I know the Philippines was a Spanish colony, but colonial powers usually don't change the surnames of the local population. For example, you don't end up with Smiths and Joneses among native Nigerians. So why do so many Filipinos have Spanish surnames? Was it because of an unusually high rate of intermarriage between the Spanish and local populations, which facilitated the spread of Spanish surnames in the country, or did many Filipinos deliberately change their surnames into Spanish ones (without actually having Spanish ancestry), perhaps to better assimilate into the establishment during colonial times? Thank you for your answers.