sausalito News, January 6, 1900. Accessed February 16, 2014. http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SN19000106.2.89#

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