Module 3 3.

2 Cavite Mutiny

3.1 Site of the First Mass

1. Cavite Mutiny

Cavite Mutiny, (January 20, 1872), brief uprising of

200 Filipino troops and workers at the Cavite
arsenal, which became the excuse for Spanish
repression of the embryonic Philippine nationalist
movement. Ironically, the harsh reaction of the
Spanish authorities served ultimately to promote the
nationalist cause.
The mutiny was quickly crushed, but the Spanish
regime under the reactionary governor Rafael de
Izquierdo magnified the incident and used it as an
excuse to clamp down on those Filipinos who had
500 years of Christianity in the Philippines been calling for governmental reform. A number of
Filipino intellectuals were seized and accused of
The first Mass and the first baptism are the two complicity with the mutineers. After a brief trial,
major historical ecclesiastical events that are given three priests—José Burgos, Jacinto Zamora, and
focus in the quincentennial celebrations sanctioned Mariano Gómez—were publicly executed. The three
by the CBCP and the Archdiocese of Cebu. subsequently became martyrs to the cause of
Philippine independence.
Cebu is identified as the site of the first baptism with
Rajah Humabon, Queen Juana and hundreds of their
community members being the first converts, 2. The Martyrdom of GOMBURZA
according to the accounts of Antonio Pigafetta, the On January 20, 1872, two hundred Filipinos
chronicler of the Magellan-Elcano expedition. employed at the Cavite arsenal staged a revolt
against the Spanish government’s voiding of their
The first baptism was on April 14, 1521. (Links to an
exemption from the payment of tributes. The Cavite
external site.) Mutiny led to the persecution of prominent Filipinos;
According to Pigafetta, the first Mass was celebrated secular priests Mariano Gómez, José Burgos, and
Jacinto Zamora—who would then be collectively
on March 31, 1521, an Easter Sunday. Pigafetta
named GomBurZa—were tagged as the masterminds
referred to the venue as “Mazaua.”
of the uprising. The priests were charged with
Some say that the venue is the island of Limasawa in treason and sedition by the Spanish military
Leyte. Others, however, claim that Pigafetta was tribunal—a ruling believed to be part of a conspiracy
to stifle the growing popularity of Filipino secular
referring to Masao the community at the mouth of
priests and the threat they posed to the Spanish
Agusan River adjacent to what is now the city of
clergy. The GomBurZa were publicly executed, by
Butuan.
garrote, on the early morning of February 17, 1872
Nearing 500 years since the first Mass, debates at Bagumbayan.
continue whether it was held on Limasawa Island, in The Archbishop of Manila refused to defrock them,
Agusan or somewhere else. and ordered the bells of every church to toll in honor
of their deaths; the Sword, in this instance, denied
“As far as our history books, the first Mass is in
the moral justification of the Cross. The martyrdom
Limasawa. But there are other places that are
of the three secular priests would resonate among
claiming that the first Mass was held in their locality. Filipinos; grief and outrage over their execution
The historical commission somehow opens the would make way for the first stirrings of the Filipino
discussion among experts and historians,” Mejia revolution, thus making the first secular martyrs of a
said. nascent national identity. Jose Rizal would dedicate
his second novel, El Filibusterismo, to the memory of
GomBurZa, to what they stood for, and to the 3.4 Cry of Balintawak or Pugadlawin
symbolic weight their deaths would henceforth hold:
The Cry of Balintawak was the beginning of the
The Government, by enshrouding your trial in Philippine Revolution against the Spanish Empire.
mystery and pardoning your co-accused, has
suggested that some mistake was committed when At the close of August 1896, members of
your fate was decided; and the whole of the the Katipunan secret society (Katipuneros) led by
Philippines, in paying homage to your memory and Andres Bonifacio rose up in revolt somewhere in an
calling you martyrs, totally rejects your guilt. The area referred to as Calaoacan, wider than the
Church, by refusing to degrade you, has put in doubt jurisdiction of present-day Calaoacan City which
the crime charged against you. may have overlapped into present-day Quezon City.

To mark the 142nd anniversary of the martyrdom of Originally the term cry referred to the first clash
the priests Mariano Gómez, José Burgos, and Jacinto between the Katipuneros and the Guardia Civil. The
Zamora, we have put together resources that detail cry could also refer to the tearing up of community
the effect of their martyrdom upon the Philippine taxcertificates (cédulas personales) in defiance of
revolution. their allegiance to Spain. The inscriptions of "Viva la
Independencia Filipina" can also be referred as term
3.3 Retraction of Rizal for the cry. This was literally accompanied by
patriotic shouts.
To this day, the retraction issue is still raging like a
wild fire in the forest of the night. Because of competing accounts and ambiguity of the
Others would like to believe that the purported place where this event took place, the exact date
retraction of Rizal was invented by the friars to and place of the Cry is in contention. From 1908 until
deflect the heroism of Rizal which was centered on 1963, the official stance was that the cry occurred on
the friar abuses. August 26 in Balintawak. In 1963 the Philippine
Incidentally, Fr. Pio Pi, who copied verbatim government declared a shift to August 23 in Pugad
Lawin, Quezon City.
Rizal’s retraction, also figured prominently during
the revolution. It was him, Andres Bonifacio Different dates and places
reported, who had intimated to Aguinaldo the
cessation of agitation in exchange of pardon. Various accounts give differing dates and places for
There are also not a few people who believe that the Cry. An officer of the Spanish guardia civil, Lt.
the autobiography of Josephine Bracken, written on Olegario Diaz, stated that the Cry took place in
Balintawak on August 25, 1896. Historian Teodoro
February 22, 1897 is also forged and forged badly.
Kalaw in his 1925 book The Filipino Revolution wrote
The document supposedly written by Josephine
that the event took place during the last week of
herself supported the fact that they were married August 1896 at Kangkong, Balintawak. Santiago
under the Catholic rites. But upon closer look, there Alvarez, a Katipunero and son of Mariano Alvarez,
is a glaring difference between the penmanship of the leader of the Madiwang faction in Cavite, stated
the document, and other letters written by in 1927 that the Cry took place in Bahay Toro, now in
Josephine to Rizal. Quezon city on August 24, 1896. Pio Valenzuela, a
Surely, we must put the question of retraction to close associate of Andres Bonifacio, declared in 1948
rest, though Rizal is a hero, whether he retracted or that it happened in Pugad Lawin on August 23, 1896.
not, we must investigate if he really did a turn- Historian Gregorio Zaide stated in his books in 1954
around. If he did not, and the documents were that the "Cry" happened in Balintawak on August 26,
forgeries, then somebody has to pay for trying to 1896. Fellow historian Teodoro Agoncillo wrote in
1956 that it took place in Pugad Lawin on August 23,
deceive a nation.
1896, based on Pío Valenzuela's statement. Accounts
by historians 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 shot in Bagumbayan. Should we return now to the
double meanings of the terms "Balintawak" and towns, the Spaniards will only shoot us. Our
"Caloocan" at the turn of the century. Balintawak organization has been discovered and we are all
referred both to a specific place in modern Caloocan marked men. If we don't start the uprising, the
City and a wider area which included parts of Spaniards will get us anyway. What then, do you
modern Quezon City. Similarly, Caloocan referred to say?"
modern Caloocan City and also a wider area which
included modern Quezon City and part of modern "Revolt!" the people shouted as one.
Pasig. Pugad Lawin, Pasong Tamo, Kangkong and
Bonifacio then asked the people to give a pledge that
other specific places were all in "greater
they were to revolt. He told them that the sign of
Balintawak", which was in turn part of "greater
slavery of the Filipinos were (sic) the cedula tax
Caloocan".
charged each citizen. "If it is true that you are ready
Definition of the Cry to revolt... I want to see you destroy your cedulas. It
will be a sign that all of us have declared our
The term "Cry" is translated from the Spanish el grito severance from the Spaniards.[5] (Links to an external site.)
de rebelion (cry of rebellion) or el grito for short.
Thus the Grito de Balintawak is comparable to The Cry of Balintawak occurred on August 26, 1896.
Mexico's Grito de Dolores (1810). However, el grito The Cry, defined as that turning point when the
de rebelion strictly refers to a decision or call to Filipinos finally refused Spanish colonial dominion
revolt. It does not necessarily connote shouting, over the Philippine Islands. With tears in their eyes,
unlike the Filipino sigaw. the people as one man, pulled out their cedulas and
tore them into pieces. It was the beginning of the
List of Katipunan Members present in Balintawak in formal declaration of the separation from Spanish
August 1896 by Guillermo Masangkay rule."Long Live the Philippine Republic!", the cry of
the people. An article from The Sunday Tribune
Guillermo Masangkay Magazine on August 21, 1932 featured the
statements of the eyewitness account by Katipunan
On August 26th, a big meeting was held in
General Guillermo Masangkay, "A Katipunero
Balintawak, at the house of Apolonio Samson, then
Speaks". Masangkay recounts the "Cry of
cabeza of that barrio of Caloocan. Among those who
Balintawak", stating that on August 26,1896, a big
attended, I remember, were Bonifacio, Emilio
meeting was held in Balintawak at the house of
Jacinto, Aguedo del Rosario, Tomas Remigio, Briccio
Apolonio Samson, then the cabeza of that barrio
Pantas, Teodoro Plata, Pio Valenzuela, Enrique
of Calaocan. At about nine o'clock in the morning of
Pacheco, and Francisco Carreon. They were all
August 26, the meeting was opened with Andres
leaders of the Katipunan and composed the board of
Bonifacio presiding and Emilio Jacinto acting as
directors of the organization. Delegates from
Secretary. In August 1896, after the Katipunan was
Bulacan, Cabanatuan, Cavite, and Morong were also
discovered, Masangkay joined Bonifacio, Emilio
present.
Jacinto, and others in a clandestine meeting held on
At about nine o'clock in the morning of August 26, the 26th of that month at Apolonio Samson’s house
the meeting was opened with Andres Bonifacio in Caloocan.
presiding and Emilio Jacinto acting as secretary. The
Initially, the leaders of the movement quarreled over
purpose was to discuss when the uprising was to
strategy and tactics, and many of its members
take place. Teodoro Plata, Briccio Pantas, and Pio
questioned the wisdom of an open rebellion due to
Valenzuela were all opposed to starting the
the lack of arms and logistical support. However,
revolution too early...Andres Bonifacio, sensing that
after Bonifacio’s intense and convincing speech,
he would lose the discussion then, left the session
everyone destroyed their cedulas to symbolize their
hall and talked to the people, who were waiting
defiance towards Spain and, together, raised the cry
outside for the result of the meeting of the leaders.
of “Revolt".
He told the people that the leaders were arguing
against starting the revolution early, and appealed to Pio Valenzuela
them in a fiery speech in which he said:"You
remember the fate of our countrymen who were
In 1935, Pio Valenzuela, along with Briccio Pantas bidding of the Supremo Andres Bonifacio.
and Enrique Pacheco said (in English translation) Altogether, they carried assorted weapons, bolos,
"The first Cry of the revolution did not happen in spears, daggers, a dozen small revolvers and a rifle
Balintawak where the monument is, but in a place used by its owner, one Lieutenant Manuel, for
called Pugad Lawin." In 1940, a research team of a hunting birds. The Supremo Bonifacio was restless
forerunner of the National Historical Institute (NHI) because of fear of sudden attack by the enemy. He
which included Valenzuela, identified the location as was worried over the thought that any of the
part of sitio Gulod, Banlat, Calaocan. IN 1964, the couriers carrying the letter sent by Emilio Jacinto
NHI described this location as the house of Tandang could have been intercepted; and in that eventuality,
Sora. the enemy would surely know their whereabouts
and attack them on the sly. He decided that it was
The first place of refuge of Andres Bonifacio, Emilio better to move to a site called Bahay Toro. At ten
Jacinto, Procopio, Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Aguedo o'clock that Sunday morning, 23 August 1896 we
del Rosario, and myself was Balintawak, the first five arrived at Bahay Toro. Our member had grown to
arriving there on August 19, and I on August 20, more than 500 and the house, yard, and warehouse
1896. The first place where some 500 members of of Cabesang Melchora was getting crowded with us
the Katipunan met on August 22, 1896, was the Katipuneros. The generous hospitality of Cabesang
house and yard of Apolonio Samson at Kangkong. Melchora was no less than that of Apolonio Samson.
Aside from the persons mentioned above, among Like him, she also opened her granary and had
those who were there were Briccio Pantas, Alejandro plenty of rice pounded and animals slaughtered to
Santiago, Ramon Bernardo, Apolonio Samson, and feed us. The following day, Monday, 24 August,
others. Here, views were only exchanged, and no more Katipuneros came and increased our number
resolution was debated or adopted. It was at Pugad to more than a thousand. The Supremo called a
Lawin, the house, store-house, and yard of Juan meeting at ten o'clock that morning inside Cabesang
Ramos, son of Melchora Aquino, where over 1,000 Melchora's barn. Flanking him on both sides at the
members of the Katipunan met and carried out head of the table were Dr. Pio Valenzuela, Emilio
considerable debate and discussion on August 23, Jacinto, Briccio Pantas, Enrique Pacheco, Ramon
1896. The discussion was on whether or not the Bernardo, Pantelaon Torres, Francisco Carreon,
revolution against the Spanish government should Vicente Fernandez, Teodoro Plata, and others. We
be started on August 29, 1896... After the were so crowded that some stood outside the barn.
tumultuous meeting, many of those present tore The following matters were approved at the
their cedula certificates and shouted "Long live the meeting:
Philippines! Long live the Philippines!"

Santiago Alvarez 1. An uprising to defend the people's freedom was

to be started at midnight of Saturday, 29 August
The account of Santiago Alvarez regarding the Cry of 1896;
Balintawak flaunted specific endeavors, as stated: 2. To be on a state of alert so that
the Katipunana forces could strike should the
We started our trek to Kangkong at about eleven situation arise where the enemy was at a
that night. We walked through the rain over dark disadvantage. Thus, the uprising could be
expanses of muddy meadows and fields. Our clothes started earlier than the agreed time of midnight
drenched and our bodies numbed by the cold wind, of 29 August 1896 should a favorable
we plodded wordlessly. It was nearly two in the opportunity arise at that date. Everyone should
morning when we reached the house of Brother steel himself and be resolute in the struggle that
Apolonio Samson in Kangkong. We crowded into the was imminent; and
house to rest and warm ourselves. We were so tired 3. He immediate objective was the capture of
that, after hanging our clothes out to dry, we soon Manila.
feel asleep. The Supremo began assigning guards at
five o'clock the following morning, Saturday 22 After the adjournment of the meeting at twelve
August 1896. He placed a detachment at the noon, there were tumultuous shouts of "Long live
Balintawak boundary and another at the backyard to the Philippines.”
the north of the house where we were gathered. No
less than three hundred men assembled at the
3.5 Summary

The First Catholic Mass in the Philipines was held on

March 31, 1521 , Easter Sunday . It was officiated by
a priest named Father Pedro Valderrama in the
shore of Mazaua in Pigafetta's journal, whom people
believe is the town specifically in the shore of
Limasawa in Southern Leyte.

At present, the National Historical Institute led by its

chair Ambeth Ocampo recognized the historical
records of Limasawa in Southern Leyte as the venue
of the first Mass, held on March 31, 1521.

On the early morning of February 17, 1872 at the

Bagumbayan, the three secular priests
namely Mariano Gómez, José Burgos, and Jacinto
Zamora—who would then be collectively
named GomBurZa—were tagged as the
masterminds of the uprising which lead to execution
by garrote.