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Manila History: October 3, 1603

The 1603 Sangley Rebellion Begins
Researcher: Ivan Beley | Graphics: Diego Torres
Template: Miguel Ordono


On October 3, 1603, the eve of the feast of Saint Francis, around 11 p.m., the Sangley, or Chinese residents of Manila, rose in revolt after several months of growing tensions with the Spaniards.


The rebels gathered north of the Pasig River, where they proceeded to storm and burn houses in Binondo, Quiapo, and Tondo. Spanish forces led by former governor Luis Perez de Dasmarinas (who authorized the establishment of Binondo in 1694 for the Christian Chinese) repelled the rebels from Tondo and Binondo. However, he and a hundred men were ambushed in the thickets and swamps of Quiapo, where most of them died, except for four men who retreated to Manila.


Other Sangleys barricaded themselves in the Parian quarter just east of the Walled City of Manila. On Monday, October 6, the Chinese rebels crossed the southern banks of the river and, with those in the Parian, attacked the fortified city of Manila. The Spaniards repelled their attacks and also sallied out of the walls to cut down pockets of enemy concentrations, such as those in Dilao.


Several leaders of the revolt and the Chinese community were later hanged and beheaded, their heads displayed at the Parian as a warning.


The Chinese rebels retreated inland, cutting a swathe of destruction across Tondo Province (Metro Manila and Rizal today) before being defeated by loyal Japanese and Native forces. The rebellion led to the massacre of an estimated 15,000 Chinese.


Sources:
Letters of Governor Pedro Acuna; Philippine Islands, 1493-1898; Blair, Bourne, and Robertson, Volume 12
Readings of Philippine History by Horacio de la Costa; pp. 41-42
“Chinese Revolt, 1603, article by Ambeth Ocampo, Philippine Daily Inquirer (October 4, 2023)