John Leddy Phelan’s The Hispanization of the Philippines: Spanish Aims and Filipino Responses, 1565–1700 is a foundational work in Philippine historiography that examines the complex interaction between Spanish missionary-colonizers and native Filipino society during the early colonial era. Phelan demonstrates how early Filipinos were not merely passive recipients of Western culture, but active agents who selectively adapted, reshaped, and resisted Spanish religious and administrative practices to fit indigenous socio-cultural frameworks.
The hispanization of the Philippines: Spanish aims and Filipino responses, 1565–1700