CAVITE MUTINY

1872
A HISTORIC YEAR
OF TWO EVENTS
 1. CAVITE MUTINY
(A major factor in
the awakening of
NATIONALISM
among the Filipinos)
 CAVITE MUTINY
Mutiny – a rebellion
against authority;
comes from an old
verb, ‘mutine’, which
means ‘revolt’.
 CAVITE
MUTINY
•Uprising of military
personnel and laborers of
Fort San Felipe (the
Spanish arsenal in Cavite,
Philippines) on January
20, 1872.

• Around 200 soldiers and

laborers rose up in the
belief that it would
elevate to a national
uprising. The mutiny was
unsuccessful, and
government soldiers
executed many of the
participants.
2. THE MARTYRDOM
OF THE THREE
PRIESTS
(Gom Bur Za)
 Gom Bur
Za
•
Collective
name of the
three martyred
priests.

• Tagged as the
masterminds
of the Cavite
Mutiny by the
Spaniards.
Gom Bur Za
• They were prominent
Filipino priests charged
with TREASON and
SEDITION.

• The Spanish clergy

connected the priests to
the mutiny as part of the
conspiracy to continue
the movement of secular
priests who desired to
have their own parishes
instead of being
assistants to the regular
friars.
 FR. MARIANO GOMEZ
 An old man in his mid
‘70s , Chinese-Filipino,
born in Cavite.

 He held the most senior

position of the three as
Archbishop’s vicar in
Cavite.

 He was truly nationalistic

and accepted death
penalty calmly as though
it were his penance for
being pro-Filipinos.
 FR. JOSE BURGOS
 Spanish descent,
born in the Vigan
City. He was a friar
curate of Manila
Cathedral.

 He was 35 years old

at the time of
execution and was
active in advocating
Filipinization of the
clergy.
FR. JACINTO ZAMORA
 He was also a Spanish
who was born in
Pandacan, Manila.

 He was 37 years old at

the time of execution.

 He became a friar curate

in Marikina and was
known to be unfriendly to
and would not
countenance any
arrogance or authoritative
behavior from Spaniards.
 The three
martyred
priests (Gom
Bur Za) were
sentenced to
death by
means of
Garrote on
February 17,
1872 in
Bagumbayan.
 SPANISH
ACCOUNTS OF THE
CAVITE MUTINY
JOSE MONTERO y VIDAL
 Spanish historian

 His account centered on

how the event was an
attempt in overthrowing
the Spanish government
in the Philippines.

 His account on mutiny

was criticized as
woefully biased.
Crisanto de los 
Reyes, Máximo 
Inocencio and 
Enrique 
Paraíso
 RIZAL’S
RETRACTION
Retraction- a statement
saying that something you
said or wrote at an earlier
time is not true or correct
(Merriam- Webster Dictionary)
Alleged
Retracti
on of
Rizal
Fr. Vicente Balaguer as a Witness
Document Translated by Fr. Manuel
Garcia (1935)
FEDERICO
MORENO’S
ACCOUNT
(CUERPO DE
VIGILANCIA)
by Rene R.
Escalante
Most Illustrious Sir, the agent of the Cuerpo de Vigilancia
stationed in Fort Santiago to report on the events during
the [illegible] day in prison of the accused Jose Rizal,
informs me on this date of the following:
At 7:50 yesterday morning, Jose Rizal entered death row
accompanied by his counsel, Señor Taviel de Andrade,
and the Jesuit priest [Jose] Vilaclara. At the urgings of the
former and moments after entering, he was served a light
breakfast. At approximately 9, the Adjutant of the
Garrison, Señor [Eloy] Maure, asked Rizal if he wanted
anything. He replied that at the moment he only wanted
a prayer book which was brought to him shortly by Father
[Estanislao] March.
Señor Andrade left death row at 10 and Rizal spoke for a long
while with the Jesuit fathers, March and Vilaclara, regarding
religious matters, it seems. It appears that these two
presented him with a prepared retraction on his life and
deeds that he refused to sign. They argued about the
matter until 12:30 when Rizal ate some poached egg and a
little chicken. Afterwards he asked to leave to write and wrote for
a long time by himself.
At 3 in the afternoon, Father March entered the chapel
and Rizal handed him what he had written. Immediately
the chief of the firing squad, Señor [Juan] del Fresno and
the Assistant of the Plaza, Señor Maure, were informed.
They entered death row and together with Rizal signed
the document that the accused had written. It seems this
was the retraction.
From 3 to 5:30 in the afternoon, Rizal read his prayer
book several times, prayed kneeling before the altar and
in the company of Fathers Vilaclara and March, read the
Acts of Faith, Hope and Charity repeatedly as well as the
Prayers for the Departing Soul.
At 6 in the afternoon the following persons arrived and
entered the chapel; Teodora Alonzo, mother of Rizal, and
his sisters, Lucia, Maria, Olimpia, Josefa, Trinidad and
Dolores. Embracing them, the accused bade them
farewell with great strength of character and without
shedding a tear. The mother of Rizal left the chapel
weeping and carrying two bundles of several utensils
belonging to her son who had used them while in prison.
A little after 8 in the evening, at the urgings of Señor
Andrade, the accused was served a plate of tinola, his last
meal on earth. The Assistant of the Plaza, Señor Maure and
Fathers March and Vilaclara visited him at 9 in the evening.
He rested until 4 in the morning and again resumed praying
before the altar.
At 5 this morning of the 30th, the lover of Rizal arrived at the
prison accompanied by his sister Pilar, both dressed in
mourning. Only the former entered the chapel, followed by a
military chaplain whose name I cannot ascertain. Donning his
formal clothes and aided by a soldier of the artillery, the
nuptials of Rizal and the woman who had been his lover were
performed at the point of death (in articulo mortis). After
embracing him she left, flooded with tears.
Rizal heard mass and confessed to Father
March. Afterwards he heard another mass
where he received communion. At 7:30, a
European artilleryman handcuffed him and he
left for the place of execution accompanied by
various Jesuits, his counsel and the Assistant
of the Plaza. Father March gave him a holy
picture of the Virgin that Rizal kissed
repeatedly.
When the accused left, I noticed he was very
pale but I am very certain that all the time he
was imprisoned he demonstrated great
strength of character and composure.
God grant Your Excellency.
Manila 30 December 1896.
Chief Inspector Federico Moreno (Harper
1997)
Consummatum
Est!