Position Paper on Retraction of Jose Rizal

Hundred years after Rizal’s death, there are still numerous controversies that are still yet to
be closed. One of them is the issue whether he signed the retraction and died as a catholic
or was it all fake and forged. Many argued that Rizal’s retraction is real and its proofs were
credible. A lot also believed that this retraction document was manipulated by the friars
and was a counterfeit. It seems that this argument will never see its end.

There are a lot of cases in the past where forgery is used as a tactic to deceive the opposing
enemy. It enables the other party to have dominance and control the situation by their will.
It has the power to change to flow of an event; moreover it can change how the future will
be written if it is used to manipulate history. Rizal’s retraction document can be considered
as an example of a fraud act and forgery. Although there are proofs that may prove that this
retraction did occur and is real, there are still a lot of glaring discrepancies and
questionable facts about Jose Rizal’s retraction that shows this event had not transpired.

On the other hand, there were lots of articles where they believed that Jose Rizal retracted
in his last moments. These arguments were supported by their own opinions and
perspectives on how Rizal could have felt in his last hours. These views had found a way to
persuade more people into believing that the retraction did occur. One could easily think
that their reasoning was truly convincing. An example of this was the view of Dr. Augusto
De Viana, head of UST’s Department of History, he said that Jose Rizal was just like any
person and was prone to “flip-flop”. He believed that the retraction brought peace to Rizal
at his death.

Furthermore, they contended that the retraction document that was discovered in 1935 is
original and true. They affirmed that the content of it was written and signed by Jose Rizal.
It might also seem as if the spy report of Federico Moreno was enough evidence to confirm
that there was really a retraction letter signed by Jose Rizal. They had regarded the spy
report as a credible primary source. This might be because of the idea that the one who
wrote the report was on neither side or was neutral.

Fr. Balaguer had written that Jose Rizal softened a bit when he heard the consequence of
not going back to the Catholic fold before his death. That hell awaited him and the only
salvation was signing a retraction letter and making a profession of faith. The critics might
have assumed that this warning got Rizal scared of what awaited him after death. They
possibly thought that this was the turning point which made Rizal signed the retraction
document later on. Moreno’s accounts of the events that had transpired, focusing on the
part – “read his prayer book and prayed in the altar with the company of Fathers Vilaclara
and March”, this might have also convinced the critics that Rizal abandoned his stand and
signed the retraction letter.

Hypothetically speaking, supposed Rizal did sign a retraction letter on his last 24 hours
which was in December 1896 - but the “original copy” was found only in 1935, what could
have happened to that letter in years between? For it was lost for years and was discovered
years too late. Ironically, it is found on the folders of documents in the archdiocesan
archives yet, it was nowhere to be found before and even the Jesuits who were present in
Rizal’s chamber did not know where it was.

The retraction letter was important to them since they had diligently “persuaded” Rizal to
turn back in the Catholic fold. However they misplaced it soon after claiming that Rizal had
signed it, thus this awkward situation raised questions regarding on the credibility of these
claims. Though, those who had examined the retraction letter that had surfaced in 1935
said that it was written by Jose Rizal, they cannot assure that Rizal was the one who signed
it. Writing a retraction and signing it are two different things.

Jose Rizal’s writing it did not necessarily meant that he retracted it, he could have
considered it just like when he decided to write a retraction letter just to be approved by
the bishop of Cebu, in order to marry Josephine. However, he hurriedly reclaimed it, after
realizing that this was what the friars were trying to get from him. This occurrence could
have repeated but in the end, Jose Rizal did not sign it, he did not abandon his works for he
knew that this would not change his situation and it would only be an advantage for the
Spanish regime.

There were also some accounts that said that the whole retraction document was forged.
This claim was supported by corroborating evidence. There were differences in the
spellings in the text from the former copies of the retraction letter that were published in
newspapers in 1896 and the “original” copy that was found in 1935. The way it was written
also had some differences in how Jose Rizal wrote his last documents. Roman Roque is
believed to be the one behind the forgery. He was a skilled and known forger. He had
revealed that he was employed by the friars to study Rizal’s handwriting and create copies
of retraction letters.

At the cutting edge, Jose Rizal still stands as a brave hero who stayed loyal to his country
with an unyielding devotion to it. His love for his country was greater than his love for his
life. With this in mind, as a citizen of this nation, we should seek to preserve our history,
strive for the truth and be knowledgeable enough to be able to take a stand!
References

https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/seas/8/3/8_369/_pdf

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/paco-park-cemetery

https://varsitarian.net/news/20111004/rizals_retraction_truth_vs_myth

http://www.xeniaeditrice.it/rpascualocrpdf.pdf

https://www.univie.ac.at/ksa/apsis/aufi/rizal/retana1.htm

http://writingsofrizal.weebly.com/mi-ultimo-adios.html

https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/83405/why-the-catholic-church-should-apologize-to-rizals-
mother/#ixzz6cHLqA7Ud

https://www.pressreader.com/philippines/manila-times/20110227/282187942513495

https://nhcp.gov.ph/the-rizal-retraction-and-other-cases/

http://www.joserizal.ph/rt03.html