BRIDGING THE GAP
'Papa Isyo' of Negros
From the 1850s to the 1900s, Negros became one of the richest islands in the Philippines. As a result of the opening of the Port of Iloilo to world trade and subsequent boom in the sugar industry, Negros was transformed into vast sugar haciendas and sugar production grew by leaps and bounds. The population of the island also soared from 18,000 in 1850 to more than 200,000 in 1900 (Census of the Philippine Islands 1903, III).
The transformation enabled some families to accumulate staggering wealth but social antipathies also spread. Small landowners and farmers who lost their lands to unscrupulous sugar planters abandoned the lowlands to live in the mountains. Many of them joined free booting mountain-dwellers and babaylans who were dedicated to folk rites and committed to banditry in the lowlands where the haciendas were.
In 1887, a young mystic named Dionisio Segobela took over the leadership of the mountain folks in Negros Occidental. He proclaimed himself as an emissary of God and with an accumulated pontifical paraphernalia adopted the title “Papa Isyo”. He instilled unquestioning obedience among his followers and converted them into disciplined raiders. Under his direction, they conducted coordinated attacks on major sugar plantations and municipal centers. By 1895, Papa Isyo and his babaylans had become the “undisputed masters of the mountains” (LeRoy 1905).
Political turmoils brought about by the Philippine Revolution against Spain that broke out in 1896 and the resistance against the Americans in 1899 thrusted Papa Isyo and his followers into a larger role. Wealthy Negrenses avoided direct involvement in these upheavals. They were primarily concerned with their property rights and interests in the sugar industry. This is precisely the reason why they established a provisional government and capitulated to the Americans.
What the Negrense elite did was viewed by the restless population, including Papa Isyo, in disfavor. He and his followers continued to stage successful pillages in the lowland communities. By February 1899, Papa Isyo controlled several thousand discontented elements who had plenty of grudges against the hacienderos and the colonial government. His spiritual and political appeal proved attractive to many humble and poor Negrenses. On the other hand, American occupation forces attempted to eliminate brigandage and babaylan forces in Negros. Municipalities and large estates were garrisoned to meet surprise attacks. But compassionate villages continued to provide cover, information, and provisions to Papa Isyo's band.
In 1902, the U.S. Army departed from Negros and was replaced by the Philippine Constabulary (PC). Papa Isyo was convinced that it was time to strike, he believed that one spectacular act of terror could ignite a conflagration. He, therefore, planned to lead his followers to an all out assault on Bacolod. In late October, the liberation of Negros from the American imperialists and the exploitative sugar planters began in earnest.
Along the way, however, they were intercepted by constabulary detachments and routed the ragtag army. But, they failed to capture Papa Isyo.
After 1902, Bacolod's defenders turned the tables on Papa Isyo by launching a program to gain the support and sympathy of the peasantry. American officers also initiated a relentless manhunt for Papa Isyo. In 1907, the weary brigand surrendered to the Americans under Capt. John White. Papa Isyo was readily tried, found guilty and was sentenced to die. Two years later, a humane American governor-general, James Smith, commuted Papa Isyo's inevitable death sentence to life imprisonment. The basis for clemency was that it appeared that Dionisio Segobela's mind was “somewhat unbalanced” (White 1928).