Cavite Mutiny, (January 20, 1872), brief uprising of 200 Filipino troops and workers at the

Cavite arsenal, which became the excuse for Spanish repression of the embryonic Philippine
nationalist movement. Ironically, the harsh reaction of the Spanish authorities served ultimately
to promote the nationalist cause.

The mutiny was quickly crushed, but the Spanish regime under the reactionary governor Rafael
de Izquierdo magnified the incident and used it as an excuse to clamp down on those Filipinos
who had been calling for governmental reform. A number of Filipino intellectuals were seized
and accused of complicity with the mutineers. After a brief trial, three priests—José Burgos,
Jacinto Zamora, and Mariano Gómez—were publicly executed. The three subsequently became
martyrs to the cause of Philippine independence.