Rafael de Izquierdo y Gutiérrez

Philippine governorship

Replacing General Carlos María de la Torre on 4 April 1871, Rafael Izquierdo was installed as Governor-General of the Philippines. He is responsible for the opening of steamship and telegraph lines in the country.

He was also known to have promptly rescinded the liberal measures, thus implementing harsher laws, which ignited an uprising. The reformation suggested that the soldiers of the Engineering and Artillery Corps should pay taxes, from which they were previously exempt. Another drastic change was the requirement to perform manual labor. These changes eventually led to the 1872 Cavite mutiny, in which around 200 soldiers of the Engineering and Artillery Corps revolted and killed their officers. In retaliation, many liberals were implicated in the involvement of the conspiracy. The Spanish military court condemned the martyred priests, Fathers Mariano Gomez, José Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora (GOMBURZA), to capital punishment by means of the garrote, on 17 February 1872. This uprising led to delays in rebuilding Malacañan Palace, and in turn almost transferred colonial governance back within the walls of Intramuros for security purposes. The plan to transfer the colonial government to Intramuros ended when Izquierdo fell ill and he stepped down from his position on 8 January 1873.

Rafael Izquierdo spent the remaining years of his life in Madrid, Spain, where he died in 1882.

Cultural references The Filipino novel Revolution: 80 Days (2022) featured Izquierdo as an antagonist to one of its main characters Juan Ruiz, a former soldier turned migrant worker.