Cavite Mutiny - Arnel
Cavite Mutiny - Arnel
Cavite Mutiny - Arnel
Ytac Bs Accountancy
He was one of the most knowledgeable of the Spanish historians on the Philippines. At the
time of the Cavite Mutiny of 1872, he was a government official residing in Manila.
Montero without any doubt emphasized that all Filipinos accused, executed and exiled
were truly guilty and that all deserved their sentenced.
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Primary Source: Excerpts from the Official Report of Governor Izquierdo on the Cavite
Mutiny of 1872
Source: Rafael Izquierdo, "Official Report on the Cavite Mutiny,"in Gregorio Zaide and Sonia
Zaide, Documentary Sources of Philippine History, Volume 7 (Manila: National Book Store,
1990), 281-286.
He wrote an official report to the Spanish Minister of war stating that the Filipinos are
conspiring a revolution to overthrow the Spanish government and general massacre of the Spanish
authorities including the friar which result to massive Filipino apprehension and execution
including the GOMBURZA.
The accounts detail that on 20 January 1872, the district of Sampaloc celebrated the feast
of the Virgin of Loreto, and came with it were some fireworks display. The Cavitenos allegedly
mistook this as the signal to commence with the attack. The 200-men contigent led by Sergeant
Lamadrid attacked Spanish officers at sight and seized the arsenal. Izquierdo, upon learning of the
attack, ordered the reinforcement of the Spanish forces in Cavite to quell the revolt. The
“revolution” was easily crushed, when the Manilenos who were expected to aid the Cavitenos did
not arrive. Leaders of the plot were killed in the resulting skirmish, while Fathers Gomez, Burgos,
and Zamora were tried by a court-martial and sentenced to be executed. Others who were
implicated such as Joaquin de Tavera, Antonio Ma. Regidor, Jose and Pio Basa, and other
Filipino lawyers were suspended from the practice of law, arrested and sentenced to life
imprisonment at the Marianas Island. Izquierdo dissolved the native regiments of artillery and
ordered the creation of an artillery force composed exclusively by Peninsulares.
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Primary Source: Excerpts from Pardo de Tavera’s Account of the Cavite Mutiny
Source: Trinidad Pardo de Tavera, “Filipino Version of the Cavity Mutiny," in Gregorio
Zaide and Sonia Zaide, Documentary Sources of Philippine History, Volume 7 (Manila:
National Book Store, 1990), 274 280.
Tavera believed that the Spanish friars and Izquierdo used the Cavite Mutiny as a powerful
lever by magnifying it as a full-blown conspiracy involving not only the native army but also
included residents of Cavite and Manila, and more importantly the native clergy to overthrow the
Spanish government in the Philippines.
During the time, the Central Government in Madrid announced its intention to deprive the
friars of all the powers of intervention in matters of civil government and the direction and
management of educational institutions. This turnout of events was believed by Tavera, prompted
the friars to do something drastic to maintain power in the Philippines. Thus, The Cavite Mutiny
paved way for the Spanish authorities to frame the priests as the instigators mainly D. Jose Burgos
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In regard to schools, it was previously decreed that there should be in Manila a Society of
Arts and Trades to be opened in March of 1871 to repress the growth of liberal teachings, General
Izquierdo suspended the opening of the school the day previous to the scheduled inauguration. The
Filipinos had a duty to render service on public roads construction and pay taxes every year. But
those who were employed at the maestranza of the artillery, in the engineering shops and arsenal
of Cavite, were exempted from this obligation from time immemorial, without preliminaries of
any kind, a decree by the Governor withdrew from such old employees their retirement privileges
and declassified them into the ranks of those who worked on public roads.
The friars used the incident as a part of a larger conspiracy to cement their dominance,
which had started to show cracks because of the discontent of the Filipinos. They showcased the
mutiny as part of a greater conspiracy in the Philippines by Filipinos to overthrow the Spanish
Government. Unintentionally, and more so, prophetically, the Cavite Mutiny of 1872 resulted in
the martyrdom of GOMBUZA, paved the way to the revolution culminating in 1898.
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The importance of the text - The Cry of Balintawak was soon changed into Cry of Pugad Lawin.
But there is no controversy about the act of courage of Bonifacio and the Katipuneros and the
significance of their act. They tore their cedulas as an expression of defiance against Spanish rule.
In 1962, Teodoro Agoncillo, together with the UP Student Council, placed a marker at the
Pugad Lawin site. According to Agoncillo, the house of Juan Ramos stood there in 1896, while
the house of Tandang Sora was located at Pasong Tamo.
In the Philippines, this happened in August 1896, northeast of Manila, where they declared
rebellion against the Spanish colonial government. These events are important markers in the
history of colonies that struggled for their independence against their colonizers. The controversy
regarding this event stems from the identification of the date and place where the Cry happened.
Prominent Filipino historian Teodoro Agoncillo emphasizes the event when Bonifacio tore the
cedula or tax receipt before the Katipuneros who also did the same. Some writers identified the
first military event with the Spaniards as the moment of the Cry, for which, Emilio Aguinaldo
commissioned an “Him no de Balintawak to inspire the renewed struggle after the Pact of the
Biak-na-Bato failed. A monument to the Heroes of 1896.
Historian Teodoro Agoncillo wrote in 1956 that it took place in Pugad Lawin on August
23, 1896, based on Pío Valenzuela's statement. Accounts by Milagros Guerrero, Emmanuel
Encarnacion and Ramon Villegas claim the event to have taken place in Tandang Sora's barn in
Gulod, Barangay Banlat, Quezon City. Some of the apparent confusion is in part due to the double
meanings of the terms "Balintawak" and "Kalookan" at the turn of the century. Balintawak referred
both to a specific place in modern Caloocan and a wider area which included parts of modern
Quezon City. Similarly, Kalookan referred to modern Caloocan and also a wider area which
included modern Quezon City and part of modern Pasig.
Pugad Lawin, Pasong Tamo, Kangkong and other specific places were all in "greater Balintawak",
which was in turn part of "greater Caloocan".
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