A few months afterwards Anda returned to Spain and was received with favour by the King, who created him a Cavalier of the Order of Charles III. with a pension of 4,000 reales (about £40), and awarded him a pension of 3,000 pesos, and on November 6, 1767, appointed him a Councillor of Castile. In the course of the next three years Gov.-General José Raon, who superseded La Torre, had fallen into disgrace, and in 1770 Anda was appointed to the governor-generalship of the Islands, specially charged to carry out the royal will with respect to the expulsion of the Jesuits and the defence of Crown rights in ecclesiastical matters.
Anda at once found himself in conflict with the Jesuits, the friars, and the out-going Gov.-General Raon. As soon as Raon vacated his post, Anda, as Gov.-General, had his predecessor confined in the Fort of Santiago, where he died. At the same time he sent back to Spain two magistrates who had sided with Raon, imprisoned other judges, and banished military officers from the capital. Andaʼs position was a very peculiar one. A partisan of the friars at heart, he had undertaken the defence of Crown interests against them, but, in a measure, he was able to palliate the bitterness he thus created by expelling the Jesuits, who were an eyesore to the friars. The Jesuits might easily have promoted a native revolt against their departure, but they meekly submitted to the decree of banishment and left the Islands, taking away nothing but their clothing. Having rid himself of his rivals and the Jesuits, Anda was constantly haunted by the fear of fresh conflict with the British. He had the city walls repaired and created a fleet of ships built in the provinces of Pangasinán, Cavite, and Zambales, consisting of one frigate of war with 18 cannon, another with 32 cannon, besides 14 vessels of different types, carrying a total of 98 cannon and 12 swivel guns, all in readiness for the British who never reappeared.
Born on October 28, 1709, in the Province of Alava, Spain, Simon de Andaʼs irascible temper, his vanity, and his extravagant love of power created enmities and brought trouble upon himself at every step. Exhausted by six years of continual strife in his private and official capacities, he retired to the Austin Friarsʼ Hospital of San Juan de Dios, in Cavite, where, on October 30, 1776, he expired, much to the relief of his numerous adversaries. The last resting-place of his mortal remains is behind the altar of the Cathedral, marked by a tablet; and a monument erected to his memory—107 years after his death—stands on the quayside at the end of the Paseo de Santa Lucia, near the Fort of Santiago, Manila.
Consequent on the troubled state of the Colony, a serious rebellion arose in Ylogan (Cagayán Province) amongst the Timava natives, who flogged the Commandant, and declared they would no longer pay tribute to the Spaniards. The revolt spread to Ilocos and Pangasinán; in the latter province Don Fernando Araya raised a troop of 30 Spaniards with firearms, and 400 friendly natives with bows and arrows, and after great slaughter of the rebels the ringleaders were caught, and tranquillity was restored by the gallows.
A rising far more important occurred in Ilocos Sur. The Alcalde was deposed, and escaped after he had been forced to give up his staff of office. The leader of this revolt was a cunning and wily Manila native, named Diego de Silan, who persuaded the people to cease paying tribute and declare against the Spaniards, who, he pointed out, were unable to resist the English. The City of Vigan was in great commotion. The Vicar-General parleyed in vain with the natives; then, at the head of his troops, he dispersed the rebels, some of whom were taken prisoners. But the bulk of the rioters rallied and attacked, and burnt down part of the city. The loyal natives fled before the flames. The Vicar-Generalʼs house was taken, and the arms in it were seized. All the Austin friars within a large surrounding neighbourhood had to ransom themselves by money payments. Silan was then acknowledged as chief over a large territory north and south of Vigan. He appointed his lieutenants, and issued a manifesto declaring Jesus of Nazareth to be Captain-General of the place, and that he was His Alcalde for the promotion of the Catholic religion and dominion of the King of Spain. His manifesto was wholly that of a religious fanatic. He obliged the natives to attend Mass, to confess, and to see that their children went to school. In the midst of all this pretended piety, he stole cattle and exacted ransoms for the lives of all those who could pay them; he levied a tax of ₱100 on each friar. Under the pretence of keeping out the British, he placed sentinels in all directions to prevent news reaching the terrible Simon de Anda. But Anda, though fully informed by an Austin friar of what was happening, had not sufficient troops to march north. He sent a requisition to Silan to present himself within nine days, under penalty of arrest as a traitor. Whilst this order was published, vague reports were intentionally spread that the Spaniards were coming to Ilocos in great force. Many deserted Silan, but he contrived to deceive even the clergy and others by his feigned piety. Silan sent presents to Manila for the British, acknowledging the King of England to be his legitimate Sovereign. The British Governor sent, in return, a vessel bearing despatches to Silan, appointing him Alcalde. Elated with pride, Silan at once made this public. The natives were undeceived, for they had counted on him to deliver them from the British; now, to their dismay, they saw him the authorized magistrate of the invader. He gave orders to make all the Austin friars prisoners, saying that the British would send other clergy in their stead. The friars surrendered themselves without resistance and joined their Bishop near Vigan, awaiting the pleasure of Silan. The Bishop excommunicated Silan, and then he released some of the priests. The christian natives having refused to slay the friars, a secret compact was being made, with this object, with the mountain tribes, when a Spanish half-caste named Vicos obtained the Bishopʼs benediction and killed Silan; and the Ilocos rebellion, which had lasted from December 14, 1762, to May 28, 1763, ended.
Not until a score of little battles had been fought were the numerous riots in the provinces quelled. The loyal troops were divided into sections, and marched north in several directions, until peace was restored by March, 1765. Zúñiga says that the Spaniards lost in these riots about 70 Europeans and 140 natives, whilst they cost the rebels quite 10,000 men.
The submission made to the Spaniards, in the time of Legaspi, of the Manila and Tondo chiefs, was but of local importance, and by no means implied a total pacific surrender of the whole Archipelago; for each district had yet to be separately conquered. In many places a bold stand was made for independence, but the superior organization and science of the European forces invariably brought them final victory.
The numerous revolutionary protests registered in history against the Spanish dominion show that the natives, from the days of Legaspi onwards, only yielded to a force which they repeatedly, in each generation, essayed to overthrow. But it does not necessarily follow that either the motives which inspired the leaders of these social disturbances, or the acts themselves, were, in every case, laudable ones.
The Pampanga natives were among the first to submit, but a few years afterwards they were in open mutiny against their masters, who, they alleged, took their young men from their homes to form army corps, and busily employed the able-bodied men remaining in the district to cut timber for Government requirements and furnish provisions to the camp and to the Arsenal at Cavite.