1 I.

THE BEGINNINGS OF FILIPINO NATIONALISM Bascos Economic Plans

Jos Basco y Vargas was the 44th governor of the Philippines under Spanish colonial rule, from 1778 to 1787. He was the most economic minded governor-general. He established the Sociedad Econmica de los Amigos del Pas, or the Economic Society of Friends of the Country. He also made the colony independent, by freeing it from the control of New Spain, which is today Mexico. His accomplishments can be stated in the following:

2 II.

THE BEGINNINGS OF FILIPINO NATIONALISM The Opening of Suez Canal

The opening of Manila (1834) and other parts of the Philippine to foreign trade brought not only economic prosperity to the country but also a remarkable transformation in the life of the Filipinos. The Suez Canal, which connected the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, was inaugurated in 1869. It was built by a French engineer named Ferdinand de Lesseps. By passing through the Canal, vessels journeying between Barcelona and Manila no longer had to pass by the Cape of Good Hope, at the southern tip of Africa. Thus, they were able to shorten their traveling time from three months to 32 days.

Thanks to the Suez Canal, trading in the Philippines became increasingly profitable. More and more foreign merchants and businessmen came to the colony, bringing with them a lot of progressive ideas. The Filipinos not only gained more knowledge and information about the world at large; they also gained the desire for freedom and improvement in their lives.

THE BEGINNINGS OF FILIPINO NATIONALISM

III.

Cavite Mutiny

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. In the cold, gray dawn of the 17th of February, 1872, people started to gather on the grassy field of Bagumbayan (now Rizal Park) south of Intramuros. At first, they were mostly Spanish soldiers and the Guardia Civil in their fine uniforms, office holders and letrados in suits, rotund friars with their sacristans, principalia in short black jackets worn over untucked baro. They were in a festive mood for they had come to witness a public execution, always a fiesta in the Spanish establishment.

THE BEGINNINGS OF FILIPINO NATIONALISM

IV.

The Execution of GomBurZa

GOMBURZA stands for the names of the three Filipino priests- Fathers Mariano Gmez, Jos Apolonio Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, executed on February 17, 1872, at Bagumbayan, Manila. These three martyrs were sentenced to death by means of the garrote, mechanical strangulation, on the charges of subversion and inciting revolution after the Cavite mutiny. Prior to the execution of the three Filipino martyrs, there had been an unresolved issue about secularization in the Philippines that resulted a conflict among the religious regulars and the church seculars. Father Mariano Gomez was a strong advocate of the rights of the secular clergy. The three priests in black cassocks, bound and manacled, escorted by Spanish friars, guards and drummers appeared at a gate in the walled city. They were the condemned men, Fathers Burgos, Gomez and Zamora, who had been sentenced to death for sedition against the Spanish Crown and were to be executed by garrote.