Chapter6

ChallengestoSpanishAuthority (1560-1820)

By:Toni Fontanilla
TABLEOFCONTENTS
● PortugueseandDutchThreats ● Reasons fortheGeneralFailureofthe Revolts
○ PortuguesethreatsagainsttheSpanish rule ● TheChinesePresence
○ DutchthreatsagainsttheSpanish rule
● EarlyResistancein Luzon,Visayasand Mindanao
○ Revolts
■ TheTondo“Conspiracy”
■ TheRevoltofMagalat
■ Ladia’s“Conspiracy”
■ TheRevoltofManiago
■ TheRevoltofMalong
■ RevoltofBancao
■ TheRevoltofSumuroy
■ MoreRebellionsin Luzon
■ Resistancein theInterior andMountainous Parts
■ TheMoroWarsin theSouth
 ● TheSpanish colonialgovernmentwasgreatly
challengedbyits rivals,thePortuguese and
theDutch,as wellas thenumerousuprisings
andrevoltsbytheFilipinosin Luzon,Visayas
Challenges to Spanish Authority andMindanao.
● However, thecolonialgovernmentwasable
Summary toquellalltheserevoltsinspiteofthevery
smallnumberofSpaniardsinthe country.
Portuguese and Dutch Threats
Portuguese threats against the Spanish rule
● 1566 &1568 GeneralGonzaloPereiraaskedLegazpito leave.
● Legazpirefused,PereirablockadedCebutostarvethe Spaniards.
● Pereirabombarded theSpanish settlement,buttheyfailedtodislodgedtherivals. (1570)
● PortugalbecamepartoftheSpanish. (1580)
Dutch threats against the Spanish rule
● TheyrevoltedagainstSpainandproclaimedindependencein 1576. SpainrefusedtorecognizeDutch
independence.
● Treaty ofWestphalialedtotherecognition oftheDutchindependence in 1648.
● First battleoftheMariveles (1597)
● SecondbattleoftheMariveles ( 1610)
● BattleofPlayaHonda (1617)
● In 1947,Dutch’[Link] finallydriven off
 Early resistances in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao
● Earlyuprising againstSpaniards were fromLuzon
● LakanDulawasfriendlytoLegazpiandhis mencooperatedwiththem in many ways
● LegazpirepaidLakanDulabyexemptinghimandhis descendantsfromthepaymentoftributeandfromforced
labor
● ChineseadventurerLimahongattackonManilaandLakanDulaledarevoltagainsttheSpaniards(1574)
TheTondo“Conspiracy”
● TheSpaniardspromisesofgoodtreatment, the Filipinos harboredfeelingsofhostilitytowards colonizer.
● In 1587,a groupofFilipinos formeda secretsocietywhosepurposewastoregaintheir freedom.
● Thesociety’splanwastohaveaChristianJapaneseallybring Japaneseweaponsandsoldiers tothephilippines, to
driveawaytheSpaniards.
● Afterwhich,Agustin deLegazpiwouldbeproclaimedKing [Link],butit was
abortedduetospies whoreportedit toSpanish authorities.
● TheRevoltfailed
TheRevoltofMagalat
● In Cagayan,somenatives,ledbyMagalat,rosein revoltagainstSpanish rulein 1596 andalthoughit was
quelled,theFilipinorebelscontinuedtheiroppositiontothe Spaniards.
● Thegovernor-general sentastrong contingentcomposedofafewSpanish soldiers andhundredsofFilipino
recruits againstMagalatbuttheIlocanosfought bravely.
● Theyfailedtodefeat Magalat,so theyhireda Filipinoassassin tomurder Magalat.
● TheRevoltfailed
Ladia’s“Conspiracy”
● LadiacametoBulacantoleadanarmeduprising [Link] theysucceededhewouldbe
proclaimed“King ofthe Tagalogs”.
● Thefriar-curatenotifiedtheSpanish authoritiesofLadia’sactivities. Ladiawasarrested,senttoManila,andthen
executed.
● Revoltfailed
The RevoltofManiago
● In 1660,underManiago’sleadership,theKapampangansdeclaredwaragainstthe Spaniards.
● Maniagosentanemissarytothegovernor-general in ordertomakepeaceandmakethefollowingdemands:(1)
thegovernor-general topardonallthosewhoparticipatedin therevolt;(2) theKapampanganstoreceivethe sum
of200,000 pesosas paymentforthericewhichtheSpaniardsseizedfromtheirbarangays,ofthis amount, 14,000
pesoswasactuallypaidas downpayment,abntheremainderofthetotalamounttobepaidin installment;and(3)
fortheKapampanganstocontinuetocuttimber,as requiredbythelawonforcedlabor,but theywouldbe given
sufficienttimetoperformtheirdutiesat home.
● Therevoltwasasuccessin thesensethatManiagowasabletoair his people’sgrievancesandgetwhatthey
wanted.
TheRevoltofMalong
● AndresMalongwastheleaderoftheshort-livedbutdevastatingrevoltinPangasinanin1660-1661.
● TherevoltspreadtothewholePangasinanandin [Link] manySpaniards
includingtheprovincial governor,were killedand heproclaimedhimself“King of Pangasinan”
● MalongurgedpeopleoftheIlocos,[Link] [Link]
his own soldiers tootherprovinces,heweakened his position.
● [Link] a
traitor toSpain.
RevoltofBancao
● In Leyte, in 1622,Bancaoled a revoltagainsttheSpaniardsbecauseoftheintoleranceofthe friars.
● Bancaoreturnedtothereligion ofhis [Link] apostasy,theSpanish friar-curateofhis town
hated himas heconvinceda lotofnativestogoback totheiroriginal faith.
● Thenativesstoppedgoing tothechurch,whichledthefriar-curatetoseekhelpfromthegovernorofCebuto
helprestoreSpanish [Link] in [Link]
governorofCebusenttroopsand defeated Bancao, who diedinfighting.
RevoltofSumuroy
● Forcedlaborcausedtherevolt.(Cavite, 1649)
● Thegovernor-general orderedtheprovincial governorsoftheVisayanprovincestosendworkerstoCavite
[Link],thegovernorrecruitedworkerstobesentin [Link],Samar
gatheredunderSumuroyand revoltedagainsttheSpaniards toshowtheir resentment.
● Therevoltspreadin Mindanao,particularlyin Zamboanga,Camiguin,Cebu,Masbate,[Link]
thewidespreadoftherevolt,thegovernor-general in Manilasenttroopstofight againstSumuroybutthey were
unsuccessful.
● In 1650,thegovernmentsentastrong armycontingentandengagedSumuroyin abattlein [Link]
wasdefeated, capturedandexecuted.
MoreRebellionsin Luzon
● Bythe1700s, friar estatesandthehaciendasystemhaddramaticallyexpandedduetothedemandbythe
galleontradeforagricultural products.
● In 1702,violentuprisings in Tondo;Binan,Laguna;andSilang Cavitewereduetotheloss ofpasturelandsand
landsforagriculture.
● By1743,Pasig,Taguig,Bicutan,ParanaqueandpartsofCaviteandBulacanwereupin armsduetotheirlackof
accesstorivers and forests.
● In 1745,hacienda’sin Bulacan’sBuenavista,Pandiand Lolomboywere burnedand theirfriar-owners killed.
● DiegoandGabrielaSilang ledawidespreadrevoltin Ilocos Sur ontheissue oftheright toengagein the
galleontradeby non-SpaniardsorIndios.
● In 1807,theBasi revoltin Ilocos Norteeruptedovertheissue ofgovernmentmonopolyontheproduction,
pricing andsaleofbasi-- a favoritelocalwineamongthe Ilocanos.
Resistancein theInterior andMountainous Parts
● Richin gold,forestproductsandtreesforlumbersorlog aresomethereasonswhySpanish governmentis very
coveted topenetratemountainouspartsin the country.
● In 1591 and1608,therewereattemptsoftheSpaniardstosendanexpeditionbutduetothefierceresistance of
taongbundok,whichliterallymeans“peopleofthemountains,theyfailed.
TheMoroWarsin theSouth
● Thelongestandbloodiestattempt by the Spaniards.
● In 1569,first encounterbetweentheSpaniards andtheMoros tookplacein CebubetweenMartindeGoitiandagroup of
traders.
● In Spaniards cannotdefeat theMoros,that theycan onlyput up forts as defenses.
● TheSpanish forceswere forcedtowithdrawand focusmainlyon Luzon.
● AfterKudarat’sdeathin 1671, theraiding activities slackened.By1716-1747, Spaincamebackandtheirvictory
allowed the tobuild forts in Iligan andCagayande Oro.
● In 1851,theMuslim leadersentered a peace treatywithGovernor-General Urbiztondo.
● In 1898,theyremainsovereign at theend oftheSpanish rule.
● HowweretheMuslims abletodothis? (1) theSpanishforceslackedmilitarycapacitytobreakthroughtheMoroKuta
(defenseforts). (2) Mindanaois farfromManila.(3) theSpaniards weremorepreoccupiedin severalfronts withwars
bythePortuguese,DutchandvariousprovincesofLuzonandVisayas;and(4) IslamprovidedtheSpaniards and
identifiableenemycalled“Moros”
Reasonsfor the General Failure of the Revolts
● TheSpaniardspossessedsuperiorweaponry and were abletoemploy nativevolunteersormercenary soldiers.
● Thepeopleremaineddividedandlackedunity,eventhoughtheyhadacentralizedgovernmentanda
geographicidentity.
● Thegiving ofprivileges andpositionstothechieftains’andtheirfamiliesweakenedtheunityofthepeopleand
preventedthebirthofleadersthatcouldconsolidatemany revolts.
 The Chinese Presence
● Chineseappearedthemostconstantandsteadyvisitors amonganyforeigners,evenbeforetheSpanish forces
came.
● ForSpaniards,theChinesewere “Sangleys”,whichmeant “the traderswho comeand went”.
● Someauthoritiesabusedand oppressedChinesepeople, provoking them tobe rebel.
● SeveraldecreeswerepassedbythegovernmentabouttheexpulsionofChinesepeoplefromthePhilippinesbut
theirpresencebecamenecessityforeveryone’scomfortandconvenience,sincealmosteverybusiness and
livelihoodwere controlledby theChinesepeopleat thattime.
 Reference
Philippine History
[Link]
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