José Apolonio Burgos y García: The Defender of the Native Clergymen

            It has been two hundred and seventy two years of Spanish rule in the Philippines, when a man destined to defend the native clergymen was brought to life, José Apolonio Burgos y García.

            José was born in Vigan, Ilocos Sur on February 9, 1837. His parents were Don José Tiburcio Burgos (First Liutenent of the Batallon Milicias 5 de Linea) and his mother Florencia García (a Spanish-Filipina mestizo noted for her beauty and intelligence). Young Jose’s first teacher was his mother who taught him to read and write. After finishing his elementary grades in Vigan in 1849, he went to Manila and enrolled at San Juan de Letran College where he excelled in all subjects. At the age of 17, he finished Bachiller en Artes with honors. He studied priesthood at the University of Santo Tomas and said his first mass at the Parroquia del Sagrario de Intramuros. He sought equal treatment for brown and whites.

For his courageous defense of the cause of Filipino priesthood, Father Burgos earned for himself the name “Champion of the cause of Filipino Clergy” for he freed Felipe Buencamino, a young student that has been charged with spreading nationalist propaganda through leaflets that demands academic freedom but incurred hatred from Spanish friars. Thus, when the Cavite mutiny broke out in 1872, the Spanish authorities arrested him together with Father Gomez and Father Zamora, charging them of having incited the revolution. After a mock trial at Fort Santiago on February 15, 1872, they were sentenced to die by means of the garrote, a Spanish strangulation by an iron collar tightened by a screw. On February 17, 1872, they were executed in Bagumbayan, now the Luneta.

            One of the writings of Burgos that was published in the nineteenth century was a novel entitled the La Loba Negra. The story revolves around the tragic assassination of Governor-General Fernando Bustamante whose administration was greatly admired for its planned reforms in the colonial administration.

He follows the commands of King Phillip V of Spain with full of compassion as he consolidates the taxes in the Philippines. As a principled man he was, he rejected the gifts of friendship by the Friars discovering the shame and remorse that they brought to the colony and sent them to jail. But his strict governance did not earn praise instead Gov. General was flooded with hates that pushed the priests to work full force to plot for his death.

Doña Luisa, the wife of Bustamante witnessed the assassination of his husband and son. It was a horror sight for Luisa plus knowing that her daughter was raped by a curate. Owing to these tragic occurrences, Luisa has neglected her Christianity. Slaying friars together with her sexually abused daughter was their only method to lessen the tormenting pain that’s been infused in their hearts.

Luisa was titled as La Loba Negra (The Black She-Wolf) for she had slain about two hundred (200) priest and clergymen that she encounters. Luisa becomes the leader of the natives' abuse by the church and concurs with Macatangay. The marriage of her daughter to Sandugo ensures Luisa and Macatangay's missions in life and death. Before Luisa died, she spoke of a bright tomorrow after the long night.

The story depicts the moral issue of vengeance by the temporary insanity of Doña Luisa brought by the killings of her husband and son. The story gave us insights regarding the tragic effects of our nation’s most lamentable social ills. The orchestrated misused of government funds, the systematic violation of basic human rights and the continuous loss of life and property due to abandonment and greed.

This work of Jose Burgos is still relevant to the current situation in the modern day society. As young adults on the quest on discovering who we are and who we are meant to be, the role of the nation building has firmly placed in our hands. To the Filipino youth, as the change agents of our country, we must endeavor to understand and to act in ways that mirror the depth of human dignity.

 Reference:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jose-Burgos 

I'm also glad to join "Get Sponsored !!" community.

The idea of community is to sponsor quality content creators & reward community members for their activities.

Join if you want to "Get Sponsored !!"

Thank you @Ashma for the continuous support! I am motivated to write more under your support💕

Special thank you to my friend @ladyhanabi for helping me on the revisions of this article (Bayiii! Alam mo naman na palpak ako pagdating sa grammar so thank youuuu biri much. Ipon ipon lang para sa ating mga anime husbandos yieee)

I would also like to thank my sponsors @dexter , @Jesus, @scottcbusiness  , @thesatoshistore  , @cryptoworld and @Shitcoincharter  for supporting my articles. 💕

Please don't hesitate to drop a comment down below your thoughts regarding this article. Lovelots!