Gobernadorcillo

Who is Gobernadorcillo?

The Gobernadorcillo was a municipal judge or governor in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period, who carried out in a town the combined charges or responsibilities of leadership, economic, and judicial administration. The gobernadorcillo was the leader of a town or pueblo. In a coastal town, the gobernadorcillo functioned as a port captain. His appointment was through an exclusive nomination provided by the Spanish law. His term of office lasted for two years. The position of a gobernadorcillo was honorary and mandatory in order to afford him those valid exemptions signified in the Philippine law. At the end of his biennial term he would enter and form part of the principalía, and was entitled to enjoy the honors and preeminence inherent to this state. This "mayor", who was at the same time Justice of the Peace and port captain, was directly responsible to the governor of the province in the exercise of his office.

In 1893, the Maura law was passed with the aim of making the municipal governments in the Philippine Islands more effective and autonomous. One of the changes that this law brought about was the reorganization of certain structures of town governments, among which was the changing of the designation of town head from gobernadorcillo to Capitan Municipal, effective 1895.