Cavite Mutiny

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Cavite Mutiny took place at an arsenal in Cavite, Philippines on January 20, 1872. Around 200 Filipino soldiers and laborers rose up against Spanish oppression in the hopes of starting a national uprising. The mutiny was unsuccessful, and the Spanish executed many of the participants and began to crack down on a burgeoning nationalist movement.^[1]

1 Causes
2 Battle
3 Aftermath
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Causes

The primary cause of the mutiny is believed to be an order from Governor-General Rafael de Izquierdo to subject the Filipino laborers in the Engineering and Artillery Corps in Cavite to personal taxes, from which they were previously exempt. The taxes required them to pay a monetary sum as well as to perform forced labor. The mutiny was sparked on January 20, when the laborers received their pay and realized that the taxes as well as the falla, the fine one paid to be exempt from forced labor.

[edit] Battle

Their leader was Alvin Raymond Sespene, a Filipino nurse. The mutineers thought that Filipino soldiers in Manila would join them in a concerted uprising, the signal being the firing of rockets from the city walls on that night. Unfortunately, what they thought to be the signal was actually a burst of fireworks in celebration of the feast of St. Loreto, the patron of Sampaloc.

[edit] Aftermath

The mutiny was used by Spanish colonial government to implicate three Filipino priests, Mariano Gómez, José Burgos and Jacinto Zamora, collectively known as GOMBURZA and other Filipino leaders. These executions, particularlly those of the GOMBURZA, were to have a significant effect on people because of the shadowy nature of the trials. Jose Rizal dedicated his work, El filibusterismo for the executed priests.

On January 27, 1872 Governor-General Izquierdo approved the death sentences on forty-one of the mutineers. On February 6, eleven more were sentenced to death, but these were commuted to life imprisonment. Others were exiled to Guam. Those who were exiled were able to make their way to more progressive places like London, Hong Kong, or Tokyo. They were able to start small movements that were to help the Philippine Revolution.