Martyrdom at Bagumbayan

CHAPTER 25
 After being cour t-
mar tialed, Rizal retu rned to
his cell in For t Santiago to
prepare his rendezvous with
destiny.
Dec. 30, 1896 – he was busy
meeting visitors which includes
his family a nd friends.
 He was also able to
write his last poem –
his final contribution
for the emancipation
of the Filipino people.
 Rizal’s Last Hours
December 29, 1896

Captain Rafael Rodriguez read Rizal’s

de a th sentence – he will be shot at the
6:00
A.M.
back by firing squad at 7:00 A.M. in
Bagumbayan.
7:00 Rizal was moved
A.M.
to the prison chapel
where he s pent his
las t moments. His
firs t visitors were
Jesuit pries ts –
Father Miguel
Saderra Mata, and
Father Luis Viza.
7:15
Rizal reminded Fr.
A.M. Luis Viza of the statuette
of the Sacred Heart of
Jesus whom he carved
as a student in Ateneo.

Rizal h a d a
8:00 breakfas t with Fr.
A.M. Antonio Rosell. After
breakfas t, his attorney,
Lt. Luis Taviel de
Lt. Luis Taviel de Andrade
And rade came.
9:00 Fr. Frederico Faura
A.M.
arrived. Rizal reminded
the priest of his earlier
‘prophecy’ about Rizal

More Jesuit pries ts

ha d visited him . After
then , he was interviewed
10:00
A.M.
by Santiago Mataix for
the newspaper El Heraldo
de Madrid.
12:00
P.M. Rizal was left alone
in his cell. He took his
lunch and continued
writing his farewell
poem which he hid in
an alcohol cooking stove.
At the same time, he
3:00
P.M.
also wrote his las t letter
to Professor Blumentritt
(bes tfriend in German)
Prof. Ferdinand Blumentritt:
My dear brother:
When you receive this letter, I shall be dead. Tomorrow at seven. I shall be
shot: but I am innocent of the crime of rebellion.
I am going to die with tranquil conscience.
Goodbye, my best, my dearest friend, and never think ill of me.

Fort Santiago, December 29, 1896.

(Signed) Jose Rizal

Regards to the entire family, to Sra. Rosa, Loleng, Condradito and

Federico.
I am leaving a book for you as a last remembrance of mine.
3:30
P.M.
Father Vicente Balaguer returned to Fort
Santiago and discussed with Rizal his
retraction letter.

Teodora Alonzo visited

him . They had a very emotional
4:00
P.M.
encounter. Rizal gave the alcohol
cooking stove to Trinidad which
contains his farewell poem .
Several pries ts have visited him
afterwards.
 After the departure of Doña Teodora and
Trinidad, Fathers Balaguer and Estanislao March
entered the cell followed by Father Rosell.
Rizal received a new visitor, Don Silvino
6:00
PM. Lopez Tuñon, Dean of the Manila Cathedral.
Fathers Balaguer and March left, leaving Vilaclara
with Rizal and Don Silvino.
Rizal had his last supper. He informed Captain
8:00
Dominguez who was with him that he forgave his
PM. enemies, including the military judges who
condemned him to death
 He was visited by Don
9:30 Gaspar Cestaño. As a
PM
gracious host, Rizal gave him
the best chair in the cell and
had a pleasant conversation.

The draft of the

retraction letter sent by the
anti-Filipino Archbishop
10:00 Bernardino Nozaleda was
P.M. given by Fr. Balaguer to
Rizal for his signature. He
had rejected it.
 Upon Rizal’s death, his supposedly ‘retraction
letter’ became of one of the most controversial
documents in our history.
This ‘retraction letter’ allegedly contains his
renunciation of the Masonry and his ‘anti-Catholic
religious ideas.’
Depending on whose side you are on, some Rizalists
claims that it is fake while some believe it to be genuine.
There had been some evidences but so far these
had only heated up the debate between the two
factions.
 December 30,1896

3:00 Rizal heard Mass, confessed his sins,

and took the Holy Communion.
AM.

Rizal took his last breakfast on Earth.

After this, he wrote two letters, the first
5:30
AM
addressed to his family, and the second to
his older brother Paciano.
To my family:

I ask you for forgiveness for the pain I cause you, but
some day I shall have to die and it is better that I die now
in the plenitude of my conscience.

Dear Parents, brother, and Sisters, Give thanks to

God that I may preserve my tranquility before my death. I
die resigned, hoping that with my death you will be left in
peace. Ah! It is better to die than to live suffering.
Console yourselves.
 I enjoin you to forgive one another the little
meannesses of life and try to live united in peace and good
harmony. Treat your old parents as you would like to be
treated by your children later. Love them very much in my
memory.

Bury me in the ground. Place a stone and a cross

over it. My name, the date of my birth and of my death.
Nothing more. If later you wish to surround my grave with
a fence, you can do so. No anniversaries. I prefer Paang
Bundok.
My dear Brother:

It has been four years and a half that we have not

seen each other nor have we communicated with each
other. I do not think it is due to lack of affection on my
part nor on yours, but because, knowing each other so
well, we do not need to talk to understand each other.

Now I am about to die, and it is to you that I dedicate

my last lines, to tell you how sad I am to leave you alone in
life, burdened with the weight of the family and our old
parents.
 I am thinking now how hard you have worked to give
me a career; I believe I have tried not to waste my time.
Brother of mine: if the fruit has been bitter, it is not my
fault, but the fault of circumstances. I know that you have
suffered much on my account and I am sorry.

I assure you, brother that I die innocent of this crime

of rebellion. I my former writings have contributes, I do not
deny it absolutely; but then, I thought I have expiated for
the past with my deportation.
 Tell our father I remember him and how! I
remember my whole childhood, of his affection and his
love. Ask him to forgive me for the pain that I have
unwillingly caused him

Your brother,
(signed) Jose Rizal
 December 30, 1896

Josephine Bracken
arrived together with
5:30
Rizal’s sister, Josefa, with
A.M. tears in her eyes, bade him
farewell. Rizal embraced
her for the las t time, a nd
before she left, Rizal gave
her a las t gift – a religious
book, Im itation of Chris t
by Father Thom as Kempis.
6:00 As the soldiers were getting ready for the
A.M.
death march to Bagumbayan, Rizal wrote his
last letter to his beloved parents.

My beloved Father,
Pardon me for the pain with which I repay you, for
sorrows and sacrifices for my education.
I did not want it nor did I prefer it.
Goodbye, Father, goodbye….
Jose Rizal
To my very dear Mother,
Sra. Dña. Teodora Alonso
6 o’oclock in the morning, December 30, 1896.

Jose Rizal
6:30
At about 6:30 A.M., a
A.M. trumpet sounded at Fort
Santiago, a signal to begin the
death march to Bagumbayan.
Rizal walked calmly with
his defense counsel a nd two
Jesuit pries ts a t his sides.
He was d ressed elegantly
in a black suit, black derby
h at, black shoes, white shir t
a nd black tie. His a rm s were
tied behind from elbow to
elbow.
 There a lot of spectators lining the s treet
from For t Santiago to Bagumbayan.
As he was going th rough the narrow Pos tigo
Gate, Rizal looked a t the sky a nd said to one of
the pries ts: “How beautiful it is today, Father.
W h a t morn ing could be more serene! How clear
is Corregidor a nd the mou ntain s of Cavite! On
morn ings like this, I used to take a walk with
my sweethear t.”
 While he was passing in front of the
Ateneo, he saw the college towers above the
walls. He asked: “Is that the Ateneo, Father?”
“Yes”, replied the priest.
They reached Bagumbayan field. The
spectators crowded a huge square formed by
soldiers. The cavalcade entered this square.
Rizal walked serenely to the palace, where he
was told to stand. I was a grassy lane by the
shore of Manila bay, between to lamp posts.
Martyrdom of a Hero

At his last moments, he bade his farewell tp

Fathers March and Vilaclara and to his gallant
defender Lt. Luis Andrade. Although his arms were
tied, he firmly clasped their hands in parting. One of
the priests blessed him and offered him a crucifix to
kiss. Rizal bowed his head and kissed it.
He requested the commander of the firing squad,
that he be shot facing them. But this was denied for
the captain had implicit orders to shoot him in the
back.
Martyrdom of a Hero

Reluctantly. Rizal turned his back to the

firing squad and faced the sea. A Spanish
military physician, Dr. Felipe Ruiz Castillo, asked
his permission to feel his pulse, which request
was graciously granted. Dr. Castillo was amazed
to find it normal, showing that Rizal was not
afraid to die.
7:03 The death ruffles of the
A.M. drums filled the air. Above
the drum beats, the sharp
command “Fire” was heard,
and the guns firing squad
barked. Rizal, with supreme
effort, turned his bullet-
riddled body to the right, and
fell on the ground dead –
with face upward facing the
morning sun. It was exactly
7:03 in the morning – aged 35
years, 5 months and 11 days.
Rizal dies as he prescribed in his farewell poem, third stanza.

“ I die just when I see the awn break,

Though the gloom of the night, to herald he day;
And if color is lacking my blood thou shall take,
Pour’d out at need for thy dear sake,
To dye with its crimson the walking ray.”

It was also interesting to note that fourteen years

before his execution, Rizal predicted that he would die
on December 30th.
 He was a medical student in Madrid, Spain that time. His
diary reads:

January 1. 1883

Two nights ago, that is 30 December, I had a frightful

nightmare when I almost died. I dreamed that, imitating an
actor dying on stage, I felt vividly that my breath was failing
and I was rapidly losing my strength. Then my vision became
dim and dense darkness enveloped me – they are the pangs
of death.
Aftermath of a Hero –Martyr’s Death

At the time when Dr. Rizal was killed by the

bullets of Spain’s firing squad, the Spaniards
exulted with sadistic joy, for Rizal, formidable
champion of Filipino freedom, was gone.
After Rizal’s execution, the Spanish
spectators shouted “Viva España!” “Muerte a los
Traidores” (“Long Live Spain! Death to the
traitors” and the Military band played the gay
Marcha de Cadiz