2.

Though Gomburza were not guilty of the mutiny of 1872, (of course
the Spanish government and the Spanish priests knew better) but why
was it that they have to be executed by the Spanish authorities? What
do you think was the secret behind the death of the three priests?
Perhaps it is time for you to unravel the secrets of their story, so please
do more readings from different sources

The three priests were prominent figures in the secularization

movement. They were brilliant men who used their education to
fight for reforms to break the 300-year-old dominance of the Spanish
government. Gomburza were very active when it came to pushing for
changes in the way the church was run in colonial Philippines. The
priests were also aware of the unfair treatment of Spain toward
ordinary Filipinos and did not hesitate to voice out their concerns
through demonstrations and publications. Spaniards saw them as
threats, so they wanted to find a way to vanish them.

In 1896, after achieving an early success as the Magdalo faction of the

Revolution in Cavite, members of the Katipunan extracted a testimony
from Fr. Agapito Echegoyen, a Recollect, who said that he learned from
a fellow friar what really happened. He said that the heads of the friar
orders had held a conference on how to get rid of Burgos and other
leaders of the native clergy and had decided to implicate them in a
seditious plot. Fr. Antonio Piernavieja said that a certain Fray Claudio
del Arceo disguised himself as Father Burgos, went to Cavite to spread
the idea of an uprising. When the mutiny was suppressed, the friars
exerted pressure on the Governor General through his secretary and a
lady with great influence on him, plus a gift of 40,000 pesos.

Spanish prosecutors bribed a witness to testify. Francisco Saldua.

Saldua had been the principal informer against Gomburza. His
statement had been the main basis for the convictions. He agreed to
give testimony in exchange for his absolution, however he was still
condemned along with the three, and was even the first one to be
executed.

The allegations towards Gomburza was false, but it was accepted by the
government authorities because it gave them a pretext to get rid of the
Filipino leaders they did not like. Also, the friars wanted to make an
example of Burgos and his companions so that the Filipinos should be
afraid to go against them from then on. But that patent injustice, that
official crime, aroused not fear but hatred of the friars and of the regime
that supported them, and a profound sympathy and sorrow for the
victims.