Intramuros Learning Sessions episode no. 77 – Los Indios Philipinos: Early Filipino Migrant Workers in Acapulco in the 16th & 17th Centuries

Overview:

Manila’s transformation into a significant global trade center in 1571 and the burgeoning demands of the archipelago’s galleon-based economy created a new category of workers that supplemented the forced and free laborers: the early migrant workers. The paper followed the journey from Manila to Acapulco of native Filipinos who became migrant laborers and looked into their life and death as sailors and port workers. By focusing on them, this study aims to understand the phenomenon of early labor migration of indios philipinos (native Filipinos) to Acapulco between 1571 and the 1640s.

  • Guest Speaker: Kristyl Obispado, Ph.D.
  • Moderator: Christian Emmanuel Catahan

About the Guest Speaker:

Kristyl Obispado is an Assistant Professor of History at the Department of History, University of the Philippines, Diliman. She holds a Ph.D. in History from El Colegio de México.

Her dissertation titled The Pacific sailors: Global workers at and on the edge of the Spanish empire (1580s-1640s) won the 2021 World History Association (WHA) Dissertation Prize. Her areas of interest are Pacific trade, colonial Philippines, early global history, and colonial labor and migration.

About the Intramuros Learning Sessions

The Intramuros Learning Sessions (ILS) is the educational webinar series of the Intramuros Administration (IA). The IA is an attached national government agency under the Department of Tourism. 

Topics are interdisciplinary and cover themes related to Intramuros and Manila studies, Philippine studies, as well as cultural heritage studies. Pursuant to IA’s charter, the ILS aims to contribute to the strengthening of the Filipino’s national identity and sense of belonging and pride.

For inquiries contact us at [email protected]


See Previous ILS Episode
The Big One: The 1863 Earthquake of Corpus Christi
See Next ILS Episode
Visibilizing the Invisible: Using Multimedia Sources in Reconstructing Philippine LGBTQIA+ History

Check out our previous ILS episodes here

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