After 300 years of passivity under Spanish rule, the Filipino spirit reawakened when the 3 priests Gomez, Burgos and Zamora were guillotined without sufficient evidence of guilt. This occurred on the 17 th of February. This was buttressed with the spirit of liberalism when the Philippines opened its doors to world trade and with the coming of a liberal leader in the person of Governor Carlos Maria de la Torre. The Spaniards were unable to suppress the tide of rebellion among the Filipinos. The once religious spirit transformed itself into one of nationalism and the Filipinos demanded changes in the government and in the church.
The Propaganda Movement (1872-1896)
This movement was spearheaded mostly by the intellectual middle-class like Jose Rizal, Marcelo del Pilar; Graciano Lopez Jaena, Antonio Luna, Mariano Ponce, Jose Ma. Danger, and Pedro Paterno.
The objectives of this movement were to seek reforms and changes like the following:
1. To get equal treatment for the Filipinos and the Spaniards under the law.
2. To make the Philippines a colony of Spain.
3. To restore Filipino representation in the Spanish Cortes.
4. To Filipinize the parishes.
5. To give the Filipinos freedom of speech, of the press, assembly and for redress of grievances.