I.

INTRODUCTION
THE CAVITE MUTINY
• It describes the uprising of the Filipino troops and workers at the Cavite arsenal due
to the removal of the privileges: exemption from the tribute, and exemption from
forced labor.

1. Exemption from the tribute

TAXATION - Filipinos paid taxes to Spain
A. Tribute - The Filipinos were obliged to pay tribute called Tributo, the colonial
government.
• The Tributo was imposed as a sign of the Filipinos loyalty to the king of
Spain.
• Those who paid tribute were individuals between 16 to 60 Y.O
• 1571-1884 = 8 reales (P1.00) per year or other forms of payment like
chickens, cotton, and rice
B. Cedula (Personal Identification Paper)
• In 1884, tribute was invalidated and replaced by the Cedula.
2. Exemption from forced labor
• All male Filipinos from 18 to 60 years of age were required to give their free
labor, called POLO Y SERVICIOS, to the government. This labor was for
40 days a year, reduced to 15 days in 1884.

1872 CAVITE MUTINY

• The Cavite mutiny of 1872 was an uprising of Filipino military personnel of Fort San
Felipe, the Spanish arsenal in Cavite, Philippines Islands (then also known as part
of the Spanish East Indies) on January 20, 1872.
TWO MAJOR EVENTS HAPPENED IN 1872
1. The Cavite Mutiny.
2. The martyrdom of the three martyr priests in the persons of Fathers Mariano
Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, which is the awakening of nationalism
among the Filipinos.

The Backstory
• Their leader was Fernando La Madrid, a mestizo sergeant with his second in
command Jaerel Brent Pedro. They seized Fort San Felipe and killed eleven Spanish
officers. The mutineers thought that fellow Filipino indigenous soldiers in Manila
would join them in a concerted uprising, the signal being the firing of rockets from
the city walls on that night. Unfortunately, what they thought to be a signal was
actually a burst of fireworks in celebration of the feast of Our Lady of Loreto, the
patron of Sampaloc. News of the mutiny reached Manila, and the Spanish authorities
feared for a massive Filipino uprising. The next day, the regiment led by General
Felipe Ginoves then ordered his troops to fire at those who surrendered, including
La Madrid.
 The Result
• In the aftermath of the mutiny, some Filipino soldiers were disarmed and later sent
into exile on the southern island of Mindanao. Those suspected of directly supporting
the mutineers were executed. The mutiny was used by the colonial government and
Spanish friars to implicate three secular priests, known as Gomburza. This
execution leads to the awakening of nationalism and eventually to the outbreak of
the Philippine Revolution of 1896.

MARTYRDOM OF THE THREE MARTYR PRIESTS

• GOMBURZA (NOT MAJOHA), refers to three Filipino Catholic priests (Mariano
Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora), who were publicly executed by
garrote on February 17, 1872 at Bagumbayan, by Spanish colonial authorities
on charges of subversion arising from the 1872 Cavite Mutiny.

Who were the GOMBURZA?

1. Mariano Gomez
Born on August 2, 1799 at Santa Cruz Manila by Marina and Francisco Gomez,
he was designated as head priest in Cavite in 1824 and was a member of
GOMBURZA later on, he was executed during the Cavite Mutiny.
2. Jose Apolonio Burgos
Was a Filipino Mestizo secular priest. accused of mutiny by the Spanish colonial
authorities, in the 19th century he was born on February 9, 1837 by Florencia
Garcia and Don Jose Burgos in Vigan, Ilocos Sur. He was executed along with
Mariano Gomez and Jacinto Zamora.
3. Jacinto Zamora
Born August 14 1835 in Manila. He was placed in a mock trial and summarily
executed in Manila along with two other clergymen . He was a Roman Catholic
priest. The Gomburza execution was carried out on February 17 1872 at
Bagumbayan Field in Manila.

DIFFERING ACCOUNTS OF THE EVENTS OF 1872

A. SPANISH PERSPECTIVE
GOVERNOR-GENERAL RAFAEL IZQUIERDO Y GUTIRREZ
- Native clergy attracted supporters by giving them charismatic assurance that
their fight would not fail because they had God’s support, aside from promises of
lofty rewards such as employment, wealth, and ranks in the army
- They insisted that the mutiny was stimulated and prepared by the native clergy,
mestizos, and lawyers as a signal of objection against the injustices of the
government such as not paying provinces for tobacco crops, paying tribute and
rendering forced labor.
- It's not clearly identified if Indios planned to inaugurate a monarchy or a
republic because they don’t have a word in their own language to describe this
different form of government, whose leader in Filipino would be called “Hari”.
- However, it turned out that they would set at the supreme of the government a
priest, that the leader selected would be Jose Burgos or Jacinto Zamora which is
the plan of the rebels who guided them, and the means they counted upon its
realizations.

JOSE MONTERO Y VIDAL

- It was an attempt of the Indios to overthrow the Spanish government in the
Philippines.
- 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 another, only that
the general’s report was more spiteful.
- The abolition of privileges enjoyed by the workers of the Cavite arsenal such as
non-payment of tributes and exemption from forced labor were the main reasons
for the revolution
- Overthrew the secular throne, dirty propagandas proliferated by unrestrained
press, democratic, liberal, and republican books and pamphlets reaching the
Philippines.
- Most importantly, the presence of the native clergy whose out of animosity
against the Spanish friars, “conspired and supported” the rebels and enemies of
Spain.

JOSE MONTERO Y VIDAL & GOV. RAFAEL DE IZQUIERO

- Was planned earlier and was thought of as a big conspiracy among educated
leaders, mestizos, abogadillos or native lawyers, residents of Manila and Cavite,
and the native clergy.
- Insinuated that the conspirators of Manila and Cavite planned to liquidate high-
ranking Spanish officers to be followed by the massacre of the friars.
- 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
in the feast celebrated the occasion with the usual fireworks displays. Allegedly,
those in Cavite mistook the fireworks as a sign of 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 apprehended the
arsenal

B. FILIPINO PERSPECTIVE
• First Argument
- The incident that took place in Cavite in 1872 was a revolt of soldiers, and
arsenal workers who were dissatisfied with the policy implemented by
 Governor-General Rafael de Izquierdo.
- According to Dr. Trinidad Tavera, on January 20, 1872, a group of about
200 soldiers, arsenal laborers and Cavite residents led by Sergeant La Madrid
rose up in arms and assassinated the commanding officer and all Spanish
officers in the area. The incident occurred as a result of the imposition of taxes
on workers and soldiers, as well as the provision of polo y servicio, or forced
labor, by which they were formerly exempted, or in other words, it is a labor
issue. Before Governor-General Izquerdo's term (1871-1873) in Cavite, Carlos
Maria De La Tore governed there for two years from 1869 -1871 and under
his leadership he became close to the hearts of the residents, enlightened and
so on for the sake of democratic reform and he has contributed well to Cavite.
Under his liberal leadership he reaped praise
to fellow Spanish liberals as well as to the well-educated, and the resident of
Cavite.

• Second Argument
- It is not true that the three martyred priests Padre Mariano Gomez, Padre
Jose Burgos, and Padre Jacinto Zamora, also known as Gomburza, were the
masterminds of the rebellion in Cavite in 1872.
- According to Dr. Trinidad Tavera, the Spanish friars rebuke that the
masterminds of the revolt were the three martyred secular priests Padre
Mariano Gomez, Padre Jose Burgos, and Padre Jacinto Zamora or better
known as Gomburza. And the truth is they were not the mastermind of the
Cavite revolt in 1872 because what they intend or promote is the
Secularization Movement. Jacinto Zamora was one of the proponents of
secularization involved in the revolt because when his home was raided, he
was caught by a letter stating "Grand reunion... our friends are well provided
with powder and ammunition." Zamora loves cards and the invitation is the
code of their bandits for gambling money because gambling is the reason why
he is a victim of mistaken identity. That card game is called "Panguigui" and
that is a code of Panguigui players.
- In addition, according to Chua (2013), "... they just used the name of Padre
Burgos to persuade people to the bloody Cavite Mutiny on January 20, 1872.
Varied things that GOMBURZA promoted in those times and they were not
members or masterminds of the 'Cavite Uprising (1872)' instead.

• Third Argument
- The bloody war that took place in Cavite in 1872 was not an attempt of the
Filipinos to overthrow the Spanish government in the Philippines.
- According to Dr. Trinidad Tavera, announced by the Central Government
itself of Madrid that they intended to remove the power of the friars intervene
in civil government and management of educational institutions which
 prompted the friars to resort to violent methods so that they can maintain
their power in the Philippines.
- Due to the fact that the Filipinos have become educated just like the Spanish
friars, they were also seeking positions in the parish. In order that the Spanish
friars could not be expelled and the position could not be given by the Filipino
priests the Spanish friars used it to show off the attacking of sovereignty of
Spain in the archipelago to not give the will of GOMBURZA to allow Filipino
priests to position themselves in church in our country.

• Fourth Argument
- Governor-General Izquierdo did not only banned the construction and
opening of art and trade schools for Filipinos but he also accused that there
was a political movement going on in the built school.
- The construction of the said school did not proceed because according to Dr.
Trinidad Tavera, the Spanish friars and the Governor-General Izquierdo were
frightened, that Filipinos should have wisdom and knowledge that they may
also lose power so they took action to prevent it. They used the revolt and
informed the Madrid government that they revolted because they wanted to
conquer the management of the Spanish in the country and achieve
independence from them whom the Spanish kingdom immediately believed to
do nothing investigation into the incident took place in Cavite in 1872. Thus,
The Cavite Mutiny paved the way for the Spanish authorities to frame the
priests as the instigators

• Fifth Argument
- The truth behind the masterminds of the 1872 "Cavite Mutiny" was none
other than Maximo Inocencio, Crisanto de los Reyes, and Enrique Paraiso.
- According to Piedad-Pugay (2012), "there is no data to prove that the three
martyred priests were the masterminds of the uprising at Fort San Felipe and
also according to a newly discovered study published by a Jesuit historian
John Schumacher." Based on a new discovery document written by Governor-
General Rafael de Izquierdo himself that "... that the real mastermind of the
uprising was not the three martyred priests who were hanged but the masons
Maximo Inocencio, Crisanto de los Reyes and Enrique Paraiso who was just
exiled. " As stated here .... On the extensive account sent by Governor
Izquierdo to the Overseas Minister, accepts his characterization of the revolt
as a frustrated separatist revolution, while rejecting his conclusions as to the
instigators of the revolt. Rather, it points to the real authors who escaped
execution because of their Masonic ties to Izquierdo... "That's just one part of
the document gathered by Schumacher.
II. CONCLUSION
- The incident in Cavite or the mutiny in Cavite was an insurgency aimed at
reforming or repealing Governor-General Rafael de Izquierdo’s policies against
workers and soldiers in the arsenal. It was not an attempt to overthrow the
Spanish government in the Philippines. Through gathering facts and records
about the incident in Cavite, the evidence further includes the fact that the
attack was an insurrection.
- The Spanish friars and Governor-General Izquierdo accused the three
priests Padre Gomez, Padre Burgos, and Padre Zamora, who were martyred
and hanged (ginarrote) of being the masterminds behind the revolt. In fact,
the masterminds behind the revolt are Maximo Incencio, Crisanto de los
Reyes, and Enrique Paraiso.
- Tavera 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.

WHAT IF?
If the Cavite Mutiny had succeeded, it could have led to a significant shift in
the balance of power in the Philippines. The successful uprising might have
inspired and mobilized other regions, strengthening the momentum for a
nationwide movement against Spanish colonial rule. The Philippines could
have potentially gained earlier independence, shaping its political, social, and
economic development differently.

“Without 1872 Rizal would now be Jesuit, and instead of writing the Noli Me
Tangere, would have written the contrary...”
-A letter of Dr. Jose Rizal to Mariano Ponce-

Primary sources
Pardo de Tavera, Dr. T. H. (1903), “Filipino Version of Cavite Mutiny of
1872”Philippine News Agency (2012), “Gomburza, The three priest that were
implicated in the CaviteMutiny of 1872”
https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/Piedad-Pugay, C. A. (2012), “The Two
Faces of the 1872 Cavite Mutiny” https://nhcp.gov.ph/the-two-faces-of-the-
1872-cavite-mutiny/Chua, X. (February 2013) “Ang Paggarote Sa Tatlong
Paring Gomburza” https://xiaochua.net/tag/gomburza/

Secondary sources
Teodoro A. Agoncillo (June 1980), “Ang Pilipinas at ang mga Pilipino: Noon at
Ngayon.”Constantino, R. & Constantino, L. R. (1975), “The Philippines: A Past
Revisited (Pre-Spanish 1941)” Ditchella, M. J. (2014), “Kasaysayan ng
Pilipinas: Pagtanaw at PagUnawa sa Nakaraan” Philippine History Org.
(2005), “The Secularization of Priests During Spanish Period”
https://www.philippine-history.org/secularization-ofpriests.htm
Schumacher, J. N. (2011). The Cavite Mutiny Toward a Definitive History.
Philippine Studies, 59(1), 55-81.