Following the appointment of Gov.  Esteban de Pennarubia in 1868, the tribesmen suffered still greater hardships.  Under his orders all those who refused baptism were to be expelled from the organized communities, an edict which meant virtual banishment from their old homes and confiscation of their property.  Further, no Tinguian in native dress was to be allowed to enter the towns.  “Conversions” increased with amazing rapidity, but when it was learned that many of the new converts still practiced their old customs, the governor had the apostates seized and imprisoned.  The hostile attitude of Pennarubia encouraged adventurers from the coast in the seizure of lands and the exploitation of the pagans, and thus a deep resentment was added to the dislike the Tinguian already held for “the Christians.”  Yet, despite the many causes for hostility, steady trade relations have been maintained between the two groups, and the influence of the Ilocano has been increasingly strong.  A little more than a half century ago head-hunting was still common even in the valley of Abra, where it is now practically unknown.  As a matter of dire necessity the mountain people made raids of reprisal against the hostile Igorot villages on the eastern side of the great mountain range, and it is still the proud boast of many a man in the vicinity of Manabo that he took part in the raid which netted that village a score of heads from the towns of Balatok and Lubuagan.  But, as will be seen later, head-hunting was by no means limited to forays against other tribes; local feuds, funeral observances, and the desire for renown, all encouraged the warriors to seek heads even from nearby settlements.  Those incentives have not been entirely removed, and an occasional head is still taken in the mountain districts, but the influence of the Ilocano, backed by Spanish and American authority, is rapidly making this sport a thing of the past.

The rule of Governor Pennarubia had so embittered the Tinguian against the “white man” that a considerable number joined the insurrecto troops to fight against the Spaniards and Americans.  These warriors, armed with spears, shields, and head-axes, made their way to Malolos, where they joined the Filipino troops the day of the first American bombardment.  The booming of cannon and the bursting of shells was too much for the warriors, and, as they express it, “the first gun was the beginning of their going home.”

Friendly relations with the insurgents were early destroyed by bands of armed robbers who, posing as Filipino troops, looted a number of Tinguian villages.  In several localities the tribesmen retaliated by levying tribute on the Christianized villages, and in some instances took a toll of heads to square accounts.  At this juncture the Americans appeared in Abra, and the considerate treatment of the pagans by the soldiers soon won for them a friendly reception.  Later, as the result of the efforts of Commissioner Worcester, the Tinguian villages were made independent of Ilocano control, and the people were given the full right to conduct their own affairs, so long as they did not disturb the peace and welfare of the province.