Padre Jose Ma. Burgos studied in San Juan de Letran.
He sought equal treatment for browns and whites.
He was busy seeking reforms when the Cavite Revolt broke out in 1872.
Padre Burgos was suspected to be one of those inciting the people to
revolt. On February 15, 1872, during a secret trial, three Filipino
priests were sentenced to die at the gallows.
The three priests, Fathers Gomez, Burgos and Zamora were executed at the
gallows in Bagumbayan on February 28, 1872. The three martyred priests
were collectively called the GOMBURZA.
Excerpts from Talambuhay ng mga Bayani
by Rene Alba
The GOMBURZA priests were executed in Bagumbayan in 1872, and buried
in an unknown location at the Paco Cemetery.
This Centennial year, bones believed to be the missing bones
of the Gomburza martyrs were accidentally found at the Paco Park Cemetery
by the Manila City Engineers Office.
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The youngest among the three Filipino Martyr Priests(Fathers Mariano Gomez,
Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora), Father Jose Burgos was born in Vigan,
Ilocos Sur on February 9, 1837. His parents were Jose Burgos and Florencia
Garcia.
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 the 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.
For his courageous defense of the cause of Filipino priesthood, Father
Burgos earned for himself the name "Champion of the Cause of the Filipino
Clergy" but incurred the hatred of the Spanish friars. Thus, when the
Cavite mutiny broke out in 1872, the Spanish authorities arrested him together
with Father Gomes 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.
Father Jose Burgos. National Bookstore.
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