Patterns of Struggle

Sunday, August 18, 2013 6:33 PM

History of the struggles of its people for freedom and a better life - most fundamental aspect of Philippine History Anti-colonial struggles- reason why the native inhabitants became conscious of their identity as one nation People's rebellions- negative response to colonial oppression rather than positive movement for the attainment of national goals

The Landscape Reviewed

Philippines Societies were in different levels of development but they were all based on subsistence economies, produced to surplus, and therefore had no basis for existence of an institutionalized exploiting class Tagalog and Pampango areas- Muslim outposts, have relatively higher levels of development Chiefs were still entrusted with communal responsibilities There was no real concept of private property, or sense of ownership Spain At the mercantilist stage of capitalist development, though it still exhibited feudal traits Mercantilism- emphasized immediate extraction of wealth, --particularly-mineral wealth--- for trading purposes, rather than long range development of natural resources -the Spaniards extracted what they could from the marginal economy of the natives since the Philippines had no hoards of gold and silver ready to hand, and the colonizers did not have knowledge on how to acquire these Union of the Church and State Most salient feature of the Spanish rule Active participation of the friars in colonial administration Use of chiefs as colonial intermediaries was responsible for the development of baranganic social stratification

Early Resentments
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Early Resentments
Lapu-lapu, chief of Mactan, resulted in the death of Magellan Lakandula and Soliman resisting the invaders under Legaspi 1857- chiefs of Tondo, Pandacan, Paco, Polo, Catangalan, Castilla, Taguig, Candaba, Navotas, Maysilo, Bulacan, Bangos and Cuyo Leaders were Magat Salamat (son of Lakandula), Agustin de Legazpi (Lakandula's nephew) Asked help from Bornean leaders and Japanese Captain Remained a secret for 15 months but was betrayed by a chief Sentenced to death, exile and confiscated property

Early Resistance
Tribute Underlying cause of most resistance Cruel method of collection Communities would fight off soldiers sent by encomenderos to collect tribute No tribute was collected from the King's encomienda, Cebu, for 3 yearsrevolt Abolition of tribute-principal demand of every uprising Forced Labor In 1583, many natives of Pampanga were sent to gold mines in Ilocos and were not allowed to return home, starved to death Because of 1584 famine, Pampangos revolted, asked help from Borneans to massacre all Spaniards but was betrayed by a native woman married to a Spaniard Reduction Rising of natives of Zambales They retreated into rugged mountain ranges of the province Nueva Segovia (Ilocos) In the wake of the resettlement efforts of the religious

Winning the Chiefs Early colonizers tried to win over the more influential chiefs Lakandula- was given privileges by Legazpi for loyalty But when there was a change in general who didn't give him benefits he threatened to revolt
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benefits he threatened to revolt Hispano-Dutch war greatly increased the demands on the material and human resources of the colony Abuses and corrupt practices were condoned as long as they helped produced supplies and manpower so urgently needed Economic Roots of Nativism
In the more backward areas, expression of protest took the form of a return to the old native religion Contraposition of power of the old gods to the power of the new religion- only ideological basis for protest Bohol Rebels claimed that their old gods promised them relief from tributes and church dues Tamblot 1622, A babaylan reported the appearance to him of a diwata or goddess who: Promised life of abundance No burden of paying the tribute to the government or dues to churches If they would rise against the Spaniards and reject Catholic religion, go to the hills and build a temple They burned 4 villages and their churches, threw away all their rosaries and crosses, pierced an image of the Virgin repeatedly with javelins It took an expedition of 50 Spaniards and 1, 000 native troops from Pampanga and Cebu to put down the revolt but not before being attacked by 1500 Boholanos with javelins and etc. Spanish regarded this as a dangerous one for their was evidence that it would spread to other communities Carigara, Leyte also rose

Bankaw Led the Leyteos Uprising had nativistic features Rebels erected a temple to their diwata and church property was destroyed Women and children fought alongside men His head was placed on a stake as a warning after their defeat Tapar
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Tapar Led the uprising in Panay He attracted many followers with his story Had conversations with the demon He said that if the people abandoned Catholic religion and attacked the Spaniards the demon would help in various ways Mountains would rise against the Spaniards Spanish muskets would not fire, but if they did it would fire back at them Any native who died in the rebellion would live again Leaves of tress would turn into fish Fibers of coconuts would turn into fine linen Have all they wished in abundance Had one new characteristic: Tapar proclaimed himself God Almighty (Catholic feature) But still Tapar was executed

Labor Conscription The demand for woodcutters, shipbuilders, and crewmen rose sharply
during Hispano-Dutch war All the regulations designed to protect the polistas were discarded, abuses happened To partially relieve the Tagalogs and Pamapangos, Leyte and other visayan provinces were told by General Fajardo (1649) to step up labor conscription to supply shipyards of Cavite, Bohol, and the Visayas

Sumuroy
Samar First resistance engendered by forced labor He was ordered by his father (babaylan) to kill a priest in a convent, June 1, 1649 On Corpus Christi day , all the people marched to the convent and burned and destroyed the church, friars fled, simultaneous happening with all the villages in samar Simultaneous action alarmed the Spanish officials because of proximity to Catbalogan, the seat of jurisdiction in the province Rebels sent a head of the pig when demanded for Sumuroy's head The Spanish used the Lutaos of Zamboanga to assault the rebels, surrendering happened and the rebels killed Sumuroy themselves and
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surrendering happened and the rebels killed Sumuroy themselves and carried his head to the Spanish commander Spontaneity was the most significant aspect of the revolt Other villages followed suit in the revolt in Samar Franciscan father was banished from Sorsogon An Alferez (chief ensign) was put to death in Masbate An officer was killed in Cebu Natives of Camiguin tied up priest Several priests were killed in zamboanga Entire coast of Northern Mindanao revolted

Tricky Dabao
Dabao (Manobo chieftain)led the uprising of Northern Mindanao Caused by the controversial decree to send carpenters to the Cavite shipyard He was a cunning fighter with a bagful of tricks Once he was being pursued by Spaniards he went to a pries and asked to be baptized He pretended to take the prisoners (tied hands, but loose enough to be released from, they carried weapons) to the fort The Spanish garrison was wiped out Governor Fajardo offered an amnesty to end the unrest in norther Mindanao, but those who surrendered were hanged or enslaved

Opportunites for the Chiefs

The chiefs took advantage of the unrest mass for their own interests Exploitative to gain higher economic status in Spanish administration Cabezas often confiscated wages of polistas, and asked for money if they did not want to work which they had to pay by being debt peons to them Period of intense exploitation= period of accelerated condition of principalia control

New Stage in Native Resistance

There were material reasons behind the revolts Some other chiefs would assume the position of leader

The Maniago Revolt

Because of forced labor for shipbuilding, bandalas, and other duties and
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 Because of forced labor for shipbuilding, bandalas, and other duties and services Pampanga was hard hit, being one of the traditional suppliers of goods and services The government was in a large debt to the Pampangos, 200,000 pesos and thus building up resentment (the prices were already at a very low level) Labor drafts remained large even after the Hispano-Dutch war The Pampangos also had to contend with military conscription (they were recruited to quell revolts in other provinces and to fight in the Dutch-Spanish war) Maltreatment of timber-cutters was the immediate cause of the uprising Had been working for 8 months under oppressive conditions The workers mutinied by setting fire to the camps Don Francisco Maniago (chosen leader, was a chief from a village of Mexico) The Spanish were alarmed because they knew Pampangos had military training and the Spanish force in the Philippines was reduced that time Other armed rebels gathered in Lubao to close up the mouths of rivers with stakes to deny the us of waterways to the Spanish forces

Lara's Maneuvers
Exploited the fundamental division between the native elite and the people which the Spanish colonialism itself had created Governor Manrique de Lara Managed to play off one chief against another Show of force He went to Macabebe, rich and popolous town in Pamapanga, with 300 men People became frightened upon seing the armed men so they backed out from planning to join the rebellion Assured the loyalty of Macapagal, chief of Arayat by treating him with courtesy and giving privileges to him and his family, (lived in Manila to be protected, but as hostage actually) What happened with the bribing of the chiefs happened again and again

Change of Heart Macapagal sided with the Spaniards

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 Macapagal sided with the Spaniards Organized a force that would prevent the rebels from using the Arayat
route to seek refuge in Pangasinan Because of the reward money many chiefs naghugas-kamay sa nangyari The non-revolt, negotiations were done, Maniago was taken to Manila and became maestro de campo of his fellow Pampangenos in Manila Middlemen of Power Leaders were maneuvering between the people

Pampanga
Center for foodstuff in Manila They had an early modus vivendi with the Spaniards Spaniards were considerate of them See the colonizers as friend Became wealthy After the Maniago revolt no other happened in the province under Spanish rule

Malong- New Ambitions Andres Malong of Pangasinan, proclaimed himself king Threatened Maniago that if not join forces in revolt they would be
marched upon by 6,000 men Mass Participation He had more than 4, 000 followers 40, 000 men - estimated total number of rebels The number was not able to overcome the superior fire power Malong was arrested and later executed in Binalatongan, Pangasinan (hometown)

Gumapos
Ilocos Gumapos had an army of zambals The chiefs in Ilocos were loyal just to their property and asked the

bishop to keep it for them but the Zambals still was able to get these riches Ended when 400 rebels were slain He was hung at Vigan

Religion and Rebellion

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Religion and Rebellion

There wasn't a resurgence of nativism, the rebels practiced Catholicism but was not hesitant in killing priests or destroying church property

Almazan Ilocos Member of principalia, like Maniago and Malong

Pedro Almazan Had himself crowned king (like Malong) Queen of Angels (crown he wore) Pampanga (Maniago), Pangasinan (Malong), Ilocos (Almazan)- principales -desire of the native elite to supplant the Spanish rulers

The Longest Revolt

Francisco Dagohoy (Boholano) Concrete manifestation of the drive for freedom and a monument to the people's struggle Friar refused to give Dagohoy's brother a proper burial 3000 Boholanos joined, later on became 20, 000 over the years Lasted for 85 years, 1774- 1829 It was the time of British invasion then Mountain bases Mountain communities Economically self-sufficient Free from tribute and forced labor No longer subject to the abuses But still adapted Catholic religion The Spanish tried negotiating with Dagohoy both the state and the church Bishop Espeleta of Cebu When Dagohoy died the rebellion continued until they were attacked again this time with well-armed and well prepared forces To ensure peace they were resettled in different villages Anti-clerical Feelings Mid 18th century, The masses were already becoming acutely conscious of the economic exploitation Aware of landgrabbing, subjecting the cultivators to stringent rules, and
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 Aware of landgrabbing, subjecting the cultivators to stringent rules, and charging unjust rents Agrarian uprising in Bulacan, Batangas, Laguna, Cavite, Rizal

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