Nanguram iti amianan: An eyewitness account of the 1660-1661 northern Philippine revolt in Levantamiento de Ilocos y Pangasinan (1661)

By Jeraiah Gray

Introduction

Between December 1660 and February 1661, the amianan (provinces in the northwest of the Philippines) was set aflame ¹ by an army of Zambal and Pangasinense under Don Pedro Gumapos. The contingent won battle after battle against the Spanish colonial regime until they were defeated by a combination of Spanish reinforcements and conscripted Ilocano and Ibanag men. In the process, entire pueblos burned from Binalatongan to Laoag, a distance of about 300 kilometers. ² The rich 42-page manuscript Levantamiento de Ilocos y Pangasinan (1661) describes the Spanish retreat across the Ilocos theater of war in minute detail through the eyes of Fray Bernardino Márquez, an Augustinian vicar-provincial of Ilocos. ³

Fray Márquez was in Bauang when the rebellion reached him. His report begins with the tone of incredulity. Responding to Gumapos’ threat to his town, he says, Gumapos assured me that all the provinces were in revolt, along with a thousand other absurdities. ⁴ Yet throughout the text, the true extent of rebellion is revealed. In reality, the wider revolt under Don Andrés Malong had three theaters of war: A contingent of six thousand was sent to Pampanga to assist the Maniago uprising, two thousand remained in Pangasinan, while three thousand were sent to take Ilocos under Gumapos. ⁵ As an account by Casimiro Díaz, another Augustinian friar, narrates, “The fire [the revolt], covered during two months, steadily spread, through the hidden passage of the intercourse between different villages […] A spark flew over to the province of Ilocos, and left matters there ready for the operations that afterward were seen.” ⁶ Despite Malong’s defeat, one more mutiny would erupt further north in February 1662 under Don Pedro Almasan. ⁷

These rebellions were remarkable not just for their scale, but also for the shifting allegiances they represented. As Malong waged this war, the Council of Indies in Madrid was approving an encomienda as an award for his prior loyalty. ⁸ The “tyranny of distance” shielded the Council from conditions in the Philippines. Gumapos himself was a babaknang or local elite from Agoo. ⁹ The revolts were symptomatic of a troubled Philippine colony. In the past decade, it had undergone a painful shift from the militant takeover by Manuel Estacio Venegas to the new governor general, Sabiniano Manrique de Lara. This was complicated further by naval wars with the Dutch and Moros. The government was in more than a million and a half pesos in debt, part of which was owed to indigenous communities for supplying the royal warehouses and the presidios. ¹⁰ Uncompensated provisions and wages produced the first spark of revolt that spread across Pampanga in October 1660 as maderas or woodcutters for the galleon ships blockaded the province. Just two months later, Malong’s revolt would begin in the adjacent province of Pangasinan.

On the ground, the Márquez account of Gumapos’ advance reveals complex relationships between the religious orders and secular clergy, the friars and their towns, and the nature of warfare in the early modern Philippines. The document also depicts the aftermath of the revolt as the friars reconsolidated their pueblos. Yet most poignantly, it illustrates the limits both of reducción and of rebellion as local communities navigated their involvement in the uprising.

Defiant geographies

It is necessary to begin with a description of the landscape for readers unfamiliar with these parts of the Philippines. For this, we must travel northwest of the capital in Manila. Pushing past the Central Luzon plains, we arrive in the present-day Ilocos region. Over two hundred kilometers away from the Tagalog-dominated capital of the Philippines is northwest Luzon. Mary Jane Rodriguez-Tatel (2015) calls this ili ti Amianan. ¹¹ Márquez’s report is also punctuated with the word amianan (north), which he uses to refer to Ilocos. ¹² Northwest Luzon is the historical homeland of many ethnolinguistic groups. ¹³ This space encompasses the current provinces of Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Sur, and Ilocos Norte. Past Pangasinan, the flatland terrain narrows into a long, narrow strip of coast facing the West Philippine Sea. It reaches from the boundary of the Zambales Mountains, near the Lingayen Gulf, to the northernmost tip of Luzon. To the east is the rugged and often sudden ascent into the heights of the Gran Cordillera Central Mountain Range, which rises to 2,438 to 2,743 meters high. ¹⁴ In the Ilokano language, this is the geography of the laud and daya—the coasts or river mouths and the mountains, respectively. Many of the place names mentioned in the Levantamiento are found in the provinces of Pangasinan (Agoo, Bauang, Binalatongan, Bacnotan, etc.) and Ilocos (Bacarra, Bantay, Laoag, Vigan, etc.), with some mentions of Cagayan (Bangui) in the northernmost part of Luzon. ¹⁵

After each battle, town populations often fled to the uplands. “I still do not know if more indios have come down, since there were still a few when I left, says Márquez at the end of the report, I speak of those going around in hiding, the visitas of Barra, Bambán, [Babuyan], and Bangui.” All the townspeople of Bauang left as well, only to return at the sound of drums to signal the return of the friar there. ¹⁶

Loyalty and faith

Caught in the wrath of war, indigenous people from both sides showed tenuous allegiance. Were they to stay or flee to upland zones of refuge? In these confessions, Cortés ¹⁷ came to me and said what were they to do, for if they agreed to what Gumapos wanted, they would go against the king. And, if not, he would kill them, for they had no defense nor people left in the town. ¹⁸ This is the dilemma resettled towns faced. Stephanie Joy Mawson (2016) has elsewhere described this as “contingent loyalty”. ¹⁹ Yet what was loyalty contingent on in this case?

Márquez narrates how at the battle at Agoo, the Ilocanos conscripted to fight Gumapos were “swirling in disorder” ²⁰ under the brave yet unstrategic Maestro de Campo Peding. Many switched either deserted or sides and “swelled the number of invaders”, ²¹ contributing to the defeat of the Spanish. Peding eventually succumbs to battle, and many of the remaining troops under Spain lose heart and turn to flee. ²² Recruitment among the Ilocanos was also generally unsuccessful, whether due to ambivalence, fear of the Zambal army, or outright support for the rebellion. In a few days, Gumapos’ army had swelled to 7,000 and had reached the town of Bacnotan, pushing ever closer to the Spanish stronghold in Vigan. ²³ Personal relationships may have also played a role in these shifting alliances. Gumapos himself was married to a native of Binalatongan, ground zero of the Malong revolt, while the brewing rebellion among those in Cagayan would later crystallize around the marriage of the leaders’ children. ²⁴

Faith was a remarkably shared resource for both sides. Márquez, other friars, and their followers tried to keep one step ahead in retreat. Despite their fear of the Zamblas, many indios follow them. Perhaps there was some truth to Márquez’ indignation against retreat, in saying that it would be a disgrace to Christianity to leave their followers, “nuestras ovejas”, ²⁵ in a time of tribulation. On January 21, 1661, the friars made a curious stand at Vigan. After many weary weeks in flight, they were finally relieved by word of General Esteybar’s approach from Pangasinan. Instead of retreating further north to Cagayan or to Manila by boat, they hold a Mass for the oncoming army. The first to arrive was a man Márquez called el Llorón, or Crybaby. ²⁶ It seems he threw himself at the feet of the bishop, crying and saying he had come forced. Later, as Vigan was burning, another man sought the friars. This Zambal, dressed only in his weapons, asked for confession and said, “padre esto que hacemos no es conforma a la ley de Dios y así perdóname y échame una bendición,” Father, what we are doing is not in accordance with the law of God, so forgive me and give me a blessing. ²⁷ After this, almost the entire town confessed and took communion, even those who killed the Spanish. ²⁸ This speaks to the complex nature of localized Christianity. The success of proselytization did not always mean the success of the crown over its imagined dominion. What moved these men to seek confession while waging a war against the resettled towns? Faith did not always serve the Spanish and, in extension, the friars found themselves delivering the sacrament of benediction to their enemies.

The siege of Vigan also gives us a fascinating glimpse into the process of slave taking. After Mass was held, the friars and people of the town were kept prisoners in the church. Instead of treating the hostages with cruelty, the Zambal warriors gave them food and water. The account says, “And it was remarkable that many Zambales brought corn gruel and roasted meat and gave it to us to distribute to those locked inside.” After two days of this care, of meals of morisqueta and grilled meat, four things happened: The people were let out of the church, the Zambal Don Juan Calibozo ²⁹ is assigned governor of the town, the Zambals began to “seize as many slaves as he could,” all while Vigan was burned and thoroughly looted.

Despite the failure of the Malong revolt, this tells us how the movement came tantalizingly close to achieving what might have been an alternative hierarchy of settlements and governance under indigenous rule. Strikingly, churches often survived the fires set in many towns. If this new government under Malong meant to rebuild towns on the foundations of colonial resettlements, what might have been the place of Christianity in this new order?

READ THE FULL DOCUMENT

Bibliography

“Diccionario de Autoridades(1726-1739).” Accessed June 7, 2025. https://apps2.rae.es/DA.html.

Laliberte, Marissa. “These Butter Cookies from the Philippines Supposedly Have Healing Powers.” Reader’s Digest (blog), October 9, 2017. https://www.rd.com/article/san-nicolas-cookies/.

Mawson, Stephanie. “Slavery, Conflict, and Empire in the Seventeenth-Century Philippines.” In Slavery and Bonded Labor in Asia, 1250-1900, 256–83. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004469655_012.

Mentrida OSA, Alonso de. Vocabulario de Lengua Bisaia, Hiligueyna, Yharaia de La Isla de Panai y Sugbu, y Para Las de Mas Islas, 1637.

Mojares, Resil B. “The Life of Miguel Ayatumo: A Sixteenth-Century Boholano.” Philippine Studies 41, no. 4 (1993): 437–58.

Scott, William Henry. Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society. Quezon City: Ateneo De Manila University Press, 1994.

———. “Cracks in the Parchment Curtain.” Philippine Studies 26, no. 1/2 (1978): 174–91.

VIEW OTHER FEATURED TEXTS