RIZAL6

• El Filibusterismo


  Novel published by Rizal in 1891
• Rizal: 'I have the right to dedicate my work to you as victims of the evil which I undertake to combat. And while we await expectantly upon Spain some day to restore your good name and cease to be answerable for your death, let these pages serve as a tardy wreath of dried leaves over your unknown tombs, and let it be understood that every one who without clear proofs attack your memory stains his hands in your blood!'
• Rizal was 10 years old when the three priests were executed
• Cavite Mutiny


  1. Filipino soldiers and workers rose in revolt at an arsenal in Cavite

  2. 11 Spaniards killed

  3. Immediate assault by government forces put an end to the uprising after 3 days
• An oft-cited reason for the mutiny was a decree released by Governor-General Rafael de Izquierdo ordering that the arsenal workers would no longer be exempt from the tributo and polo
• Official accounts argued that the revolt was part of a larger movement with the aim of overthrowing the Spanish government and asserting independence
• The plan was to begin the revolt after midnight in Manila with rebels setting fires in Tondo to distract the authorities, and then a signal by way of fireworks would be sent to the rebels in Cavite who would then lay siege to the arsenal
• In reality, the mutiny in Cavite began earlier in the evening and many of those who pledged support defected and vowed loyalty to Spain
• The Spanish government used the Cavite Mutiny as a means to suppress the increasing calls for a more liberal administration
• Regular priests


  Clergy whose jurisdiction fell on their elected prelates, better prepared for missionary work due to their standards of discipline and asceticism
• Secular priests


  Priests who "live in the world", under the authority of bishops and not members of a religious order, responsible for the management of the religious communities
• In the Philippines, the regular clergy remained administrators of the parishes well into the nineteenth century
• Issues between regular and secular clergy


  • Episcopal visitations
  • Management of the parishes
• The regular clergy argued that if they allowed the episcopal visitations, the congregation would be subjected to two sources of authority, the bishop and the provincial superiors, who may issue conflicting orders
• The regular clergy refused to give up the parishes that generated large profits for them, and viewed the Filipino secular clergy as unqualified and incompetent, and potential leaders of any future separatist movement
• As a result of the Cavite Mutiny, several priests and laymen were arrested, and the three priests - Burgos, Gomez, and Zamora - were condemned to death by garrote
• Edmund Plauchut: 'Late in the night of the 15th of February 1872, a Spanish court martial found three secular priests, Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez and Jacinto Zamora, guilty of treason as the instigators of a mutiny in the Cavite navy-yard a month before, and sentenced them to death. The judgment of the court martial was read to the priests in Fort Santiago early the next morning and they were told it would be executed the following day...'
• Mariano Gomez: 'Father, I know that not a leaf falls to ground but by the will of God. Since He wills that I should die here, His holy will be done.'
• Jose Burgos: 'But what crime have I committed? Is it possible that I should die like this? My God, is there no justice on earth?'
• The public execution of the three priests was meant to instill fear in the Filipinos, but had the opposite effect, arousing hatred of the friars and the regime that supported them, and a profound sympathy and sorrow for the victims
• The execution of the three priests made the Filipinos realize their condition for the first time, and the desire to know and the anxiety to learn overwhelmed and took possession of the youth of the Philippines