By Ernestine Aurea T. Quijano
One of the special collections of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) found in the Serafin D. Quiason Resource Center (SDQRC) is the Gomez-Burgos-Zamora Centennial Commission Collection. Comprised of 7,884 items distributed in 19 boxes, the Collection preserves the institutional memory of the Gomez-Burgos-Zamora Centennial Commission. The agency was created in 1968 through Executive Order No. 155 with Justice Jose Ma. Paredes as its pioneer Chairman. It was tasked to take charge of the preparations for the First Centenary of the martyrdom of Fathers Mariano Gómes, José Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, as well as the Cavite Mutiny of 1872, of which they were charged with sedition and treason, and were sentenced to death via garrote, in 1972.
Pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 1 which mandated the reorganization of the government bureaucracy in 1972, the Commission was merged with the National Historical Institute (NHI), along with other history-related agencies. All its records were transferred to the NHI Historical Data Bank. The NHI is now called the NHCP.
Included in the Collection are official communications between the Commission and the Department of Foreign Affairs to retrieve historical documents and coordinate with descendants related to the events of 1872; the files on the GOMBURZA Monument Competition, of which artists such as Guillermo Tolentino and Abdulmari Imao were among those invited to participate, with Solomon Saprid eventually winning the competition; and documents relating to the planned marker unveilings, public libraries, and other activities in their honor.
The Collection is currently being cataloged and annotated by the NHCP Research, Publication, and Heraldry Division. These will be made available to the public via the NHCP National Memory Project soon.
Shortlist of finalist to the Gomburza Centennial Monument Design Competition.
Future National Artist Arturo Luz selects the entry of Solomon Safrid.
A page from the official activities of the Gomburza Centennial in 1972.
Example of a communication with the letterhead of the Commission