Spanish Accounts of Cavity Mutiny

A famous Spanish historian, Jose Montero y Vidal, described the incident and characterized it as an
attempt by the Indios to topple the Spanish rule in the Philippines. Meanwhile, the official account of
Gov. Gen. Rafael Izquierdo exaggerated the incident and used it to blame the native clergy, which was at
the time engaged in the campaign for secularization. The general's report was more caustic, yet the two
tales complimented and confirmed each other. Initially, both Montero and Izquierdo claimed that the
abolition of privileges enjoyed by Cavite arsenal workers, such as non-payment of tributes and
exemption from forced labor, were the primary causes of the "revolution," as they called it; however,
other causes were enumerated by them, including the Spanish Revolution, which overthrew the secular
throne, dirty propaganda spread by an unrestrained press, democratic, liberal, and republican books and
pamphlets. Izquierdo, in particular, condemned the disorderly Spanish press for "stockpiling" poisonous
propaganda that the Filipinos had picked up. He informed the King of Spain that the "rebels" intended to
destabilize the Spanish government in order to install a new "hari" in the likes of Fathers Burgos and
Zamora. The commander went on to say that the native clergy attracted additional volunteers by
promising them charismatic certainty that their fight would not fail because God was on their side, as
well as attractive offers of job, wealth, and army levels. In his report, Izquierdo slammed the Indios for
being gullible and having a natural proclivity for thieving. Modes:

The two Spaniards deemed that the event of 1872 was planned earlier and was thought of it as a big
conspiracy among educated leaders, mestizos, abogadillos or native lawyers, residents of Manila and
Cavite and the native clergy. They insinuated that the conspirators of Manila and Cavite planned to
liquidate high-ranking Spanish officers to be followed by the massacre of the friars. The alleged pre-
concerted signal among the conspirators of Manila and Cavite was the firing of rockets from the walls of
Intramuros.

The two Spaniards believed that the 1872 incident had been organized in advance and that it was the
result of a large conspiracy including educated leaders, mestizos, abogadillos (local lawyers), people of
Manila and Cavite, and the native clergy. They said that Manila and Cavite conspirators planned to
assassinate high-ranking Spanish officers, followed by a massacre of the friars. The firing of rockets from
the walls of Intramuros was allegedly a pre-planned signal among the conspirators of Manila and Cavite.

According to their testimonies, the district of Sampaloc celebrated the feast of the Virgin of Loreto on
January 20, 1872, but regrettably, the festivities were marred by the typical fireworks displays.
According to reports, people in Cavite mistook the pyrotechnics for an attack signal, and the 200-man
detachment led by Sergeant Lamadrid launched an attack on Spanish officials on sight, seizing the
arsenal, as arranged.Furthermore, according to Edmund Plauchut, as cited by Jaime Veneracion, the
three priests were found to be blameworthy or guilty of injustice as provocateurs of insurrection in the
Cavite Navy-yard late on the evening of February 15, 1872, and were sentenced to death by the Spanish
Court military.

We are fully confident that the GOMBURZA were executed correctly because they were the
masterminds of the Cavite Mutiny, not because of labor constraints.

References:Vidal Spanish Version of the Cavite Mutiny.1.1. Retrieved from https://learn-ap-southeast-1-

prod-fleet02-xythos.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/5be3c7fe2b7fc/901100?response-cache-
control=private%2C%20max-age%3D21600&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%2A
%3DUTF-8%27%27Vidal_Spanish%2520Version%2520of%2520the%2520Cavite
%2520Mutiny.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-
SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20201010T060000Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-
Credential=AKIAZH6WM4PL2RCDY4NT%2F20201010%2Fap-southeast-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-
Amz-Signature=07a4e802719d92cba6fc76f5a58837187ad1e5af6d94f3229f1f9b6723fd267a

Other References:

http://lavidalawyer.blogspot.com/2005/09/famous-trials-of-philippines-gomburza.html?m=1
https://nhcp.gov.ph/remembering-the-gomburza-in-anticipation-of-the-150th-anniversary-of-their-
martyrdom-in-2022/ https://nhcp.gov.ph/the-two-faces-of-the-1872-cavite-mutiny/
https://zdocs.ro/doc/cavite-mutiny-w1k7dkze2j6r http://ffemagazine.com/philippine-history-today-
three-martyr-priests/ https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/937/today-in-philippine-history-
february-17-1872-fathers-mariano-gomez-jose-apolonio-burgos-and-jacinto-zamora-were-executed
http://www.stuartxchange.org/CaviteMutiny.html https://www.jstor.org/stable/42634842