![Rewards for the death of Ponciano Elofre](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Rewards_for_the_death_of_Ponciano_Elofre.jpg)
Ponciano Elofre (sometimes spelled Ponciano Elopre), later called (
Hiligaynon for "Tornado/Whirlwind God"), was a (head) of a in
Zamboanguita
Zamboanguita ( ceb, Lungsod sa Zamboanguita; tl, Bayan ng Zamboanguita), officially the Municipality of Zamboanguita, is a 4th class municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Negros Oriental, Philipp ...
in
Negros Oriental
Negros Oriental ( ceb, Sidlakang Negros; tl, Silangang Negros), officially the Province of Negros Oriental, is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Dumaguete. It occupies the southeaste ...
,
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
, and the leader of a
politico-religious revolt on
Negros
Negros is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . Negros is one of the many islands of the Visayas, in the central part of the country. The predominant inhabitants of the island region a ...
in the late 19th century against the
Spaniards
Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance peoples, Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of National and regional identity in Spain, national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex Hist ...
.
Revolutionary activities
Elofre began his revolt when, as , he failed to collect all the taxes from his constituents. Spanish soldiers beat his father, Cris Elofre, to death in order to teach him a lesson. Thereafter, he rallied the people against the forced payment of taxes. Later, he included
religious freedom
Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...
as part of his agenda, and directed the celebration of the ancient rites of the ''
babaylan
Filipino shamans, commonly known as (also ''Balian'' or , among many other names), were shamans of the various ethnic groups of the pre-colonial Philippine islands. These shamans specialized in communicating, appeasing, or harnessing the spir ...
'' (ancient Visayan
shaman
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...
), a revival of the
religious
Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...
leader of the pre-Spanish era. He and his followers were later called the , which numbered about 2,000.
Elofre reputedly
dressed in female clothing and was said to be
effeminate
Effeminacy is the embodiment of traits and/or expressions in those who are not of the female sex (e.g. boys and men) that are often associated with what is generally perceived to be feminine behaviours, mannerisms, styles, or gender roles, rather ...
in the same manner as ancient ''
asog'' shamans.
Death
The activities of Elofre so alarmed the Spanish colonial government that Governor-General
Valeriano Weyler
Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, 1st Duke of Rubí, 1st Marquess of Tenerife (17 September 1838 – 20 October 1930) was a Spanish general and colonial administrator who served as the Governor-General of the Philippines and Cuba, and later as S ...
sent 500 men of the and a battleship to Negros to deal with the threat.
On August 22, 1887, Elofre raided
Siaton
Siaton ( ceb, Lungsod sa Siaton; tl, Bayan ng Siaton), officially the Municipality of Siaton, is a 1st class municipality and the southernmost settlement in the province of Negros Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a po ...
, the town adjoining Zamboanguita, and was killed in the encounter with colonial forces. His wife, Flaviana Tubigan, continued the revolt, but lacked her husband's charm and charisma. She was succeeded by Ka Martin de la Cruz, of
Tolong in southern
Negros Oriental
Negros Oriental ( ceb, Sidlakang Negros; tl, Silangang Negros), officially the Province of Negros Oriental, is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Dumaguete. It occupies the southeaste ...
, Elofre's lieutenant, but his command of the degenerated into banditry. When the Spanish authorities failed in their bid to capture him, on September 11, 1893, de la Cruz was killed in a trap laid by his own mistress, Alfonsa Alaidan.
The remaining Buhawi followers, conjectures
Modesto P. Sa-onoy, were later recruited by
Papa Isio
Dionisio Magbuelas (20 March 1846 - 1911), Dionisio Seguela or Dionisio Papa y Barlucia, more widely known as Papa Isio (Hiligaynon language, Hiligaynon: ''Isio the Pope''), was the leader of a group of ''babaylanes'' who were, as conjecture ...
when he began to organize his own group of in another revolt against Spain.
[Calma, Ma. Cecilia C. and Concepcion, Diana R.: ''The Revolution in Negros.'', Raison D'Etre, ]University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
Research Planning and Development Office, Bacolod City, 1998
See also
*
Babaylan
Filipino shamans, commonly known as (also ''Balian'' or , among many other names), were shamans of the various ethnic groups of the pre-colonial Philippine islands. These shamans specialized in communicating, appeasing, or harnessing the spir ...
*
Negros Oriental
Negros Oriental ( ceb, Sidlakang Negros; tl, Silangang Negros), officially the Province of Negros Oriental, is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Dumaguete. It occupies the southeaste ...
*
Negros Revolution
The Negros Revolution ( fil, Himagsikang Negrense; ceb, Rebolusyong Negrense; es, Revolución negrense), commemorated and popularly known as the Fifth of November ( es, links=no, Cinco de noviembre) or Negros Day ( hil, Adlaw sang Negros; ce ...
*
Papa Isio
Dionisio Magbuelas (20 March 1846 - 1911), Dionisio Seguela or Dionisio Papa y Barlucia, more widely known as Papa Isio (Hiligaynon language, Hiligaynon: ''Isio the Pope''), was the leader of a group of ''babaylanes'' who were, as conjecture ...
*
Philippine Revolution
*
Pulahan
The Pulahan (literally "those wearing red" in Cebuano; es, pulajanes), also known as dios-dios, were the members of a religious revival of Philippine beliefs that developed in the Visayas prior to the Philippine Revolution. At its peak, it ...
Notes and references
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buhawi, Dios
People of the Philippine Revolution
Filipino revolutionaries
Paramilitary Filipinos
People from Negros Oriental
1887 deaths
Year of birth missing
Visayan people