María Josefa Gabriela Cariño Silang (March 19, 1731 – September 20, 1763) was the wife of the Ilocano insurgent leader, Diego Silang. Following Diego's assassination in 1763, she led the group for four months before she was captured and executed.
Born in Barangay Caniogan, Santa, Ilocos Sur, Silang was a mestiza, of Spanish and Ilocano descent. The people of Abra do claim she was born in what is now Pidigan, Abra (those two places are not far from each other, and Abra was not incorporated as a province until early in the 20th century). She was adopted by a very wealthy businessman Tomás Millan, who later married her at the age of 20, but died after three years. In 1757, she re-married, this time to 27-year-old Ilocano insurgent leader, Diego Silang. The groups’ goal was to ensure an independent Ilocos. She became one of his closest advisors, whenever the troops battle, Gabriela always went with them to give support and help with the battle, a major figure in her husband's collaboration with the British and the brief expulsion of Spanish officials from Vigan, Ilocos Sur during the British occupation of the Philippines.
Together with Cariño, and Sebatian Andaya and Manuel Flores, there she regrouped her troops, and rallied the Tingguian community to fight. Gabriela’s troops of 2000 fighters attacked the Spanish in Vigan on September 10, 1763. With a larger number of the Spanish troops, the 6000 men strong Spanish garrison was ready, with amassing Spanish, Tagalog, and Kapampangan soldiers, and Ilocano collaborators recruited from other regions to ambush her and rout her forces. Many were killed. She escaped, alongside Cariño and seven others, but were caught on September 20, 1763. They were summarily hanged.
Legacy,Recogniton and Inspiration
In honor of Gabriela Silang as a Philippine heroine, Ilocos Sur's provincial hospital was named Gabriela Silang General Hospital.
As an inspiration to heroism, a Filipino organization that advocates women's issues was founded in April 1984 and named GABRIELA, or the General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership, and Action.
Located in the heart of Ayala Avenue in Makati City the business district of The Philippines lays the Gabriela Silang Monument. This monument was created by Jose M. Mendoza in 1971 and was placed by the Zobel de Ayala Family and inaugurated by Gabriela Silang's great-granddaughter Gloria Cariño and her great-grandson Mario Cariño Merritt.
Another monument stands at the town plaza of Pidigan, Abra to remind every one of the gallant stand and the ideals she and her husband fought and died for.
The Tangadan Welcome Tunnel in Abra now has the Gabriela Silang Memorial Park with the Monument of the great heroine.
Her unique policy of harassment was so successful that the name generala, which was given to her by the masses, struck terror to the Spanish troops and to Ilocanos who collaborated with Spain.
Descendants and heritage
A list of the closest living descendants of María Josefa Gabriela Cariño Silang:
1.The former Philippine Ambassador Rosario Cariño
2.Philippine Consul Jose Maria Cariño
3.Dion Cariño
4.Nehemiah Cariño
5.Jan Philippe Cariño
6.Felipe Cariño
7.Mario Cariño Merritt
8.Gloman Merritt
9.Glozy Merritt
Belonging to the family of the first Galician who arrived in Candon in late 17th century, Ignacio Cariño. Gabriela Silang, the noted Ilokano revolutionary of the 18th century, was a daughter of Ignacio’s eldest son Anselmo and a Tingian house servant in the Cariño household in Candon. When her husband was executed, she fled to Abra and took refuge in Tayum, in the house of her uncle Nicolas, Anselmo’s brother. The names above are the direct descendants of Nicolas and their ancestral home is home also today to the Cariño museum "CASA MUSEO CARIÑO". Maintained with loving care by Rosario Cariño one can visit the room occupied by Gabriela when she lived there.
The family are still living in the ancestral house and former headquarters of Gabriela Silang in Tayum, Abra. It is now a Museum and Art Gallery that holds one of the most diverse art work and Antique collections in the Philippines the collection includes Thousands of Antiques from all around the world with some paintings from great painters like Pablo Picasso, Juan Luna, Fernando Amorsolo, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, XIX originals collected by the Family over the centuries.
