existing law, or the annual feasts,
or the anticipated arrival of a very big official, etc.) the headmen
(_principalia_) were cited to the Town Hall. They were also expected
to assemble there every Sunday and Great Feast Days (three-cross Saint
days in the Calendar), to march thence in procession to the church
to hear Mass, under certain penalties if they failed to attend. Each
one carried his stick of authority; and the official dress was a
short Eton jacket of black cloth over the shirt, the tail of which
hung outside the trousers. Some _Gobernadorcillos_, imbued with a
sense of the importance and solemnity of office, ordered a band to
play lively dance music at the head of the _cortege_ to and from the
church. After Mass they repaired to the convent, and on bended knee
kissed the priest's hand. Town affairs were then discussed. Some
present were chided, others were commended by their spiritual dictator.

In nearly every town the people were, and still are, divided into
parties holding divergent views on town affairs, each group being ready
to give the other a "stab in the back" when the opportunity offers,
and not unfrequently these differences seriously affect the social
relations of the individual members.

For the direct collection of taxes each township was sub-divided into
groups of forty or fifty families called _Barangays_: each group had
to pay taxes to its respective head, styled _Cabeza de Barangay_,
who was responsible to the petty-governor, who in turn made the
payment to the Provincial Administrator for remission to the Treasury
(_Intendencia_) in Manila. This _Barangay chiefdom_ system took its
origin from that established by the natives themselves prior to the
Spanish conquest, and in some parts of the Colony the original title
of _datto_ was still applied to the chief. This position, hereditary
among themselves, continued to be so for many years under Spanish
rule, and was then considered an honourable distinction because it
gave the heads of certain families a birthright importance in their
class. Later on they were chosen, like all the other native local
authorities, every two years, but if they had anything to lose, they
were invariably re-elected. In order to be ranked among the headmen
of the town (the _principalia_), a _Barangay chief_ had to serve for
ten years in that capacity unless he were, meanwhile, elected to a
higher rank, such as lieutenant or _gobernadorcillo_. Everybody,
therefore,