The first Spaniards to set foot on the region were a group of expeditionary forces led by Martin de Goiti and Mateo del Saz. They came from the Visayan islands of Cebu and Panay and arrived in Masbate in 1567 merely as a stopover to restock on supplies. In 1569 Spanish troops earnestly explored the islands of Masbate and claimed these for the Spanish crown. The discovery of gold mines in Aroroy spurred them north in search of more gold. Other expeditionary forces then continued to dock in the shores of the region in search of gold and provisions. The Bico River (the original name of Bicol River) was first mentioned in Spanish documents in 1572, perhaps first discovered by De Salcedo as he traced the river east from San Miguel Bay looking for gold until he reached Naga in 1573.
The Bikol peninsula was first referred to as “Los Camarines”. This was an apparent reference to the camaronches or camarin (rice granaries) that dotted the peninsula from Camalig to the banks of Bico River.
In 1574 that Captain Pedro de Chavez established the Ciudad de Nueva Caceres just across the river from the original Naga settlement. The city, which would later become a religious and political center in the region, was named after the hometown of then Governor General Francisco de Sande.
In 1579 Franciscan missionaries Pablo de Jesus and Bartolome Ruiz arrived in Bikol under direct orders from King Philip II of Spain to Christianize the region. They established parishes in Naga, Quipayo, Nabua at Bula, and from 1594 onwards the entire Tierra de Camarines was placed under care of the Franciscan missionaries. In 1595 the Diocese of Caceres was established. From its seat in Nueva Caceres, the diocese covered the whole of Bikol as well as Samar and Tayabas.
After Christianization and colonization, the peninsula was divided into two encomiendas. The Encomienda de Busaingan encompassed the eastern peninsula and went to Pedro Arnedo, while the western half was given to Rodrigo Arias Giron. The abusive practices of the encomienderos reached the ears of the Spanish authorities however, and in 1636 the Tierra de Camarines was split up into two administrative divisions, the Partido de Ibalon that covered Albay, Catanduanes, Sorsogon, Masbate, and the Partido de Camarines (also called Ambos Camarines) that covered the two Camarines provinces. In 1663 the Partido de Ibalaon was renamed into Albay, and the islands of Catanduanes and Masbate were declared separate military districts.In 1829, the Partido de Camarines was further divided into Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte. From 1864 until 1893, the Camarines provinces underwent a series of confusing geo-political division, fusion, re-division, and re-fusion. Masbate was declared a province in 1864, and Sorsogon was declared a separate province from Albay in 1894.
Resistance and Revolt Against Spain
The Spanish occupation of Bikol was not without resistance. As far back as 1571, accounts indicate that the locals of Paracale and Jose Panganiban fiercely resisted attempts by Captain De Salcedo to conquer them and control their mines. Fr. Martin de Rada reported how the people of Bikol refused to surrender unless forced into it by superior arms.
When Spain had established itself in the region, Bikolanos who refused to subject themselves under Spanish rule fled to live in the mountains and forests. They were then labeled as remontados and were hunted down by armed entradas who failed to force them to come down from the mountains. Soon after, locals running away from the laws of the Spanish colonialists called cimmarrones joined the remontados in the mountains. They launched scattered attacks as a form of revenge for the abuse they experienced in the hands of the colonial authorities.
At the height of the Sumuroy revolt that raged in nearby Samar in 1649, similar pockets of resistance flared up in the Camarines provinces, Sorsogon and Masbate. Between 1762 and 1764 the provinces of Camarines, emboldened by British occupation of Manila, flared up in resistance against the abuses of Spanish officials and friars. These separate uprisings were all viciously quashed. In the late 1800s anti-Spanish sentiment simmered.When the reformist and French Revolution-inspired Propaganda Movement took form in the late 1880s, papers exposing the rottenness and abuse of the colonial government were able to make its way to Bikol. Several Bikolanos who went to Madrid also became part of the movement, among them Tomas Arejola and Jose Panganiban. There were also Bikolano members of Jose Rizal’s La Liga Filipina, like Getulio Locsin, Rufino Soler and Luis Villareal.
After Rizal’s capture in 1892, the La Liga Filipina eventually dissolved while Andres Bonifacio started to build the more radical Katipunan. The secret society called for freedom from Spain and its inequities and the building of a sovereign Filipino nation. Many people from the lower classes joined the Katipunan, and in Bikol a chapter of the Katipunan was in existence by 1895.
Although there were no records detailing the members of this chapter, at this time another anti-establishment group, the Freemasons, was gaining ground in the region. The Masons, a European fraternity that espoused French-style liberalism and was very vocal against the church, easily attracted the Filipinos abroad. In a matter of time the movement spread locally. In 1894 Vicente Lukban, a native of Labo, Camarines Norte, was inducted into the Masonic Lodge. Soon after he founded a chapter of the Masons in Libmanan with Juan Miguel called the Triangulo Bikol. Many native priests as well as small landholders in the Camarines joined the Triangulo. This group helped spread liberal thought as well as anti-colonial ideas in Bikol. It is possible that many Bikolano masons were also members of the Katipunan.
From 1902 onwards, half the provinces of Albay, Bulacan, Bataán, Cavite, Ilocos Sur, and the islands of Camaguín, Sámar, Leyte, Negros, Cebú, etc., have been infested, at different times, with brigands, or latter-day insurgents, as the different parties choose to call them. The regular troops, the constabulary, and other armed forces combined were unable to exterminate brigandage.
Bikol Initiative 