Gabriela Silang

Mara Josefa Gabriela Cario de Silang (March 19, 1731 - September 20, 1763) was a Filipino military leader best known as the female leader of the Ilocano independence movement from Spain. She took over after her second husband, Diego Silang, was assassinated in 1763, and led her people for four months before being captured and executed by the Captaincy General of the Philippines' colonial government.

Among the most important historical figures in Philippines, she is known as the "Joan of Arc of Ilocandia." The Order of Gabriela Silang is the Philippines' only third-class national decoration that is restricted to women. In her honor, the Gabriela Women's Party ("General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership, and Action") was founded in April 1984 to advocate for women's rights and issues. She is commemorated by the BRP Gabriela Silang (OPV-8301). Eleanor Helin discovered asteroid 7026 Gabrielasilang in Palomar in 1993, and it is named after her. The Minor Planet Center published the official naming citation on November 8, 2019. (M.P.C. 118218).

Tanya Gomez played Silang in the ABS-CBN TV series Bayani in the 1996 episodes "Gabriela Silang: Ang Alap" and "Diego Silang: Ang Sulat." Kris Bernal portrayed Silang in the 2013 GMA Network historical drama series Indio, and Glaiza de Castro portrayed her in the GMA News TV television romance anthology Wagas.