Cavite Mutiny, (January 20, 1872), Brief Uprising of 200 Filipino Troops and Workers at The

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Cavite Mutiny, (January 20, 1872), brief uprising of 200 Filipino troops and workers at the
Cavite arsenal, which became the excuse for Spanish repression of the embryonic Philippine
nationalist movement. Ironically, the harsh reaction of the Spanish authorities served ultimately
to promote the nationalist cause.
The mutiny was quickly crushed, but the Spanish regime under the reactionary governor Rafael
de Izquierdo magnified the incident and used it as an excuse to clamp down on those Filipinos
who had been calling for governmental reform. A number of Filipino intellectuals were seized
and accused of complicity with the mutineers. After a brief trial, three priests—José Burgos,
Jacinto Zamora, and Mariano Gómez—were publicly executed. The three subsequently
became martyrs to the cause of Philippine independence.

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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immediately rescinded Torre’s liberal measures and imposed his iron-fist rule.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.

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