e Two Faces of the 1872

Cavite Mutiny
Posted on September 5, 2012

THE TWO FACES OF THE 1872 CAVITE MUTINY

By Chris Antonette Piedad-Pugay

The 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: Spanish Perspective

Jose Montero y Vidal, a prolific Spanish 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 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-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.
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.

A Response to Injustice: The Filipino Version of the Incident

Dr. Trinidad Hermenigildo Pardo de 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, 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. 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 four accounts of the 1872 Mutiny, there were
some basic facts that remained to be unvarying: 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.”