Papa Isio: “The Lion of Kanlaon”

Papa Isio was the leader of a religious-military sect who waged one of the longest rebellions against our foreign colonizers in Negros. Papa Isio was so popular with the peasantry that it took authorities 8 years to put down his uprising. From 1896 up to 1907, Papa Isio inspired so much fear among hacienderos that the American-led Commonwealth government had to deploy one infantry regiment in Negros island to go after his group.

Legend has it that Papa Isio, whose real name was Dionisio Sigobela, was an ordinary plantation worker who murdered his cruel Spanish haciendero in southern Negros. Fearing prosecution, he fled the hacienda and hid at Mount Kanlaon where he founded his own religion and eventually proclaimed himself “pope.” His brand of religion combined Christian themes with ancient Filipino religious practices (animism). He also espoused a fervent type of nationalism (he wanted to drive away all foreigners from the island) and a radical approach to land reform (he wanted to redistribute land to landless peasants). His political and religious ideologies became very popular among the masses and in no time, Papa Isio (or "Pope" Isio) had attracted a huge army of religious fanatics (the babaylanes) from among the disaffected hacienda workers in the island. It may have also helped that he distributed anting-antings (amulets) to his followers to protect them from bullets.

From his mountain stronghold in Mt. Kanlaon, Papa Isio and his band of babaylanes waged a "scorched earth" guerilla campaign in Negros, burning Spanish-owned sugarcane fields and raiding town centers. In what is now known as the Babaylanes Insurrection of Negros, Papa Isio’s uprising did much to weaken Spanish control of Negros and complemented the various Katipunan-led insurrections in Luzon at that time. By 1898, it became clear that the Spaniards cannot effectively govern their colony anymore.

In late October of 1898, Papa Isio forged an alliance with wealthy Filipino hacienderos to drive out the Spaniards from Negros. He gathered all his followers at the foot of Mt. Kanlaon and proceeded towards the provincial capital of Bacolod City. There they linked up with Filipino troops commanded by Aniceto Lacson and General Juan Araneta to lay siege to the Spanish troops in the city. On November 6, 1898, the Spanish provincial government formally surrendered and thereafter, on November 27, 1898, Filipino revolutionary leaders declared independence and formed the "Federal Republic of Negros." Aniceto Lacson was elected its first President and Papa Isio was bestowed the honorary title “Military Chief of La Castellana.”

But three months after declaring independence, the elite-dominated Federal Republic of Negros pledged their allegiance to America thus becoming the first province of the Philippines to do so. Upon learning this, Papa lsio withdrew his allegiance from the “Negros Republic” and resumed his guerilla warfare against a new and more powerful enemy; the American military forces. In the course of several months, the babaylanes again razed several haciendas and instigated peasant uprisings in several towns in Southern Negros . To protect their businesses, hacienderos decided to pool their resources to form an armed militia (or private army) and requested that a regiment of American infantry be dispatched to the island to catch the “bandits.”

Despite all these plus the P2,000 price on his head (which was quite a sum in those days), authorities could not capture the elusive peasant leader. It was only on August 6, 1907 when Papa Isio, now a sickly old man, surrendered to an American military officer. After a quick trial, he was given the death sentence which was later commuted to life imprisonment. Dionisio Sigobela, the "Lion of Kanlaon," died in New Bilibid Prison, Manila in 1911.

Today, you can find no monument anywhere in Negros honoring Papa Isio. The Bago City government recently created the Babaylan Festival which is held annually on February 19 but it is not about honoring Papa Isio. Present-day Negrenses cannot seem to decide whether he was a hero or a heel. Some people see him as a dangerous (or loony) cult leader who engaged in banditry and idolatry while others view him as a genuine patriot whose political beliefs were too advanced for his time. Historians also tend to belittle his contributions towards our nationhood. But whatever historians think of him, it is quite clear that Papa Isio’s radical ideas on religion and agrarian reform enjoyed immense popularity among the masses. On my part, I believe that Papa Isio should be given the honor that he deserves for espousing an alternative, more “nationalistic” vision of Negrense society. If his revolution had succeeded, he would have created a more egalitarian society in Negros wherein the chasm between rich and poor would not be too wide.

(Mt. Kanlaon is again active and spewing smoke according to news reports. Two other Philippine volcanoes are currently rumbling, Mt. Mayon in Albay and Mt. Bulusan in Sorsogon. Alert levels have been raised in these provinces.... read story.. )