Prior to joining this forum, I've been a lurker for half a year. One thing that I found out is the lack of Philippine TLs, as if its destiny is to be screwed in any given timelines

. So, I decide to start one. Hopefully, I could finish this.
Without further ado, let's begin...
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Banner of the Golden Sun: A Philippines Timeline
The Cavite Mutiny
The year 1872 was a pivotal year in Philippine history as it sets the series of events leading to the birth of the Filipino nation. In the year prior, a new Governor-General was appointed, in the person of Rafael de Izquierdo. Izquierdo ruled with an iron fist, and abolished all the liberal policies of his predecessor Carlos María de la Torre, while implementing harsh laws. At one point, Izquierdo abolished the tax exemption on the colonial army's engineers and artillerymen. The soldiers were unaware of this change of policy until they finally received their paycheck, which became lower than what they usually received. Their outrage increased when they found out that they had also been included to the mandatory labor service (
polo y servicio).
So, on January 20th, mestizo Sergeant Fernando la Madrid led a group of 200 men and seized Fort San Felipe in Puerto de Cavite, killing several Spanish officers. When word of the uprising reached Manila, Izquierdo responded immediately, sending a regiment led by Felipe Ginovés. In a few hours, the mutineers were crushed, those who survived were imprisoned (and later executed by January 27th). The colonial government -and the the clergy- used the incident against the growing nationalist movement. In a span of days, many liberals were arrested. Izquierdo decided to set an example to future dissidents, and executed the most prominent liberals en masse at Bagumbayan, while the less prominent were jailed, tortured and forced to perform hard labor.[1] Some of the most notable victims were the leaders of the secularist movement -priests José Burgos, Mariano Gomez and Jacinto Zamora- that were convicted and executed on February 28th.
Some liberals managed to flee overseas before being arrested. They would later found themselves in Europe, continuing their struggle for change, or -for most of them- began entertaining the concept of secession.
For the Filipino masses, however, the incident made them realize that the Spaniards never intended to let them progress, but to remain their slaves. This would inflame their desire for justice and freedom. The seeds of revolution has been planted.
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[1] The POD is Izquierdo and the clergy implemented more brutal reprisals than OTL.