GomBurZa: A Glimpse (and Nerdy Discussion) into Las Islas Filipinas
(Spoilers for 152-year-old events)
After being dragged to watch GomBurZa (which had an unexpectedly emotional ending) by Robby, Rocky must now endure a tirade of his best friend’s historical observations—and face his own inner demons…
Robby: That was a great movie!
Rocky: Nah, it was okay at best. (Hates to admit it)
Robby: Sure, Mr. Cried-At-The-End. It really feels like you were transported back to Victorian-era Spain! I picked up on so many different details…
Rocky: (Oh goodness here it comes) I didn’t cry, my eyes were just dry from the airco–…
Robby: The first interesting aspect of the movie I noticed right at the beginning was the mention of Mexico and its parochial revolutionary, Miguel Hidalgo.
Rocky: Yeah… Go on…
Robby: Anyway, although it seems outlandish for a priest to be an agitator, or do anything other than monotonous Catholic ceremonies, keep in mind that in the Spanish Empire, priests were often more connected to and were well-respected and beloved members of the community. Based on Hidalgo’s story, it made sense why men of the people would rise up for their fellow citizens. Additionally, losing Mexico was especially important for the Spanish in the Philippines because the Philippines was ruled from Mexico. You see, the Governor-General of the Philippines was an underling of the Viceroy of New Spain, who was actually the one reporting directly to Spain.
Rocky: (Increasingly uninterested) That barbecue-flavored popcorn was delicious.
Robby: Speaking of popcorn, didn’t you stop eating it (and start crying…) because of the groaning of the martyrs executed by the garrote?
Rocky: Oh what, oh yeah—what was up with that? That sounds like a really awful way to die, and all that wailing when Burgos died ruined my appetite. Kind of annoying. My lunch wasn’t that big either.
Robby: (You were part of that wailing) Even if the garrote does sound brutal nowadays, it was viewed as a more humane form of capital punishment than what was previously used—burning alive at the stake. During the Spanish Inquisition, the garrote was reserved as a merciful punishment for those who converted to Christianity while on death row. I guess if they’re going to heaven anyway, best to take the “easier” way up.
Rocky: That’s crazy. Speaking of which, why did they have to do Zamora like that? They made him a gambler with barely any screen time! And he died like he was on marijuana! I will not have that stunni– I mean, average-looking Zamora be insulted like that.
Robby: Hate to break your heart like this…
Rocky: What? As if I’d care. (He does)
Robby: …but he actually was a gambler. He was indeed executed because the authorities took his note of “powder and munitions,” literally, instead of the Gamblerese translation of “stacks of cash.” Also, Jose Burgos—not Zamora—was the focus of the film because there is much documentation of him leading the Filipino rights movement. Most notably, his open letter “To the Spanish People” was received so poorly by the Spanish that they implicated him in the Cavite Mutiny.
Rocky: Aw man! My fantasies are ruined–. I mean, that’s sad I guess.
Robby: Yup, but when I watched the movie, the Philippines didn’t look sad from a bird’s eye view. What I mean is that I adore our colonial architecture, with all its beauty and elegance. Just seeing a glimpse of old Manila makes my heart flutter. Sadly most of it was destroyed in World War 2.
Rocky: (This guy is fantasizing over buildings…)
Robby: Oh and lastly, I love the lack of an idea of what a Filipino nation is in the movie. When one character asks his servant something along the lines of “Are you a Filipino?”, the man responds with confusion, and then says something like, “I’m Tagalog.”
Rocky: Wait, what? Isn’t that sad? Isn’t that why we’re so divided today?
Robby: It’s also very historically accurate. Mexico and other Latin American countries revolted earlier, like in the early 1800s or so. The reason why we didn’t is because we didn’t think of ourselves as “citizens of the Philippine Islands.” A person from Mexico was Mexican, a person from Venezuela was Venezuelan, but a person from the Philippine Islands? They were a Tagalog, a Cebuano, a Kapampangan, an Ilocano, and so on. It’s like saying you’re a “citizen of Europe”—it’s too broad. The average “indio” had no concept of the Filipino nation—the only people who were called “Filipinos” back then were Spaniards born in the Philippines. And that’s what’s so beautiful about the Philippines. During our revolution, we decided to take that label usually reserved for the elite and slapped it onto everyone. From the Tagalog farmer to the Igorot artist to the Badjao fisherman to the Chinese merchant—we were all, for the first time, Filipino.
Rocky: Wow, that was a long rant.
Robby: It might’ve been long for you, but in the epochs of history these tedious musings can seem like a split-second. We should be grateful to be living in a moment like this where we can finally have our own nation, and all because of three lowly priests…
Epilogue
Robby: You know your old crush used to like you, right? She moved on because of you being a tsundere.
Rocky: I don’t need her anyway. I’m not giving up on Zamora!
Robby: (Did I break this poor man?)
Additional Sources:
https://nhcp.gov.ph/the-two-faces-of-the-1872-cavite-mutiny/
Joaquin, Nicomedes 'Nick'. 2005. A Question of Heroes (7th printing, 2017), Anvil Publishing Inc., p. 20. (you just know I used Wikipedia)
