diced b Jos e S. Arc a, - non

But to complete our understanding of the background of the Cavitemutiny, let us move to the capital of the peninsula, Madrid, the center wherecrucial decisions affecting Spanish colonial policy were taken.5. The Philippine Clergy in the Madrid Press (1868-1872)The secular and regular clergy in the Philippines became a controversialtopic in the Madrid press towards the end of 1868, the year of the revolution,more concretely with the publication of two articles by Vicente Barrantes inEl Imparcial on 21 and 27 December. We have not seen the articlesthemselves, but from the reactions which we have read, it is clear Barranteswrote a long essay on the situation of the Islands, including, among others,the very low cultural level of the Filipinos—whom he apparently describedas "savages"; the futility, consequently, of extending to the Philippines therights and freedoms granted in Spain immediately after the revolution; thedefective training of the secular clergy, some of whom did not hesitate to userice flour instead of wheat for the eucharist; and, finally, the need to grantmore privileges to the regular clergy, considering the extraordinaryevangelical task they had been carrying on in the Islands since the 16thcentury.The publication of these articles by Barrantes—former secretary of theGovernor of the Philippines, and Intendant general of the Hacienda—provoked an angry reaction from a good number of periodicals and reviewsof Madrid, but especially from La, Igualdad, La Discusion, and La Reform.La DiscuslOn reechoed the ideas Barrantes had contributed in its issue for21 December 1868, and tried to refute the statements of this politician andextremist author in the issues for 3, 8, and 13 the following January, includingalmost always the controversy about the clergy. The editor of El Imparcialmust have been surprised at the scandal occasioned by the publication ofBarrantes' articles in his periodical and practically stopped publishingarticles on the Philippines in the two following years of 1869 and 1870.On 10 January, the clearly liberal La Iberia provided ample space in itspages for a series of contributions by Barrantes titled "Primary Education inthe Philippines." They appeared on 10 and 17 January, 16 February, 12 and17 March. Later this same year 1869, they would be published in book formwith the same title by the press "La Iberia."These new articles by Barrantes merely added fuel to the fire of thealready burning controversy, and provoked further replies. The editor of LaDiscusian launched a new attack on the theses of this conservativepolitician-author on 16, 23, and 30 January 1869. On the following 1 Feb-159