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August 14, 1835– February 17, 1872
BiographyZamora.mp3Jacinto Zamora y del Rosario
(1799-1872)
On August 14, 1835, in Pandacan, Manila, a child who had dreamt of becoming a priest was born, named Jacinto Zamora y del Rosario known as Jacinto Zamora. A Filipino secular priest, part of Gomburza who were falsely accused of mutiny in Cavite and died on February 17,1872 at the age of 36. He was a child of Venancio Zamora and Hilaria del Rosario.
Colegio de San Juan de Letran
University of Santo Tomas
Jacinto Zamora received his primary schooling in Pandacan and later at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran he finished his secondary education and received a Bachelor of Arts degree. He subsequently studied at the University of Santo Tomas where he took up theology and canon law, accomplishing the latter course with a Bachelor of Canon and Civil Laws degree, and graduated on March 16, 1858. This prepared him for the studies before his priestly ordination.
On May 1859, Zamora applied for the first tonsure, the clipping or shaving of a portion of the head as a sign of religious devotion, and minor orders. In his written application, he said that he never married any woman or dishonored one, and when asked if he was habituated to the practices of gambling, drinking, or concubines, he replied: "No, thanks to the grace of God." By September of the same year, he was admitted to the first order.
Several people believe that he was either a Chinese mestizo or pure Indio, but later on, he was able to trace his parental lineage and found out that he was a Spanish mestizo; although he was listed as ‘insular’ at Colegio de San Juan de Letran to distinguish him from peninsulares.
MANILA CATHEDRAL
His first priestly assignment was at Marikina, then later on at Pasig and Batangas. Aspiring to be engaged with his first assignment permanently, he took the competitive examination for the curacy of Marikina on September 28 and 30, 1864. However, instead of filling out that position, he was designated as one of the priests with Father Jose Burgos at the Manila Cathedral on December 3, 1864, where he saw the mistreatment of Spanish friars against the Filipino priests.
Father Zamora may not be as prominent as Burgos and Gomez, but he became a follower of Father Burgos and was involved in several movements that sought to fight equal rights among priests. In June 1869, Father Zamora was appointed as a member of the Board of Censors for the Archdiocese of Manila, that was supposedly Father Burgos but refused the position. He joined the reform committee that was composed of the Filipino liberals and supported the short-lived liberal newspaper, El Eco Filipino, during the administration of Governor Carlos de la Torre. He was further involved in campaigns with Father Burgos, whose lead by Father Pedro Pelaez and Father Mariano Gomez lead in 1869. They strived to nullify the Royal Order of 1861, which compensated the recollect Friars with 27 parishes in Manila, that was then administered by Filipino priests.
Few years later, he was confirmed as a gambler who loved to play panguingue, a native card game popular back then. Zamora had a habit of playing cards when he was still a parish priest in Marikina, attending numerous card games in Intramuros and Sampaloc hosted by friar friends, and even became fond of cockfights.
When the Cavite mutiny took place in January 1872, he was one of the alleged leaders, together with Father Jose Apolonio Burgos and Father Mariano Gomez, he was arrested and imprisoned at Fort Santiago. The arrest warrant was named of Jose Maria Zamora, who was known for being against the Spaniard authorities, but when the officers found an incriminating note saying: “Big reunion. Come without fail. Friends will come well supplied with powder and bullets.”, the officer changed the previous name with his. It had actually been an invitation to a card game and the reference to gunpowder was priestly slang for 'gambling money.' Father Zamora had lost his mind that night. This invitation was used by the Spaniards as an evidence against Jacinto Zamora. The court accused them of provoking the so called revolution, even though the evidence was not adequate. They were found guilty of treason and sentenced to death by a garrison. The witnesses said that Father Zamora was disoriented during his last days, so he did not give any last words before the garrote took the life from the young priest. The execution was carried out on February 17, 1872, at Bagumbayan Field in Manila. Father Jacinto Zamora died at the age of 36.
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