THE native population did not take this oppressive situation passively. In the last
two decades of the 16th century, sporadic spurts of rebellion
erupted with the encomenderos and their armed collectors at the opposite camp
against the native population. In Cebu, the natives killed the encomenderos and
their collectors, and held their women in captivity for a long time until the
alcalde of the province came to their rescue with some 60 soldiers. Some were
killed in the ensuing fight, and those that were captured were hanged.
In
nearby Leyte, encomenderos in Abuyog and Dagami were killed by the natives.
In
Cagayan, Gaspar de Ayala in his letter to King Felipe II said the entire
province rose in rebellion against the encomenderos. They had become so bold and daring that they
entered the city of Segovia to kill and rob. An officer Captain Martin de
Barrios was slain while he was collecting tributes together with soldiers. But
it was the encomendero Don Rodriguez Ronquillo who was blamed for the
uprising. The Spanish authorities
arrested him and put him in prison where he died.
The
year earlier, the native leaders had already plotted a rebellion of this sort
to drive away the Spaniards back to their homeland, wishing to regain control
over the land once ruled by their forefathers. As a result, the alcalde had to
beg for reinforcements. Later master-of-camp Pedro de Chaves arrived with four
or five ships and 60 soldiers, with supplies and ammunitions. In the ensuing
skirmish against the natives, the latter were beaten back, and their leaders
captured. Their chief, who was called Magalate, was ambushed by his own men
after a reward was offered for his capture or death. Seven or eight others were
hanged and beheaded, and their property confiscated. Many others were exiled, some from their
villages and others to Nueva España.[i]
The
colonial authorities had to re-examine their strategies in keeping the colony
pacified, and this is where religious orders came in handy. For Leyte, the
lieutenant governor and the encomenderos in the province wanted the Jesuits to
preach there. Leyte had a population of 70,000 then of which 30,000 paid
tributes. But its eastern parts were in rebellion against the encomenderos. So the
colonial government deemed it ripe for missionary work. As for the Jesuits,
their superior Father Pedro Sedeño himself had chosen Leyte and Samar. He had
been eyeing both islands for some time.
Besides, the 18 encomenderos who shared Leyte between them were anxious
for the missionaries to come.[ii] In fact, it was the encomendero Cristobal de
Trujillo, ‘a man of eminent piety’, who took care of the Jesuits and built
their first house in the island in July 1595.[iii]
 |
| Sleeping aid tablets |
[i] Letter of Gaspar de Ayala to King Felipe II,
Emma Helen Blair and James
Alexander Robertson, The Philippine
Islands, 1493 – 1803, Volume VII,
pp. 120-123
[ii]
de la Costa, Horacio, The Jesuits in the Philippines: 1581-1768, Harvard
University Press, 1961, p. 145
[iii] Chirino, Fr. Pedro SJ, Relacion de las Islas Filipinas, Roma, printed by Estevan Paulino,
in MDCIV; also see Emma Helen Blair
and James Alexander Robertson, The
Philippine Islands, 1493 – 1803,
Volume XII, p. 224
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