The islands are divided into provinces, each of which has a military officer with the title of governor, appointed by the governor-general. They act as chief magistrates, have jurisdiction over all disputes of minor importance, have the command of the troops in time of war, and are collectors of the royal revenues, for the security of which they give bonds, which must be approved of by the comptroller-general of the treasury. The province of Cavite is alone exempt from this rule, and the collection of tribute is there confided to a police magistrate.
Each province is again sub-divided into pueblos, containing a greater or less number of inhabitants, each of which has again its ruler, called a gobernadorcillo, who has in like manner other officers under him to act as police magistrates. The number of the latter are very great, each of them having his appropriate duties. These consist in the supervision of the grain fields, coconut groves, betel-nut plantations, and in the preservation of the general order and peace of the town. So numerous are these petty officers, that there is scarcely a family of any consequence, that has not a member who holds some kind of office under government. This policy, in case of disturbances, at once unites a large and influential body on the side of the government, that is maintained at little expense. The gobernadorcillo exercises the municipal authority, and is especially charged to aid the parish priest in every thing appertaining to religious observances, etc.
In the towns where the descendants of the Chinese are sufficiently numerous, they can, by permission of the governor, elect their own petty governors and officers from among themselves.
In each town there is also a headman (cabeza de barangay), who has the charge of fifty tributaries, in each of which is included as many families. This division is called a barangay. This office forms by far the most important part of the machinery of government in the Philippine Islands, for these headmen are the attorneys of these small districts, and become the electors of the gobernadorcillos, and other civil officers. Only twelve, however, of them or their substitutes, are allowed to vote in each town.
The office of head-man existed before the conquest of the island, and the Spaniards showed their wisdom in continuing and adapting it to their system of police. The office among the natives was hereditary, but their conquerors made it also elective, and when a vacancy now occurs through want of heirs, or resignation, it is filled up by the superintendent of the province, on the recommendation of the gobernadorcillo and the headman. This is also the case when any new office is created. The privileges of the headmen are great; themselves, their wives, and their first-born children, are exempted from paying tribute to the crown, an exoneration which is owing to their being collectors of the royal revenues. Their duties consist in maintaining good order and harmony, in dividing the labor required for the public benefit equally, adjusting differences, and receiving the taxes.