The revolt of Babaylan Tamblot that incited the uprising of Bancao in Leyte

Posted under General History, visited 8,498 times)

(This account is extracted from Murillo Velarde's Hist. de Philipinas, and Diaz's Conquistas,
unedited. This is from the view of the Spaniards.)

The majority of the ministers in the island of Bohol (1) had gone to Zebu, to celebrate the feasts of the beatification of St. Xavier; in their absence Lucifer attempted to possess himself again of those souls. The divata, or demon, appeared to some Indians in the woods - its face covered, like that of one taking the discipline - and commanded them to quit the gospel ministers and the Spanish vassalage, and take refuge in the hills; and to build him a chapel, where he would aid them and give them whatever they needed to pass their lives in happiness and abundance, without the encumbrance of paying tribute to the Spaniards or dues to the churches.

Two or three Indians (2), who on account of their evil deeds were wandering as fugitives, became priests of this divata, in order to persuade the people to apostasy and rebellion; and, to take away the fear which they naturally feel toward the Spaniards, these priests told them that, if they would attack the Spaniards, the divata would cause the mountains to rise against their foe; that the muskets of the latter would not go off, or else the bullets would rebound on those who fired them; that if any Indian should die, the demon would resuscitate him; that the leaves of the trees would be converted into saranga (which is a large fish); that when they cut bejucos, these would distil wine instead of water; that from the banana-leaves they would make fine linen; and, in short, that all would be pleasure, enjoyment, and delight. With these magnificent promises, so attractive to men especially to the Indians, who are so inclined to idleness and sloth, four villages revolted; only Loboc (which is the chief village) and Baclayon remained firm in the faith, and in loyalty to the king.

Information of this reached Zebu, and immediately Don Juan de Alcarazo, alcalde-mayor of Zebu, went to quiet the island (3) he invited them to make peace, for which the rebels did not care. Their boldness increasing, they burned the four villages and their churches; they flung on the ground the rosaries and crosses, and pierced an image of the blessed Virgin eighteen times with javelins - although afterward in Zebu some tried to make amends to her with the most affectionate demonstrations of reverence, and she was placed in our church. Thereupon the chief ordered troops from Zebu, fifty Spaniards and a thousand friendly Indians (4) accompanied by a father; and on New Year's day, 1622, he began the march to the mountains, where the insurgents were. For five days they traveled through rugged hills and deep ravines, crossing marshes where the mud came to their knees, or even to their waists, and shedding their blood on the thorns and briars. On the fifth day, the insurgents killed a friendly Indian; this they celebrated with loud shouts, and it greatly increased their arrogance.

On the following day, more than 1,500 rebel Indians attacked our vanguard, which consisted of sixteen Spaniards and three hundred Indians; but when our muskets were fired so many fell dead that the rebels began to retreat to a bamboo thicket. When we followed them, a heavy rain fell, which encouraged the rebels, for they said that our muskets were then useless. But Heaven favored our cause with a marvel, since, although the pans of the musket-locks were full of water, the soldiers declared that the powder never failed to catch fire, nor did the matches go out. At this the rebels fled into the mountains; and our men arrived at a village of more than a thousand houses, in the midst of which was the temple of their divata. Our troops found there much food, various jewels of silver and gold, and many bells of the sort those people use-all which was given to our Indians.

The rebels were in a fortification of stone, in which they had placed many stones and clods of earth to throw at our men; but the latter, covering themselves with their shields, seized the redoubt, with the death of many of the enemy (5) and in a fortnight returned to Loboc. Captain Alcarazo, who was foremost in all these engagements, commanded that some of the rebels be hanged, and published a pardon to the rest; and he returned to Zebu (6) where the victory was celebrated. This success had very important results, for it checked the revolt of other islands and other villages-who were expecting the favorable result which the demon had promised them, so that they could shake off the mild yoke of Christ, and with it their vassalage to the Spaniards. Many of them, now undeceived, accepted the pardon; but others, who were stubborn, fortified themselves at the summit of a rugged and lofty hill, difficult of access, and closed the road [to it] with brambles and thorns (7).They also filled the paths with very sharp stakes driven into the soil, and placed among the branches of the trees many crossbows, (8) in order that these, being discharged as our men passed them, might wound the soldiers; and above they provided many stones to throw at the Spaniards, hurling them from the top of the hill.

Six months later the same Don Juan Alcarazo returned, to dislodge those rebels, with forty Spaniards and many Indians. After suffering great hardships in making the paths accessible, nearly all his men were hurt, by the time they reached the fort, by the many stones which the enemy hurled down from the summit; but our soldiers courageously climbed the ascent, firing their muskets, and killed many of the rebels, putting the rest to flight. Thus was dispersed that sedition, which was one of the most dangerous that had occurred in the islands - not only because the Boholans were the most warlike and valiant of the Indians, but on account of the conspiracy spreading to many other tribes. Noble examples of fidelity in this great disturbance are not lacking. (Murillo Velarde here mentions two instances of this.)

The natives of Carigara in the island of Leyte became impatient, and revolted without waiting for the result in Bohol, incited thereto by Bancao, the ruling chief of Limasava -who in the year 1565 (9) received with friendly welcome Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and the Spaniards who came to his island, supplying them with what they needed, for which Phelipe II sent him a royal decree, thanking him for the kind hospitality which he showed to those first Spaniards. He was baptized and, although a young man, showed that he was loyal to the Christians; but, conquered by the enemy [of souls], he changed sides in his old age (10). This man lived in the island of Leyte, and with a son of his and another man, Pagali (whom he chose as priest of his idolatry), erected a sacred place to the divata, or devil; and they induced six villages in the island to rebel. In order to remove from them their fear of the Spaniards, these men told their followers that they could change the Spaniards into stones as soon as they saw them, by repeating the word bato, which signifies "stone;" and that a woman or a child could change them into clay by flinging earth upon them. Father Melchor de Vera went to Zebu to give warning of this sedition and obtain aid to check it. Captain Alcarazo equipped an armada of forty vessels, in which were embarked some Spaniards and many friendly Indians, also the father rector of Zebu and Father Vera; these united with the forces (both Spanish and Indian) that the alcalde of Leyte had.

They offered peace to the rebels, but the latter spurned it with contempt. Our men, divided into three bodies, attacked them; and, when that which Don Juan de Alcarazo commanded came in sight of the rebels, they fled to the hills. Our soldiers followed them, and on the way put to the sword or shot those whom they encountered; and, although the compassion of the Spaniards spared the children and women (11) these could not escape the fury of the Indians. Many of the rebels died, the enchantment not availing them by which they had thought to turn the Spaniards into stone or clay; the rest saved themselves by flight. The Spaniards came to a large building which the rebels had erected for their divata; they encamped in it ten days, and then burned it. Some one pierced with a lance Bancao, the chief instigator of the rebellion, not knowing who he was, whom two of his slaves were carrying on their shoulders and immediately his head was placed on a stake as a public warning. He and his children came to a wretched end, as a punishment for their infidelity and apostasy; for his second son was beheaded as a traitor, and a daughter of his was taken captive.

To inspire greater terror, the captain gave orders to shoot three or four rebels, and to burn (12) one of their priests-in order that, by the light of that fire, the blindness in which the divata had kept them deluded might be removed. The Spaniards also cut off the head of an Indian who had robbed Father Vinancio [i.e., Vilancio] and broken to pieces an image of the Virgin, and kicked a crucifix; and his head was set up in the same place where he had committed those horrible sacrileges. There were many who, in the midst of so furious a tempest, remained constant in their religious belief.

Footnotes

References

1. Murillo Velarde's Hist. de Philipinas, pages 17, 18; Diaz's Conquistas, pp. 132-136. Concepcion (in Hist. de Philipinas, v, pp. 20-25) via The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803, volume. 1, number. 38, page 87-94, Blair, Emma Helen, ed. d.1911., Robertson, James Alexander, joint ed. 1873-1939., Bourne, Edward Gaylord, 1860-1908, Cleveland, Ohio: The A. H. Clark company, 1903-09.
2. History of the Augustinian order in the Filipinas Islands, Fray Juan de Media, OSA, The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803, Volume 1, number 24, page 116, Blair, Emma Helen, ed. d.1911., Robertson, James Alexander, joint ed. 1873-1939., Bourne, Edward Gaylord, 1860-1908, Cleveland, Ohio: The A. H. Clark company, 1903-09.