Spanish–Moro conflict
The Spanish initiated the conflict by conquering the Philippines and invading Moro territory in an effort to subjugate the region to their rule since the 1500s. When the Spanish conquered the Muslim Kingdom of Maynila, a vassal of the Sultanate of Brunei, the Islamic rajah, Rajah Sulayman resisted the Spanish. Manila then became the capital of the Spanish Philippines after the conquest, with the Spanish forcibly converting people to Catholicism. The Spanish–Moro Wars started with the Castille War, a war between Spaniards and the Sultanate of Brunei. (The term "Moro" at this time included Muslim Tagalogs who were ruled by the Sultanate of Brunei).
Philippine revolts against Spain
The Lakandula and Sulayman Revolt, also known as the Tagalog Revolt, was an uprising in 1574 by Lakandula and Rajah Sulayman in Tondo, Manila. The revolt occurred in the same year as the Chinese pirate Limahong attacked the palisaded yet poorly defended enclosure of Intramuros. This revolt was caused by losing Soliman and Lakandula's kingdom when they were defeated by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi to accept the Spanish sovereignty on the promise that they would be well-treated by the Spaniards and would still retain some of their royal and political powers. When Guido de Lavezaris replaced Legaspi as Governor General of the Philippines, he revoked their exemptions from paying tribute and confiscated their lands. Father Martin convinced Lakandula and Soliman to abort the revolt and promised to grant their privileges. Nevertheless, Soliman continued his revolt which was brutally crushed in 1574.