Ferdinand Blumentritt: An Austrian Life for the Philippines The
Frailes or whose Side is God? Because the Philippines was
conquered and held by the sword and the cross, a kind of cleric
colonialism emerged. The demarcation lines and jurisdictions
between the secular and religious authorities were removed
through the union of the church and state; they served both God
and King. The most powerful organizations of the church were the
monastic orders and their members, the "Frailes" or "brothers".
About the end of the nineteenth century, at the time of Rizal
and Blumentritt, there were approximately 2,600 monks, who
actually governed the Philippines. There were among them 346
Augustinian friars, 327 Recollect friars,107 Franciscan friars,
233 Dominican friars, 42 jesuit friars, 16 Capuchin friars, and
6 Benedictine friars. The monks or "Regulares", who throughout
were always Europeans, were almost all Spaniards, and lived in
monasteries, took care, and were in command of the army of the
Philippine priests, who we