the residencia in that it was conducted clandestinely by a visitador-general sent from Spain and might occur anytime within the official's term, without any previous notice. Visitas could be specific or general. Maura law The legal foundation for municipal governments in the country was laid with the promulgation of the Maura Law on 19 May 1893. Named after its author, Don Antonio Maura, the Spanish Minister of Colonies at the time, the law reorganized town governments in the Philippines with the aim of making them more effective and autonomous. This law created the municipal organization that was later adopted, revised, and further strengthened by the American and Filipino governments that succeeded Spanish. Territorial divisions Until the second half of the 18th century, there were 24 provinces, 19 alcaldías mayores and five corregimientos: Corregimientos Mariveles Cavite Zamboanga Mindanao Moro Ogtong (Oton) Alcaldías mayores Albay Camarines (later partitioned) Tayabas Cagayán Ilocos (later partitioned) Pangasinan Pampanga Bulacan Tondo Laguna Balayán Leyte Panay Caraga Negros Calamianes Mindoro Marianas Cebú Other administrative units established afterward Zambales (separated from Pangasinán) Bataan (separated from Mariveles and from Pampanga in 1754) Nueva Écija (separated from Pampanga) Nueva Vizcaya (separated from Cagayán in 1839) Ilocos Norte (divided in two from Ilocos in 1818) Ilocos Sur (divided in two from Ilocos in 1818) Camarines Norte (divided in two from Camarines in 1829) Camarines Sur (divided in two from Camarines in 1829) Samar (separated from Leite) Misamis (separated from Mindanao Moro and from Cebú) Iloílo (separated from Panay) Antique (separated from Panay) Abra (separated from Ilocos Sur in 1846) Nueva Guipúzcoa (separated from Caraga in 1847) Ticao and Masbate (separated from Albay in 1846) La Unión (separated from Pangasinán and Ilocos Sur in 1850) Lower territories of Agno (Military outposts) Established during the 19th century Until the second half of the 19th century, there existed the administrative units: Luzon Island (20 administrative units): Tondo, Bulacán, Pampanga, Zambales, Bataan, Nueva Écija, La Unión, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Pangasinan, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Tayabas, Abra, Cagayán (including Babuyan Islands), Nueva Vizcaya, Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur. Mindoro, Marinduque, Luban, Ilin (one administrative unit): Mindoro. Batán (one administrative unit): Batanes. Panay Island (three administrative units): Cápiz, Iloilo, Antique. Negros (one administrative unit): Negros. Samar (one administrative unit): Samar. Leite (one administrative unit): Leite. Calamianes (one administrative unit): Calamianes. Cebú (one administrative unit): Cebú. Mindanao (four administrative units): Caraga, Misamis, Zamboanga, Nueva Guipúzcoa. Sultanate of Sulu