1872

CAVITE MUTINY

◦ Two major events happened in 1872, first was the 1872 Cavite Mutiny and the other was the martyrdom of
the three martyr priests in the persons of Fathers Mariano Gomes, Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora
(GOMBURZA).

◦ All Filipinos must know the different sides of the story—since this event led to another tragic yet
meaningful part of our history—the execution of GOMBURZA which in effect a major factor in the
awakening of nationalism among the Filipinos.

Dr. Trinidad Hermenigildo Pardo de Tavera

◦ The incident was a mere mutiny by the native Filipino soldiers and laborers of the Cavite arsenal who
turned out to be dissatisfied with the abolition of their privileges.

◦ Tavera blamed Gov. Izquierdo’s cold-blooded policies such as the abolition of privileges of the workers
and native army members of the arsenal and the prohibition of the founding of school of arts and trades
for the Filipinos, which the general believed as a cover-up for the organization of a political club.

◦ On 20 January 1872, about 200 men comprised of soldiers, laborers of the arsenal, and residents of Cavite
headed by Sergeant Lamadrid rose in arms and assassinated the commanding officer and Spanish officers in
sight.

◦ The insurgents were expecting support from the bulk of the army unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

◦ The news about the mutiny reached authorities in Manila and Gen. Izquierdo immediately ordered the
reinforcement of Spanish troops in Cavite.

◦ After two days, the mutiny was officially declared subdued.

◦ Tavera believed that the Spanish friars and Izquierdo used the Cavite Mutiny as a powerful lever by
magnifying it as a full-blown conspiracy involving not only the native army but also included residents of
Cavite and Manila, and more importantly the native clergy to overthrow the Spanish government in the
Philippines.

◦ During the time, the Central Government in Madrid announced its intention to deprive the friars of all the
powers of intervention in matters of civil government and the direction and management of educational
institutions.

◦ This turnout of events was believed by Tavera, prompted the friars to do something drastic in their desire
to maintain power in the Philippines.

◦ The friars, fearing that their influence in the Philippines would be a thing of the past, took advantage of the
incident and presented it to the Spanish Government as a vast conspiracy organized throughout the
archipelago with the object of destroying Spanish sovereignty.

◦ Tavera sadly confirmed that the Madrid government came to believe that the scheme was true without any
attempt to investigate the real facts or extent of the alleged “revolution” reported by Izquierdo and the
friars.

◦ Convicted educated men who participated in the mutiny were sentenced life imprisonment while members
of the native clergy headed by the GOMBURZA were tried and executed by garrote.

◦ This episode leads to the awakening of nationalism and eventually to the outbreak of Philippine
Revolution of 1896.
 GOMBURZA

◦ The Cavite Mutiny led to the persecution of prominent Filipinos; secular priests Mariano Gómez, José
Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora—who would then be collectively named GomBurZa—were tagged as the
masterminds of the uprising.

◦ The priests were charged with treason and sedition by the Spanish military tribunal—a ruling believed to be
part of a conspiracy to stifle the growing popularity of Filipino secular priests and the threat they posed to
the Spanish clergy.

◦ The GomBurZa were publicly executed, by garrote, on the early morning of February 17, 1872 at
Bagumbayan.

◦ The Archbishop of Manila refused to defrock them, and ordered the bells of every church to toll in honor of
their deaths; the Sword, in this instance, denied the moral justification of the Cross. The martyrdom of the
three secular priests would resonate among Filipinos; grief and outrage over their execution would make
way for the first stirrings of the Filipino revolution, thus making the first secular martyrs of a promising
national identity. Jose Rizal would dedicate his second novel, El Filibusterismo, to the memory of
GomBurZa.

Important facts in the CAVITE MUTINY

• First, there was dissatisfaction among the workers of the arsenal as well as the members of the native army
after their privileges were drawn back by Gen. Izquierdo

• Second, Gen. Izquierdo introduced rigid and strict policies that made the Filipinos move and turn away
from Spanish government out of disgust

• Third, the Central Government failed to conduct an investigation on what truly transpired but relied on
reports of Izquierdo and the friars and the opinion of the public

• Fourth, the happy days of the friars were already numbered in 1872 when the Central Government in Spain
decided to deprive them of the power to intervene in government affairs as well as in the direction and
management of schools prompting them to commit frantic moves to extend their stay and power

• Fifth, the Filipino clergy members actively participated in the secularization movement in order to allow
Filipino priests to take hold of the parishes in the country making them prey to the rage of the friars

• Sixth, Filipinos during the time were active participants, and responded to what they deemed as injustices;

• Lastly, the execution of GOMBURZA was a blunder on the part of the Spanish government, for the action
severed the ill-feelings of the Filipinos and the event inspired Filipino patriots to call for reforms and
eventually independence

• And just like what Elias said in Noli me Tangere, may we “not forget those who fell during the night.”