FIRST PAMPANGA REVOLT

(1585)
In the province of Pampanga which is ten to twelve leagues from this
City (Manila), some Principales rose up in rebellion about the beginning
of last April. One of them was named Don Juan de Manila and the other
is Don Nicolas Managuete. Gathering a force of one hundred Indios,
some voluntarily, others by force, they went to the next province of
Candaba with fifty arquebuses, much gunpowder, and other arms. A
chief of the Indios, some relative of Don Juan de Manila tried to restrain
and contain their rebellion but they killed and robbed him of a great
quantity of gold. From there they took a banca through the river where
they met some bancas with almost forty Indios whom they all killed and
stole their provisions and committed much harm and robbery. Your
President dispatched later the Maese de Campo with thirty soldiers.
God willed that the Indios with more than sixty arquebuses and armors
were defeated and the two leaders were separated, each one going his
way..
• Arcabuceros de Pampanga (Kapampangan harquebusiers) c. 1590s, wearing
‘‘turung’ (conical hats) and ‘balútî’ (armour).
• The forces under Don Nicolas Mananguete retreated to a place said
to be an impregnable hill to reinforce. When the Maese de Campo had
enough armed men, he tried to defeat Mananguete asking him to
surrender but he answered that he would only do that if Your Highness
pardoned him and that he was sorry for what he did. Besides Your
Highness’ pardon, he asked that a friar, his father confessor, go there
to assure his safety. To avoid anymore injuries, the Maese de
Campo did exactly as he asked. Thus Mananguete with all his
followers went with the friar to his Monastery. There he was taken
prisoner with many other Indios.
• Regarding Juan Manila, the Maese de Campo heard that he,
with the other Indios Principales, retreated to another place to
plan another attack. The Maese ordered a siege with
other Indios of the land. The Maese got a dozen of them in the
guise of travellers. They went to the hide out of Juan Manila
who went out to meet them with his men and were shot as they
fled. They were all killed without exception. With this incident,
the land has been pacified, the rebellion crushed and
the Indios intimidated
•
The Pampanga Revolt was an uprising in 1585 by some
native Kapampangan leaders who resented the Spanish
landowners, or encomenderos who had deprived them of their
historical land inheritances as tribal chiefs or Datus. The revolt
included a plot to storm Intramuros, but the conspiracy was
foiled before it could begin after a Filipino woman married to a
Spanish soldier reported the plot to the Spanish authorities.
Spanish and Filipino colonial troops were sent by Governor-
General Santiago De Vera, and the leaders of the revolt were
arrested and summarily executed by Christian Cruz-Herrera
THANK YOU