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The Longest Rebellion in Philippine History

1) The Dagohoy Rebellion in Bohol, Philippines from 1744 to 1829 was the longest revolt against Spanish colonial rule in Philippine history, lasting 85 years. 2) It was initiated by Francisco Dagohoy after a Spanish priest refused to give his brother a Christian burial, leading Dagohoy to vow revenge and rally around 3,000 Boholanos to fight for their freedom from Spanish control. 3) Dagohoy and his men established a fortified stronghold in the mountains where they were self-sufficient, and their numbers grew steadily over decades despite Spanish attempts to defeat them, with the rebellion only finally being crushed in 1829 through a massive military expedition.

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Gil Paguio
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1K views3 pages

The Longest Rebellion in Philippine History

1) The Dagohoy Rebellion in Bohol, Philippines from 1744 to 1829 was the longest revolt against Spanish colonial rule in Philippine history, lasting 85 years. 2) It was initiated by Francisco Dagohoy after a Spanish priest refused to give his brother a Christian burial, leading Dagohoy to vow revenge and rally around 3,000 Boholanos to fight for their freedom from Spanish control. 3) Dagohoy and his men established a fortified stronghold in the mountains where they were self-sufficient, and their numbers grew steadily over decades despite Spanish attempts to defeat them, with the rebellion only finally being crushed in 1829 through a massive military expedition.

Uploaded by

Gil Paguio
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Longest Rebellion in Philippine History

Historical Profile of the Dagohoy Rebellion


By Amos Paguio

From 1744 to 1829, the mountains of Bohol were free from Spanish rule.
That was the span of the Dagohoy Rebellion – 85 years – the longest revolt
against the Spaniards in Philippine history.

The revolt was initiated by Francisco Dagohoy, who was then the cabeza de
barangay of Inabanga. Dagohoy’s motivations were initially personal, some
would say even petty. But when he took up his rebellion, it was clear from his
demands and actions that his grievances were deep-seated and long-festering.
And the way the people promptly rallied to his side showed that those grievances
were not his alone.

It began when Father Gaspar Morales, a Jesuit priest in Inabanga, ordered a


local constable to go to the mountains and arrest Dagohoy’s brother, who was
accused of being a renegade from the Catholic faith. Dagohoy’s brother,
however, resisted arrest and killed the constable in a fight before dying himself.
When Dagohoy learned of his brother’s death, he searched for him and brought
the remains to Inabanga. Father Morales, however, refused to give the dead man
a Christian burial because he supposedly died in a duel, which was forbidden by
the church. Because of the impasse, the corpse was left rotting in front of the
church for three days. Dagohoy eventually buried his brother without the benefit
of Catholic rites, while making a vow to avenge his death and mistreatment.

Dagohoy commenced his protest by refusing to pay tribute to the Spaniards


and to render the requisite labor. He called upon his relatives, friends and other
residents to do the same and fight for their freedom. Around 3,000 Boholanos at
once rallied to his call and joined him in a revolt against the Spaniards. Together
with other leading members of the principalia in Tagbilaran, Baclayon and Dauis,
Dagohoy proclaimed the independence of Bohol.
Dagohoy and his men went to the mountains of Talibon and Inabanga and
established their base, which they fortified with trenches of boulders. Within the
fort, they built their dwellings. Outside of it, they cleared the forest and farmed
crops for their sustenance. This made them self-sufficient, and before long they
had established a thriving community. Their fame quickly rose among the locals
and their numbers steadily grew. They had many silent supporters among the
lowland dwellers who supplied them with arms and money.

Now and then, they would swoop down on the coastal towns, raiding the
Spanish garrisons, looting the churches and killing the Spaniards. In one of these
forays, they killed Father Morales, thus fulfilling Dagohoy’s vow of revenge.

The remarkable success of Dagohoy’s rebellion reached the Spanish


authorities in Manila. In 1747, the Governor-General himself dispatched an
expedition to Bohol under the command of Don Pedro Lechuga. Lechuga won a
few skirmishes and captured a few rebels but failed to break the rebellion. In
desperation, he sent a commando unit into the mountains to kill or capture
Dagohoy, his sister Gracia, and other leaders, but the commandos returned
empty-handed, failing to penetrate the rebels’ fortified stronghold.

Failing at their efforts to quell the revolt, Spaniards tried to negotiate.


Bishop Espeleta of Cebu tried to persuade the rebels to give up their rebellion by
promising them general amnesty, reforms against the abuses of government
officials, and replacement of the Jesuits in Bohol parishes with secular priests. The
rebels refused the offer.

The revolt continued to grow. By 1770, there were already around 30,000
revolutionaries in Bohol. It is not known when and how Dagoho’y himself died.
He was never killed or captured by the authorities. He probably died of natural
causes and buried somewhere in his mountain settlement. The rebellion certainly
did not end with his death.

In April 1827, Governor-General Mariano Ricafort sent an expedition of


2,200 men, composed of both native and Spanish troops, to Bohol. It still could
not quell the rebellion. In 1828, they tried again. This time, the expedition was
even bigger and better armed. The first encounter happened in Caylagan, but the
rebels retreated to their stronghold in the mountains. The Spaniards bombarded
the fort with artillery, which caused much havoc to the fortifications and took a
heavy toll on human lives. The rebels were forced to abandon the fort and make
their last stand in the mountain of Boasa under the command of the brothers,
Handog and Auag. In June 1829, they fought their last battle and were crushed by
the Spaniards’ superior arms.

The revolt officially ended on August 31, 1829. The commander of the
Spanish forces, Manuel Sanz, reported that 3,000 rebels escaped to other islands,
19,420 surrendered, 395 died in battle, 98 were exiled and around 10,000
revolutionaries were resettled in different towns. These numbers could only hint
at the extent the rebellion reached throughout those 85 years.

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