The Ilocos Revolts

[First of a series]

By Noralyn Dudt

Wedged between the Cordillera Mountains and the South China Sea is a long strip of  land called the Ilocos. It's  a very narrow coastal plain where the mountains drop right down to the sea.  A rugged but beautiful terrain that shaped a people who are known for diligence, frugality, determination, simplicity, resourcefulness, and resilience. 

"Beware of the Ilocanos for in the face of adversity they are hardy and resilient. They live simply... they are loyal... they have an elaborate network of beliefs and practices which they apply when dealing with people around them,"  was surely an apt  observation by an Augustinian friar back in the 1700s.

Such Ilocano characteristics were probably unknown to the young conquistador Captain Juan de Salcedo who was sent to explore the northern part of Luzon in 1565. The grandson of an earlier Conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi,  Juan was charged to lead Spain's investment of soldiers and missionaries in the Ilocos region, centered in Vigan when both Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur were one big province.

Vigan then was a stopping point in the silk trade that linked Asia, the Middle East and Europe. With its products of gold, beeswax and wood, it became a flourishing trading post. And with Vigan's proximity to the gold mines of the Mountain Province,  the Spanish swiftly staked their claim on the region's gold trade.

It was here where the revolutionary Diego Silang who spoke fluent Spanish worked as a courier for the Spanish government. He was known as a man of intelligence, diligence,  empathy, and passion. His work as a courier exposed him to certain practices of the Spanish authorities that he thought were unacceptable:  high taxes that were way beyond what an ordinary farmer could pay;  forced labor for Spanish priests and officials including personal services such as gardening or doing guard duty. This might have been called a different name, but Diego saw that this was nothing but a kind of slavery. Such injustices and abuses infuriated him which led him and his wife Gabriela  into serious discussions about what they should and could do. They were keenly aware that reforms were needed  but they also recognized  that the right time had not yet come.

The British Navy sailed into Manila Bay in September of 1762. France and Spain were allies in the Seven Years War and Great Britain did not want  Spain  rising into global pre-eminence. To stop Spain in her tracks, the British decided to weaken Spanish forces and that's exactly what they did as they sailed into Manila Bay and captured Manila. Diego was in Manila at the time awaiting the arrival of a galleon from Mexico. He was a witness to Spanish troops surrendering to the British. How surprised he must have been to see that the “mighty” Spaniards were not invincible  after all. Diego must have opined that “the time had come”.

It's unfortunate that the information on Diego Silang in  elementary school history textbooks was very selective: it was only that of a revolutionary who wanted to overthrow the Spanish government in the Ilocos. The fact that he had lobbied the Spanish authorities for Ilocano participation in governing themselves was never mentioned. That he strongly believed that Ilocanos would be better citizens and more loyal to  the King of Spain  as well as better adherents to the Roman Catholic faith had the Ilocanos been given a voice in government was never taught to young minds. Neither was  the fact that Diego presented himself to the Spanish authorities—the alcalde mayor—as one willing to serve as gobernadorcillo of the Ilocos. Not surprisingly, Diego's offer  was quickly  rebuffed.

The Spaniards began to worry about Diego's growing popularity and were afraid of being overtaken by the growing number of men following Diego's lead.  With this concern, the alcalde and his staff transferred their powers to the Catholic Bishop of Nova Segovia which is now the city of Vigan. In light of these events suddenly happening,  Diego Silang considered  entering an alliance with the  British forces who had just defeated the Spanish Army in Manila.

The Spanish' surrender to the  British that he had witnessed in Manila inspired Diego. He must have recognized that there was a chance the Ilocos could finally gain her freedom. With that outlook, he  and his forces launched their first rebellion in 1762 which  took the Spaniards by surprise. It was an easy victory that removed Don Antonio Zabala and Bishop Bernardo Ustariz from their  positions. With this victory, Diego Silang declared Ilocos a free nation. He was named Captain-General and superior officer by the British General Dawson Drake who sent him a hat, a robe, and a gold-tipped baton as tokens of respect. A series of battles ensued in which Diego and his men were the victors.

Alarmed at Diego's  easy victories in addition to his alliance with the British forces,  the Spanish authorities began plotting his capture and death. It was Miguel Vicos along with Pedro Becbec who received the blessing of several  friars to do this dirty job. In the early afternoon of May 28, 1763, Vicos and Becbec went to the hill where Diego had established his headquarters. They found it easy to enter Diego's camp because they were known to be his friends and followers. Becbec pretended to talk to Diego while Vicos readied his gun.  As soon as Diego turned his back to offer his guests some "basi" which was the Ilocano wine of friendship,  Vicos shot him with a short-barreled firearm. Diego died on that day and the Ilocos Revolt almost "died" with him as no one among his men would come forward to take command.  The fierce  Gabriela, though full of grief, vowed to continue the struggle that the 33-year-old Diego had died for. There was no time to mourn—her fighting spirit led her on.

History tells us that almost all revolts were centered on a key leader. When that leader is captured or killed, the movement would simply be disbanded. But this initial Ilocos Revolt was not one of them. Diego's men were discouraged but with Gabriela at the helm heavily  armed for battle, they were inspired to go on. No woman had ever done this before. Diego's fighting spirit and passion for  a free Ilocos lived on in his wife, Gabriela.

Gabriela fought courageously and was unstoppable. She was at the forefront in every battle. Not only did she have Diego's fierce Tingguan fighters from Abra province with her, she was also able to convince and inspire more people to join the revolt. She and her forces came away victorious from the battle in Santa, a mountain town by the sea and about 10 kilometers away from Vigan. By the end of August 1763, she had gathered 2,000 men and was prepared to take over the whole province of Ilocos.

As the Spaniards were always massively outnumbered, they relied on divide-and-conquer tactics to pit different groups against each other. However, this tactic could not work  as there were no other groups to pit against Gabriela. Instead, as it was with her husband Diego, the Spaniards resorted to plotting Gabriela's capture after the Battle of Vigan. They gathered a small army to hound her and her troops all the way to the mountains of Abra.

She and her forces were routed, brought to the lowlands, and paraded in the plaza before they were executed. The Spanish authorities wanted the public to see what awaits those who rebel. Gabriela was the last to be hanged. She had to endure the grief and humiliation of having to watch each execution. It was certainly a very tragic day. She was not afraid to die. She had always known that by continuing Diego's battles, she would be risking her life as well. She had been prepared for that fateful day. Surely,  it would  have been much easier and safer for her to stay in the background: nursing the wounded in battle, or sewing flags for the future Ilocos nation. But her deep faith in God enabled her to recognize her strength, her passion, and her civic duties.

That was 1763,  almost a century  before the national hero Dr. Jose Rizal was  born in 1861; 13 years before George Washington and the Founding Fathers of America announced the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain at the beginning of the American Revolution in 1776; 26 years before the French decided that “enough was enough” with their King Louis XV1.  Diego and Gabriela's  quest for their nation's liberty was no different from the aspirations of America's George Washington, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and the French working class  all yearning to "breathe free."  To be represented in the governing body whose policies  affect their daily lives,  to have a voice in the taxes being levied upon them and how those taxes are spent were not really too much to ask.

The Silangs’ revolts may not have succeeded as planned but they did define what was possible. They showed that the Spanish colonizers were not invincible which  inspired the successive revolts that were to come.  They communicated a vision... a vision that when the time was ripe, the characteristics that define the Ilocano—diligence, frugality, determination, and resilience would make a great Ilocos nation.

[To be continued]

 

Noralyn Onto Dudt, a genuine Ilokana who was born in Batac, Ilocos Norte ( now Batac City)  currently resides in North Bethesda, Maryland, a suburb of Washington DC.