The Dagohoy Rebellion was the longest-running successful revolt against Spanish colonizers in the history of the Philippine Islands. The extended conflict was representative of a lasting tradition of resistance to centralized control in the outer Philippine Islands and of the difficulties posed to any government that attempted to overcome that resistance.
The Dagohoy Rebellion was not unprecedented in the history of Spanish occupation and rule in the Philippine Islands.
Accounts of the uprising’s catalyst vary slightly, but in general, the uprising was motivated by Father Gaspar Morales’s refusal to bury a constable with Christian rites.
This Boholano force succeeded in defying repeated Spanish attempts to reassert control over the territory. Bishop Miguel Lino de Espeleta of neighboring Cebu island was the first to attempt to assuage the Dagohoy insurgents. He was unsuccessful, as were twenty attempts by Spanish governor generals to overturn the uprising by force between 1744 and 1825. General Mariano Ricafort, who became governor general of the Philippines in 1825, finally succeeded in subduing the Boholano patriots but not without a prolonged, four-year struggle. Ricafort was aided by Captain Manuel Sanz, who landed in Bohol in April, 1828, and, after a year of hard fighting, reestablished Spanish authority on August 31, 1829. Some nineteen thousand remaining insurgents were pardoned for their activities and relocated to Batuanan, Cabulao, Catigbian, and Vilar—local villages created to house these peoples.
The revolutionary exploits of Francisco Dagohoy were not limited to Bohol Island, or even to the numerous larger islands of Visayas Province. Dagohoy’s success inspired numerous insurgencies throughout the colony, albeit none as successful as the Dagohoy Rebellion. The mountainous landscapes of these archipelagic islands were covered with lush, dense tropical vegetation, which provided a military advantage to the locals. Even so, the superiority of Spanish arms had quickly proved sufficient to overturn several uprisings in the outer islands both prior to and after 1744.
It was the expertise of Francisco Dagohoy in guerrilla warfare that enabled his followers to take advantage of the local terrain more effectively than other Filipino rebels. His strategic advice and training made the Dogohoy rebels difficult for the Spaniards to overcome. In addition, Dagohoy had the personal charisma and motivational skill to mobilize twenty thousand people at relatively short notice into a formidable resistance force, as well as the foresight and wherewithal to maintain his force over the long term. By 1770, he had as many as thirty thousand followers.
The longevity and effectiveness of the Dagohoy resistance was assisted by other factors as well. After the Spanish conquered Manila in 1571, they had followed their usual methods to establish a colonial presence. They had instituted centralized control of the colony, reallocated the best land among themselves, and conscripted Filipino labor through the encomienda system.
The Philippine trade route actually deviated a bit from Ferdinand Magellan’s original route around South America’s Cape Horn. Trade
Spain’s early attempts to subdue the Dagohoy movement netted only a few coastal garrisons but no control of the interior-based Boholanos. Moreover, the Spaniards’ ability to accelerate their efforts was compromised by global events. Spain entered the Seven Years’ War in 1761. A year later, the Spanish had suffered defeat in Havana, having lost some 20 percent of their navy and control of a major way station along the trade route serving the Philippines. Their Pacific influence was severely weakened.
Later in the eighteenth century, the success of both the American and French Revolutions served to inspire not only the Boholano resistance but resistance to Spain throughout their New World Empire. By the early nineteenth century, many of Spain’s former colonies in the New World were nearing independence, and the cost of maintaining the empire weakened the Spanish more each year and further compromised the Manila-Acapulco-Havana trade linkage. It is a testament to the staggering amount of wealth generated through this particular colonial empire that it took so long completely to erode Spanish might, but the gradual weakening of Spain through the sum of all these activities contributed to the ability of the Dagohoy Rebellion to keep the Spanish at bay for such a long time. Eventually, however, after Dagohoy’s death, the rebellion weakened. His heirs attempted to continue the resistance in his name but ultimately lacked the skills or the will to cement the permanence of the Dagohoy movement.
The eighty-five years that the Dagohoy Rebellion succeeded in usurping Spanish control of this small part of the Philippines was by far the longest continuous successful rejection of Spanish authority anywhere in the New World. Although, or perhaps because, the longevity of the Dagohoy Rebellion was aided and inspired by global events, it signified the ultimate demise of Spain
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Agoncillo, Teodoro A. A History of the Filipino People. 8th ed. Quezon City, Philippines: Garotech, 1990. Less detailed than the Zaide book, but the rebellion is discussed in the context of the larger body of Philippine history, which provides a different, useful perspective. -
Zaide, Gregario. Dagohoy: Champion of Philippine Freedom. Manila, Philippines: Enriquez, Alduan, 1941. Book-length accounts of this particular period in Philippine history are rare, and this is among the most useful.
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Charles III; Philip V.