| Cavite Mutiny | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Philippine revolts against Spain | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Spain | Filipino workers and military personnel | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Felipe Ginoves | Sgt. Ferdinand La Madrid | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| One regiment, four cannons | Around 200 soldiers and laborers | ||||||||
The Cavite Mutiny of 1872 was an uprising of military personnel of Fort San Felipe, the Spanish arsenal in Cavite, Philippines on January 20, 1872. Around 200 soldiers and laborers rose up in the belief that it would elevate to a national uprising. The mutiny was unsuccessful, and government soldiers executed many of the participants and began to crack down on a burgeoning nationalist movement. Many scholars believe that the Cavite Mutiny of 1872 was the beginning of Filipino nationalism that would eventually lead to the Philippine Revolution of 1896.[1]
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The primary cause of the mutiny is believed to be an order from Governor-General Rafael de Izquierdo to subject the soldiers of the Engineering and Artillery Corps 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 called, "polo y servicio". The mutiny was sparked on January 20, when the laborers received their pay and realized the taxes as well as the falla, the fine one paid to be exempt from forced labor, had been deducted from their salaries.
Their leader was Fernando La Madrid, a mestizo Sergeant. They seized Fort San Felipe and killed eleven Spanish officers. The mutineers thought that 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 Our Lady of Loreto, the patron of Sampaloc. News of the mutiny reached Manila, the Spanish authorities feared for a massive Filipino uprising. The next day, a regiment led by General Felipe Ginoves besieged the fort until the mutineers surrendered. Ginoves then ordered to fire immediately at those who surrendered including La Madrid.
In the aftermath of the mutiny, all Filipino soldiers were disarmed and later sent into exile in Mindanao. Those suspected of supporting the mutineers were arrested and executed. The mutiny was used by the Spanish colonial government and Spanish friars to implicate three Filipino priests, Mariano Gómez, José Burgos and Jacinto Zamora, collectively known as Gomburza, and other Filipino leaders. These executions, particularly 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, to the executed priests.
On January 27, 1872 Governor-General Rafael 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. The most important group created a colony of Filipino expatriates in Europe, particularly in Madrid and Barcelona, where they were able to create small associations and print publications that were to advance the claims of the Philippine Revolution.
During the short trial, the captured mutineers testified against Father José Burgos. The state witness, Francisco Saldua, declared that he had been told by one of the Basa brothers that the government of Father Burgos would bring a fleet of the United States to assist a revolution with which Ramon Maurente, the supposed field marshal, was financing with 50,000 pesos. The heads of the friar orders held a conference and decided to dispose Burgos by implicating him to a plot. One Franciscan friar disguised as Father Burgos and suggested a mutiny to the mutineers. The senior friars used an una fuerte suma de dinero or a first class dinner to convince Governor-General Rafael de Izquierdo that Burgos is the mastermind of the coup. Gomez and Zamora are close to Burgos so they are included anyway.[2]