[9] Beginnings of FIlipino Nationalism

• Factors contributing to the lack of unity among Filipinos:

  • Filipinos were divided into barangays with their respective chieftains
  • Loose and non-permanent alliances among barangays
  • Spaniards implemented a policy of "divide and rule" to prevent unity and challenge to Spain
  • Poor and expensive means of communication hindered interaction between regions
  • Spaniards were against the education of Filipinos to prevent reforms and independence
• Liberalism in the Philippines:

  • Revolution in 1868 removed Queen Isabel II from power in Spain
  • Governor Carlos Maria dela Torre's administration abolished press censorship, flogging, and solved agrarian unrest in Cavite
  • Governor-General Rafael de Izquierdo undid reforms, restored censorship, and spied on De la Torre's supporters
• Secularization movement:

  • Regulars (friars) and secular priests in the Philippines
  • Regulars administered parishes even after converting people to Christianity
  • Controversy arose between seculars and regulars over parish administration
  • Filipino seculars led the movement to transfer parish administration from Spaniards to Filipinos
  • Campaign known as "secularization" or "Filipinization"
  • Leaders: Father Pedro Pablo Pelaez, succeeded by Father Jose Burgos, with support from others
• Cavite Mutiny:

  • Occurred on January 20, 1872, due to revocation of exemptions from forced labor and tribute
  • Mutineers led by La Madrid killed Spanish soldiers
  • Mutiny suppressed by additional troops from Manila
  • Filipinos and mestizos connected with the mutiny were arrested and sentenced
  • Fathers Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomes, Jacinto Zamora, and others were arrested and sentenced
  • Gomes, Burgos, and Zamora were executed by garrote on February 17, 1872
• Execution of GomBurZa:

  • Government failed to prove the seculars' involvement in the mutiny
  • GomBurZa were executed on February 17, 1872
  • Execution led Filipinos to feel the necessity of unity
  • Jose Rizal dedicated his novel "El Filibusterismo" to the memory of the three martyred priests
• Impact of the execution:

  • Filipinos began to think and feel as Filipinos, not divided by regions
  • Seeds of Filipino nationalism were planted
  • Execution halted the secularization movement
  • Spanish government continued cruel measures to suppress Filipinos