Not only were lower-class citizens at a disadvantage when it came to political power and overall life satisfaction, but wealthy Filipino families also faced inequality with Spain. Jose Rizal was a member of the wealthy "Mestizo" family and disliked the Empire's stronghold for its potential superior mobility. Even though he and his family had the financial stability to live lavishly, Spain insisted on only having people of pure Spanish blood hold political power (classroom film, SAW). We can see it even with money (which is what Spain is interested in) the most, apparently), political power belongs to the Spanish Empire and its descendants. The inequalities between poor and rich appear to be all relative, meaning that regardless of family trust funds, Spanish blood is the top priority for politics and government. The Philippines would go through a series of revolutionary leaders and end up having to rely on the United States to claim its independence from