She took over from her second husband Diego Silang after his assassination in 1763, leading her people for four months before she was captured and executed by the colonial government of the Captaincy General of the Philippines.

Gabriela Silang was born in barrio Caniogan, Santa, Ilocos to a Spanish Ilocano father named Anselmo Cariño,[1] a trader who ferried his wares from Vigan to Abra along the Abra River and a descendant of Ignacio Cariño, the first Galician from Spain to arrive in Candon in the late 17th century.

After the capture of Manila, an emboldened Diego sought to initiate an armed struggle to overthrow Spanish functionaries in Ilocos and replace them with native-born officials.

[3] After Diego's murder, Gabriela fled to Tayum, now part of Abra, to seek refuge in the house of her paternal uncle, Nicolás Cariño.

[4] She is remembered as the “Joan of Arc of Ilocandia”[4] The Order of Gabriela Silang is the sole third class national decoration awarded by the Philippines whose membership is restricted to women.