By the death of Father Juan de el Campo _The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 38, 1674-1683 Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century

of La Caldera and Siocon was left forsaken. The provincial of the

Society sent to that conversion Father Francisco Combes, who applied

his efforts to gathering those wild natures into a social group; with

this basis he undertook their instruction in our supreme mysteries, and

they gradually became accustomed to a rational and civilized life. On

the river of Sibuco there was an Indian named Ondol, so cruel that

he would kill any person without further cause than his own whim;

and this man had a brother of the same barbarous habits, who kept a

great number of women in his power that he might abuse them. Ondol

sought to kill Father Adulfo de Pedrosa, and also threatened Father

Combes; but the latter discreetly took no notice of it, and Ondol

went on, trusting to this. Consequently, before he realized it he

was seized, and sent a prisoner to Samboangan; the governor there

received him gladly, at seeing in his power an Indian who had made

so much mischief. His brother continued to rouse disturbances,

and an armada was sent against him, but accomplished nothing. This,

however, warned him to avoid the blow, and he hid among the woods

and hills. The guards of Father Combes seized by stratagem more than

fifteen relatives of this evil man, and sent them to Samboangan;

love for his people, and their danger, brought this bloody man to the

church, to beg mercy from the father. The latter gladly admitted him,

and proposed to him the conditions, [of his pardon]--he and all his

people, who were Lutaos, must live in range of the artillery of the

fort, and render service in the armada. He also obtained, by diligent

efforts, the ascendency over the insurgents of Siocon. Father Combes

entered that village, landing there with his men; they asked for the

bones of Father Campo's companions, which they found lying among the

brier-patches. These they buried together, and placed a cross over the

tomb. Father Combes took from that place a hermit, who, dressed as a

woman, punctually observed the natural law, and professed celibacy;

he was named Lavia de Manila. [73] This man was converted to the law

of Christ, and spent the remainder of his life as a faithful servant

[of God].

In Basilan, affairs were more difficult. Most of the people of that

island had been subdued by Father Francisco Lado, [74] who with the

aid of the governor of Samboangan had driven from it all the panditas,

[75] and the vicious and suspicious characters. Only one of these was

left, who by his malice stirred up much disquiet; this was one Tabaco,

who incited the natives of the island to revolution. All who desired

to be freed from the tribute and other obligations repaired to him,

and at once found in him their patron. His faction rapidly increased,

and at Samboangan it was decided to intercept this danger. Diligent

were their efforts, for the very Basilanos whom it was necessary

for the Spaniards to employ warned this man of all that they did;

and with their information he mocked the utmost efforts of the

Spaniards. An adjutant undertook a raid, with a considerable number

of Spaniards and Pampangos, and burned his grain-fields; but he did

not encounter Tabaco, and had to return. Father Lado went to find him,

and asked him to wait for him in a certain place; the father made such

representations that he succeeded in inducing this man to leave the

mountains. He went with the father to see the governor of Samboangan,

and gave the latter such assurances of his desires for peace and quiet

that to him was entrusted the reduction of the natives. He returned to

Basilan, and to his perverse mode of life--so much so, that he tried

to kill Father Lado, in order to remove that obstacle to his evil

designs. The father knew his depraved intentions, and fled from the

blow that was aimed at him; and at Samboangan there was discussion,

in a military council, of the most effective measure for restraining

those seditious natives. Among the speakers was an alférez, Don Alonso

Tenorio, who said that it was a fruitless trouble and fatigue to

transport [to Basilan] arms and troops, since these carried with them

the warning to the rebels to place themselves in safety; that efforts

should be made to kill Tabaco, and the rest would be subdued, and

thus this source of evil would be stopped without wearing out either

Spaniards or Indians. The governor, who supposed that Don Alonso spoke

without experience, and that the arrogance of youth led him too far,

said to him: "Then, your Grace, go and kill him." Tenorio was not a man

to jest, or one to form speculative projects which others might carry

out; he took this order quite in earnest, and immediately set out for

Basilan with some companions. He summoned Tabaco to a certain place,

in which he must communicate to him an important matter, which would

be to his advantage. Tabaco went to the place designated, with several

of his most valiant companions; and Tenorio also arrived with his

friends. The Indian awaited him without fear, at seeing him destitute

of forces adequate to his own; and Tenorio, having talked about the

subject that had been agreed upon, said to him, in a most resolute

voice, "Tabaco, unless thou desirest me to kill thee, give thyself up

as a prisoner." Tabaco, without showing any alarm, rose to his feet,

holding his lance, in order to reply with it; Tenorio attacked him

with astonishing courage, and the companions of both engaged in the

fight. Our men killed Tabaco, and seven of his braves; and on our side

one Spaniard and two Indians were slain. Tenorio cut off Tabaco's head,

and those of his seven companions, and in forty hours [76] was already

on his return to Samboangan with these trophies. Thus promptly was

concluded an exploit which pledged [the safety of] all the forces

of the garrison; with the death of Tabaco his followers lost their

courage, and the island remained entirely quiet. Such is the power of

an heroic resolution. It is certain that conversions of the Moros are

difficult, but those which are successful are stable; they steadfastly

maintain the true religion, when they cast aside the errors of their

false belief. The following instance is an edifying one, and goes far

to confirm our statement. When the Joloans were conquered and reduced

to quiet, the turbulent and cruel Achen--a dato, and a notorious

pirate--was not pacified. He made a voyage to Borney, in order to stir

up the natives there, and to make them companions and auxiliaries in

his robberies. He carried with him his wife Tuam Oley, [77] daughter

of Libot; the latter was a urancaya or petty king of the Lutaos of the

Siocon coast, and was a Mahometan by profession. Enlightened within and

from above, he had received holy baptism, and very strictly maintained

its innocence. Achen became very sick in Borney, and, reduced to the

last extremity, as a last farewell he made his wife swear that she

would never abandon the doctrine of Mahoma. After Achen's death,

Oley began to feel the sorrows of an afflicted widowhood, and she

sadly wrote to her father, Libot, asking him to go to carry her away

from that wretched exile. His paternal affection made him resolve,

although he was now old and feeble, to go to console his daughter. The

governor [of Samboangan] tried to prevent this voyage, on account of

Libot's age, and because, as the latter had grown up in the errors

of that sect, it was feared that there was danger of his perversion

[from the Christian faith]. The governor therefore proposed to him

measures which were sufficient for removing his daughter from that

country. Libot assured him of his constancy in the faith, and in proof

of his firmness, gave a contribution of a hundred pesos to the church;

as it was not easy to detain him, they acquiesced in the voyage. He

arrived at the court of Borney, where, on account of his advanced

age and the hardships of the journey, he fell ill, and this sickness

proved to be mortal. The king, seeing Libot, exhorted him to abandon

the new religion and return to his former faith; but Libot remained

steadfast. Then the king sent him his panditas, or learned doctors,

in order to convince him; but they found that their efforts were

in vain. The king was angered at this constancy, and threatened

to take Libot's property from him, make his daughter a slave, and

fling his dead body into the open field. All this Libot scorned,

and charged his daughter to bury him as a Christian, without using

the ceremonies of the Moors [i.e., Mahometans] in their funerals,

or even mingling these [with Christian rites]; and so he died, in

a very Christian frame of mind. The prince took possession of all

Libot's property, and ordered that his daughter Oley be imprisoned;

but she, availing herself of her many slaves, forced her way out of

her prison, and risked going as a fugitive to Samboangan. The king,

furious, undertook to avenge this affront on the corpse of her father,

and commanded that it be disinterred; but through Supreme Providence

they were never able to find it, although they attempted to, with the

closest search, and they believed that his daughter had carried the

body with her. Oley arrived at Samboangan safely, and soon fell ill,

not without suspicion of some deadly poison. The fathers went to her,

to see if they could convert her to the faith of Jesus Christ, but

their persuasions were vain. In compassion, the governor and other

persons opposed such obstinacy, with both promises and threats; but

they could not make her change her opinion in the least. The victory

was won by the [native] master-of-camp, Don Pedro Cabilin, a very

influential and respected man, who pledged himself to persuade Oley

to become a Christian. She listened to him attentively on account of

his nobility, and because he was of her own kinsfolk and blood. With

these recommendations, and his effectual arguments, that obstinacy

was conquered, and she received holy baptism, to the universal joy

of the entire garrison. Her godmother was the wife of the governor,

Doña Cathalina Henriquez, and the newly-baptized convert took that

lady's name. Oley had an excellent intellect, and put it to good use in

her last moments, continually invoking God up to her last breath. The

Spaniards gave her a very solemn burial. The chiefs carried her body on

their shoulders up to the door of the church, where the governor and

the officers of the garrison took it, carrying it in the same manner

to the burial-place, and afterward to the tomb--this magnificent

display causing edification to all.

[See Santa Theresa's account (in VOL. XXXVI) of one of the outer

waves of this insurrection, that among the Manobos of Mindanao.]

In Pampanga and Pangasinan; 1660-61

[The following account of this revolt is taken (partly in synopsis)

from Diaz's Conquistas, pp. 568-590. These events are also related

in Santa Cruz's Hist. Sant. Rosario, pp. 331-341; Murillo Velarde's

Hist. de Philipinas, fol. 253b-256; Concepción's Hist. de Philipinas,

vii, pp. 9-35; and Ferrando's Hist. de los PP. Dominicos, iii,

pp. 67-74.]

[p. 568:] All the ten years of the government of the prudent and

magnanimous governor Don Sabiniano Manrique de Lara were a melancholy

period of troubles and misfortunes, greater and more continual than

these islands had ever before suffered; and without doubt they would

have been more painful and intolerable if they had not been ameliorated

and diminished by the discretion, affable behavior, and clemency of

this great governor--so that it seems as if divine Providence (or,

in heathen phrase, Fortune) had trained Don Sabiniano for a governor

in such times. [Diaz then enumerates several of these disasters,

notably the losses of richly-laden galleons.]

[p. 571 et seq.] So frequent were these losses that Don Juan Grau de

Monfalcón, procurator in Madrid for the city of Manila, in a curious

treatise which he presented to the royal and supreme Council of

Indias makes a computation of them for sixty-five years, and finds

that only fifteen of these were exempt from such misfortunes. But

they were almost continual in this calamitous term of office,

although Don Sabiniano met all these disasters with serenity and

steadfastness, and apparently with cheerfulness; this he did through

prudence, in order that the sorrow [of the people] might not extend

to despair.... But no art could long veil so much misery. The more

warlike provinces of these islands ascertained the unusual events

which had caused our forces to be so small, however much prudence

dissimulated these; and they sought to avail themselves of so good an

opportunity, deeming it a suitable time for recovering their liberty,

a gift of priceless value. Subjugation is always a matter of coercion,

and this in turn needs other and greater violence that it may repress

this natural inclination; and in natives whose condition makes them

abject this desire increases more vehemently. They did not realize

that the Spaniards had freed them from the harsh captivity of their

barbarous tyranny, transferring them to an honorable subjection which

made them more the masters of their liberty, because these rebels

had not endured that tyranny. They came to know our lack of strength,

and from that passed to despising it; they presumed more on their own

strength than they ought, and rashly went on, without consideration,

looking only at the end and forgetting the means [to attain it].

The first who decided to try fortune by experience were the Pampangos,

the most warlike and prominent people of these islands, and near to

Manila. [Their rebellion was] all the worse because these people had

been trained in the military art in our own schools, in the fortified

posts of Ternate, Zamboanga, Joló, Caraga, and other places, where

their valor was well known; but it needed the shelter of ours, and

therefore it was said that one Spaniard and three Pampangos were equal

to four Spaniards. This people were harassed by repeated requisitions

for cutting timber, for the continual building of galleons, and

they received no satisfaction for many purchases of rice for which

the money was due them. The province of Pampanga is in our charge in

spiritual matters, and there we have sixteen convents and doctrinas,

among the best which there are in this field of Christianity. The

convents are: Bacolor (which is the head of them all), Baua, Lubao,

Sexmoan, Betis, Porac, Mexico, Minalin, Macabebe, Apalit, Candava,

Arayat, Magalang, Gapan, and Santor. Then in the hill-country beyond

these places we have large missions of warlike peoples who are being

converted to our holy faith, called Italones, Abacaes, and Calonasas,

and Ituríes, and various others, who have been induced to settle in

several villages. These are continually increasing, and we expect in

God that they will attain much growth if it is not interfered with by

subjecting them to tribute and personal services, of which they have a

great horror. These are the hindrances which delay the conversions of

these numerous peoples, some heathens and others recently converted;

for among these tribes of low condition the appetite for liberty

increases with great force--spurred on by the envy which is aroused

in them at seeing the freedom which is enjoyed by other peoples as

being more noble or vigorous, or because the cultivation of their

mental powers procures it for them. Many peoples were conquered

because they did not know their own strength until they found that

they were subdued. In these islands we find by experience that in

no province do the people live more peaceably than in those which

received us with hostility, and in none have they attempted a change

[of rule] except in those which invited us with [offers of peace]--and

the most pusillanimous of these have most strenuously endeavored

to throw off the curb of subjection. Those immediately surrounding

Manila were the last to do so, because in them our hands had seized

the reins. Some were intimidated by the contact with our power, and

others were restrained by a sense of honor, seeing themselves admitted

to the privilege of [carrying] our arms, and honored by the confidence

which up to this time had been merited by the fidelity of the Pampango

people. On this occasion they were the first who broke away, because

even our esteem could not remove from them their mean nature.

The Pampangos, determined to break the bonds of subjection and throw

off the yoke of the Spanish dominion, carried out that resolve with

valor. In their opinion, they had just cause for this action, in the

timber-cutting that was being done in their forests, in the place

called Malasinglo and Bocoboco; they alleged as their first pretexts

some acts of oppression committed on them by Juan de Corteberria,

[78] chief overseer of the said timber-cutting--which lasted eight

months, a thousand Pampango men assisting in the work, levied in the

usual repartimientos. In the early days of October, 1660, the loyal

population of Pampanga made their first rebellious movements--the

people being exasperated against the overseers of the wood-cutting,

who had been ill-treating them. Setting fire to the huts in which

they had lodged, they declared, by the light of the fierce flames,

their rash intention; and as leader of their revolt they appointed an

Indian chief named Don Francisco Maniago, a native of the village of

Mexico, who was master-of-camp for his Majesty. The post of chaplain

for the said wood-cutting was filled by a religious of the Order of

St. Dominic, named father Fray Pedro Camacho; [79] he made all possible

efforts to pacify them, but all in vain. On this account he decided

to come to Manila and report everything to Don Sabiniano Manrique

de Lara, to whom he represented that he did not regard as prudent

the idea that he must proceed with rigor against the ringleaders

of the sedition. At the same time when the information of that fire

reached Don Sabiniano there came also advices from the alcalde-mayor

of the province of Pampanga, Don Juan Gomez de Payva, that he had

exhausted all measures for restoring security. In consequence of

this, Don Sabiniano again despatched father Fray Pedro Camacho with

a message for those people, that he on his part would assure them

of pardon and relief if they would return and resume their work. Don

Sabiniano rightly guessed the burden imposed by the circumstances of

the occasion; for the revolt was in one of the most warlike nations of

these islands, and the garrison at Manila was drained of soldiers by

the continual reënforcements sent to Maluco, and by the aid [furnished

from it] to the relief that had come from Nueva España. This had been

brought in the patache "San Damián," in charge of Admiral Don Manuel

de Alarcon, sent by the viceroy, Conde de Baños, and had been secreted

on the coast opposite the port of Lampón; and therefore Don Sabiniano,

although he put on an appearance of assurance, in reality experienced

the utmost anxiety. He wrote secretly to our father Fray José Duque,

who was then prior of the convent of Sexmoán, and to father Fray

Isidro Rodríguez, prior of the convent of Baua, to ask that they,

with the authority which they had acquired during so many years as

ministers in that province, would endeavor to persuade those people to

return to their obedience. Those religious labored to that end, with

all the greater eagerness on account of what was risked in the revolt;

but the only effect was to set spurs to the boldness of the insurgents,

who attributed to the governor's fear of them the peaceable measures

that were proposed. The result showed this, for, tearing off at once

the mask which they had worn, they presented themselves, armed,

in the village of Lubao, under the command of the above-named Don

Francisco Maniago, although many of the mutineers had gone to their own

villages. Others gathered in a strong force in the village of Bacolor,

closing the mouths of the rivers with stakes, in order to hinder the

commerce of that province with Manila; and they wrote letters to the

provinces of Pangasinán and Ilocos, urging them to follow their example

and throw off the heavy yoke of the Spaniards, and to kill all of the

latter who might be in those provinces. Information of this reached

Don Sabiniano at night, and, without stopping to wait for daylight,

he embarked in company with the twelve military leaders, and set out

at daybreak for the village of Macabebe.

The governor took with him, besides his alférez Francisco de Roa and

others, the following recently-created officers: Generals Don Felipe

de Ugalde, Juan Enrique de Miranda, and Don Juan de Vergara; Admirals

Don Diego Cortés and Don Felix de Herrera Robachero; Sargentos-mayor

Don Pedro Tamayo, Martín Sanchez de la Cuesta, and Pedro Lozano;

Captains Don Pedro Carmona, Don Juan de Morales, Don José Cascos de

Quirós, Don Alonso de las Casas, Don Alonso de Quirante, Don Gabriel

Niño de Guzmán, Juan Diaz Yañez, Silvestre de Rodas; and for his

secretaries General Sebastian Rayo Doria and Juan de Padilla. The

government notaries were Captain Juan Fijado and Captain Simón

de Fuentes; and the aides-de-camp, Pedro Méndez de Sotomayor and

Francisco Iglesias. With this detachment, who numbered at most 300

men, in eleven small champans and with four pieces of artillery,

each carrying four-libra balls, Don Sabiniano began his journey;

and he reached the village of Macabebe at six in the afternoon of the

following day, having been delayed a long time by removing the stakes

with which the insurgents had closed the entrances to the rivers. All

the islands were imperiled by this war, since all the tribes were

on the watch for its outcome--which, in case it were adverse to the

Spaniards, would give to this [Pampango] people a great reputation,

and to the rest so much confidence that not one of them would forego

the opportunity for their fancied relief. A very hazardous corrective

was that of resort to arms; for, whether [we remained] victorious or

conquered, in any event the Spanish power would be left diminished

and weakened. For, although only 200 infantry had been taken from

the Manila garrison for this expedition, it was necessary that

the deficiency should be made good by the ecclesiastical estate in

that city--which was left in charge of Master-of-camp Don Domingo de

Ugarte. As we have stated, Don Sabiniano arrived at Macabebe, a rich

and populous village in that province; he came opportunely, as on that

very day the people in that village had made ready their vessels and

weapons to go to join the mutineers. Those of Macabebe received the

governor with affected friendliness, the presence of the Spaniards so

well armed having taken away their courage; and all their anxiety was

to hide the tokens of their disorder. The governor was lodged in the

house of Don Francisco Salonga, as it was the best in the village,

although the convent was offered to him by father Fray Enrique de

Castro (who was its prior), observant of the civilities requisite to

guests so honored, although unexpected. He also endeavored that all

the women should be kept out of sight, so that the wanton conduct of

the soldiers might not give any occasion for new dangers; and Don

Sabiniano gave the men strict orders, with heavy penalties for the

transgressors, so that they might not render the Spanish name more

odious through fault of ours. This unexpected arrival diverted the

course of the resolution made by the Macabebe natives, and therefore

they revoked it, dissimulating with affected protestations of loyalty;

but those who were found with arms did not neglect to hasten to hide

their weapons, in order that their recent inconstancy might not render

suspicious, by so manifest a token of rebellion, the loyalty which

their respectful behavior pledged. Don Sabiniano well understood it

all, but, feigning affable manners, and careful to show confidence,

he made a virtue of the occasion. The obsequious solicitude of

the Macabebe men rendered doubtful the resolution of the others,

who in the village of Apalit took away the despatches that had been

given to Don Agustin Pimintuan, the intended ambassador of the rebels

for conspiring in the provinces of Pangasinán and Ilocos, their near

neighbors--fearing that he who bore them would place them in the hands

of the governor, that he might with the names of the conspirators

blot his own from the list of the traitors. All were afraid at the

so close proximity of the governor, imagining that they already had

upon them the entire Spanish power, which discouraged the former ardor

of all. It was worth much to Don Sabiniano that he had made sure of

one individual, named Don Juan Macapagal, a chief of the village of

Arayat, since it was necessary to pass through there to reach the

province of Pangasinán; and, this being assured, we were free from

the danger that the Indians of the two provinces might unite their

forces. Don Sabiniano wrote a letter to Don Juan Macapagal, in which,

assuming his fidelity to his Majesty, he ordered that chief to come to

confer with him at Macabebe. Don Juan Macapagal immediately left his

home, and, passing through the camp of the rebels, went to assure Don

Sabiniano of his obedience, offering his life in the service of his

Majesty. Don Sabiniano treated him with great kindness, accompanied

with promises [of reward], with which the fidelity of Macapagal was

easily secured. Don Sabiniano made him master-of-camp of his people,

and, as pledges for his constancy, asked him for his children and

wife, on the pretext of assuring in Manila their safety from the

rebels--thus mingling his confidence with measures of suspicion,

but veiling this with pretexts of protection. The Pampango, quite

contrary to what was believed, accepted this so harsh condition;

but when once the resolution of a nobleman has been declared, any

alteration brings in greater distrust. Don Sabiniano sent Captain

Nicolás Coronado with twenty-five soldiers, ordering him to construct a

fort in Arayat, as was afterward done, and also to hasten the coming

of the wife and children of Macapagal. [The mutineers send an envoy to

Macapagal to secure his support, but he kills the envoy and compels

his followers to turn back.] The chiefs and leaders of the mutiny

were already finding that their followers had grown remiss, and the

courage of those who supported them had diminished, and they despaired

of the constancy of these. They were still more depressed by the news

which they received of the extreme honors which the governor paid to

the wife and children of Don Juan Macapagal--sending them to Manila

with great distinction, and entrusting them to the gallant care of

General Don Francisco de Figueroa, the alcalde-mayor of Tondo--and

of their entertainment and kind reception, in which they were served

with a display beyond what their condition and nature required. At this

demonstration the envy of the rebels guessed the superior position to

which Macapagal's fidelity would raise him, above all those of his

people. By the honors paid to this chief, the governor allured the

ambition of the rest, and introduced discord in order to separate

by craft that body which ambition held together. Our religious

availed themselves of this opportunity, and like thieves in the

house, since they understood the natural disposition of the Indians,

they neglected no occasion to persuade some and allure others with

promises--an endeavor which, although the governor had not charged

it upon them, they prosecuted with great earnestness, on account of

the great risk which was incurred by the Christian church in such

disturbances. All the ministers of that province accomplished much,

especially the father definitors Fray José Duque and Isidro Rodríguez,

also Fray Jose de Vega (the prior of Guagua), Fray Andres de Salazar,

and Fray Enrique de Castro, and others--whom those natives reverenced,

as their abilities deserved. Soon the results of these efforts became

available; for the chief promoters of the rebellion, finding the

courage of their followers so weakened, began to search for paths for

their own safety. They despatched our father Fray Andrés de Salazar

with a letter to Don Sabiniano, in which they alleged, as an excuse

for the disturbance, the arrears of pay which were due them for their

services, together with the loans of their commodities which had been

taken to Manila for the support of the paid soldiers; they entreated

his Lordship to command that these dues be paid, so that their people,

delighted with this payment and therefore laying aside their fury,

could be disarmed by their chiefs and sent back to their homes. Don

Sabiniano allowed himself to be influenced by the arguments which

they placed before him, considering that the anger of the people is

not easily quenched by resorting to another force, and so he agreed to

grant them a part of what they demanded; and they were pacified by his

paying some part of the debt--although the authorities must contract

fresh obligations to do this, as the royal treasury was exhausted on

account of not having received even the interest on the money which

had been landed at a place one hundred leguas from Manila. In view of

this, the governor offered them 14,000 pesos, on account of what was

due them, which amounted to more than 200,000 pesos. For this he sent

his secretary, General Sebastian Rayo Doria, to authorize two other

commanders, Generals Juan Enriquez de Miranda and Felipe de Ugalde,

to establish peace and publish the general amnesty for the past

which he granted to all that people. When the writ of amnesty was

drawn up, and the words were repeated to them in their own language

by the amanuensis (who was one of the Pampango tribe), in reading to

them these words, "In the name of his Majesty I grant pardon, for

the sake of avoiding all bloodshed," he altered the sense of this

sentence, telling them the very opposite [of what it said]. Then,

slipping out of the conference, he went among the crowd to tell them

[this false statement], and from this resulted fresh disturbances. The

effect of this was the detention of our generals as prisoners, and the

choice of a new head, or master-of-camp, for the mutiny, Don Nicolás

Mañago--who immediately issued a proclamation that on the following

day all should be on hand, with their arms ready for use. That day's

interval gave opportunity for the labors of our religious, who did

everything in their power to undeceive the people and dispel the error

under which they were laboring--making known to them the true meaning

of the terms of the amnesty; and thereupon those timid creatures began

to grow calm. Nor was the governor negligent meanwhile; for, as soon

as he was informed of the condition of the generals whom he had sent,

he commanded that the drums should immediately call the troops to arms,

and they should move against the rebels--for his very desire for peace

had made him keep his forces in readiness and at their stations; but,

as a good officer, he knew that the most suitable means of securing

an honorable peace is to make more formidable the preparations for

war. The troops--[as yet] in peace, but well armed--were encamped

very near the rebels; they traveled through the open country,

as is possible in the settled part of that province (which is all

rivers and bayous), conveyed in boats that were adequate for their

numbers. The mountain route was taken by Captain Don Luis de Aduna

and Don Sebastian Villareal with the cavalry, in order to embarrass

the enemy's retreat, and deprive them of their accustomed refuge,

which is the mountains. Don Juan Macapagal, who with loyal ardor took

the field in his Majesty's service, was sent to his own village of

Arayat, that he might, in conjunction with the people from the farms

about that village, prevent the enemy from using that route to go to

Pangasinán--a matter which caused the governor much anxiety, as those

natives are warlike. On the same day, at sunset, Don Sabiniano met his

secretary, General Sebastian Rayo Doria, whom the rebels had sent back

with entreaties, that he might delay the just wrath of his Lordship,

and they accompanied these with submissions and offerings. Most

of our success in quieting this second revolt is due to the many

efforts made by the fathers who were ministers in that province,

not only with the common rebels but with their leaders--offering to

the former amnesty, and to the latter rewards, on the part of his

Majesty. With only the near approach of the army, its march being

directed toward the rebels, and with no other writ of requisition

than its fearful reputation which threatened them with chastisement,

affairs assumed another guise; and those who before looked at any

plan for peace with distrust now solicited it, having lost their

expectation of any more favorable arrangement.

As Don Sabiniano understood the desire which led them, he spoke to

them with affected severity, and despatched a courier to give them

orders that they must immediately send him the two generals (whom

they had detained to secure a settlement favorable to their fears),

with their weapons, furnishings, and clothing, without a thread being

missing. He said that if any one of these articles should be lacking,

a duel would be enacted in honor of it, which would be satisfied

[only] with the fire from weapons that were already intolerable in

the hands [of the soldiers]; and that, if their valor could ill endure

the bridle of clemency so ill recompensed, if they did not accept it

he would now proceed to exchange it for severity. At the distance of

a few paces the courier met Generals Sebastian Rayo Doria and Juan

Enriquez de Miranda, whom the rebels had set at liberty through the

persuasions of the father ministers. As their fear was not quieted by

any means whatever, they made haste to the safety which imagination

suddenly presented to them; they feared that the illegal detention of

the Spanish generals would add fire to our indignation. The governor,

seeing our honor thus satisfied, and discretion triumphant, turned

to the alcalde-mayor of that province, and told him that on the

following day he must surrender to him its chief men. Those who were

present looked at one another in surprise, wondering that the governor

should not know the condition in which the chiefs still were, united

and armed in so great a number that their submission was not to be

expected at a mere summons. It is a fact that in the excuses which

the chiefs had given for their resolution they cast the blame on the

villages, attempting thus to confuse their own malice with [that of]

the multitude. Accordingly, it was expedient that the governor should

follow their usage, by making them think that he had not fathomed their

purposes, so that they could not guess that he was dissimulating. The

result corresponded to the ingenious scheme, skill obtaining what

guile had concealed. For the chiefs, seeing that their excuses were

so readily received, attempted to carry them further; and therefore at

one o'clock at night they arrived, with all the people of the revolted

villages, in eighty vessels, at the village of Macabebe. The military

officers felt anxiety, not only at their coming at a suspicious hour

of the night, but at the multitude, a great impediment to negotiations

for peace; in view of this the governor deferred until the next day

giving them audience. But as there are cases in which confidence is

safer than mistrust, especially when one is intent on giving security

to distrust and calming fear, the governor commanded that all should

enter his presence, and that our armada and troops should, without

any outcry or demonstration of anxiety, watch very attentively the

actions of these people. It was the effect of fear, which is with

difficulty laid aside when conscience itself accuses, that these

rebels came armed to capitulate, concealing by the submission that

they tendered the cunning with which they acted. Many things have

to be tolerated in an enemy when there are certain expectations

of gaining one's end. The governor overlooked their being armed,

and granted what they asked; and his efforts succeeded in allaying

the fears of those people. He commanded the chiefs to make the

people go away, so that they might resume their industries; and,

in testimony of the fidelity which their authority guaranteed in the

common people, he ordered them to continue sending the men necessary

for the timber-cutting for the galleons, the only source of life

for these islands. The multitude gladly took their departure, and

the governor, although he was victorious and armed, did not choose

for that time that the chiefs who had incited the rebellion should

make amends for their fault; instead, he granted them all that they

asked, and afterward talked with them quite familiarly--endeavoring

to convince their minds, although he saw their strength conquered

at his feet. To the chiefs who were humble and repentant he said:

"I cannot deny that in demanding the payment of what was due you, you

asked what was just; but as little can you deny that you did not ask

it in a just way. Not only because, when the manner in which you act

must be so costly both to yourselves and to the king, he who solicits

justice by such means is the aggressor, more cruel than is justice,

perverting peace and introducing war (in which this virtue [of justice]

is always lacking), but because in war all the wealth that one had

intended to increase is destroyed; and it is more cruel than kind to

employ, in order to show anger at the wealth which recognizes a debt,

what will cause the ruin of property and lives. Who has ever grown rich

through war? and who has not lost in war that which in peace he held

secure? Many are they who with the wealth that they possessed had not

yet been able to attain the success at which they aimed; and those who

had attained it were subjected to a lamentable misery--the villages

burned, the countries depopulated, and their customs trampled under

foot. It is not, then, justice to bring in general ruin as the price

of so limited an expectation, which vanishes through the very means

by which it is secured. If this mode [of obtaining what you demand] is

so harsh, your purpose is no less unjust. You make an arrogant demand

upon the king, when you know that he cannot pay you; and in order to

expedite it you oblige him to incur greater expenses, thus doing more

to render his efforts impossible. Ignorance may serve other provinces

as an excuse, but not you, whom our continual intercourse with you has

rendered more intelligent. You know very well the scantiness of the

relief which has come from Nueva España during my term of office;

and you are not ignorant of the unavoidable expenses which this

government is obliged to meet for the preservation of the country,

which much exceed the aid received. One galleon alone demands half

of the money, even when the wages and other expenses are reduced to

what is absolutely necessary. The [expenses of the] fortified posts,

which are paid for by all the native peoples, amount to five thousand

[pesos]; while the aid [sent], averaging one year with another, hardly

amounts to 5,000 pesos. The king has no other wealth than that of his

vassals, and his own is in the amount that their defense requires,

when the necessities of these islands are so great; for with you

[Indians] he does not avail himself of this right, which is that

of all kings and commonwealths. Many times have I written to his

Majesty to ask that he regulate this matter; and from his clemency

I am expecting the relief for which I have been so anxious, which I

am sure he will furnish. Must his Majesty, since the peace of these

islands and the maintenance of the faith in them are all so costly to

his royal treasury, make up the omissions of the officials in Nueva

España? Your patience would be greater than ours if your gratitude

more quickly recognized our kindness in employing our forces for

your defense, and our arms in watching over your peace. I ask you

to consider, not the powerful enemies who oppose our forces, but the

wretched condition in which you formerly lived without our arms--in

continual wars, within even your own homes, one village against

another; without liberty having two leguas of extent, and being

waylaid by your own tyranny, without any right save might, or further

justification than deeds of violence. Let me remind you of the way in

which you lived; your huts were the taller trees, like bird's nests,

[80] your sleep was disturbed by the nightmare of anxiety, because

danger confronted you, so near that it was no farther away than from

one house to another. Cast your eyes on the Spanish infantry; consider

the hardships which they endure on sea and land; and see what support

they receive, only the fourth part of the wages assigned them, which

still does not bring them to the condition which among your people is

misery. See how they give to the king, as a loan, each year much more

than this, and of much more importance--since they deprive themselves

of life itself, without any opportunity remaining to them for supplying

their needs. They serve as if they were slaves, and would be fortunate

if we paid them as we do our servants. And finally, consider that

the king taxes himself in enormous sums, for your safety and defense

alone, while the rest of the nations in the world obey him and pay

him tribute. They all enrich his treasures, yet he willingly lavishes

these here, for you people. Understand these reasons, and you will see

how little cause you had for so ungrateful a resolution. Your natives

must be blamed for the ungrateful way in which they have acted, since

they have shown no patience with a nation which has endured so much

for you, or for its king, who has so generously spent his money for

your welfare. Notify them also that I acknowledge the docility with

which they have returned to their obedience, more in humility than

in distrust; for I would grieve much if we came to blows, since if

fighting began I could not restrain the soldiers from compelling me,

against my wishes, to behold your entire ruin. You know very well

that there is no people in these islands who can resist their valor

in the field, and no hope could render you secure [from them]. The

open country [would be] clear of obstructions, the ground level,

the villages wide open; and you would have to flee to the mountains,

wherever necessity guided you lost creatures, or else the ashes of

your villages must be mingled with those of your bodies. I have had

a greater struggle with the Spanish valor, to check its ardor, than

even with your thoughtlessness [in trying] to bring you to a full

knowledge of your error. Now let your behavior blot out that error,

since I have forgiven you for what is past; and beware that you do

not repeat your faithless ingratitude."

Thus did the discreet and sagacious governor, Don Sabiniano,

destroy the infernal seed that discord had sowed in the hearts of the

Pampangos, alluring them with [the idea of] liberty, more potent than

the apple of gold flung down at the marriage of Peleus and Thetis....

Don Sabiniano received all their excuses with his usual affability,

and in the name of his Majesty restored them to his favor and to the

condition of faithful vassals, and gave them in due form, in writing,

a general amnesty. He commanded the alcalde-mayor to distribute to

them with exactness and care the sum which he had, by contracting

new obligations, brought for their relief; and to order them in

testimony of their repentance--now that he had brought them back to

their former fidelity, and as this outbreak had been [the result

of] their anxiety, in grief rather than in rebellion--to repair,

as before, with men to the wood-cutting for the construction of the

ships. They asked from him time to repair their houses, and permission

to attend to their cultivation of the soil; and this was granted, to

their satisfaction. The affairs of the province were immediately put

in order. The governor commanded Juan Camacho de la Peña to retire,

and left as governor of the province General Don Francisco de Atienza

y Báñez--an old soldier whose valor was equal to the wisdom gained by

his experiences in the governments which he had held in these islands,

in Caraga and Zamboanga--with orders that he must exercise vigilance

in regard to every indication of disturbance, and by prudent action and

kind treatment constrain the natives to prefer their own tranquillity.

He sent a despatch by Adjutant Francisco Amaya, accompanied by seven

soldiers, to the province of Pangasinán, to notify the alcalde-mayor,

named Francisco Gómez Pulido, of the outcome in Pampanga, in order that

he might with this example be on the alert in his own province. Don

Sabiniano also ordered him to communicate this information to the

alcaldes-mayor of Ilocos (Don Alonso de Peralta) and of Cagayán,

and warn them to keep watch on the movements of the natives, and

to endeavor that the submission of the Pampangos should confirm the

others in their tranquillity. Nor was the governor content with this

activity only; but he sent a sealed letter to the sargento-mayor of

the royal regiment in Manila, Francisco Pedro de Quirós, with orders

that he should deliver it, in a well-equipped champan with twelve

soldiers, to a thoroughly reliable person; and that the latter, when

two leguas beyond Mariveles, should open the letter, and execute the

orders that he should find therein. These were, that he should take

the route to Pangasinán, and deliver the letters which he had sent to

the alcalde-mayor, in which he warned him by the events in Pampanga

of the danger which he had cause to suspect in the province which was

in his charge, and of the watchful care that he must exercise over

the actions of the natives therein; and that if any Pampangos should

be dispersed through his villages--and he regarded it as certain

that such had been sent, in order to form conspiracies among those

natives--he should by suitable plans arrest them and send them to

Manila. Having made these arrangements, the governor returned to the

capital, taking in his company Don Francisco Mañago, under pretext of

employing him in the office of master-of-camp for those of his tribe

in that city. Under the pretext of honoring this chief, he cloaked

his anxiety to remove from the sight of the Pampangos the man to

whom all eyes were directed on account of his authority and power,

and from whom, it was understood, their resolution took new breath;

for, if their regard for peace grew weak, his prestige and authority

might not be lacking for seditions--although this alone was not the

sole incentive which moved them, since it was accompanied by the

influence of José Celis, a native of that province, who was incited

by the laws that he had learned, which had been taught to him by the

auditor Don Francisco Samaniego y Cuesta, under whom he had served. At

the same time he carried with him others of the more guilty, whom he

attracted with the hope of greater rewards; there was no discussion

of other modes of satisfaction, as the occasion did not allow them.

After the return of the governor to Manila, affairs were so skilfully

arranged that the Pampangos themselves demanded that two garrisons

be placed in their province, as necessary to their security--one in

Lubao, to free themselves from the invasions which in that direction

they are continually suffering from the blacks of the hill-country;

and the other in Arayat, as a precaution against the fears which

arise from the Pangasinans--and that these should be in charge of

officers thoroughly satisfactory to the governor. This, the very thing

that the governor desired, was quickly agreed to, and he stationed

in Arayat Captain Nicolás Coronado, and in Baras (which is Lubao)

Captain Juan Giménez de Escolástica, soldiers of great valor. This

step was of great importance on account of the commotions (which will

be considered further on) in the provinces of Pangasinán and Ilocos,

the results of which were so lamentable that up to this day they have

not ceased to arouse grief. Very different were they from the events

in Pampanga, for in the latter province there was not experienced any

death, or ravaging of churches, or burning of villages, but merely

threats of disobedience to their chiefs; but in the other provinces,

all these things occurred, and many of each kind.

The alcalde-mayor, Francisco Gómez Pulido, replied to the governor's

letter that the natives in his province maintained remarkable peace,

and that the alcalde-mayor of Ilocos, Don Alonso Peralta, had made

the same report to him; and with this the anxiety that was felt in

regard to those provinces was partly dissipated. But his vigilance

was deceived; for in a fortnight from that time, in the village of

Malunguey in the province of Pangasinán, from some slight cause was

raised a sedition which compelled the alcalde-mayor to hasten out

with the soldiers whom the governor had sent him in the champan. Those

first disturbances were quieted, more because the fruit of rebellion

was not yet matured than because other endeavors were made [by the

Spaniards]. The alcalde-mayor was more easily satisfied than he should

have been with the dissembled tranquillity, and sent a report of the

whole affair to Manila. However much the ashes of dissimulation hid

the fire, it did not fail to make its presence known, by the smoke

that it sent forth, or by the flames which arose at every breath

of wind. One is wont in such case to curb caution, even though he

has not yet the wood ready for keeping up the fire of his strength;

but if one is sure of safety without having turned over the ashes,

a fire that cannot be checked will leap upon him in his sleep.

The fire, covered during two months, steadily spread, through the

hidden passage of the intercourse between different villages, until

its effects became so serious that the alcalde-mayor Francisco Gómez

Pulido was undeceived, and had to give up his groundless confidence. A

spark flew over to the province of Ilocos, and left matters there ready

for the operations that afterward were seen.... It took two months,

as I have said, after apparent quiet was secured, to explode the mine

which the faithlessness of the Pangasinans had covered, [and this

occurred] with a fearful crash. On the fifteenth of December, 1660,

this perilous volcano was revealed in Lingayén, the chief town of

that province. The reason why its effects were so long delayed was

the great bulk which it had acquired through the diligence of Don

Andrés Malóng, his Majesty's master-of-camp for that tribe, a native

of Binalatongan. The first proceeding of mob ferocity was to go to

the house of the alguazil-mayor [81] and kill him and all his family,

and then set fire to his house. From here the multitude went, hoisting

their sails, under the guidance of Malóng to conquer the villages--by

the cruel acts of armed force gaining those who would not voluntarily

have surrendered to them. Encouraged by their large following, which

was hourly increasing, Malóng directed his efforts to capture by force

the village of Bagnotan, one of the richest and most populous of that

province, whose inhabitants had thus far refused to range themselves

on the side of the traitors. The loyalty of those people proved very

costly to them; for they were suddenly attacked one night by Don Andres

Malóng, followed by more than four thousand rebels. They sacked the

town, and after having committed many inhuman murders set fire to

it, and reduced it to ashes--the voracity of the flames not sparing

the convent and church, a magnificent edifice which was one of the

finest that the fathers of St. Dominic possessed in that province. The

father minister thought himself fortunate that he could escape with

his life, fleeing on a swift horse from the barbarous cruelty of the

assailants--who, on learning that the alcalde-mayor Francisco Gómez

Pulido had left Lingayén in flight, flew thither on the wings of their

fury. He had embarked with all his family, and with the soldiers whom

the governor had sent him, in the champan of a ship-master named Juan

de Campos; but, as unfortunately they could not pass over that bar

on account of the ebb-tide, they had to wait for high tide, and this

gave the insurgents time to arrive. Attempting to attack the champan,

they found such resistance from the firearms of those within it that

they had to curb their first fury; but they were soon freed from this

hindrance by the malicious cunning of some Sangleys, who imparted to

them a scheme for success. This was, to cover some small boats with

many branches of trees, when they could safely attack those on the

champan--which plan they carried out so effectively that a great number

of little boats in entire safety made an assault on the champan. Those

who were in it could make no resistance to such a multitude, and were

all put to the sword--among them the alcalde-mayor, who did wonderful

things in the defense, until, covered with wounds from arrows and

javelins, and faint from loss of blood, his strength failed. The

rebels killed his wife, who had recently become a mother, and his

sister-in-law, a young girl, and all those in his service--soldiers,

servants, and other people--no one being able to escape from this

barbarous cruelty except a little girl and a little boy (the latter

only a few days old), the children of the alcalde-mayor. Their lives

were saved by the efforts of a friendly Indian from the village of

Binalatongan; Don Sabiniano afterward rewarded him, and gave the girl

an encomienda for the services rendered by her father. With this deed,

which seemed a victory to Don Andrés Malóng, he persuaded himself

that he had closed the account with the entire Spanish nation, his

arrogant confidence believing that the Spaniards would not return

there on account of their punctilious regard for honor. Carried away

by his vanity, he caused himself to be acclaimed king of Pangasinán,

with much drinking of wine; and he bestowed the title of Conde on Don

Pedro Gumapos, a native of the village of Agoo. In order to perpetuate

by might his new but tyrannical dignity, he summoned to his aid the

Zambal tribe--a people who know no more civilized mode of life than

the savage abode of the mountains and rocks; and without recognizing

any one as king save him who, most barbarous of all, distinguishes

himself as most courageous. They accepted the invitation, attracted

more by the desire to plunder than by friendship, a relation which

they recognize with no one. With this succor, Malóng easily persuaded

himself that he was invincible; his arrogance therefore led him to send

letters to all the chiefs of the provinces of Ilocos and Cagayán,

commanding that they immediately acknowledge him as their lord,

and slay all the Spaniards whom they might find in those provinces,

unless they wished to experience chastisement from his power. He sent

other letters, similar to these, to Pampanga, and especially to Don

Francisco Mañago; these were seized from the messengers by the wary

artifice, inspired by loyalty, of an Indian, a native of Magalang,

who offered to the messengers to place the letters safely in the hands

of Don Francisco Mañago. He delivered them to the commandant of the

fort at Arayat, Captain Nicolás Coronado, who without delay sent them

to the governor, who received them on the twentieth of the same month

of December. When he opened these, he found that their contents were,

in brief, to tell Don Francisco Mañago that, if he did not undertake to

arouse the province of Pampanga to take sides with Malóng, killing the

Spaniards who were found therein, he would send for the chastisement

of that province Don Melchor de Vera, with six thousand men who were

already under his command. This assertion was not a false one; for

so great was the multitude of adherents who were coming to him--some

attracted by the novelty, others by their eagerness for plunder,

and others by inconstancy or fear--that he was able to divide his men

into three parts. To Don Melchor de Vera he gave orders to descend on

Pampanga with six thousand men, and conquer the villages; to Don Pedro

Gumapos he assigned three thousand Pangasinans and Zambals, with orders

to reduce the provinces of Ilocos and Cagayán; and he himself was left

with two thousand men, to furnish aid wherever necessity required it.

This information was received by the governor without surprise, as if

he had been expecting it; and on that very afternoon he despatched, to

fortify the post at Arayat, Captain Silvestre de Rodas--an old soldier

of experience and reputation in many encounters, in which his valor

always obtained the advantage over the enemy. The governor gave him

fifty infantry, so that in case Don Melchor de Vera arrived with the

rebel army he could maintain his position, going out to encounter them

until the arrival of General Francisco de Esteybar with the Spanish

army. The latter was on the same day appointed commander-in-chief

of the troops and lieutenant of the governor and captain-general,

with all the body of soldiers who, under the pressure of necessity,

could be detached from the scanty garrison of Manila. On the same

day Don Sabiniano appointed, as commander of the armed fleet which he

resolved to equip and despatch against the rebels, General Felipe de

Ugalde--a man of unusual prudence, and distinguished by heroic deeds

in the army of Ternate, where he was sargento-mayor. To this he added

a commission as commander-in-chief of Pangasinán and Ilocos, in order

that he might be able to act independently, wherever he might be,

and, in the lack of a governor for those provinces, carry out their

pacification through their fear of punishment. In this army went the

following officers: Sargento-mayor Diego de Morales, and Captains Simón

de Fuentes, Alonso Castro, Juan de San Martín, Don Juan de Morales,

Don Juan Francisco. In it were also the company of Merdicas (who are

Malays), and their master-of-camp Cachil Duco, the prince of Tidori;

Don Francisco García; the company of creole negroes, [82] with their

master-of-camp Ventura Meca; and the Japanese of Dilao. They had four

pieces of artillery, which carried four-libra balls.

On December 22 General Esteybar began the march by land; on the

twenty-fourth General Don Felipe de Ugalde set out by sea, with four

champans and under their protection a joanga. With the former went

two hundred infantry, and other troops of all nationalities, Japanese

and Merdicas; while Ugalde took seventy Spaniards and some thirty

Pampangos--with Captains Don Alonso Quirante, Don Juan de Guzmán,

Juan Díaz Yáñez, Don Diego de Lemos; the adjutant Diego Sánchez de

Almazán, Miguel Roldan, and Cristobal Romero; Captains Nicolás Blanco

and Lorenzo Coronado. Ugalde carried orders to land at Lingayén,

the chief town in the jurisdiction of Pangasinán, and fortify a post

from which he could inflict injury on the enemy. This was compassed

by the activity of General Ugalde; for, having stationed a force

in Bolinao, he assured [the loyalty of] that village, [83] which

had been doubtful. Although those natives had not yet committed the

cruelties of those of Pangasinán, they carried out the orders sent

them by Malóng; and they had captured a Spanish woman, and slain a

Spaniard named Pedro Saraspe, the collector for Bolinao--which was

an encomienda of Admiral Pedro Duran Monforte--and had sent his head

to Don Andrés Malóng. General Ugalde quieted all their fear of the

chastisement which they saw threatening their heads, and, placing

the government of the village in the hands of a chief who had shown

himself most steadfast in loyalty, Don Luis Sorriguen, he left Bolinao

secured for the service of his Majesty. Then he pursued his way, and

came in sight of the bar at Lingayén on January 6, 1661; although he

strove, at the risk of his armada, to enter it against the severity

of the storm that opposed him, the weather prevailed, and compelled

him to make port two leguas to leeward of the bar, at Suali. He sent

the joanga (which is an oared vessel) to make soundings at the bar,

with orders to summon him by signals, so that he could approach with

this opportunity near enough to reconnoiter the fortifications of the

rebels. He discovered a large crowd of people, who made him no other

reply than that of bullets and arrows; and he observed the haste with

which they were building fortifications, working behind a shelter which

they had made of gabions. The foresight of the general suspected that

they had not closed the bar against him, and he again strove, although

without avail, to enter it on the eighth of the same month. Then,

seeing that the weather was steadily becoming more favorable to

the enemy, he proposed to assault the village by land. This idea of

his was opposed by all the military leaders, and he therefore had

to repeat his attempt by sea, on the ninth; but they had hardly set

sail when they encountered a messenger from the minister of Lingayén,

Father Juan Camacho, [84] of the Order of St. Dominic. He informed

them that the usurping "king," Malóng, had despatched soldiers with

orders to cut off the head of the governor of that village, named

Don Pedro Lombey, to burn the church, and to carry the religious

as prisoners to him at Binalatongan, where he was waiting far them;

for with this severity he expected to compel the few people whom that

governor and the religious were keeping peaceable, to take sides with

his faction. At the same time, that religious related the grievous

injuries, the plundering of property, and the burning of buildings,

that had been inflicted by the cruelty of the insurgents, and those

which must result if the above order were carried out; for then that

village and the Christian church which had been maintained under its

protection would be finally destroyed.

General Ugalde immediately formed another resolution, without

submitting it to the opinions of other men; since in critical moments,

when reputation and the common welfare are at stake, such opinions

serve rather as a hindrance than as an advantage to success. He

commanded the infantry to disembark, without allowing them to take with

them anything save their weapons. He despatched the armada in charge

of Captain Don Diego de Lemos, commanding him to contend once more

against the severity of the elements [for an entrance to the river],

and, if he could not overcome their hostility, to return to the harbor,

and there await the result and new orders. He ordered the adjutant,

Diego Sánchez de Almanzán, to enter the river with the joanga, at

all risks, as its passage was so important for the security of the

people against the enemy, who were awaiting them on the other side;

and told him that if the joanga should be wrecked they would find

him and his troops at a post convenient for securing the people from

invasion by the enemy. Ugalde divided his soldiers into three bodies;

one of these went ahead as vanguard, under command of Captain Miguel

Rendón. The battalion was given to Captain Cristobal Romero, and

the rearguard to Captain Juan Díaz Yáñez. Captains Nicolás Blanco

and Lorenzo Coronado were sent forward with some arquebusiers, to

reconnoitre the field. The general gave public orders to the men of

the rearguard to shoot the first soldier who should retreat from his

post. He was awaited at the bar by the forces of the insurgents, who

supposed that he had come in the champans which they saw endeavoring

to occupy the bar. By this precaution he took them by surprise,

so little ready for it that, seeing themselves assailed and the

drums sounding the call to arms behind them on the land, this second

danger so terrified them that their defensive array was thrown into

confusion; and their fear giving them no leisure for other plans,

it sent them headlong and dispersed them in precipitate flight. The

army of Ugalde arrived at the river without encountering the enemy,

at four in the afternoon, and continuing the march, he entered the

village of Lingayén at sunset, with all his men. The only persons

whom he found alive there were the father ministers and four chiefs;

but they saw in front of the royal buildings, impaled on stakes,

the heads of Alcalde-mayor Francisco Gómez Pulido, Nicolás de Campos,

Pedro Saraspe, and the wife and the sister-in-law of Pulido--which the

rebels, in their confusion, could not hide. When those people rebel,

and see that they involve themselves in danger, they try to lead the

rest to engage in destruction, in order thus to persuade the rabble

and those who are easily deluded that, if they remain in the villages,

they expose themselves to the blows of the vengeance which will be

executed on those whom the sword encounters. For the same reason,

they try to burn the churches and kill the priests, thinking that with

such atrocious deeds the crime becomes general, even though it has

been committed by only a few. Thus fear, which so easily finds place

in their pusillanimous natures, drives them to flee as fugitives;

and necessity makes them take refuge with those who are traitors,

fearing their cruelties. It was this that had caused most [of the

people of Lingayén] to flee, since their hands were free from such

crimes. On the same night when General Ugalde arrived, four agents

of Don Andrés Malóng came, in accordance with the warning of Father

Camacho which had hastened the general's decision; they came to set

fire to the church and seize the religious; and, as they did not

find the men whom they had left in defense of the bar, or any one

of their faction in the village who could warn them in time, they

easily fell into the power of Ugalde's men. He immediately ordered

that their heads should be cut off and suspended from hooks on the

road to Binalatongan, in order that these might be tokens of the

severity that would be experienced by those who were stubborn in their

rebellion. By this means General Felipe de Ugalde so quickly pushed

his good fortune that when the military commander-in-chief arrived,

which was on January 17, only two villages in the entire province of

Pangasinán, those of Malunguey and Binalatongan, persisted in their

rebellion; and most of the inhabitants of the villages had returned

to their homes, remaining in their shelter and peace.

The commander-in-chief, Francisco de Esteybar, although he at first

set out by land, was detained for some time because he halted at

Arayat, to wait for the Pampango troops who were being levied for

this campaign--until on the sixth day he was constrained to begin the

march by the news which he received about the natives of Magalang,

the furthest village in Pampanga, by a chief from Porac named Don

Andrés Manacuil. This man had been snared and captured by Malóng,

with eleven companions who were lying dead from lance-thrusts,

and he alone had escaped. He declared that Don Melchor de Vera was

approaching with an army of six thousand Pangasinans, and that they

would reach that village on the following day; that it was not strong

enough to resist the enemy, and therefore it would be necessary for

the Spaniards, unless they received reënforcements, to abandon the

village and take refuge in the mountains. The general's reply was

prompt action; he gave the signal to march with all the energy and

promptness that the emergency demanded, and on the same day reached

Magalang, at nightfall. There he learned that the rebel army had

lodged that night at Macaulo, a hamlet two leguas distant. Francisco de

Esteybar proposed to push ahead, but this was opposed by the leading

officers, on account of the men being exhausted with marching all

day long. The cavalry captain Don Luis de Aduna offered to go, with

the freshest of the men, proceeding until he encountered the enemy,

so as to ascertain how strong they were, and doing them what damage

he could. The commander-in-chief gladly accepted the offer, and,

adding a detachment of thirty foot-soldiers to the cavalry troop,

he despatched them very quickly. The enemy Don Melchor de Vera came

to meet the army, ignorant and unsuspecting that he would find it so

near and in the field; and the night, the fatigue of his men, and the

present hostile attitude of the people, rendered futile the activities

of his spies. The troop of Don Luis de Aduna marched in good order,

and, although he sent forward men to explore the road, when daylight

came he found himself in the midst of the enemy, who were stretched

out in a pleasant open field--nearly all of them lying on the ground,

either from their natural sloth or overcome by sleep. The Pangasinans

raised an alarm, uttering a loud shout, a signal with which all these

peoples begin their battles, in order to arouse their own courage and

weaken that of the enemy; but such was not the effect of their activity

on this occasion, for apprehension awoke, without enlivening their

courage, and, their fear of unforeseen danger prevailing, it made them

run away in disorderly flight from the perils that they dreaded. As for

our men--whether the horses, frightened by the unaccustomed shouting,

could not be held in by the curb; or their riders, at sight of that

frightful multitude armed, felt the natural effect in their hearts;

or their ears were deafened by the hideous shouts, of for some other

reason--the cavalry of the squadron turned their backs, with the

same haste as did the enemy, without either side waiting to prove

the danger with their weapons. Who doubts that Don Luis de Aduna,

already informed of the multitude of those whom he was going to seek,

had carefully considered the hazard? But it is not the same thing

to look at the danger from afar, and to consider it while in the

midst of it, if the leader has known danger beforehand from similar

experiences. If he had fought in other campaigns, he would have known

that mere numbers do not make these peoples more valiant; for they do

not know how to wage war except in their ambuscades, where they are

quite safe, and in the open field they cannot, for lack of military

discipline, maintain battle for an instant. At last the cavalry arrived

in safety at the camp, to report to their commander, General Francisco

de Esteybar, without having accomplished anything worthy of note.

The commander, not only to proceed with the foresight which the

remoteness of the country and the laborious march required, but to make

sure that the enemy's army should not leave Pampanga, waited there

a week, going round a hill opposite, which had a spring on the other

side. Don Melchor de Vera, although he had seen his own men take to

flight, as he saw that our soldiers did the same thing, attributed to

his own valor that panic of terror of which the incidents are perhaps

noted among the barbarous exploits of these peoples, in recording the

events of war in these islands. Don Melchor de Vera returned to the

presence of his [superior, the] usurping king, and assured him that

he had left the Spaniards conquered, and cut off the heads of three

hundred of them and more than a thousand Pampangos, without losing

a single man of his own. But all the exploit that he had performed

was to cut off the heads of three Indians from the village of Cambuy

(a visita of Arayat), whom Don Juan Macapagal had sent on business to

the village of Telbán; their bodies were found this side of the village

of Paniqui. What these peoples gain easily they regard with credulity

and confidence; accordingly they supposed that the failure of the

Spaniards to follow them was a recognition of their power. This delay,

which they attributed to fear, gave them assurance; and as General

Felipe de Ugalde had not yet set his troops in motion for Lingayén,

they all considered themselves safe, and talked of following up their

enterprise, to which they were led by their eagerness to make an

actual raid on the province of Ilocos; for it was rich in gold, and

its inhabitants had little courage. They were encouraged to this by

the favorable result of the raid which "Conde" Don Pedro Gurcapos had

effected a few days before, although he only went as far as Bauang;

but now, with their troops still further reënforced, they wished to

go as far as Cagayán, to stir up the minds of those natives, so that,

if they succeeded, they could induce those people to join them. For

this purpose, they detached from the best troops of the rebel army as

many as four thousand men, Zambals and Pangasinans, and placed them

under command of Don Jacinto Macasiag, a native of Binalatongan, for

the new conquest--which they supposed would be very easy, as the minds

of some of the chiefs there, with whom they had held correspondence,

were prepared for it.

Soon Don Andrés Malóng repented of having separated so large a

number of troops from the main body of his army, when, on the ninth

of January, General Ugalde gave the signal for hostilities by way

of Lingayén; and on the seventeenth of the same month the commander,

Francisco de Esteybar, came unexpectedly with all the strength of the

Spanish army. The rebels of Binalatongan had torn down and burned the

bridge, which was built of planks--a difficulty which might prove an

obstacle to the courage of Francisco de Esteybar; but a courageous

soldier named Cristóbal de Santa Cruz, with two bold Merdicas, made

the crossing easy. The latter leaped into the water, swimming, and

the Spaniard walked upon their shields or bucklers; and in this way,

fastening together all the logs and bamboos that they could collect,

they made a raft large enough to transport on it the infantry. Malóng

sent to summon Don Melchor de Vera, and in the interval, urged on more

by the fear arising from their guilt than by the number of the Spanish

soldiery (which, compared with that of the rebels, was much smaller),

all the rebels took refuge in Binalatongan; but this did not last

them long, for the two generals, having united their forces, marched

forward to attack them and thus end the war at once. Don Andrés Malóng,

having been informed of this intention, would not wait to confront

the chances of fortune. He set fire to the village of Binalatongan,

and plundered it of everything; and he burned the church and convent,

the images of the saints which were therein becoming the prey of

that barbarous multitude, who trampled on them and broke them in

pieces, venting on, these figures of the saints the fury and madness

which obliged them to retreat to the mountains. This they did in

such haste that many fell into the hands of the soldiers whom the

commander-in-chief, observing their flight, quickly sent for this

purpose. The main body of the troops--not only the cavalry but the

infantry--followed the rebels, as far as the ground allowed them to,

killing, while the pursuit lasted, more than five hundred Zambals and

rebels. After this the army not being able to continue the pursuit,

returned to Lingayén in order to aid the other provinces wherever

necessity might require. Soon afterward, troops of Indians began

arriving, to cast themselves at the feet of the commander-in-chief,

entreating pardon; and he in virtue of the powers with which he had

been invested, detained those whom he considered guilty, and allowed

the rest to go to their villages. The natives, in order to check

the just wrath of the Spaniards, thought best to offer themselves

to bring in Don Andrés Malóng a prisoner; and Francisco de Esteybar,

having learned where this man had concealed himself--which was in a

forest between Bagnotan and Calasiao--sent Captain Simon de Fuentes and

Alférez Alonso de Alcántara with sixty soldiers, fifteen Spaniards,

with fifteen Merdicas and creoles, and Sargento-mayor Pedro Machado

of Ternate and some Pangasinans, who served as guides. They found the

hut of Don Andrés Malóng, where they arrested him and his mother,

Beata de Santo Domingo; they also took away a girl of ten years,

a sister-in-law of Francisco Pulido, whom he had kept a captive for

the purpose of marrying her. They found a large quantity of gold,

pearls, and silver, which Malóng had taken with him. Carrying him

to Binalatongan, they placed him in prison, under close guard. It is

quite worth while to note what happened to Don Francisco de Pacadua,

one of the principal rebels, who in this farce played the role of

judge to the king Don Andrés Malóng. They had carried him a prisoner to

Binalatongan; and, as he was very rich he formed a plan to escape from

the prison by bribing the guards with much gold. He succeeded in this,

and in his flight, while crossing the river, a crocodile seized him;

but it did him no further harm than to carry him held fast in [its

mouth], to the mouth of the river of Binalatongan, where some soldiers

were on guard, and to leave him there, half-dead with fear, with only

some slight wounds from the creature's claws. The soldiers ran up to

see who he was, and recognized Pacadua; they took him prisoner, and

in due time he atoned for his crime on the gallows. They conveyed him

to the presence of General Francisco de Esteybar, who ordered that he

be carefully guarded until his punishment should be duly adjudged;

for in the province of Ilocos very lamentable events were making

pressing calls upon the Spanish forces--since, as will be seen in

the proper place, the natives there had slain two religious.

Francisco de Esteybar was informed how, among the ravages and cruelties

which the rebels had committed in the village of Malunguey, they had

demolished the church and convent in order to use the planks in these

for making their fortifications; and in a thicket had been found an

image of the mother of God, [that had been taken] from that church,

showing marks of ill-treatment, and with its hands cut off. Francisco

de Esteybar went to Malunguey with most of his army, and they carried

the sacred image in a triumphal procession to Binalatongan, where

it was reverently deposited. It is said that the rebels used the

hands of the sacred image as spoons for eating their cooked rice

[morisqueta]--an act of insolence which was made known as being

insurrection and rebellion against both Majesties. It is also related

that they trampled on the rosaries and committed other impious acts,

tokens of their apostasy. The fathers of St. Dominic labored much in

reducing and pacifying the insurgents, displaying the ardor and energy

in insurrection which they are accustomed to exert in their missions

and ministries; but as the hearts of the Pangasinans were so cold,

and their wills were so obstinate in their treacherous rebellion, they

would not be affected even by blows from the hammer of the strongest

Cyclop. But many withdrew from the ranks of the insurgents through the

counsel and persuasion of father Fray Juan Camacho--Don Carlos Malóng,

the brother of the usurping king Don Andrés, and many others--who,

being tractable, in time embraced his wholesome counsels.

Thus was finally extinguished this fire which rebellion kindled in the

province of Pangasinán, which threatened great destruction--although it

wrought no slight havoc in the burning of the two villages Bagnotan and

Binalatongan, which were the most important in that province; and up

to the present time they have not been able to recover the wealth and

population that they formerly had. That the outbreak of these rebels

was no more extensive is due to the fact that the governor undertook so

promptly to apply the remedy, sending out by land and sea officers so

valiant, and so experienced in conquest--as [for instance], Francisco

de Esteybar, who was one of the most fortunate soldiers who have been

known in these regions. In a printed history [85] I have seen mention

of this rebellion in Pangasinán with much solicitude to exonerate the

insurgents, and omitting many circumstances which aggravate it. But I

am not influenced by prejudice, for I do not feel it; but I am guided

by the relations of it made by disinterested persons of that period,

and of soldiers who took part in the said reduction. Some of these

are still alive, among them Captain Alonso Martín Franco, who was

present in all the revolutions, those of Pampanga, Pangasinán, and

Ilocos, and gives an account of all the events above mentioned and

of those which are related in the following chapters. In the latter

are recounted the ravages wrought by Don Pedro Gumapos, by order of

his king Don Andrés Malóng, in the province of Ilocos, aided by the

Zambals, a cruel and barbarous people, who inflicted so much harm on

that province that it is deplored even to this day.

Raid of the Pangasinans and Zambals into the province of Ilocos;

1660-61

[This is related by Diaz, continuing the above account, in his

Conquistas, pp. 590-616 (book iii, chapters xxi-xxiv).]

That I may give a more satisfactory relation of the melancholy tragedy

in the province of Ilocos, I have thought it best to defer for later

mention the march of the fantastic "Conde" Don Pedro Gumapos to

that province, where we shall find him in due time, and to follow

the relation of all those occurrences which was sent to our father

provincial, Fray Diego de Ordas, by his vicar in that province,

father Fray Bernardino Márquez--adopting the simplicity of his mode

of writing, that I may without exaggeration accurately describe the

events of all that occurred there; for a uniform style cannot always

be employed, especially when the accounts of others are followed.

On the sixteenth day of December in the year 1660, the father preacher

Fray Luís de la Fuente, prior of that district, having left the

village of Bauang--to which he had gone to make his confession--to go

to his village of Agoo, learned on the route of the insurrection in

the province of Pangasinán, and the raid of the Zambals into that of

Ilocos. He returned to Bauang with that information, and communicated

it fully to the father preacher Fray Bernardino Márquez, [86] prior

of that convent and vicar-provincial of Ilocos; and at the same time

asked permission to go up to Lamianán, which is the most northern

district in that province. Father Fray Bernardino attempted to turn

father Fray Luís from this purpose, telling him that it was not right

to abandon one's flock in time of tribulation--for which reason he was

of opinion that Fray Luís should return to his ministry at Agoo; and in

order to do so with safety he could go accompanied by an Indian chief

named Don Pedro Hidalgo, who was much beloved by the Zambals. Father

Fray Luís was as willing as prompt to comply with his superior's

wishes; but Don Pedro Hidalgo answered that it was not proper to

expose father Fray Luís's life to so evident a risk; and that it was

better that he himself should first go to ascertain in what condition

affairs were in the village of Agoo. This opinion of Don Pedro was

approved by father Fray Bernardino, who thereupon gave permission

to father Fray Luís to make his journey to Laminián. He set out for

that place on the seventeenth of December, 1660, in company with a

Spanish tax-collector named Juan de Silva, who had come [to Bauang]

to escape the fury of the rebels in the province of Pangasinán.... On

the sixteenth, father Fray Luís had warned Captain Aguerra and the

alcalde-mayor of the province of Ilocos, Don Alonso de Peralta, of

the disturbed condition in which those districts were; and on the same

day a letter went by way of Bauang from Don Andrés Malóng, who styled

himself king of Pangasinán. The letter was written to all the Indian

chiefs of the provinces of Ilocos and Cagayán, and he advised them

therein to take up arms and slay all the Spaniards, as he had done in

his kingdom of Pangasinán; and declared that if they did not do so,

he would go thither with his soldiers and punish them as disobedient.

On the day of the Expectation of our Lady, which they reckon the

eighteenth of December, father Fray Bernardino Márquez, while in his

church at Bauang ... [was warned of the approach of the Zambals]. He

found at the door of the church two Indian chiefs of that village,

one of whom was named Don Juan Canangán; they told him not to be

afraid, as they were there determined to defend the father from the

fury of the Zambals, who were already near, even if it cost them their

lives.... While he was saying mass, the Zambals arrived; their leader

or captain was he who had been titled "Conde," a native of the village

of Agoo and married in Binalatongan, named Don Pedro Gumapos, who

had been an associate of Don Andrés Malóng in that insurrection. The

Zambals waited very quietly for the father to finish saying mass;

and when he had returned thanks and begun to say the prayers, a

message came to him from Don Pedro Gumapos asking permission to

kiss his hand. Father Fray Bernardino gave it, and Gumapos came

up accompanied by Zambals and Negritos, armed with balazaos [87]

and catanas. He kissed father Fray Bernardino's hand, and told him

absurd things about his rebellion against the Spaniards, and at the

same time he asked permission for his soldiers to search the convent,

to see if any Spaniard were concealed there. Father Fray Bernardino,

certain that no one was there, told him that he might do as he pleased;

Gumapos ordered his companions to make the search, and if they met any

Spaniard to kill him. The Zambals carried out this order of Gumapos,

and in the course of the search looted whatever there was in the

convent. While this was being done, Gumapos remained talking with

father Fray Bernardino Márquez; and, when he asked where was father

Fray Luís de la Fuente, father Fray Bernardino answered that he had

gone up to Bagnotan to make his confession. Gumapos replied to this

that he had come to kill Fray Luís, unless father Fray Bernardino

would ransom him for 300 pesos. To this audacious proposition the

father answered that he had not so much money, and that Gumapos should

therefore take his life, or carry him away as a slave, and let father

Fray Luís go. Gumapos replied to this that no injury of any kind would

be done to the father, for he himself would rather suffer such harm in

his own person; but this was no virtue of Gumapos, but [the result of]

an order given to him by his little king Don Andrés Maléng, who was

very fond of father Fray Bernardino Márquez.

[Gumapos orders the headman of Bauang to go after Fray Luís with

a troop of Indians, Zambals, and Negritos; they kill the Spaniard

who accompanies him, and carry the father back to Bauang. Gumapos,

after vainly trying to exact a ransom from the friar, orders the

Indian to kill him; but they take pity on him, and collect among

themselves the sum of eight and a half taes of gold, "the greater

part of this being given by Doña María Uañga, chieftainess of the

visita of Balanac." Finally Gumapos imprisons both the religious in

a cell, where they remain under guard until the rebels go away.] All

the time while the Zambals remained in Bauang, they were engaged in

plundering and robbing the poor Indians, and did all the damage that

they could. The religious emerged from their prison, half-dead from

weakness, for they had remained almost three days without eating or

drinking; but the Zambals had left nothing in the convent, and the

religious therefore had to send to the Indians to beg food. That day

father Fray Bernardino wrote a letter to father Fray Juan de [88] Isla,

the commissary of the Inquisition in that province and his visitor,

entreating him to notify the bishop--who then was bishop of Nueva

Segovia, the illustrious Don Fray Rodrigo de Cárdenas, belonging to

the Order of St. Dominic, and a native of Lima; a man who excelled

in virtue as well as in learning--and that both of them should ask

the alcalde-mayor, Don Alonso de Peralta, for the aid which those

districts of Bauang and Agoo so greatly needed.

On the following day, the twentieth of December, nearly all the

people in the village of Bauang confessed and received communion,

most of those who had taken part in the murder of the Spaniard Juan

de Silva doing penance--especially the headman, who, as he had a

very quiet and peaceable disposition, had been constrained by fear of

Gumapos to assist in such a crime. The fathers were greatly edified

by the Christian spirit of the Indians, which is so great in this

province of Ilocos. Father Fray Luís pursued his journey to Lamianán,

accompanied by a native named Don Dionisio Maricdín--a friendly act

which no other Indian is known to have performed on that occasion,

as being disobedient to the orders of "Conde" Don Pedro Gumapos,

of whom all had conceived so great fear. For this service he was

afterward rewarded by General Sebastián Rayo Doria, who made the said

Don Dionisio Maricdín sargento-mayor of the villages of Aringuey,

Bauang, and Agoo, on July 5, 1661. Father Fray Luís reached the bar of

Purao, and found there Alférez Lorenzo Arqueros, alguazil-mayor and

deputy of the alcalde-mayor of the province of Ilocos; he had come

with a troop of Indians from that province to set free the fathers,

Fray Bernardino and Fray Luís, from the power of the Zambals. They

all came to Bagnotán, from which place they notified father Fray

Bernardino, who was in Bauang.

In consequence of the repeated advices of Zambal raids into Ilocos,

the alcalde-mayor, Don Alonso de Peralta, called a council of war at

Vigan, to provide suitable measures for averting the many dangers

which were threatening the province. At this council were present

the bishop of Nueva Segovia, Don Fray Rodrigo de Cárdenas, the father

visitor Fray Juan de Isla, and all the Spaniards; and it was decided

that the alcalde-mayor should go in person to the succor of those

districts infested by Zambals, accompanied by father Fray Gonzalo

de la Palma and father Fray José Polanco. [89] The lord bishop

was to remain in Vigan, in company with father Fray Juan de Isla,

with the charge of sending a troop of Ilocan and Cagayan Indians who

were being levied, and of taking such other measures as might prove

desirable. In order to render aid and confront the Zambals as quickly

as possible, the alcalde-mayor sent ahead Alférez Lorenzo Arqueros,

with such men as could be collected in so short a time; and soon Don

Alonso de Peralta followed him, [with troops] lightly equipped [a la

ligera], accompanied by the two fathers, Fray Gonzalo and Fray José,

as far as Namacpacán, the first village of the province of Ilocos.

I have already related how father Fray Bernardino Márquez had remained

at Bauang, where he received notice of the arrival of Lorenzo Arqueros

at Bagnotán for the succor of those districts; and at the same time he

had very accurate information that the Zambals were planning to make a

second raid on the province of Ilocos. He immediately warned Lorenzo

Arqueros of this, who was still at Bagnotán--asking that officer to

go down to Bauang, if he thought it best, that he might from a nearer

station check the designs of the Zambals. Father Fray Bernardino

continued to receive reliable advices of the coming of the Zambals,

and on that account decided one night to leave Bauang in a boat,

with six Indians as a guard, to go in search of Lorenzo Arqueros. At

the cost of much hardship the father found him near the visita of

Dalangdang, on his march toward Bauang; the father joined the troop

of Lorenzo Arqueros, and they continued the march to Bauang. They

arrived there at daybreak, but found the village without inhabitants,

because for fear of the Zambals they had fled to the woods.

Lorenzo Arqueros ordered his men to beat the drums, and soon the

village was full of people. Father Fray Bernardino talked to the

Indians, and sent notice of this aid [just received] to the village

of Agoo. Those people replied by informing him that the Zambals were

ready to make a second raid; and that in any case the Spaniards ought

to see that Don Miguel Carreño was hanged. He was a native of the

visita of Aringuey, and the father of Don Pedro Gumapos, the head

of the conspirators, to whom he communicated all the operations of

the loyal Indians. In consequence of this advice, Lorenzo Arqueros

ordered Master-of-camp Don Lorenzo Peding, a valiant Ilocan, to go

with a hundred men to arrest Don Miguel Carreño. [Carreño is seized

and hanged; the Zambals of his command, dispirited by losing him,

are defeated and take to flight.]

Lorenzo Arqueros reported all this to his captain the alcalde-mayor,

Don Alonso de Peralta, who was still at Namacpacán--asking at the same

time that he would come to his aid, since he knew with certainty that

the Zambals, with much larger numbers, were coming in search of him. At

this, Don Alonso de Peralta resolved to go in person to the succor of

his lieutenant; but this resolution was opposed by the fathers, not

only because it was not right for him to go on so important a relief

expedition with only six or seven Spanish mestizos, who accompanied

him, but also because he ought not to leave his jurisdiction, which

extended only as far as Namacpacán. They told him that it would be

better to wait for the soldiers whom the bishop was to send from Vigan,

so that he could with this reënforcement go to look for the enemy;

but the alcalde-mayor, urged on by the letters of Lorenzo Arqueros,

and, besides, encouraged by the latter's previous success, pursued

his resolution, and marched for Bauang, accompanied by father Fray

José Blanco [90] and father Fray Gonzalo de la Palma. As soon as he

encountered Lorenzo Arqueros, he ordered the latter to set out for the

village of Agoo, to succor Master-of-camp Don Lorenzo Peding. [Arrived

at Agoo, Arqueros finds the Zambals in sufficient force to render

more aid necessary; and his urgent request brings Peralta to

Agoo. The latter brings with him two jars [tibores] of gunpowder,

which had been kept in the convent at Bauang. Arqueros advises

Peralta to retreat, since their auxiliaries are all undisciplined,

and the Ilocans somewhat timid, while the enemy are superior in

numbers--having more than five thousand men, while the Ilocans did

not exceed one thousand five hundred. Peralta refuses to do this,

especially as the Ilocans have firearms, "which the Zambal so greatly

dreads." The Ilocans go, without orders, across the river, to form

an ambush against the foe; Arqueros goes to their aid, followed by

Peralta. "The fathers disguised themselves, fearing that the Zambals,

if they should be victorious, would, angered by having seen fathers

in battle, slay the Dominican fathers of the province of Pangasinán,

who were in their power." At daybreak the enemy come to the attack;

the Ilocans are soon overcome by fear, and take flight, neither the

officers nor the friars being able to restrain them. Don Lorenzo Peding

dies bravely fighting, after having slain many of his assailants;

and all the guns and other weapons, and the gunpowder, of the Ilocans

are captured by the Zambals. Peding's death utterly destroys the

little remnant of courage in his followers, and they flee pell-mell,

trampling on and drowning each other in the ford of the river. "The

most pitiable thing was to see the children and old men in flight,

and especially the women--some of whom gave birth to children, and

others suffered abortion through fear, the infants being abandoned in

the camp. The children were drowned, and the old people were overcome

by exhaustion; all were in most pitiable condition. Those who felt it

most keenly were the fathers, who aided some but could not help all,

since all the people had fled." The Spanish leaders attempt to rally

the Indians at Agoo, and afterward at Bauang, but all in vain; they

are compelled to return to Namacpacán, where they arrive on January 4,

1661. Finding that they can obtain neither men nor arms, they continue

their retreat to Vigan. On the route, they stop at Narbacán, and

order "the Indians of that village, with those of Santa Catalina,

a visita of Bantay, to erect a stockade and rampart in Agayayos

[91] to prevent the Zambals from passing through there for Vigán and

Cagayán. He garrisoned this post with a body of Indians, in command of

one of them, named Don Pedro de la Peña, a native of Santa Catalina,

and continued his journey to Vigán."]

The father visitor, Fray Juan de la Isla, had considered it expedient

to command the father ministers to retreat to Vigán; they obeyed,

although against the dictates of their paternal charity, which was

unwilling to abandon their spiritual sons. Some fathers thought that

they ought not to obey this mandate; and one of them made his way

through the middle of the enemies, to go to his ministry of Taguding,

and others to the hills, to which the Ilocans had retreated, for fear

of the Zambals.

[Arriving at Vigan, the Spaniards hold a conference regarding the

threatening dangers.] The alcalde-mayor, Bishop Don Fray Rodrigo

Cárdenas, and father Fray Juan de Isla were of opinion that the most

prudent measure was to place in a ship all the father ministers and

all the Spaniards who were there, and send them to Manila, so that

they might not experience the worst severity of ill-fortune. For,

although it could not be doubted that aid would come from Manila, it

was very uncertain whether information of the disordered condition of

those provinces had reached the supreme government, while it was most

evident that the Zambal army would soon come [to Vigan], aided, as was

already conjectured, by their communication with some Indian chiefs of

that province. Many forcible arguments were brought forward against

this opinion by the father ministers, especially Fray Bernardino

Márquez, Fray José Arias, and Fray Gonzalo de la Palma, who were

followed by all the other ministers. They concluded by saying that if

the ministers were to retreat, it would be utter ruin to the province,

in regard, not only to God but to the king; for the Indians who yet

maintained their faith and loyalty would abandon all if they had not

the fathers--either through fear, or carried away by their heathen

customs. In that council it was also resolved to build a fort at Vigan,

so that they could resist the Zambals until aid from Manila should

arrive. This work was begun, but not carried out; for the Indians

who worked at it were continually disappearing. The alcalde-mayor,

therefore, Don Alonso de Peralta, finally decided to give orders that

all the Spaniards who were in the province--except Lorenzo Arqueros,

who refused to embark--and all the father ministers, both secular and

religious, who wished to go to Manila, should go aboard the champans

which he had at the bar there. He himself embarked in a champan with

the father visitor Fray Juan de Isla and father Fray Luís de la Fuente,

the bishop promising to follow them. The retreat of Don Alonso Peralta

caused great injuries to that poor province, although the rest of

the religious remained in Vigán, in company with the bishop and in

his house; he had at his side only two secular priests--one named Don

Gerónimo de Leyva, the judge-provisor and commissary of the Inquisition

for that bishopric; and the other, father Don Miguel de Quiros.

I have already told how the governor, Don Sabiniano Manrique de Lara,

hearing at Manila of the uprising and disturbances in the province

of Pangasinán, commanded that an army and some vessels be assembled

as promptly as possible, so that our arms might by land and sea

punish the conspirators; and how he appointed as commander of the

land forces Francisco de Esteybar--a valiant and fortunate soldier,

a native of the town of Mondragon, in the province of Guipúzcoa--and

of the armed fleet Felipe de Ugalde, also a brave soldier, and a

native of the same province of Guipúzcoa. Don Sabiniano gave them

orders that, in the emergencies that might arise in the campaign,

each might act for himself, without waiting for the opinion of the

other commander--for this reason, that often excellent opportunities

in war are liable to miscarry. The instructions of Don Sabiniano

were so judicious and clear that to this, more than any other cause,

is due the speedy pacification of those provinces. At this time

the Zambals--who, eager to plunder the rich province of Ilocos,

and encouraged by the victory over its alcalde-mayor, had continued

the pursuit of the conquered--arrived at Narvacan, where they waited

some time through fear of the resistance which they would meet in

the pass of Agayayos; but they were soon relieved from this fear by

the very man, Don Pedro de la Peña, who had remained for the guard

and defense of that pass. He tore down the stockade, and very gladly

went to offer them a free passage; accordingly, they went on without

further hindrance. This treason of Don Pedro de la Peña was the whole

cause of the Zambals being able to raid the villages of Ilocos, from

Vigan on; for this post of the Agayayos is so difficult of passage that

it only affords easy entrance to one man, and a horse can go through

with difficulty, between two great cliffs, which are inaccessible by

the summits. And since the Zambals must pass through it one by one,

it would have been impossible for them to succeed in penetrating it,

with even a very few men to defend the entrance. But this traitor to

his country was like Conde Don Julián in España, who gave free passage

to the enemies. Don Pedro paid for it with his life, on the gallows;

but that province even now bewails the harm [that he caused it].

The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 38, 1674-1683 Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century · 第 4 / 6 章

By the death of Father Juan de el Campo the [religious] administration