These public works projects were accomplished in part through the use of revenues obtained from the "trabajo subsidario" tax, a tax initially created to aid the funding of local works projects. The "trabajo subsidario" tax in many ways mirrored the colonial "mita" labor requirements demanded of Indians by Spaniards. The voluntary contributions law and "trabajo subsidario" tax, revived in 1854, required that every citizen contribute four days of unpaid work to the State yearly or its monetary equivalent to promote the nation's public works projects. Like its "mita" precursor, the trabajo subsidario obligation fell most heavily on Ecuador's indigenous populations since these groups were unable to pay to avoid labor. Estate-bound peons were able to find protection from these laws through the help of "hacendado" or essential paternal landlords. In 1862, in a somewhat contentious move, García Moreno demanded control of these revenues of this tax in order to direct funds towards his ambitions for major infrastructural reform. This created a great deal of local discontent, as this meant diverting funds from more locally based public works projects. Using these funds, García Moreno began his famous highway system project, contracting workers from the "trabajo subsidario" requirement to build these roads.