How the Death of GomBurZa led to A Wholly Filipino Church

Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora solidified the secularization movement and the nascent
nationalism felt by so many.

On February 17, 1872, three priests—Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto

Zamora—were killed in Bagumbayan on charges of leading a mutiny of arsenal
workers in Cavite with the aim of overthrowing the colonial government.
The three priests were not involved in the mutiny; they hardly even knew each other.
What they were, however, were prominent figures in the secularization movement,
which wanted to take Church power away from the colonial Spanish and give native
Filipinos increased roles in Church affairs.

The Power of the Church Over the State

Colonial Philippines was a completely feudal society, with its institutions propped up
to serve the land-owning class of Spanish peninsulares and the friars. The Catholic
Church was no exception; in some cases, the Church was even the deciding factor.
The Church was a nexus of power, culture, politics, and ultimately, economy. In early
colonial Philippines, land was distributed among church orders like the Jesuits or the
Dominicans for them to use as they saw fit. This gave the Church sweeping power in
the colonial government.
It also gave them control over the regular Filipino. Religion became an integral part of
Filipino society in all aspects, from Church service to a healthy fear of God in Heaven
and consequently, a fear of the old traditions as demonic and unknown.

Most important, it gave the Church amazing economic power. Churches reaped
massive profits in the form of tithes from church-goers and by exploiting farmers and
the land they tilled. Being assigned to a “good” church like the Antipolo Shrine or
Quiapo meant you’d be set for life.
This started to unravel in the 1780s as secular priests, priests not under any religious
order, began to emerge and were assigned churches. The regulars, priests from the
established orders, naturally protested. 
Their reasons were mostly racist—they were Filipinos, and they were unfit to serve as
priests. But the underlying motivation was purely economic—more Filipino priests
controlling key churches would shake the established status quo or, worse, they could
lead a rebellion just like in Mexico or Peru.
The fight for secularization picked up in the 19th century, as the idea of liberalism—
that all men were equal and had equal right to opportunity and property—washed over
Europe and her colonies. More and more secular priests clamored for rights within the
Church, while the established colonial and religious government looked on in fear.
Cue the perfect opportunity. In 1872, dockworkers in the Cavite arsenal clamored for
better pay and attempted a mutiny, but was crushed overnight. The facts of the case
were unclear, but during the trial, three names were singled out—the secular priests
Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez, and Jacinto Zamora.
Mariano Gomez, the Old Veteran
Contrary to the pictures depicting him as a younger man, Gomez was already 72 when
he sentenced to die. He was an ilustrado to the core, with his nephew, Dominador,
eventually becoming an influential figure in the labor movement. 
In his younger years, he was just as militant, fighting for the rights of the secular
clergy and agrarian reform, which made him a wholly unpopular figure among the
Spanish landed elite. In 1822, he launched a campaign to provide amnesty for Cavite
peasants who were forced to take up arms. He was an old liberal, through and through,
riding the crest of the liberal wave of the early 19th century.
But the events of the Novales revolt and its aftermath led Gomez to lie low and accept
the status quo. By 1872, he was an old man, weary and resigned that little will change
in his lifetime.

Jacinto Zamora, the Victim of False Identity

Unlike Gomez or Burgos, Jacinto Zamora was not an exemplary priest. He was
anything but—he had a habit of playing cards during mass. While the others could be
said to have died for some sort of conviction, Zamora was a gambling priest who had
little care in the world.
One day in 1872, he received a letter that one of his gambler friends had “bullets and
gunpowder”—code for a lot of cash. That note fell into Spanish authorities and
branded him as the one thing they feared the most: a native priest trying to start a
revolution.
The cards fell badly for Zamora soon after. An unrelated arrest warrant for another
Jose Zamora was given to him and he died in the man’s place. He was 36 at the time.

Pedro Burgos, the ‘King of the Filipinos’

Burgos has been described as a “precursor to Rizal,” the type of secular priest who
really clamored for Filipino rights. As a student, he was said to have incited a
demonstration that ended in violence when the Letran administration tried to curb
students’ rights and imposed its candidate in student council elections.
As a priest, he co-headed a reform committee and was keen on seeing Filipinos taking
up more positions in the Church. He saw the Philippine Church as rightfully
belonging to the Filipinos—by that he meant the insulares, Spaniards born in the
Philippines.
But it was that budding nationalism that made him dangerous. In the eyes of the
Spanish elite, he was a young upstart trying to upend the established system. That’s
why in 1872, he was implicated in the Cavite mutiny—the mutineers were calling out
for Burgos, proclaiming him “Rey indio,” native King. He was 35 when he was
sentenced to die.

How the Death of Gomburza Influenced History

In the end, the three priests were killed in Bagumbayan (now Rizal Park) by garrote,
and they were buried in Paco Park in unmarked graves. Their deaths were by no
means small events at the time. The ilustrado class was furious and demanded an
explanation and reforms.
Twenty years later, during the 1890s, a new crop of ilustrados would take inspiration
from the deaths of Gomburza. One of them, a man named Jose Rizal, would write his
novel, Noli Me Tangere, and dedicate it to the trio.
The death of Gomburza solidified the nascent nationalism felt by so many. The
concept of “Filipino” and what is “Philippine” only grew from there. Besides Rizal,
the Katipunan also grew emboldened by the liberal ideas which propelled their
inadvertent martyrdom, even going so far as using Gomburza as a password.
Ultimately, the secularization movement would grow into a call for a wholly Filipino
church. During the Revolution of 1896, two men, Isabelo de los Reyes and Fr.
Gregorio Aglipay, would make that dream a reality and create a church that was truly
Filipino, the Iglesia Filipina Independiente.

Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora didn’t necessarily die fighting for a cause they
championed. But the cause they did die for managed to change our history and create
a Filipino identity as we understand it today.

Source:

Justin Umali. 2020. How the Death of GomBurZa led to A Wholly Filipino Church.
Retrieved by https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/death-of-gomburza-church-a2212-
20200217-lfrm