#TodayinHistory in 1870, Felipe Salvador (Ápûng Ipê), Filipino revolutionary leader & head of the millenarian society, Santa Isabel, is born in Baliuag, Bulacan #PH. Today is his 150th birth anniversary. #history #MassMovement #anthropology #culture

NHCP posted this thread of tweets to commemorate his life. His legacy is but part of the long Philippine tradition of revolutionary movements merged with religion/spirituality (from Hermano Pule, Lapiang Malaya, to EDSA 1986. https://twitter.com/NHCPOfficial/status/1265199465771614208?s=20

As historian Reynaldo Ileto pointed out, it shouldn't be strange to our modern ears to find this tradition among grassroots movements in our history. Rather, we must understand the worldviews that animated a unique & compelling vision inspiring people to revolt, shaping history.

Santa Iglesia itself was instrumental in battling the Spaniards in Pampanga, that at Aguinaldo's return in 1898, it was integrated into its army. Condescension & ostracism from Aguinaldo's generals developed a rift bet army & Santa Iglesia, leading to group leaving army in 1899.

There's also a regionalistic dynamic here: Salvador was seen by Kapampangan elite as Tagalog and therefore had no business leading the Kapampangan revolutionary troops. When 1st #PH republic entered its guerrilla phase, Santa Iglesia maintained its separate identity.

Salvador was arrested in 1900, swore allegiance to the U.S., but upon being freed, returned to organize resistance again. He was arrested in 1902, but upon being transported to Bilibid, he escaped, further affirming the supernatural powers he was believed to have.

Salvador had "visions"— he said he was able to talk to God at the peak of Mt. Arayat, who told him of the coming independence & promised heaven on earth. From 1904-1905, he gained followers in 5 provinces, becoming a threat to U.S. control in Central Luzon & S. Tagalog provinces.

He was arrested in 1910 & executed in 1912 for sedition, long after the Philippine-American War ended. It gives one an insight that dissent do not just dissipate, but at times get strengthened by a relevant, unifying narrative, even when strange & "crude" to modern perception.