Today, on March 10, 1785 (Philippines):
José Basco y Vargas, a Spanish Naval Officer and 53rd Governor of the Philippines, continued to economically advance the Philippines and distance itself from New Spain (what is now called Mexico). This time he ushered in a new royal decree (I describe his first one, here), the “Real Compañía de Filipinas” (Royal Company of the Philippines) which was designed with the purpose of creating an interrelationship between Spain and its colonies, while also making Manila a hub for all oriental (Far East) trade.
In 1789, the importing and exporting of goods was established permanently and from here we see the beginnings of Free Trade as duties and restrictions were dropped. In addition, Filipinos were allowed to travel to other Asian ports and the Chinese who came to Manila suffered no trade restrictions. Incentives were also provided to different types of produce, silk, sugar, cotton, and spices.
This decree also promoted re-investment of profits into the Philippines—which up until now had not been done. Usually the profits were absorbed by the Spanish lords and when they were “rich enough” took the money and returned to Spain. So even though the Royal Company was largely economically unsuccessful, the agriculture infrastructure was greatly developed between 1790 and 1820. In its last 10 years, there wasn’t any real economic advancement (mostly due to corruption and mismanagement) and in 1830 this charter was repealed; however, Manila was kept open as a trading port for foreigners.
Read more @ http://bit.ly/NPlfCN
Philippine History Module-based Learning I’ 2002 Ed by Ongsotto, Et Al (page 83 ~ 84, 86 – 88)