TITLE: THE CAVITE MUTINY

CONTENT
The constant change in the post of the governor- general in the Philippines brought
not only havoc in the Philippine politics but also a dismay especially on the part of
the natives who experience the direct effect of the changing of officials holding
offices. Carlos Maria dela Torre was known to be the most liberal minded governor-
general of the Philippines for allowing programs that benefited most of the natives.
Through this, he was loved by the people and in turn leads to the establishments of
different schools for arts and trades.
Rafael Izquierdo assumed the post of the governor- general replacing the loved
Carlos Maria Dela Torre. Alongside with the changes in the post of governor- general
are the changes in the policies of the outgoing officials together with the removal of
the privileges of the workers especially of the Cavite Arsenal. These harsh rules of
Izquierdo caused the natives to hate on him and tensions between the workers and
the officials of the government.
January 20, 1892, a chaos happened in Cavite. The workers assassinated the head
of the Cavite Arsenal and injured his wife. The mutiny was headed by Francisco La
Madrid with the purpose of voicing out their plight of returning their privileges on
not paying taxes and exemption in the polo y servicio be returned. The mutiny
failed because the expected reinforcement from Manila didn’t come. After almost
two days of insurrection, the mutiny was quelled and its leader, Francisco La Madrid
was killed. All the involve individuals were either killed or exiled. The most notable
people involved in this event were Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora. They were accused
of spearheading the conspiracy alongside with native lawyers and soldiers.
The Cavite Mutiny/ Conspiracy was a big debate among historians as to which is
right. Is it a mere mutiny or a conspiracy? Hence, there are different first hand
sources presented below to be evaluated and analyzed in order to have a better
picture of the said event.
Spanish Version of the Cavite Mutiny of 1872 by Jose Montero y Vidal as cited
by Antonio Tamayao 2018
The Spanish version of the Cavite Mutiny of 1872 was written by the Spanish
historian, Jose Montero y Vidal, in his book entitled Historia General de Filipinas
(Madrid, 1895, Vol. III, pp 566-595. This narrative of Montero y Vidal,1 normally a
good historian, was so woefully biased that Dr. T.H. Pardo de Tavera commented
that he, “in narrating the Cavite episode, does not speak as a historian; he speaks
as a Spaniard bend on perverting the facts at his pleasure; he is mischievously
partial”.2 Unsupported by positive documentary evidence, this Spanish historian
exaggerated the mutiny of a few disgruntled native soldiers and laborers into a
revolt to overthrow Spanish rule – a seditious movement – and involved the
innocent Filipino patriotic leaders including Fathers Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora,
Jose Ma. Basa, Antonio Ma. Regidor, Joaquin Pardo de Tavera, and others. Montero y
Vidal’s version of the Cavite episode of 1872 in English translation follows:
With the establishment in Spain of a government less radical than the one that
appointed La Torre, the latter was relieved from his post. His successor D. Rafael de
Izquierdo, assumed control of the government of these islands April 4, 1871. The
most eventual episode in his rule was the Cavite Revolt of 1872.
The abolition of the privileges enjoyed by the laborers of the Cavite arsenal of
exemption from the tribute was, according to some, the cause of the insurrection.
There were, however, other causes.
The Spanish revolution which overthrew a secular throne; the propaganda carried
on by an unbridled press against monarchical principles, attentatory of the most
sacred respects towards the dethroned majesty; the democratic and republic books
and pamphlets; the speeches and preachings of the apostles of these new ideas in
Spain; the outbursts of the American publicists and the criminal policy of the
senseless Governor whom the Revolutionary government sent to govern the
Philippines, and who put into practice these ideas were the determining
circumstances which gave rise, among certain Filipinos, to the idea of attaining their
independence. It was towards this goal that they started to work, with the powerful
assistance of a certain section of the native clergy, who out of spite toward the
friars, made common cause with the enemies of the mother country.
At various times but especially in the beginning of the year 1872, the authorities
received anonymous communications with the information that a great uprising
would break out aganst the Spaniards, the minute the fleet at Cavite left for the
South, and that all would be assassinated, including the friars. But nobody gave
importance to these notices. The conspiracy had been going on since the days of La
Torre with utmost secrecy. At times, the principal leaders met either in the house of
the Filipino Spaniard, D. Joaquin Pardo de Tavera, or in that of the native priest,
Jacinto Zamora, and these meetings were usually attended by the curate of Bacoor
(Cavite), the soul of the movement, whose energetic character and immense wealth
enabled him to exercise a strong influence.
The garrison of Manila, composed mostly of native soldiers, were involved in this
conspiracy, as well as a multitude of civilians. The plan was for the soldiers to
assassinate their officers, the servants, their masters, and the escort of the Captain-
General at Malacaἧang, to dispose of the governor himself. The friars and other
Spaniards were later to have their turn. The pre-concerted signal among the
conspirators of Cavite and Manila was the firing of rockets from the walls of the city.
The details having been arranged, it was agreed that the uprising was to break out
in the evening of the 20th of January, 1872. Various circumstances, however, which
might well be considered as providential, upset the plans, and made the conspiracy
a dismal failure.

In the district of Sampaloc, the fiesta of the patron saint, the Virgin of Loreto, was
being celebrated with pomp and splendor. On the night of the 20th, fireworks were
displayed and rockets fired into the air. Those in Cavite mistook these for the signal
to revolt, and at nine-thirty in the evening of that day two hundred native soldiers
under the leadership of Sergeant La Madrid rose up in arms, assassinated the
commander of the fort and wounded his wife.
The military governor of Cavite, D. Fernando Rojas, dispatched two Spaniards to
inform the Manila authorities of the uprising but they were met on the way be a
group of natives, belonging to the Guias established by La Torre, who put them
instantly to death. At about the same time, an employee of the arsenal, D. Domingo
Mijares, left Cavite in a war vessel for Manila, arriving there at midnight. He
informed the commandant of Marine of what had occured, and this official
immediately relayed the news to Governor Izquierdo.
Early the next morning two regiments, under the command of D. Felipe Ginoves,
segundo cabo, left for Cavite on board the merchant vessels Filipino, Manila Isabela
I and Isabela II. Ginoves demanded rendition and waited the whole day of the 21st
for the rebels to surrender, without ordering the assault of their position in order to
avoid unnecessary shedding of blood. After waiting the whole day in vain for the
rendition of the rebels, Ginoves launched an assault against the latter’s position,
early in the morning of the 22nd, putting to the sword the majority of the rebels and
making prisoners of the rest. On the same day an official proclamation announced
the suppression of the revolt.
As a result of the declarations made by some of the prisoners in which several
individuals were pointed out as instigators, Don Jose Burgos and D. Jacinto Zamora,
curates of the Cathedral, D. Mariano Gomez, curate of Bacoor (Cavite), several
other Filipino priests, D. Antonio Maria Regidor, lawyer and Regidor of the
Ayuntamiento, D. Joaquin Pardo de Tavera, Consejero de Administraciὀn, Pedro
Carillo, Gervacio Sanchez and Jose Mauricio de Leon, lawyers Enrique Paraiso and
Jose and Pio Basa, employees, and Crisanto Reyes, Maximo Paterno and several
other Filipinos, were arrested.
The council of war, which from the beginning look charge of the causes in
connection with the Cavite uprising, passed the sentence of death on forty-one of
the rebels. On the 27th of January the Captain-General fixed his “cumplase” on the
sentence. On the 6th of the following month, eleven more were sentenced to death,
but the Governor General, by decree of the day following, commuted this sentence
to life imprisonment. On the 8th, the sentence of death was pronounced on
Camerino and ten years imprisonment of eleven individuals of the famous “Guias de
la Torre,” for the assassination of the Spaniards who, on the night of January 20th,
were sent to Manila to carry news of the uprising.
The same council on the 15th of February, sentenced to die by strangulation the
Filipino priests, D. Jose Burgos, D. Jacinto Zamora, and D. Mariano Gomez, and
Francisco Saldua; and maximo Inocencio, Enrique Paraiso and Crisanto de los Reyes
to ten years imprisonment. Early in the morning of the seventeen of February, an
immense multitude appeared on the field of Bagumbayan to witness the execution
of the sentence. The attending force was composed of Filipino troops, and the
batteries of the fort were aimed at the place of execution, ready to fire upon the
least sign of uprising. Gomez was executed first, then Zamora, then Burgos, and
lastly, Saldua.
On the 3rd of April, 1872, the Audience suspended from the practice of law the
following men: D. Jose Basa y Enriquez, D. Joaquin Pardo de Tavera, D. Antonio Ma.
Regidor, D. Pedro Carillo, D. Gervacio Sanchez and D. Jose Mauricio de Leon.
Izquierdo had requested the sending to Manila of Spanish troops for the defense of
the fort as most of these found here were natives. In pursuance of Izquierdo’s
request, the government, by decree of April 4, 1872, dissolved the native regiment
of artillery and ordered the creation of an artillery force to be composed exclusively
of Peninsulares. The latter arrived in Manila in July, 1872. On the occasion of the
arrival of the troops, the Sto. Domingo Church celebrated a special mass at which
high officials of the government, the religious corporations, and the general public,
attended, upon invitation by the Governor and Captain-General of the Philippines.

Filipino Version of the Cavite Mutiny of 1872 by Dr. Trinidad Hermenegildo

Pardo de Tavera as cited by Antonio Tamayao, 2019.
The Filipino version of the bloody incident of Cavite in 1872 was written by Dr.
Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera, Filipino scholar, scientist, and historical researcher. 1
According to him, this incident was merely a mutiny by the native Filipino soldiers
and laborers of the Cavite arsenal against the harsh policy of despotic Governor and
Captain-General Rafael de Izquierdo (1871-1873) which abolished their old-time
privileges of exemption from paying the annual tribute and from rendering the polo
(forced labor). The loss of these privileges was naturally resented by the soldiers
and laborers. Some of them, impelled by volcanic wrath, rose in arms on the night
of January 20, 1872, and killed the commanding officer of the Cavite Arsenal and
other Spanish officers. This was easily suppressed by the Spanish troops which were
rushed from Manila. This turbulent incident, which was magnified by the Spanish
officials and friars into a revolt for Philippine independence, is narrated by Pardo de
Tavera, as follows:

The arrival of General Izquierdo (1871-1873) was the signal for a complete change
in the aspect of affairs. The new governor soon made it clear that his views were
different from those of La Torre – that there would be no change in the established
form of government – and he at once announced that he intended to govern the
people “with crucifix in one hand and a sword in the other.”

His first official act was to prohibit the founding of a school of arts and trades, which
was being organized by the efforts and funds raised by natives of standing in the
community, but the founding of which did not tally with the views of the religious
orders. Governor Izquierdo believed that the establishment of the new school was
merely a pretext for the organization of a political club, and he not only did not
allow it to be opened but made a public statement accusing the Filipinos who had
charge of the movement. All of those who had offered their support to ex-Governor
La Torre were classed as personas sospechosas (suspects), a term that since that
time has been used in the Philippine Islands to designate any person who refused to
servilely obey the wishes and whims of the authorities. The conservative element in
the islands now directed the governmental policy, and the educated Filipinos fell
more and more under the displeasure and suspicion of the governor.
The peace of the colony was broken by a certain incident which, though
unimportant in itself, was probably the origin of the political agitation which,
constantly growing for thirty years, culminated in the overthrow of the Spanish
sovereignty in the Philippine Islands. From time immemorial the workmen in the
arsenal at Cavite and in the barracks of the artillery and engineer corps has been
exempt from the payment of the tribute tax and from obligation to work certain
days each year on public improvements. General Izquierdo believed the time
opportune for abolishing these privileges and ordered that in the future all such
workmen should pay tribute and labor on public improvements. This produced great
dissatisfaction among the workmen affected and the men employed in the arsenal
at Cavite went on a strike, but, yielding to pressure and threats made by the
authorities, they subsequently returned to their labors.

The workmen in the Cavite arsenal were all natives of that town and of the
neighboring town of San Roque. In a short while the dissatisfaction and discontent
with the government spread all over that section and even the entire troops
became disaffected. On the night of January 20, 1872, there was an uprising among
the soldiers in the San Felipe fort, in Cavite, and the commanding offer and other
Spanish officers in charge of the fort were assassinated. Forty marines attached to
the arsenal and 22 artillerymen under Sergeant La Madrid took part in this
unprising, and it was believed that the entire garrison in Cavite was disaffected and
probably implicated. But if the few soldiers who precipitated the attack believed
they would be supported by the bulk of the army and that a general rebellion
against Spain would be declared in the islands, they were deceived. When the news
of the uprising was received in Manila, General Izquierdo sent the commanding
general to Cavite, who reinforced the native troops, took possession of the fort, and
put the rebels to the sword. Sergeant La Madrid has been blinded and badly burned
by the explosion of a sack of powder and, being unable to escape, was also cut
down. A few of the rebels were captured and taken to Manila and there was no
further disturbance of the peace or insubordination of any kind.

This uprising among the soldiers in Cavite was used as a powerful lever by the
Spanish residents and by the friars. During the time that General La Torre was chief
executive in the Philippine Islands the influential Filipinos did not hesitate to
announce their hostility to the religious orders, and the Central Government in
Madrid has announced its intention to deprive the friars in these islands of all
powers of intervention in matters of civil government and of the direction and
management of the university. Moret, the colonial minister, had drawn up a scheme
of reforms by which he proposed to make a radical change in the colonial system of
government which was to harmonize with the principles for which the revolution 3 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 – an 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 leanings 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 a 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
provinces. 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 members 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 has 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.

A careful study of the history and documents of that time brings to light the part
which the religious orders played in that sad drama. 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.

But there were other results following upon the unfortunate policy adopted by
Governor Izquierdo. 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 many 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 has 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.
Nothing was done by the Government to blot out the recollection of these actions;
on the contrary, it appeared to be its policy to continually bring up the memory of
these occurrences as a reminder to the mal-contents of what they had to expect;
but the only thing accomplished was to increase the popular discontent. It was from
that time that every disagreement between the Spaniards and 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.
Official Report of Governor Izquierdo on the Cavite Mutiny by Rafael
Izquierdo as cited by Antonio Tamayao, 2019.
Governor General Rafael Izquierdo reported to the Spanish Minister of War, dated
Manila, January 23, 1872, blaming the Cavite Mutiny on the native clergy, some
local residents, intellectuals, and even El Eco Filipino, a Madrid-based reformist
newspaper. Significantly, he calls the military mutiny as “insurrection”, an
“uprising”, and a “revolution”. The text of the report is as follows:

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 provinces 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 1 (1872) and to render
personal service, from which they were formerly 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 baked 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 administration 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. Zacinto Zamora, parish priests of S. San Pedro of Manila.

All the Spaniards, including the friars, would be executed except for the women;
and their belongings confiscated. Foreigners would be respected.

This uprising has roots, and with them were affiliated to a great extent the
regiments of infantry and artillery, many civilians and a large number of mestizos,
indios and some illustrados from the provinces.

To start the revolution, they planned to set fire to the district of Tondo. Once the fire
was set and while the authorities were busy putting it out, the regiment of artillery
with the help of the part of the infantry would seize Fort Santiago of this Capital
(they would then) fire cannons to inform the rebels of Cavite (of their success). The
rebels in Cavite counted on the artillery detachment that occupied the fort and, on
the navy, helped by 500 natives led by the pardoned leader Camerino. This person
and his men, located at the town of Bacoor and separated from the fort of San
Felipe by a small arm of the sea, would cross the water and reach the fort where
they would find arms and ammunition.

The rebels (in Cavite) made the signals agreed upon by means of lanterns, but the
native civilians (in Bacoor) although they tried it, failed because if the vigilance of
the (Spanish) navy that had placed there a gunboat and armed vessels.

Loyalists who went to arrest the parish priests of Bacoor found an abandoned vessel
loaded with arms, including carbines and revolvers.

The uprising should have started in Manila at midnight abetted by those in Cavite,
but the rebels of this city went ahead of time. The civil-military governor of Cavite
and the commanders of Regiment 7 took very timely precautions; they knew how to
keep the soldiers loyal (although these had been compromised) and behaved with
valor and gallantry, obliging the rebels to take refuge in the fort of San Felipe.

Such is your Excellency, the plan of the rebels, those who guided them, and the
means they counted upon for its realization. For a long time now, through
confidential information and others of a vaguer character, I have been told that
since 1869 – taking advantage of a group that had left behind plans for an uprising,
but was carried out because of the earthquake of 1862 – there existed in Manila a
junta or center that sought and found followers; and that as a pretext they had
established a society for the teaching of arts and trades. Months ago I suspended it
indirectly, giving an account to Your Excellency in my confidential report No. 113
dated August 1, (1871) to which Your Excellency has not yet replied.

It has also been said that this center or junta received inspiration from Madrid,
where newspapers of advanced ideas flourish; to sustain them subscriptions are
(locally) solicited; in effect, newspapers such as El Eco Filipino 1 were sent here from
Madrid, which were distributed by persons now imprisoned, whose articles
thundered against everything that be found here.

As in the case of my worthy predecessor, I have continuously received anonymous

letters, but because I was confident that I could put down and punish any uprising, I
gave no credit (to these reports) in order not to cause alarm; and instead continued
a vigilant watch whenever possible within the limited means at my command. I had
everything ready (for any untoward possibility), taking into account the limited
peninsular force which composes the army.

Historian says…
The year 1872 is a historic year of two events: the Cavite Mutiny and the martyrdom of
the three priests: Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, later on
immortalized as GOMBURZA. These events are very important milestones in Philippine
history and have caused ripples throughout time, directly influencing the decisive events
of the Philippine Revolution toward the end of the century. While the significance is
unquestioned, what made this year controversial are the different sides to the story, a
battle or perspectives supported by primary sources.