CAVITE MUTINY

• Many believed that one of the factors that ignited the Filipino sense of nationhood and eventually led to the Philippine Revolution in 1896 was the Cavite mutiny
• The Cavite mutiny prompted the martyrdom of Gomburza (the acronym that represents the surnames of the priests Mariano Gómez, José Apolonio Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, who were executed on February 17, 1872)
• There are three versions that every Filipino student must read to articulate arguments that would support their stand about the terms used, causes, effects and the unraveling truth about the Cavite Mutiny
• The Spanish historian Jose Montero y Vidal's version of the Cavite episode of 1872 was dolefully biased according to Dr. T.H. Pardo de Tavera
• Montero y Vidal overstated the mutiny of some dissatisfied soldiers and laborers into a revolt to bring down Spanish rule and implicated some patriots like Gomburza and others
• According to Montero y Vidal, the abolition of the privileges enjoyed by the laborers of the Cavite arsenal of exemption from the tribute was one of the causes of the insurrection
• Montero y Vidal claimed that the Spanish revolution, propaganda against monarchial principles, democratic and republican ideas, and the policies of the Governor sent to govern the Philippines were the determining circumstances that gave rise to the idea of attaining independence among certain Filipinos
• Montero y Vidal stated that the conspiracy had been going on since the days of Governor La Torre with utmost secrecy, and the plan was for the soldiers to assassinate their officers, the servants, their masters, and the escort of the Captain-General at Malacañang
• Montero y Vidal claimed that the pre-concerted signal among the conspirators of Cavite and Manila was the firing of rockets from the walls of the city, but various circumstances upset the plans and made the conspiracy a dismal failure
• Montero y Vidal described the events of the Cavite mutiny on the night of January 20, 1872, including the assassination of the commander of the fort and the wounding of his wife by the native soldiers under the leadership of Sergeant La Madrid
• Montero y Vidal stated that as a result of the declarations made by some of the prisoners, several individuals were arrested, including Gomburza and other Filipino priests, lawyers, and officials
• Montero y Vidal detailed the sentences passed by the council of war, including the execution of Gomburza and other individuals, as well as the suspension from the practice of law of several men
• Dr. Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera's version blamed Governor General Izquierdo's harsh policies, such as the abolition of the privileges of exemption from paying yearly tribute and rendering forced labor, as the cause of the Cavite mutiny
• Pardo de Tavera's version stated that the mutiny was simply a mutiny by the Filipino soldiers and laborers of the Cavite arsenal who were dissatisfied with the eradication of their privileges
• Pardo de Tavera's version described the events of the Cavite mutiny on the night of January 20, 1872, including the assassination of the commanding officer and other Spanish officials by the soldiers, laborers, and residents
• Pardo de Tavera's version claimed that the uprising in Cavite was used as a powerful lever by the Spanish residents and the friars to represent to the Spanish government that a vast conspiracy was afoot and organized throughout the archipelago with the object of destroying the Spanish sovereignty
• as to harmonize with the principles for which the revolution in Spain had been fought. It was due to these facts and promises that the Filipinos had great hopes of an improvement in the affairs of their country, while the friars, on the other hand, feared that their power in the colony would soon be completely a thing of the past.
• The mutiny in Cavite gave the conservative element—that is, those who favored a continuation of the colonial modus vivendi—opportunity to represent to the Spanish Government that a vast conspiracy was afoot and organized throughout the archipelago with the object of destroying the Spanish sovereignty.
• They stated that the Spanish government in Madrid was to blame for the propagation of pernicious doctrines and for the hopes that had been held out from Madrid to the Filipino people, and also because of the learnings of ex-Governor La Torre and of other public functionaries who had been sent to the Philippine islands by the Government that succeeded Queen Isabella.
• The fall of the new rulers in Spain within the few days, as well as other occurrences, seemed to accentuate the claims made by the conservative element in the Philippine Islands regarding the peril which threatened Spanish sovereignty in the islands; it appeared as though the prophecies were about to be fulfilled.
• The Madrid authorities were not able to combat public opinion in that country; no opportunity was given nor time taken to make a thorough investigation of the real facts or extent of the alleged revolution; the conservative element in the Philippine Islands painted the local condition of affairs in somber tints; and the Madrid Government came to believe, or at least to suspect, that a scheme was being concocted throughout the islands to shake off Spanish sovereignty.
• Consistent with the precedents of their colonial rule, the repressive measures adopted to quell the supposed insurrection were strict and sudden. No attempt appears to have been made to ascertain whether or not the innocent suffered with the guilty, and the only end sought appeared to be to inspire terror in the minds of all by making examples of a certain number, so that none in the future should attempt, nor even dream of any attempt at secession.
• Many of the best known Filipinos were denounced to the military authorities, and they, the sons of Spaniards born in the islands and men of mixed blood (Spanish and Chinese), as well as the Indians of pure blood, as the Philippine Malays were called, were persecuted and punished without distinction by the military authorities.
• Those who dared to oppose themselves to the friars were punished with special severity; among others may be mentioned the priests Burgos, a half-blood Spaniard, Zamora, a half-blood Chinaman, and Gomez, a pure-blood Tagalog, who had vigorously opposed the friars in the litigation over the curacies in the various province.
• The three priests mentioned were condemned to death by a military court-martial; and Antonio M. Regidor, a lawyer and councilman of Manila, Joaquin Pardo de Tavera, lawyer and member of the administrative council, P. Mendoza, curate of Santa Cruz, Guevarra, curate of Quiapo, the priests Mariano Sevilla, Feliciano Gomez, Ballesteros, Jose Basa, the lawyers Carillo, Basa, Enriquez, Crisanto Reyes, Maximo Paterno, and many others were sentenced to life imprisonment on the Marianas Islands.
• The Government thus secured its object of terrorizing the Filipino people, but the punishments meted out were not only unjust but were from every point of view unnecessary, as there had not been the remote intention on the part of anyone to overthrow the Spanish sovereignty.
• On the contrary, the attitude of Moret, Labra, Becerra, and other high officials in the Madrid Government had awakened in the breasts of the Filipinos a lively friendship for the home government, and never had the ties which bound the colony to Spain been as close as they were during the short interval between the arrival of General La Torre and the time when General Izquierdo, in the name of the home government was guilty of the atrocities mentioned above, of which innocent men were made victims.
• One of the results of the so called revolution of Cavite was to strengthen the power of the friars in the Philippine Islands in such manner that the Madrid Government, which up to that time had contemplated reducing the power of the religious orders in these islands, was obliged not only to abandon its intention, but to place a yet greater measure of official influences at the service of the friars, and from that time they were considered as an important factor in the preservation of the Spanish sovereignty in the colony.
• 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 and as the representatives, powerful and unsparing, of the Spanish Kingdom.
• Up to that time, there had been no intention of secession from Spain, and the only aspiration of the people was to secure the material and educational advancement of the country. The Filipino people had never blamed the Spanish nation for the backward condition in which the islands existed, nor for the injustices committed in the islands by the Spanish officials; but on the contrary it was the custom to lay all the blame for these things on the individual officers guilty of maladministration, and no attempt had been made to investigate whether or not the evils under which the islands suffered were due to fundamental causes.
• The persecutions which began under Governor Izquierdo were based on the false assumption that the Filipino people were desirous of independence, and although this was an unfounded accusation, there were many martyrs to the cause, among whom were found any of the most intelligent and well-to-do people, without distinction of color or race or nationality, who were sentenced to death, to imprisonment, or were expatriated because they were believed to aspire to the independence of these islands.
• The fear which the people felt of the friars and of the punishments meted out by the Government was exceeded only by the admiration which the Filipino people had for those who did not hesitate to stand up for the rights of the country. In this manner, the persecutions to which the people were subjected served as a stimulus and an educative force, and from that time the rebellion was nursed in secret and the passive resistance to the abuses of the official power became greater day by day.
• No attempt was made to allay the ill-feeling which existed between the Filipinos and the Spaniards, especially the friars, caused by the mutiny in Cavite and the cruel manner in which the punishment was meted out. Many years would have been necessary to heal the wounds felt by the large number of families whose members were made the victims of the unjust sentences of the military courts-martial.
• It was from that time that every disagreement between the Spaniards and the Filipinos, however trivial, was given a racial or political character; every time a friar was insulted or injured in any way, it was claimed to be an act of hostility to the Spanish nation.
• Gov. General Rafael Izquierdo made a report to the Spanish Ministry of War on January 23, 1872. In his report he blamed the native clergy, scholars, and some residents of Manila and the neighboring provinces as the instigators of Cavite Mutiny. He expressively describes Cavite Mutiny as an "insurrection", "uprising" and a "revolution".
• From the summary of information received that is, from the declaration made before the fiscal it seems definite that the insurrection was motivated and prepared by the native clergy, by the mestizos and native lawyers, and by those known here as abogadillos. Some are residents of manila, others from Cavite and some from the nearby provinces.
• The instigators, to carry out their criminal project, protested against the injustice of the government in not paying the province for their tobacco crop, and against the usury that some (officials) practice in (handling) documents that the Finance department gives crop owners who have to sell them at a loss. They encouraged the rebellion by protesting what they called the injustice of having obliged the workers in the Cavite arsenal to pay tribute starting January I (1872) and to render personal service, from which they were formally exempted.
• To seduce the native troops, they resorted to superstitions with which the indios are so prone to believe; persuading them that the Chief of State (hari) would be an ecclesiastic and the rest or the clergy who backed the uprising would celebrate daily for its success. Thus the rebellion could not fail because God was with them; and those who would not revolt they would kill immediately.
• Taking advantage of the ignorance of those classes and the propensity of the Indio to steal, they offered (to those who revolted) the wealth of the Spaniards and of the regular clergy, employment and ranks in the army; and to this effect they said that fifteen native battalions would be created, in which the soldiers who revolted would have jobs as officers and chiefs. The lawyers and abogadillos would direct the affairs of government, of the dministration and of justice.
• Up to now it has not been clearly determined if they planned to establish a monarchy or a republic, because the Indios have no word in their language to describe this different form of government, whose head in Tagalog would be called hari; but it turns out that they would place at the head of the government a priest; and there were great probabilities— nay, a certainty— that the head selected would be D. Jose Burgos, or D. Jacinto Zamora, parish priests of S. Pedro of Manila.