In 1823, a Spanish order declared that military officers commissioned in Spain would take precedence over those appointed in the colonies. This was the reaction of
Madrid to the series of wars against
Spanish rule that was known as the
Spanish American wars of independence. Many
Creole military officers were outranked by their
Peninsular counterparts. An
insurgency was staged by a Creole captain named
Andrés Novales, but was suppressed when
Fort Santiago did not yield to Novales and his 800 men. Madrid did not notice the growing disaffection in the Philippines, the last major Spanish colony in
Asia. In 1828, matters worsened when Peninsulars replaced public officials, primarily provincial governors. ==Conspiracy==