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By Chris Antonette Piedad-Pugay: The Two Faces of The 1872 Cavite Mutiny
By Chris Antonette Piedad-Pugay: The Two Faces of The 1872 Cavite Mutiny
One hundred and forty years ago, on January 20, 1872, about 200 Filipino military
personnel of Fort San Felipe Arsenal in Cavite, Philippines, staged a mutiny which in
a way led to the Philippine Revolution in 1896. The 1872 Cavite Mutiny was
precipitated by the removal of long-standing personal benefits to the workers such as
tax (tribute) and forced labor exemptions on order from the Governor General Rafael
de Izquierdo.
Izquierdo replaced Governor General Carlos Maria de la Torre some months before in
1871 and immediately rescinded Torre’s liberal measures and imposed his iron-fist
rule. He was opposed to any hint of reformist or nationalistic movements in the
Philippines. He was in office for less than two years, but he will be remembered for
his cruelty to the Filipinos and the barbaric execution of the three martyr-priests
blamed for the mutiny: Fathers Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora,
later collectively called “Gomburza.”
The mutineers were led by Sgt. Fernando La Madrid; they seized the Fort and killed
the Spanish officers. Fearing a general uprising, the Spanish government in Manila
sent a regiment under General Felipe Ginoves to recover the Fort. The besieged
mutiny was quelled, and many mutineers including Sgt. La Madrid were killed. Later,
others were sentenced to death or hard labor.
Izquierdo used the mutiny to implicate Gomburza and other notable Filipinos known
for their liberal leanings. Prominent Filipinos such as priests, professionals, and
businessmen were arrested on flimsy and trumped-up charges and sentenced to prison,
death, or exile. These include Joaquin Pardo de Tavera, Jose Basa, and Antonio M.
Regidor. It was said that the Cavite mutineers got their cue from Manila when they
saw and heard fireworks across the Manila Bay which was really a celebration of the
feast of the Lady of Loreto in Sampaloc.
When the Archbishop of Manila, Rev. Meliton Martinez, refused to cooperate and
defrock the priests, the Spanish court-martial on February 15 went ahead and
maliciously found Fathers Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora guilty of treason for
instigating the Cavite mutiny. Two days later, the three priests were put to death by
garrotte in Bagumbayan, now known as Luneta. (Garrote was a barbaric Spanish
method of execution in which an iron collar was tightened around the prisoner’s neck
until death occurred.)
Father Burgos was of Spanish descent, born in the Philippines. He was a parish priest
of the Manila Cathedral and had been known to be close to the liberal Governor
General de la Torre. He was 35 years old at the time and was active and outspoken in
advocating the Filipinization of the clergy. He was quoted as saying, “Why shall a
young man strive to rise in the profession of law or theology when he can vision no
future for himself but obscurity?”
Father Zamora, 37, was also Spanish, born in the Philippines. He was the parish priest
of Marikina and was known to be unfriendly to and would not countenance any
arrogance or authoritative behavior from Spaniards coming from Spain. He once
snubbed a Spanish governor who came to visit Marikina.
Father Gomez was an old man in his mid-’70, Chinese-Filipino, born in Cavite. He
held the most senior position of the three as Archbishop’s Vicar in Cavite. He was
truly nationalistic and accepted the death penalty calmly as though it were his penance
for being pro-Filipinos.
The three priests were stripped of their albs, and with chained hands and feet were
brought to their cells after their sentence. They received numerous visits from folks
coming from Cavite, Bulacan, and elsewhere. Forty thousand Filipinos came to
Luneta to witness and quietly condemn the execution, and Gomburza became a
rallying catchword for the down-trodden Filipinos seeking justice and freedom from
Spain.
In the dedication page of his second book, El Filibusterismo, published in 1891, Dr.
Jose Rizal wrote, “I dedicate my work to you as victims of the evil which I undertake
to combat…”
It is well to remember that the seeds of nationalism that was sown in Cavite
blossomed to the Philippine Revolution and later to the Declaration of Independence
by Emilio Aguinaldo which took place also in Cavite. As for me, the 1872 Cavite
Mutiny bolstered the stereotypical belief that Caviteños were the most courageous of
my fellow Filipinos.
CAVITE MUTINY
May 7, 2016
In the early 1890's, the Philippines were still under Spanish control, and things
went awry when the Spanish Governor-General (Rafael de Izquierdo)
introduced a new reforms including a tax of Filipinos serving in the Army,
requiring them to pay a tax for their service and force them into labour.
In January of 1872, when the soldiers received their pay with the new tax
taken out, all hell broke out as they were furious with the change. At Fort San
Filipe (which was the Spanish arsenal in Cavite province in the Philippines), the
soldiers began their uprising. 200 Philippine soldiers proceeded to take the
entire fort killing eleven Spanish soldiers in the process.
The Philippine soldiers were under the belief that they would have support from
Manila to start an all out uprising against the Spanish (a sentiment that had
fostering for a while).
Once word of the uprising in Cavite reached the Spanish in Manila, the Spanish
army quickly sent an entire regiment to Cavite led by General Felipe Ginovés.
The Spanish laid siege to the captured fort until all of the mutineers
surrendered.
Once the fort was back under Spanish control, Ginovés ordered all mutineers to
be executed. When the soldiers were lined up, Ginovés asked which of the
mutineers would not pledge their allegiance to Spain. One man stepped forward
and was swiftly shot and killed, no one else stepped forward, and the rest of the
mutineers were imprisoned. The prisoners were later exiled to the Philippine
island of Mindanao.
Over the next month the Spanish were relentless in the pursuit of rounding up
any and all who were involved in assisting the soldiers with their uprising, which
included three local priests, who were executed by garrote in late February.
No Filipino was allowed to serve as a priest following the incident, until the
Philippines independence from Spain in 1898.