04/02/2020 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly religious, classified the Filipinos according to their religious practices and beliefs, and divided them into three types . First were the Indios, the Christianized Filipinos, who generally came from the lowland populations. Second, were the Moros or the Muslim communities, and third, were the infieles or the indigenous communities. [75] The Indio was a product of the advent of Spanish culture. This class was favored by the Spaniards and was allowed certain status although below the Spaniards. The Moros and infieles were regarded as the lowest classes.[76] The Moros and infieles resisted Spanish rule and Christianity. The Moros were driven from Manila and the Visayas to Mindanao; while the infieles, to the hinterlands. The Spaniards did not pursue them into the deep interior. The upland societies were naturally outside the immediate concern of Spanish interest, and the cliffs and forests of the hinterlands were difficult and inaccessible, allowing the infieles, in effect, relative security.[77] Thus, the infieles, which were peripheral to colonial administration, were not only able to preserve their own culture but also thwarted the Christianization process, separating themselves from the newly evolved Christian community.[78] Their own political, economic and social systems were kept constantly alive and vibrant. The pro-Christian or pro-Indio attitude of colonialism brought about a generally mutual feeling of suspicion, fear, and hostility between the Christians on the one hand and the non-Christians on the other. Colonialism tended to divide and rule an otherwise culturally and historically related populace through a colonial system that exploited both the virtues and vices of the Filipinos.[79] President McKinley, in his instructions to the Philippine Commission of April 7, 1900, addressed the existence of the infieles: "In dealing with the uncivilized tribes of the Islands, the Commission should adopt the same course followed by Congress in permitting the tribes of our North American Indians to maintain their tribal organization and government, and under which many of those tribes are now living in peace and contentment, surrounded by civilization to which they are unable or unwilling to conform. Such tribal government should, however, be subjected to wise and firm regulation; and, without undue or petty interference, constant and active effort should be exercised to prevent barbarous practices and introduce civilized customs."[80] Placed in an alternative of either letting the natives alone or guiding them in the path of civilization, the American government chose "to adopt the latter measure as one more in accord with humanity and with the national conscience."[81] The Americans classified the Filipinos into two: the Christian Filipinos and the non-Christian Filipinos. The term "non-Christian" referred not to religious belief, but to a geographical area, and more directly, "to natives of the Philippine Islands of a low grade of civilization, usually living in tribal relationship apart from settled elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/36882 20/148