The Cavite mutiny in the Philippines is…

Their leader is Fernando La Madrid, a mestizo Sergeant.

They seize Fort San Felipe in Cavite and kill eleven Spanish officers.

The mutineers think that soldiers in Manila will join them in a concerted uprising, the signal being the firing of rockets from the city walls on that night.

Unfortunately, what they think to be the signal is actually a burst of fireworks in celebration of the feast of Our Lady of Loreto, the patron of Sampaloc.

News of the mutiny reaches Manila, and the Spanish authorities fear a massive Filipino uprising.

The next day, a regiment led by General Felipe Ginoves besieges the fort until the mutineers surrender.

Ginoves then orders his troops to fire at those who had surrendered, including La Madrid.

In the aftermath of the mutiny, all Filipino soldiers are disarmed and later sent into exile in Mindanao.

Those suspected of supporting the mutineers are arrested and executed.

The mutiny is 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, are to have a significant effect on people because of the shadowy nature of the trials.

Jose Rizal dedicates his work, El filibusterismo, to the executed priests.

On January 27, 1872 Governor-General Rafael Izquierdo approves the death sentences on forty-one of the mutineers.

On February 6, eleven more are sentenced to death, but these are commuted to life imprisonment.

Others are exiled to Guam.

The most important group will create a colony of Filipino expatriates in Europe, particularly in Madrid and Barcelona, where they will be able to create small associations and print publications that are to advance the claims of the Philippine Revolution.

The primary cause of the Cavite 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 had previously been exempt.

The taxes require them to pay a monetary sum as well as to perform forced labor called, "polo y servicio."