Cavite Mutiny of 1872

Philippine Nationalism was born because of the Cavite Mutiny of 1872

TODAY, as we celebrate the 121st Independence Day of our beloved Motherland from the Spanish yoke for about 377 years, it is important that we look back and take note of what made this realized and what series of events that eventually culminated in the Declaration of our Independence in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898.

Take note of the Cavite mutiny of 1872. History books state that with this tragic event, Philippine nationalism was born. The assumption is that, before this date, the people did not feel they were one nation, and any sign of protest against the foreign presence that was Spain was a localized act of rebellion to which the rest of the country did not relate. 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.

What was the Cavite Mutiny of the Year 1872? The Cavite mutiny of 1872 was an uprising of Filipino military personnel of Fort San Felipe, the Spanish arsenal in Cavite on January 20, 1872. Around 200 locally recruited colonial troops 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 Philippines nationalist movement.

The mutiny was used by the colonial government and Spanish friars to implicate three secular priests, Mariano Gómez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, collectively known as Gomburza. They were executed by garrote on the Luneta field, also known in the Tagalog language as Bagumbayan, on February 17, 1872.

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, whose brother Paciano was a close friend of Burgos, dedicated his work, El Filibusterismo, to these three priests.

Andres Bonifacio was a friend of Rizal and have read his books that inspired him to organize the secret society of the Katipunan. Emilio Aguinaldo was then a Capitan Municipal of Kawit when Bonifacio recruited him to the Katipunan.

At the Tejeros Convention of different groups of Filipino revolutionaries, Aguinaldo was elected President of the Revolutionary Government in absentia. He was then leading his men at the battle in Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite while the Convention was going on.

Aguinaldo led the revolution against Spanish sovereignty in the Philippines from the first up to the second phase of the Philippine revolution. After the defeat of the Spanish Armada by the American Asiatic Squadron led by Commodore George Dewey on May 1, 1898, and the continuing success of Filipino revolutionaries in dismantling the Spanish hold in the country, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo declared the Philippine Independence in his mansion in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898. And the rest is history.

In this important series of events, we can conclude a historical Fact: Without the Cavite Mutiny of 1872, there might be no martyrdom of the GomBurZa on February 17, 1872. Without the GomBurZa martyrdom, there would be no Dr. Jose P. Rizal who would be inspired to write "Noli Me Tangere" and "El Filibusterismo" that he eventually dedicated to the three martyred priests. Without Jose Rizal's writings, there would be no Andres Bonifacio who would be inspired by his writings that made him think of organizing the Katipunan. Without Bonifacio's organization of the Katipunan, there's no way he would recruit Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo to the secret society. And without Aguinaldo who have united most of the Filipino revolutionaries and led the overthrow of Spanish sovereinty in the Philippines, there would be no DECLARATION OF PHILIPPINE INDEPEDENCE IN KAWIT, CAVITE ON JUNE 12, 1898. And the rest is history.

Credits to:  Leon Junn Evangelista Young, Historical Researcher, Cavite City, June 12, 2019.