Brother Apolinario leaves Manila in the autumn of 1841 and gathers his followers, now numbering several thousands armed with rifles and bolos (heavy, single-bladed knives), at bases in the villages around the town of Tayabas; as a spiritual leader, he preaches that God will deliver the Tagalog people from slavery.

Although the rebel force, aided by Negrito hill tribesmen, is able to defeat a detachment led by the provincial governor in late October, a much larger Spanish force composed of soldiers from Pampanga Province—the elite of the Philippine military establishment and traditional enemies of the Tagalogs—take the cofradia camp at Alitao after a great slaughter on November 1, 1841.