On Gomburza's 150th martyrdom anniversary, Kuya Kim shares trivia on the heroic priests

It's been 150 years since Filipino priests Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora—collectively known as Gomburza—were executed by authorities during the Spanish colonial period.

On Monday's "24 Oras," Kuya Kim looked back and shared trivia on the three priests whom the Philippines considers as three of its heroes.

In 1872, they were among those sentenced to death by strangulation for taking part in the Cavite Mutiny, where over 200 people revolted against the Spaniards for voiding their exemption in paying taxes.

However, historians said Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora did not really participate in the mutiny. It was just used as an excuse to stop their advocacies against Spanish friars.

"'Yung execution nila, nagsilbi itong kamulatan sa mga Pilipino na kinakailangan matapos na 'yung pang-aabuso ng mga mananakop na Español," historian Camille Magpile said.

["Their execution served as an eye-opener to Filipinos that abuse from Spaniards should be stopped."]

The priests were buried without markers or gravestones, so historians had a hard time looking for them.

However, in 1998, bodies were found at the Paco Park Cemetery. They're believed to be the Gomburza's, but studies are still ongoing to confirm it.

Their most famous photo, meanwhile, is also still facing doubts. In the shot used for the 10-peso English series banknote released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), they seemed all be of the same age.

This does not match their ages when they passed away. Gomez was already 73 years old in 1872, while Zamora and Burgos were 37 and 35 years of age, respectively.

Meanwhile, several statues have been put up to remember the three priests. Along Burgos Street in Manila, a monument by Solomon Saprid was declared by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines as the national monument of the Gomburza.

There also exists a Plaza De Padre Mariano A. Gomes in Bacoor, Cavite, while a monument was built for Zamora in Pandacan, Manila, where he was born and raised.

Burgos' house in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur, meanwhile, now serves as a museum. Among the things that can be found there is one of the original copies of Dr. Jose Rizal's novel "Noli Me Tangere."

Though Rizal was only 10 years old when the Gomburza died, he was already aware of what happened. He even used them as inspiration for his second novel "El Filibusterismo."

—MGP, GMA News