BOTH SIDES OF THE STORY

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED DURING THE 1872 CAVITE MUTINY?

T he 12th of June of every year since 1898 is a very important event for all the Filipinos. In
this particular day, the entire Filipino nation as well as Filipino communities all over the
world gathers to celebrate the Philippines’ Independence Day.

1898 came to be a very significant year for all of us— it is as equally important as
1896—the year when the Philippine Revolution broke out owing to the Filipinos’ desire to be
free from the abuses of the Spanish colonial regime. But we should be reminded that another
year is as historic as the two—1872.

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). However, not all of us knew that there were different
accounts in reference to the said event. 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.

1872 CAVITE MUTINY: A RESPONSE TO INJUSTICE:

THE SPANISH PERSPECTIVE THE FILIPINO VERSION

 Jose Montero y Vidal, a prolific Spanish  Dr. Trinidad Hermenigildo Pardo de

historian documented the event and
highlighted it as an attempt of the Indios to
overthrow the Spanish government in the
Philippines. Meanwhile, Gov. Gen. Rafael
Izquierdo’s official report magnified the
event and made use of it to implicate the
native clergy, which was then active in the
call for secularization.
 The two accounts complimented and
corroborated with one other, only that the
general’s report was more spiteful.
 Initially, both Montero and Izquierdo
scored out that the abolition of privileges
enjoyed by the workers of Cavite arsenal
such as non-payment of tributes and
exemption from force labor were the main
reasons of the “revolution” as how they
called it, however, other causes were
enumerated by them including the Spanish
Revolution which overthrew the secular
throne, dirty propagandas proliferated by
unrestrained press, democratic, liberal and
republican books and pamphlets reaching
the Philippines, and most importantly, the
presence of the native clergy who out of
animosity against the Spanish friars,
“conspired and supported” the rebels and
Tavera, a Filipino scholar and researcher,
wrote the Filipino version of the bloody
incident in Cavite. In his point of view, 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.
 Indirectly, 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,
 enemies of Spain.
 In particular, Izquierdo blamed the unruly
Spanish Press for “stockpiling” malicious
propagandas grasped by the Filipinos. He
reported to the King of Spain that the
“rebels” wanted to overthrow the Spanish
government to install a new “hari” in the
likes of Fathers Burgos and Zamora. The
general even added that the native clergy
enticed other participants by giving them
charismatic assurance that their fight will
not fail because God is with them coupled
with handsome promises of rewards such
as employment, wealth, and ranks in the
army. Izquierdo, in his report lambasted the
Indios as gullible and possessed an innate
propensity for stealing.
 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.
 According to the accounts of the two, on 20
January 1872, the district of Sampaloc
celebrated the feast of the Virgin of Loreto, 
unfortunately participants to the feast
celebrated the occasion with the usual
fireworks displays. Allegedly, those in
Cavite mistook the fireworks as the sign for
the attack, and just like what was agreed
upon, the 200-men contingent headed by
Sergeant Lamadrid launched an attack
targeting Spanish officers at sight and
seized the arsenal.
 When the news reached the iron-fisted
Gov. Izquierdo, he readily ordered the
reinforcement of the Spanish forces in
Cavite to quell the revolt. The “revolution”
was easily crushed when the expected
reinforcement from Manila did not come
ashore.
 Major instigators including Sergeant
Lamadrid were killed in the skirmish, while
the GOMBURZA were tried by a court-
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. It is
noteworthy that 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 dire sedire to
maintain power in the Philippines.
 Meanwhile, in the intention of installing
reforms, the Central Government of Spain
welcomed an educational decree authored
by Segismundo Moret promoted the fusion
of sectarian schools run by the friars into a
school called Philippine Institute. The
decree proposed to improve the standard of
education in the Philippines by requiring
teaching positions in such schools to be
filled by competitive examinations. This
improvement was warmly received by most
Filipinos in spite of the native clergy’s zest
for secularization.
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.
 martial and were sentenced to die by
strangulation. Patriots like Joaquin Pardo
de Tavera, Antonio Ma. Regidor, Jose and
Pio Basa and other abogadillos were
suspended by the Audencia (High Court)
from the practice of law, arrested and were
sentenced with life imprisonment at the
Marianas Island.
 The French writer Edmund Plauchut’s
account complimented Tavera’s account by
confirming that the event happened due to
discontentment of the arsenal workers and
soldiers in Cavite fort. The Frenchman,
however, dwelt more on the execution of
the three martyr priests which he actually
witnessed.

 Furthermore, Gov. Izquierdo dissolved the

native regiments of artillery and ordered
the creation of artillery force to be
composed exclusively of the Peninsulares.

 On 17 February 1872 in an attempt of the

Spanish government and Frailocracia to
instill fear among the Filipinos so that they
may never commit such daring act again,
the GOMBURZA were executed. This
event was tragic but served as one of the
moving forces that shaped Filipino
nationalism.

UNRAVELING THE TRUTH

Based on the accounts of the 1872 Mutiny, following facts are consistent:

 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;
 General Izquierdo introduced rigid and strict
policies that made the Filipinos move and
turn away from Spanish government out of
disgust;
 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;
 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 hem
to commit frantic moves to extend their stay
and power;
 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;
 Filipinos during the time were active
participants, and responded to what they
deemed as injustices; and
 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.
 There may be different versions of the event,
but one thing is certain, the 1872 Cavite
Mutiny paved way for a momentous 1898.

The road to independence was rough and tough to toddle, many patriots named and unnamed shed
their bloods to attain reforms and achieve independence. 12 June 1898 may be a glorious event for us, but
we should not forget that before we came across to victory, our forefathers suffered enough. As weenjoy
our freeedom, may we be more historically aware of our past to have a better future ahead of us. And just
like what Elias said in Noli me Tangere, may we “not forget those who fell during the night.”

REFERENCE
https://nhcp.gov.ph/the-two-faces-of-the-1872-cavite-mutiny/
The Two Sides of The 1872 Cavite Mutiny