LAZARTE, Louise Gabrielle A.

BSMT2A

1. What were Rizal's contributions to Dapitan in his 4 years of exile?

Jose Rizal began to adapt to his new home in Dapitan by helping the local residents and
offering his services as an educator, businessman, and physician. When Rizal won a lottery
amounting to Php 6,00, he established a free education for the people, in exchange for helping
him in garden and construction projects. He taught his pupil different classes and activities such
as boxing, wrestling, swimming and etc. He taught them Spanish, English, Mathematics, and how
to work. He applied the education system of Ateneo and what he learned from the education
system in Europe because he held importance in educating his fellowmen. Rizal also established
business in the fishing, copra, and hemp industries. In addition to that, he helped the local farmers
to break away from the Chinese monopoly by organizing the Cooperative Association of Dapitan
Farmers. He was not just a savior of farmers; he was also a farmer himself. Rizal was able to
acquire several hectares of land where he planted trees and crops such as coconut, hemp, cacao,
sugarcane and etc. By providing a lighting system and relief map of Mindanao, Rizal was able to
reduce the risk of diseases in the area as well as beautifying the province of Dapitan through his
contribution to the arts. Furthermore, he was able to invent several works that helped the local
community such as the Dapitan’s water system which he was able to make due to his knowledge
in engineering. His water system was able to provide the local community fresh and clean water.
With his degree and skills, Rizal was able to provide free medicine and treatment for the local
residents, some of the money that he received was invested in the development of the community
of Dapitan. He furthermore contributed to the Science by exploring the province where he was
able to find new species that are named after him. Rizal has built up a rich oncology collection
consisting of 346 shells of 203 species.

2. It was stated that Rizal's trial was pre-judged? Do you agree or disagree? Justify your
answer.
Reading the texts that were provided, I agree that Jose Rizal’s trial is pre-judged, and it
reeks injustice. The evidence that it was pre-judged is based on the following: he never had the
change to cross-examine the people that testify against him, his defense counsel, a refusal for
his manifesto, confiscation of his properties before he was even declared as guilty. His trial was
a court-martial which is done only for soldiers which does not make sense because Rizal is not a
soldier, but a physician and a civilian so he was entitled to a civilian court which would allow him
to have a lawyer, not military personnel that is not familiar with the laws to defend him. Moreover,
the defense counsel that Rizal had was outranked by the prosecutor or judges which is why the
court would become more biased towards the high-ranking ones. The first evidence is when the
court did not allow Rizal to cross-examine the people who testified against him since those
people’s testimonies are questionable in terms of their reliability because their liberty was at stake
during the trial. Second is his manifesto, although Rizal already wrote a manifesto condemning
the use of violence and the unauthorized use of his name. However, it was not approved because
the Spaniards believe that Rizal did not condemn the future actions of Filipinos to gain
independence from Spain. Third, Rizal’s properties and goods were confiscated even though
there has been no verdict, yet which shows that the Spaniards already knew that will be the verdict
or ending of the trial. Furthermore, the court was not able to prove that Rizal organized the
rebellion, or he had a connection to lead/organize the rebellion. In addition to that, the court
presented irrelevant materials such as his poems that are suspected to an indictment of treason
even though it was only a poem to present Rizal’s love to his country and it does not even prove
armed revolt. The lack of evidence and reliable testimonies to condemn Rizal as guilty were not
even presented, but still, he was declared and executed as guilty of treason, rebellion, and
sedition.

3. Was Rizal ready to face his death through firing squad? Prove your answer.

Rizal was ready to face his death through firing squad which is why he wrote several letters
to address his family and Filipinos which are hidden on the lamp that was retrieved by his sister.
He already knew that the trial is pre-judged and the trial is only for the show, Rizal made few
requests for his execution such as sparing his head from being shot which was approved by the
commander, but his request for not being blindfolded and facing the civil guards to prove that he
was not a traitor was not approved. When Rizal was accompanied to Bagumbayan, he held his
head high and smiled he was not afraid of dying for the country because he believed that his
death would ignite the passion of the Filipinos for the liberation. Furthermore, the physician who
took Rizal’s pulse stated that it was calm and Rizal was not afraid to die. He was shot and he fell
facing the sky to show he was no traitor and that he was willing to die for his country.