COLONIZATION OF THE BIKOL REGION Ferdinand Magellan's coming and eventual death in 1521 did not stop Spanish expeditions which came and went enroute to the Mo- Juecas, Villalobos reached Leyte in 1542, and heard from an old chief there of an island with a gold mine called Albay in the moun- tains of Tandaya (now Samar). In 1565 Miguel Lopez de Legazpi sailed from Cebu, where he had implanted the Cross, to Panay in order to expand territory. In Pa- nay his forces explored the surrounding areas looking for food and provisions. In 1567 Mateo del Saz and Martin de Goiti reached Masbate and Ticao during one of those explorations, and “intended to convert the natives but they did not find anyone as all the people had_fled- to the mountains.”1? From the hilltops, they had seen the coming of the strange ships and on the patong or wooden gongs, they had warned the people of foreign intrusion, At that time, the Spanish could have easily taken over the land if they had orders to do so. The Bikols’ exodus to the hills, then, delayed somewhat the Spanish conquest of tne Bikol Region and Luzon, But the Spanish came back to the region in 1569.The expedition was headed by Luis de Guzman, who brought friendship and ex- acted obedience through peaceful ways, largely with the influence of Fr. Alonso Gimenez an Agustinian missionary.The Bikols were , taken by the approach used by the priest and bearded men, who seemed kind and friendly. But not for long as the next explorer, Andres de Ibarra, who Teached Bikol shores in 1570, had committed abuses and blunders. It was well that Legazpi, who was yet In Panay, had him recalled to account for the pecple’s complaints against the Spanish massacres and violence. But after an i i ee af investigation, Ibarra was allowed toreturn to his station after he had presented to Legazpi gifts of golden chain and comb which had come from the natives. The unfair deal must have caused the people much aggravation. Bittered by the knowledge that they had been duped, they became hostile and ag- gressive. True enough, when the next conquistador came in 1571, Juan de Salcedo's attempts to acquire Paracale'’s gold mines were repeatedly thwarted by a clever transmission of alarm signals through courier, and circumvented by the news that the Camarines valley people were ready to repel all aggressicn from the occupation forces. He reached Paracale eventually and wanted to live there (fact or fiction, the story is that he had fallen in love with a maiden who lived in one of the towns of Camarines Norte), but he had to be recalled to Manila by his grandfather, the Adelantado Legazpi, who was now installed in Manila after its conquest in 1570, as governor-general of the whole islands, In 1573 Salcedo came back to the Bikol Region by tracing the Pa- racale route to San Miguel Bay and upstream Bato Lake through the Bikol river. On the banks of this lake the Spaniards found a thriving settlement called Libong, which they decided later to re- name as Villa Santiago de Libon, one of the four special villas estab- lished in the Philippines.2? There are stories saying that when the Spanish forces in Libong (later Libon) decided to take for them- selves the rich fields in the next village now called Oas, the same courier method of alarm (as that used by the people in Paracale upon Salcedo's coming) saved the village. People opened the dikes and torrents of water overflowed into the entire village that the frighten- ed Spanish soldiers had to go back. [f the Paracale incident was 4 fact, the Oas story cannot just be fiction. People say that the name Oas which came from “‘waswas” (to let flow water from a reservoir) \4s traced to this incident. Again Salcedo had to return to Manila, He left behind in Libon Pedro dé Chavez and a garrison force of 80 soldiers! who trudged upward the river where he found a native village called Naga on the banks of a tributary of the river. On its opposite side Chavez estab- lished a,city for the Spanish nationals which he named Caceres after ‘the birthplace of Governor-General Sande. The new-city had about15 100 Spanish families and the full paraphernalia of Hispanic urban administration, In about the same year or thereabouts the following towns were established: Nabua in 1578, Quirayo in 1578, Buhi in 1599, Bula in 1578, Milaor in 1579; Minalabac in 1580, Canaman in 1580, Libmanan in 1586, Iriga in 1683, and Sangay in 1684, In 1571 when Salcedo explored the Paracale gold mines, the native settlements of Paracale, Mambulao, Daet, Indan, Labo, Capalonga and Talisay were in exis- tence. In Albay the following towns were established: Libon in 1573, Camalig in 1579, Tabaco in 1590, Polangui in 1585, Oas in 1587, Cagsawa in 1589, Malinao in 1619, and Bacacay in 1649. Sorsogon’s early towns were Gibalon in 1569 (now a barrio of Magallanes), Casiguran in 1600, Bacon in 1617, Sorsogon in 1628, Bulusan in 1630, Magallanes in 1636 and Donsol in 1655. In 1570 Gium or Kium (now barrio Cataingan) in Masbate was established; followed by Ticao and Palanog. In Catanduanes the early towns were Bidak (now Virac) and Caramoran, ‘The missionaries were in the forefront of town-building, implan- ting the Cross and “healing the wounds made by the Sword.”22 Fray Gimenez was the first to sow Christianity in Bikol soil. He preached in Masbate, Ticao and Burias and converted chieftains. He went along with Guzman’s troops inland to a place where they found a village consisting of thatched huts called kamalig. The vocable gave the village its name, which in Spanish translation meant “camarin,” the name given eventually to the entire area. The chaplain of the Ibarra exepdition was Fr. Gimenez. ‘This group reached the settlements bordering Bato Lake, the ba- Fangays of Kalilingo (now Bato) and Bua (now Nabua). He preach- ed in these villages and built a chapel in Bua. All along he learned the language and became known as“the first polyglot of the Philip- Pines.” He is credited as having written a Catecismo de la Doctrina Cristiana in Bikol, the first such known to have been written in Bikol or in any Philippine dialect. 2controversial ecclesiastical and state matters. Indeed the Christiani- zation made the Bikol villages resemble Spanish pueblos entrusted to encomenderos who collected agricultural surplus as tribute, and setzed and shipped out all the gold they found. In spite of evangelica) successes, the conditions in tne towns were not too good. The people bitterly complained of the injustices of the settlement of their wages, and so were often driven from public em- ployment to labor in the service of the officials, Rivalry among the missionaries, or between them and their superiors or bishops contri- buted to the misery of the people, Among the clergy there was con- troversy regarding the visitation question, where priests argued against their religious superiors or bishop, affecting in such cases the people who were always on the receiving end. A letter sent to the Madrid central government from nine Fran- ciscan friars in Camarines reads in part: ‘we cannot but raise for your consideration the convenience that would result from the suppression of the provincial prelates. For they ecereise the hardest despotism over thelr subjects causing great troubles with discomfort, and even scandal in the towns when they make their visitations which are nothing but triumphal tours and bear no fruit than that of oyening a door to grudges, vengeance and gossip .. #7 ‘A missionary, Fr. Pedro de San Pablo wrote in a “representacion’ dated October 12, 1619, Nueva Caceres: .., the towns of our Province are becoming smaller and smaller ‘as also the number of natives in them, In such a way that those towns with one thousand tributaries are now reduced to five hundred or six hundred . . . due to the forced loans, contributions and perscnal services . . . food was gotten that was not pald and if it was, then always at minimum rates for cutting trees, wood, making silos, rigging and other things for the construc- ton or equipment of vessels.t# Fr. Pedro objected to the task of fortification, construction of ships and the expedition against the Moluccas. He was worried of the possible diminuticn in the number of people and the harm to the towns they had founded, that “the mothers might dry their breasts to kill their children for they preferred them dead rather than living such a hard life.”A visitator from the Royal Audiencia cai Region in 1706 and found these “evils “aneply # ae Bikol were asked to contribute food without pay; perform — viecs for the priests as domestics; cooks and gardeners; and out tute wax and candles, The young girls were compelled to th churches and convents: pound rice as repartamiento for the religious and fiscales; deliver unthreshed palay; and bring firewood and food for the pigs, Assessments were often burdened by extra supplies of timber and limestone. One, Fr, Pedro Ferrer, who was a soldier- priest, was nearly killed by the people due to his milftaristic ways. ‘The Spanish, whether soldier or officer, abused the " people. Fray Domingo de Salazar, reporting to the King on “Affairs in the Philippine Islands” wrote: When I was in the port of ¥balon some chiefs went to see me; and the first thing they said to me was that one who was Collecting the tributes in the settlement had killed a chief by torture, and the same Indians indicated the manner in which he had been killed, which was by crucifixion, and hanging him by the arms. I saw this soldier in the town of Caceres, in the province of Camarines, and learned that the justice ar- rested him for it and fined him fifty pesos — to be divided equally between the echequer and the expenses of justice — Gnd that after this punishment he was immediately set free. {learned that an encomendero — because a chief had neither gold nor silver nor cloth with which to pay the tribute | — ‘exacted from him an Indian for nine pesos, in payment of fine tributes which he owed: and then took this Indian to the ship and sold him for 35 pesos, And although T told this to the steward and asked for the Indian, I was told that he re- mained in slavery, They collect tribute from children, old men, and slaves,and many remain unmarried because of the tri- bute, while others kill their children.*! Fray Martin de Rada, a missionary in the region, addressed a letter to Lavezares stating: . .. we have gone everywhere with mailed hands; and we have required the people to. be friends, and then to give us tre bute. At times war has been declared against them becaisy they did not give as much as was demanded, And If ey could not give tribute, but defended themselves, then {h6¥ have been attacked, and war has been carried on with fire‘and sword; and even on some occasions, after the people have been killed and destroyed, came to say that they would lke to be friends, the Spaniards have immediately asked them for tripute, as they have done but recently tn alll the villages of os Camarines, And wherever the Indians, through fear of the Spaniards, have left their houses and fled to the moun- tains, our people have burned the houses or inflicted the great injuries, 1 omit mention of the villages that are robbed with- out awaiting peace, or those assualted in the night-time . . - Likewise he who sends them for it or orders it, as also the ‘captain in the first place, next the soldiers and those taking part in it; and those who, being able to make restitution, do not do so... For the Spanish was a very thorough master, He meddled in all aspects of their lives, He ordered a tearing down of the old ways, a burning of the old images and writings and imposed on the peorle their own practices and standards, Even the matter of naming of families was meddled into by the Spanish, The 1854 Claveria . Jaw vegarding the re-naming of families was strictly enforced in the Bl kol Region. No schools were set up except to learn prayers and writ: ing from the priests or clerks. Even the Agtas were not left alone to do what they wanted, Feodor Jagor wrote ‘The number of the Negritoes of the Isarog has, however, been. much diminished by deadly battles between the different ran- chos, and by the marauding expeditions which until a short time since were annually undertaken by the commissioners of taxes in the interest of government monopoly against the tobacco fields of the natives, Some few have been “pacified” (converted to Christianity and tribute); in which case they are obliged to establish themselves in little villages of scattered huts, where they can be occasionally visited by the priest of the nearest place; and in crder to render the charge easier to them, a smal- ler tax than usual is temporarily imposed upon such newly or Gained subjects.18 Indeed tax-collecting would end in small wars against the Spa- nish, Hard-pressed, the Agtas of Mt, Asog and Mt. Isarog, . could not understand why they should not cult:vate on their own fields .. . they saw the cuadrilleros not functionaries of & civilized state, but robbers against whom they were obliged to Gefend themselves by force; and appearances contributed no less than to confirm them in their error; for these did not contentthemselves with destroying the plantations of tobacco, but the huts were burnt to the ground, the fruit trees hewn down, and the fields laid waste, Such forays never occurred without blood- shed, and often developed into a little De which was carried on by the mountaineers for a long time 34 THE BIKOLS REBEL AGAINST THE SPANISH The results of the conaucst were fatal to the once free and happy Bikols, The foreign invaders had become their masters. The datus were now powerless; the people became disillusioned, Gone was vigor and initiative, The most warlike of all Filipinos had been quieted and ‘subdued, >” At first the Bikols’ form of protest came ina different way, Using the old method of escape, they ran to the mountains and were imme. diately called infieles, remontados or cimarrons, They defied the Spa- nish order to gather in the towns and went on living by themselves in scattered sitios. In fact, each sitio or village spoke a different dialect ‘so that the dumbfounded Spanish priests put up a new edict — for “all the people’ to speak the Naga Bikol which was declared standard. All writing-was indeed done in that language, but the people in the = towns still spoke their own dialects and do so up to this day. “In 175 a Spaniard Sefior Francisco Estorgo presented himself to , the government asking license to examine the gold mines in Paracale, | He Yinally registered five veins, But his activities provoked the sus- Picion of the natives who refused his right to own lands and exploitthem, sustaining that these were theirs for many years, They stirrec up Estorgo with lawsuits, failings of machines and other problem that he had to abandon the mines.“ On December 1871 Don Jose Basco, governor of Albay. ordere the cigar, wine and mipa stores to close, The order was received with disgust by the people that in 1892 they stirred and set.tire of the house of the store's administrator and caused the closure of th Albay store. When the call to arms sounded, the Bikols rose as one to fight th Spanish authorities in Naga. Dact. Legazpi and Sorscgon and all ove Bikol, Three priests were at the center of the movement — Gabrie Prieto, Severino Diaz and Inocencio Herrera, Eleven rebels, includiny the three priests, were executed on January 4, 1897 at Bagumbayal Field, five days after Rizal was shot, About fifty were deported t¢ Fernando Poo, a presidio off the island of Sta. Isabel. Arrests were made in almost every town, while hundreds were massacred in Daet In Naga the property of the ilustrados were confiscated. ‘The priests were tried on December 29. 1896 for rebellion, Severin: Diaz was parish priest of the cathedral of Nueva Caceres. Inocenci: Herrera was maestro de capilla of the cathedral, and Gabriel Priete was parish priest of Malinao, Albay. It was the latter who was disclosec as having persuaded his brother Tomas to join the uprising. Florencic Lerma was named leader, together with Domingo Abella and Camilo Jacob. Accused with them were Manuel Abella (father of Domingo) Macario Valentin, Cornelic Mercado and Mariano Melgarejo, A pho- tograph published in La lustracion Espafiola y Americans, February 22, 1897 shows them grouped together before the execution. Four other men died in the hands of Spanish oppressors — Leo! Hernandez, who was tortured in the provincial jail, Mariano Orde janza, who was spared from the firing squad but died in jail afte being sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, Ramon Abella, another so: of Manuel, and Mariano Arana, both of whom died in exile in Fer nando Poo. An important document titled “Civil Government of the Provin« of Manila” now kept in the Abella Collection, Ateneo de Manila Up yeraity Library, established the status of the Bikol Martyrs as h Foes, Vicente Lukban, the signatory, admitted to the Chief Inspecte oe =| Vignance Corps on September 28, 1896 the following thing: (1) That he was a Mason and head of the Masonic lodge of Camarines named Trlangulo Bikol. (2) That Domingo Abella, Mariano Abella, Camilo Jacob, ‘Tomas Prieto, Severo. Patrocinio, Fr. Severino Diaz, Inocencio Herrera and others talked about anti-Spanish matters. (3) That Tomas Prieto had received arms for the uprising and who made purchase of the sald arms, (4) That Domingo Abella was the one assigned to buy the arms, and that expenses were defrayed by Manuel Abel- laa On November 1897 some of the deportees to Fernando Poo were allowed to return to the Philippines at the intercession of Tomas Are- jola, a patriot from Caceres and residing in Spain during those years with Rizal, Panganiban and other Filipinos, Among those who came back were Antonio Arejola, his father, Macario Samson, Ludovico Arejola, his brother, Vicente Ursua, Jose Desiderio, Esteban Villareal, Tomas Valenciano, Francisco Alvarez, Severo Patrocinio and Enrique Villareal. Two men died in Fernando Poo after they were released — } Agustin Samson and Bonifacio Villareal, both of Albay. On April 15, 1898 the people of Daet, Camarines Norte rose in re. bellion against Spanish rule, Ildefonso Moreno, who had previous Secret communications-with Gen, Lukban, organized men from the towns of Labo, Telisay and Daet to form the local Katipunan., The Plan was. to attack the Spaniards by surprise but the men were too exelted with their bolos and red pennants that somebody shouted “In- | Surectos” and the Spanish were alerted. For three days the Katipu- pero and his men had retreated“to Mampurog because of lack of arms. 1 aes 19 the Spantards ordered all the people who had \ oe thar moceed to the house of Don Florencio de Arana on the any ‘t nothing untoward would happen to them, But those who Seas ere tortured and executed, Realizing the treachery, Moreno fellow Pin pence and exhorted the civil guards to defend their Of ene, Dut he was immediately shot by the same guards on orders of the Spaniards, Many more Filipinos were shot during thenext days and months. A total of 500 men were slaughtered including the civil guards. On September 18, 1898 Nueva Caceres rebelled. Under the leader ship of Elias Arigeles and Felix Plazo, the native guardia civil who feared a repetition of the fate of the civil guards in Daet, defied the Spanish officials, set free the provincial jail prisoners and struck at the Spanish friars, officials and civilians who lay dead in the streets. At the San Francisco church, where about 400 Spaniards took refuge the fight was fierce, especially because the Spaniards refused to give up. The reoels attacked the convent killing seven soldiers and the lieu- tenant's wife, Governor Vicente Zaidin, seeing defeat, exchanged notes with the rebels, and at ten o'clock morning of September 22 the terms of capitulation were ready for decision, “The conditions of capitulation stated that all Spaniards including the civil and military officiais and friars should consider themselves as prisoners. However, all arms, funds, official archives and other properties of the government were to be surrendered by the Spaniards to the rebels. The civil officials, however, were allowed to stay in their own houses and were given, together with the military officials, their salaries until the day of surrender when they were declared ousted from office because of the dominion over the province by the Philippine Revolutionary Go- vernment."** The pulahan movement, which started in Malobago, Cataingan, Masbate was organized for rebellion. In June 1898 they shot.a group f policemen who were sent from the capital town of Masbate.to are rest them, Thousands of people, particularly trom. the poor, joined the movement, and the Spaniards ran to Uoilo for safety. Henceforth, rebellion bands sprung all over Masbate and: Sorso- gon, A Spaniard Xerez was assassinated in Donsol; the Hacienda Es peranza was burned down in Castilla. In Pilar the shipyard workers who were maltreated by the Spaniards slew the Spanish officials of the shipping company. The pulahanes at Panlatuan were attacked by faa Sranish ships Bolinao and San Bernardino, killing sixteen of theme In. August 1898 the people of Pilar were attacked by Spanish that folewen theit way home from church. “The shooting rampage ite silanes peated in the staying of a great number of people of he Spaniards in Pilar vowed to “avenge the killing of\MERICAN INVASION OF THE BIKOL REGION Philippine self-government was, however, short-lived, “Acting Pon urgent orders from Washington to open up hemp-ports in fouthern Luzon because of the shortage of hemp in America, Gene- al Elwell Otis dispatched an American expedition under General Villiam A. Kobbe to conquer Bikolandia, This expedition, conveyed y the navy, reached the port of Sorsogon on January 20, 1900 where le Third Battalion of the 47th Regiment under the command of eneral Howe met with the forces of Colcnel Amando Q. Airan, who fd the title Sargento Mayor de la Plaza de Malolos of the Revolu- bnary Government, But Airan’s troops could not resist the heavy lms of the American forces and he fell sick eventually, The Ame-rican forces occupied successively the capital Sorsogon and stationed garrisons in the municipalities of Gubat, Bulan and Donsol, Captain Victorio Gratela of Irosin was appointed by General Belarmino as commander of the revolutionary military operations in the whole province but he found it difficu' 0 organize forces to resist th: Americans, In Bulus:in, however, Emeterio Funes,‘? who had just evme from Manila, called a meeting of all prominent men at the convent in order to organize resistance against the Americans. The move gained sup- port from the local offic‘ais headed by Bustaquio Dia7, presidente uniepal of Bulusan, Coloxe: Turvs found Captain Gratela pat ive co he went te Albsy to Intere” © veral Belarmino in the situation. The latter assured him of support =! appointed him eclonel in charge of Sorsogon operations. nel Funes was met at Sta. Riding a sailboat to Sorsogon, Cele tulusan and Gu- Magdalena by people cheering him on the way. In P bat he organized the local forces, with Captains Eustaquio Diaz and Fortades enlisting men and volunteers, Sorsogon was divided into two zones — the north zone consisting of Castilla, Bacon, Gubat and Barcelona; «nd the south zone consisting of Bulusan, Irosin, Bulan, Magallanes, Matnog and Sta, Magdalena. The zones were further divided into sections under Captain Diaz, Captain Zacarias Conspecto, Captain Gratela and General Belarmino, Dr, Bernardino Monreal, who belonged to the native princiralia of Sorsogon, met with Funes and organized a commission composed of Colonel Arcadio as chairman and Dr, Monreal, Leoncio Grajo, Mario Guarifia, Eugenio Guardian ard Fr. Domiciano Gana as members. ‘The meeting took place in the chapel of barrio Fabrica in Bulusan. The parties agreed not to conduct military operations in-Juban and Casiguran in order not to make the Americans suspicious, The towns of Juban, Casiguran, Gubat, Bulan and Sta, Magdalena pledged to support and give maintenance to the rebels, ‘The military tactics of the rebels were confined to ambush and hit and run skirmishes. The troops consisted of “tirador” (sling shot) and “anting-anting” (amulet) squads, Captain Valentin, with about 600 men from Bacon and armed only with “machetes” was killed byan American group of 25 well-armed soldiers. The “tiradores” of Captain Pedro Funesto and Placido Floresca killed some American soldiers. On April 25 the Americans bombarded barrio Capangihan for hours but the Filipino defenders had a better stronghold at sitio Boco. The Filipinos would have given up being badly in need of ammunition but the Americans were orderd to retreat. Two weeks later the enraged Americans came back to attack the fortress. Funes’ men had to retreat after two soldiers were killed, But the Americans failed to pursue the fleeing men. In Irosin Funes ordered trees to be dumped across the roads in order to barricade the Americans from freely entering the town. On May 26, 1900 when preparations were made to install Colonel Funes as governor of Sorsogon, the American forces arrived in Bu- lusan and started shooting people. The butcher slaughtering the cow for the inauguration ceremony was shot to death, Funes and his fae mily were able to escape. But weekly encounters between Filipino and American forces took place all over the province, At Dancalan, Bu- lusan 19 tiradores were killed. In Casiguran the Americans in search of Baldomero Dorado fired at the natives whom they suspected of hiding the men. Thirteen men were shot near the Mulong-Bulong swamps, now called Trece Martires, in honor of these men. The fighting would not have ceased were it not for the intercession of a committee composed of Rufino Gerona, Hermogenes Gellova and Eugenio Obsum who conferred with the men and induced them to cease hostilities, with the promise of security for their lives, On February 21, 1901 Colonel Funes, together with his staff, signed an oath of allegiance to the American Government, However, the result was the spontaneous emergence of rebel | groups, particularly in the outskirts of the towns. Indeed the capital .town of Sorsogon was peaceful largely because of the efforts of V+ car General Jorge Barlin, But on April 30, 1901 a military regime ‘Was established in the province, with Captain J.G. Livingstone as the military governor of the province. A Philippine Constabulary garri- son was set up on August 30, 1901 to suppress the rebellion. Unfortunately, the “tirador” group of Capitan Lorenzo in Danea- jan, Bulusan was ready to shoot at Americans but they were mas- acted instead, ¥ ne