Despite many false starts, the Spanish were eventually able to conquer what became the Philippines by the late sixteenth century. Although there was resistance from the indigenous population, it tended to be sporadic and disorganized—certainly not enough to liberate the country from its new rulers.

The Spanish conquerors enjoyed vast military superiority over the native people, which allowed them to put down any rebellions with relative ease. They also had experience administering vast swathes of territory, which gave them a distinct advantage over indigenous tribes confined to relatively small areas of land.

Any kind of Filipino liberation movement would have required a unified national consciousness among the indigenous population. Yet such consciousness simply didn't exist on account of the fragmentation of the various ethnic and tribal groups that inhabited the Philippines. To be sure, individual acts of resistance still took place, but they were much too isolated and related to specific grievances—such as the imposition of taxes—to have much of an effect.

Thanks largely to the numerous ethnic, religious, and cultural divisions that existed among Filipinos, the Spanish were able to establish a high degree of centralized rule over their new colonial subjects. In turn, this made organized resistance among the indigenous population even more difficult.