Spanish and Filipino Perspective of 1872 Cavite Mutiny

Spanish Perspective

 Jose Montero y Vidal – Spanish historian who documented the event and highlighted it as an
attempt of the Indios to overthrow the Spanish government
 Gov. Gen Rafael Izquierdo’s report magnified the event use it to implicate (shows that someone
is involved in a crime) the native clergy which was then active in the call for secularization.(
historical process in which religion loses social and cultural significance)
 Montero and Izquierdo pointed 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.
 Other causes enumerated by them:
- Spanish revolution which overthrew the secular throne
- dirty propagandas proliferated by unrestrained press
- democratic, liberal and republican books and pamphlets
- the presence of native clergy who out of animosity against the Spanish Friars
“conspired and supported” the rebels and enemies of Spain
 Izquierdo reported to the king of Spain that the “rebels” wanted to overthrow the Spanish
government to install a new “hari’ in the likes of Father Burgos and Zamora
 He added that the native clergy enticed other participants by giving them charismatic assurance
that their fight will not fail because God is with them occupied with handsome promises of
rewards such as employment, wealth, and ranks in the army.
 The two officials insinuated that the conspirators of Manila and Cavite planned to eliminate
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 them, on June 20, 1872 the district of Sampaloc celebrated the feast of the Virgin
of Loreto. Unfortunately. Participants of the feast celebrated the occasion with the usual
fireworks display. Allegedly, those in Cavite mistook the fireworks as the sign for the attack
targeting Spanish officers in 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.
 the GOMBURZA were tried by a court-martial and were sentenced to die by strangulation.
 On February 17 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.
Filipino Version

 Dr. Trinidad Hermenigildo Pardo de Tavera wrote the Filipino version of the 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.

Unraveling the Truth

Considering the accounts of the 1872 Mutiny, there were some basic facts that remained to be the
same:
  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; and
 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.
 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.”