Gabriela Silang

María Josefa Gabriela Cariño Silang

2007 Portrait of Gabriela Silang by Carlito Rovira
Born 19 March 1731
Santa, Ilocos Sur
Died 20 September 1763 (aged 32)
Vigan, Ilocos Sur
Other names Gabriela Silang
la Generala
Joan of Arc of Ilocandia
Juana Azurduy of the Far East
Spouse(s) Tomás Millan (1751-1754)
Diego Silang (1757-63)

María Josefa Gabriela Cariño Silang (19 March 1731 – 20 September 1763) was a Filipino revolutionary leader and the wife of the Ilocano insurgent leader, Diego Silang. Following Diego's assassination in 1763, she led the insurgency for four months before she was captured and executed by the colonial government of the Spanish East Indies.

Biography

Early life

Gabriela Silang (March 19, 1731 – September 20, 1763), born Maria Josefa Gabriela Cariño, was born in Barangay Caniogan, Santa, Ilocos Sur to a Spanish father "Anselmo Cariño" a trader who used the Abra River to ferry his wares from Vigan to Abra who is the descendant of the first Galician from Spain to arrive in Candon, Ilocos Sur in late 17th century, Ignacio Cariño and an Tinguian mother who was from a Tinguian Barrio in San Quintin Abra ( Now Pidigan Abra)].[1] She had a Christian upbringing through the priest of the town’s parish, and attained elementary level education at her town’s convent school. After being separated from her mother early in her childhood, she was raised by her father who eventually arranged a marriage between her and the wealthy businessman Tomás Millan. They married in 1751, and he died three years later.[2]

Relationship with Diego Silang

After being widowed by her first husband, Gabriela met insurgent leader Diego Silang and married him in 1757. In 1762, as part of what would later be known as the Seven Years' War, Britain declared war on Spain, which caused the British occupation of the Philippines. After British naval forces captured Manila in October 1762, an emboldened Diego sought to initiate an armed struggle to overthrow the Spanish functionaries in Ilocos and replace them with native-born officials. He collaborated with the British occupiers, who appointed him governor of the Ilocos region on their behalf and promised military reinforcement to help in the fight against the Spanish. This reinforcement was, however, never delivered. During this revolt, Gabriela became one of Diego's closest advisors and his unofficial aide-de-camp during skirmishes with Spanish troops. She was also a major figure in her husband's collaboration with the British occupiers. Spanish authorities retaliated by offering a reward for Diego’s assassination. Consequently, his two former allies Miguel Vicos and Pedro Becbec killed him in Vigan on May 28, 1763.[3]

Revolutionary leadership

After Diego’s assassination, Gabriela fled to Tayum, Abra to seek refuge in the house of her paternal uncle, Nicolas Cariño where she appointed her first two generals Miguel Flores and Tagabuen Infiel.[4] She later assumed her husband's role as commander of the rebel troops and achieved a “priestess” status amongst her community and followers. Her popular image as the bolo-wielding "la Generala" on horseback stems from this period. On September 10, 1763, Silang tried to besiege Vigan but the Spanish fought against her, forcing her into hiding. She retreated to Abra where the Spanish later captured her. On September 20, 1763, Silang and her troops were executed by hanging in Vigan's central plaza.[5]

Descendants

A list of the closest-living relatives of Gabriela Cariño Silang through her paternal uncle, Nicolas Cariño:

Some of Silang's living relations still reside in the ancestral house at the Cariño family seat of Tayum. The house, now a museum and art gallery called the Casa Museo Cariño, is maintained by H. E. Ambassador Rosario Cariño . Among the rooms on display is the bedroom of Gabriela Cariño Silang while she used the house of her Uncle Nicolas Cariño as her headquarters when she fled after Diego's murder in 1763.[6]

Memorials and legacy

See also

References

  1. ↑ Rosarito A. Cariño 7th generation great-grandson and Museum Curator of Gabriela Cariño- Silang Gallery of Fine Arts and Museo Nicolas Cariño
  2. ↑ Smith, Bonnie G. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008. Print.
  3. ↑ Commire, Anne, and Deborah Klezmer. Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Waterford, CT: Yorkin Publications, 2002. Print.
  4. ↑ Rosarito A. Cariño 7th generation great-grandson and Museum Curator of Gabriela Cariño- Silang Gallery of Fine Arts and Museo Nicolas Cariño
  5. ↑ Commire, Anne, and Deborah Klezmer. Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Waterford, CT: Yorkin Publications, 2002. Print.
  6. ↑ Rosarito A. Cariño 7th generation great-grandson and Museum Curator of Gabriela Cariño- Silang Gallery of Fine Arts and Museo Nicolas Cariño and Gloman Merritt 8th generation great-grandson.
  7. ↑ Gloman Merritt 8th generation great-grandson
  8. ↑ Gloman Merritt 8th generation great-grandson
  9. ↑ Gloman Merritt 8th generation great-grandson
  10. ↑ Gloman Merritt 8th generation great-grandson