Cavite Mutiny of 1872

According to Jose Montero, the Cavite Munity of 1872 was planned earlier with utmost secrecy

since the days of Governor-General de la Torre. The mutiny was a big conspiracy among the

native clergy (e.g. GOMBURZA), Filipino Spaniards, native soldiers (e.g., Sergeant La Madrid),

mestizos (educated and professional class - both Chinese and Spanish), native lawyers (e.g.,

Joaquin Pardo de Tavera, Antonio Ma. Regidor. Jose and Pio Basa), and the residents of Manila

and Cavite. In his narrative, the Filipino soldiers planned to assassinate their officers, the

servants, their masters, and the escort of the Captain-General at the Malacanang, to dispose the

governor himself and to include the massacre of the friars.

The abolition of the privileges and the exemption from the tribute enjoyed by the laborers of the

Cavite arsenal were the immediate causes of the Cavite Mutiny. However, Montero enumerated

several factors which gave rise to the Filipino's idea of attaining their independence as follows:

(a) the propaganda was carried on by an unbridled press against monarchical principles,

attentatory of the most sacred respects towards the dethroned majesty; (b) the democratic and

republican books and pamphlets; (c) the speeches and preachings of the apostles of these new

ideas in Spain; (d) the outbursts of the American publicists and the criminal policy of the

senseless Governor whom the Revolutionary government sent to govern the Philippines, and

who put into practice these ideas; and (e) the of the native clergy who out of animosity against

the Spanish friars, "conspired and supported" the rebels and enemies of Spain.
Montero presented the firing of rockets from the walls of the city to be the pre- concerted signal

among the conspirators of Cavite and Manila. However, it just happened that the fiesta of the

patron saint, in the district of Sampaloc, was being celebrated with pomp and splendor. On the

night of the 20th, fireworks were displayed and rockets fired into the air. Those in Cavite

mistook these for the signal to revolt, and at nine-thirty in the evening of that day two hundred

native soldiers under the leadership of Sergeant La Madrid rose up in arms, assassinated the

commander of the fort and wounded his wife.

Trinidad Hermenigildo Pardo de Tavera, a Filipino scholar and researcher, wrote the Filipino

version of the Cavite Mutiny. He presented the incident merely as a mutiny by the native Filipino

soldiers and laborers of the Cavite arsenal. The harsh policy of the despotic Governor as well as

the abolishment of the exemption from paying the annual tribute and from rendering the polo

(forced labor) were the reasons for staging the mutiny.

According to Tavera, strengthening the power of the friars in the Philippine islands was one of

the results of the so-called "revolution" of Cavite. This influence was felt throughout the islands,

and not only were the friars taken into the confidence of the Government, but the Filipino people

looked upon the religious orders as their real masters.

Governor- General Rafael de Izquierdo was the Governor-general of the Philippines when the

Cavite Mutiny and the execution of the GOMBURZA happened. He also made an Official

Report on the Cavite Mutiny of 1872 to the King of Spain.

The persecutions which began under Governor Izquierdo were based on the false assumption that

the Filipino people were desirous of independence because up to the time of Izquierdo, there had

been no intention of secession from Spain. The only aspiration of the people was to secure the

material and educational advancement of the country.

Izquierdo's Official Report on the Cavite Mutiny corroborates and complements the accounts of

Jose Montero. He also added that the newspapers from Madrid (e.g. El Eco Filipino) inspired the

junta because of their advanced and liberal ideas.

For Izquierdo, the "revolt" was aimed at overthrowing the Spanish government with the end goal

of installing a new "hari", placing at the head of the government a priest in the persons of Father

Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora, parish priests of San Pedro of Manila.

Based on Izquierdo's narrative, the native clergy (Burgos and Zamora) promised the wealth of

the Spaniards and the regular clergy to the Filipino Spaniards and mestizos. They also promised

to the native soldiers employment and ranks in the army as well as the creation of fifteen native

batallions, in which the soldiers who revolted would have jobs as officers and chiefs. Finally,

they promised to the the lawyers and abogandillos direct administration and justice of the

government affairs.