The Igorot struggle for independence: William Henry Scott.

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THE IGOROT STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE* '_
by
William Henry Scott s *
-/
It is a strange thing that the history textbooks commonly in
use in the public and private schools of the Republic of the
Philippines never mention the fact that the Igorot peoples of Northern Luzon fought for their liberty against foreign aggressions all
during the 350 years that their lowland brethren were being ruled
over by Spanish invaders. One history book says we can never know
the history of the Filipino people during the Spanish period because
they were slaves to the Spaniards or at least forced to play the role
of slaves. Certainly this is not true of the Igorots. They were never
slaves to the Spaniards nor did they play the role of slaves. Quite
the contrary, Spanish records make it clear that they fought for
their independence with every means at their disposal for three
centuries, and that this resistance to invasion was deliberate, selfconscious, and continuous. That it was largely successful is indicated
by the fact that at the end.of the Spanish Regime, when the
Cordillera Central had been carved up into a dozen military districts,
the last Spanish census listed one-third of the estimated mountain
population as completely independent,
Foreign visitors to the Philippines all during the Spanish regime
noticed this Igorot independence. An Italian traveller mentioned it
in 1696, a Frenchman in 1766, an American in 1842, a German in
1878, and an Englishman in 1896. And it was a cause of great
embarrassment to the Spaniards themselves. When Governor Diego
Salcedo landed in Aparri in 1662 and travelled to Manila through
Ilocos and Pangasinan, he said he suffered a sense of shame to see
all- those mountains inhabited by the Igorots, "owners of the gold
mines and enemies of the Christians." So in 1779 an official said,
"It is certainly a shameful thing for our nation to suffer such disorders without demanding satisfaction for the Igorot crimes against
our vassal natives, and a mockery and cause for laughter among
other foreigners." And a hundred years later Governor Primo de
Rivera wrote almost the same thing-"It is certainly humiliating
'Paper read before the Cordillera Congreu for National Liberation, Mountain
Provincial High School, Bontoc, Dec.. 26, 1971.