UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY

Biglang Awa St., Corner Catleya St., EDSA, Caloocan City

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

LIFE AND WORK’S OF RIZAL

 

LESSON no.5 Rizal’s Exile in Dapitan

OVERVIEW:

This lesson explore the life of Rizal in Dapitan and the transformation he had made in the
province.

LEARNING OUTCOME

● Discuss the reason why Rizal was sent to Dapitan

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Identify the reason of captivity of Rizal

2. Describe the experiences of Rizal in Dapitan
3. Evaluate the impact of Rizals life in Dapitan to his longing to set the Philippines Free .
4.Understand the reason behind why La Liga Filipina did not lasted long

ENGAGE
Kindly click and watch the video and write down your understanding below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkittvSUqgc _
 EXPLORE

ACTIVIT no.1

1.What advantages did Rizal got when he was sent to Dapitan?

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EXPLAIN

INTERSTING FACTS OF RIZAL IN DAPITAN

1. Rizal was brought under a maximum security to the steamer S.S. Cebu headed by
Capt. Delgras on the 15th of July, 1892, which sailed for Dapitan.

2. Captain Ricardo Carnicero is the Spanish commandant of Dapitan when Rizal was

banished in the city. Rizal eventually wrote a poem entitled ” A Don Ricardo
Carnicero” on the occasion of the commandant’s birthday on the 26th of August,
1892. Rizal temporarily lived in the house of the commandant in Calle Real.

3. Investing in lottery tickets is the only vice of Rizal. On September 21,

1892 Dapitan burst in hectic excitement because a boat from Butuan was approaching
the town with colored pennants bringing the happy tidings that the lottery ticket with
the permutation 9736 jointly owned by Captain Carnicero , Rizal and Francisco Equilor
won the second prize of Php 20,000 in the government-owned Manila lottery.

4. CASA REDONDA is one room octagonal house which originally functioned as Rizal’s
pupil dormitory. It was later on converted into a clinic where Rizal operate the eyes of
his patients.
5. CASA CUADRADA is a dormitory to accommodate the growing number of his pupil.
The underneath served as workshop area of the pupils.

6. CASA RESIDENCIA is the main house of Rizal where his family members stated
during their visit. This house encircled with a veranda which is a Japanese inspired.

7. Rizal’s most significant contribution in the scientific world was his discovery of
three species

Draco Rizali which is a flying dragon. Apogonia Rizali is a small beetle. Rhacophorus
Rizali is a rare frog which he sent to museums in Europe, particularly in Dressed
Museum.

8. A piece of land at Sitio Daanlungsod in the Lubugan was bought by Rizal which is
now a Municipality of Katipunan.

9. Rizal wanted to remain in Mindanao and planned to colonize Ponot , located at the

Western Coast of the island near Sindangan where he intended to plant coconuts,
coffee and cacao.

10. In July of 1877, Fr. Jose Vilaclara, Rizal’s former teacher in Ateneo and then Parish
priest of Dipolog Church requested him to do some pencil sketches of the best altars
which was eventually used in designing the altar of the church.

11. In 1896, Rizal felt in love with an Irish girl named Josephine Bracken. Their love
bear its fruit but Bracken gave birth to a one month premature baby boy who lived
only for three hours. The child was buried in Dapitan, hearing the name Francisco,
after Rizal’s father

ELABORATE

JOSE RIZAL IN DAPITAN and KATIPUNAN

The Spanish government could have been satisfied of Rizal's innocence of any treasonable
designs against Spain's sovereignty in the Islands had it known how the exile had declined an
opportunity to head the movement which had been initiated on the eve of his deportation.
His name had been used to gather the members together and his portrait hung in each
Katipunan lodge hall, but all this was without Rizal's consent or even his knowledge.

(Dr. Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio)

The (Katipunan) members, who had been paying faithfully for four years, felt that it was time
that something besides collecting money was done. Their restiveness and suspicions
led Andres Bonifacio, its head, to resort to Rizal, feeling that a word from the exile, who had
religiously held aloof from all politics since his deportation, would give the Katipunan leaders
more time to mature their plans. So he sent a messenger to Dapitan, Pio Valenzuela, a
doctor, who to conceal his mission took with him a blind man. Thus the doctor and his patient
appeared as on a professional visit to the exiled oculist. But though the interview was
successfully secured in this way, its results were not so satisfactory.

Far from feeling grateful for the consideration for the possible consequences to him which
Valenzuela pretended had prompted the visit, Rizal indignantly insisted that the country
came first. He cited the Spanish republics of South America, with their alternating revolutions
and despotisms, as a warning against embarking on a change of government for which the
people were not prepared. Education, he declared, was first necessary, and in his opinion
general enlightenment was the only road to progress. Valenzuela cut short his trip, glad to
escape without anyone realizing that Rizal and he had quarreled.

Bonifacio called Rizal a coward when he heard his emissary's report, and enjoined
Valenzuela to say nothing of his trip. But the truth leaked out, and there was a falling away
in Katipunan membership.

Doctor Rizal's own statement respecting the rebellion and Valenzuela's visit may fitly be
quoted here:

"I had no notice at all of what was being planned until the first or second of July, in 1896,
when Pio Valenzuela came to see me, saying that an uprising was being arranged. I told him
that it was absurd, etc., etc., and he answered me that they could bear no more. I advised him
that they should have patience, etc., etc. He added then that he had been sent because they
had compassion on my life and that probably it would compromise me. I replied that they
should have patience and that if anything happened to me I would then prove my innocence.
Besides, said I, don't consider me, but our country, which is the one that will suffer. I went on
to show how absurd was the movement. Then later, Pio Valenzuela testified. -He did not tell
me that my name was being used, neither did he suggest that I was its chief, or anything of
that sort."

"Those who testify that I am the chief (which I do not know, nor do I know of having ever
treated with them), what proofs do they present of my having accepted this chiefship or that I
was in relations with them or with their society? Either they have made use of my name for
their own purposes or they have been deceived by others who have. Where is the chief who
dictates no order and makes no arrangement, who is not consulted in anything about so
important an enterprise until the last moment, and then when he decides against it is
disobeyed? Since the seventh of July of 1892 I have entirely ceased political activity. It seems
some have wished to avail themselves of my name for their own ends."

This was Rizal's second temptation to engage in politics, the first having been a trap laid by
his enemies. A man had come to see Rizal in his earlier days in Dapitan, claiming to be a
relative and seeking letters to prominent Filipinos. The deceit was too plain and Rizal
denounced the envoy to the commandant, whose investigations speedily disclosed the
source of the plot. Further prosecution, of course, ceased at once.

The visit of some image vendors from Laguna who never before had visited that region, and
who seemed more intent on escaping notice than interested in business, appeared
suspicious, but upon report of the Jesuits the matter was investigated and nothing really
objectionable was found.

The Katipunan, which had been organized on the eve of Rizal's deportation but had done
little since, took on new life through the zeal and ability of Emilio Jacinto, a young student
whose patriotic mother, a nurse (midwife) was sister of a Liga Filipina and Masonic leader
later shot. Jacinto epitomized the Filipinos' historic grievances in an impressively simple but
dramatic initiation ceremony that taught Philippine history and developed patriotism so
successfully that the thousands who now crowded into the revolutionary society were eager
to, and did risk everything in their country's cause.

Reference:
Lineage, life and labors of Jose Rizal, Philippine patriot: a study of the growth of free ideas in
the trans Pacific American territory, Austin Craig, Yonkers-on-Hudson: World book co., 1914
(via The United States and its Territories, 1870 - 1925: The Age of Imperialism, University of
Michigan Digital Library)

ACTIVITY no.2 What transpire in the document ,give your interpretation

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Today in Philippine history, July 3, 1892, Dr. Jose Rizal founded the La
Liga Filipina

In the night of July 3, 1892, Dr. Jose Rizal founded and inaugurated the La Liga Filipina at
house No. 176 Ilaya St., Tondo. It was formed not for the purpose of independence, but for
mutual aid and protection of its members, and the fostering of a more united spirit among
Filipinos. Its constitution declared the ends, form, duties of members and officials, rights of

members and officials, the investment of funds, and general rules.

(An artist concept of Dr. Jose Rizal and other Liga members)

CONSTITUTION OF THE LIGA FILIPINA

Ends:

1. To unite the whole archipelago into one compact, vigorous, and homogeneous body.
2. Mutual protection in every want and necessity.
3. Defense against all violence and injustice.
4. Encouragement of instruction, agriculture, and commerce.
5. Study and application of reforms.

Motto: Unus instar omnium [i.e., one like all.]

Countersign:.

Form:

1. To set these ends in operation, a Popular Council, a Provincial Council, and a

Supreme Council shall be created.
2. Each Council shall consist of a Chief, a Fiscal, a Treasurer, a Secretary, and
members.
3. The Supreme Council shall consist of the Provincial Chiefs, just as the Provincial
Council shall be composed of the Popular Chiefs.
4. The Supreme Council shall have command of the Liga Filipina, and shall deal
directly with the Provincial Chiefs and Popular Chiefs.
5. The Provincial Council shall have command of the Popular Chiefs.
6. The Popular Council only shall have command of the members.
7. Each Provincial Council and Popular Council shall adopt a name different from that
of their locality or region.

Duties of the Members:

 1. They shall pay monthly dues of ten centimos.
2. They shall obey blindly and promptly every order emanating from a Council or a
Chief.
3. They shall inform the Fiscal of their Council of whatever they note or hear that has
reference to the Liga Filipina.
4. They shall preserve the most absolute secrecy in regard to the decisions of the
Council.
5. In all walks of life, preference shall be given to the members. Nothing shall be bought
except in the shop of a member, or whenever anything is sold to a member, he shall
have a rebate. Circumstances being equal, the member shall always be favored. Every
infraction of this article shall be severely punished.
6. The member who does not help another member in the case of need or danger,
although able to do so, shall be punished, and at least the same penalty suffered by
the other shall be imposed on him.
7. Each member, on affiliation, shall adopt a new name of his own choice, and shall not
be able to change the same unless he become a Provincial Chief.
8. He shall bring to each Council a service [trabajo; evidently a service done for the
organization], an observation, a study, or a new candidate.
9. He shall not submit to any humiliation or treat anyone with contempt.

Duties of the Chief:

1. He shall continually watch over the life of his Council. He shall memorize the new
and real names of all the Councils if he is the Supreme Chief, and if only a Popular
Chief those of all his affiliated members.
2. He shall constantly study means to unite his subordinates and place them in quick
communication.
3. He shall study and remedy the necessities of the Liga Filipina, of the Provincial
Council, or of the Popular Council, according as he is Supreme Chief, Provincial
Chief, or Popular Chief.
4. He shall heed all the observations, communications, and petitions which are made to
him, and shall immediately communicate them to the proper person.
5. In danger, he shall be the first, and he shall be the first to be held responsible for
whatever occurs within a Council.
6. He shall furnish an example by his subordination to his superior chiefs, so that he
may be obeyed in his turn.
7. He shall see to the very last member, the personification of the entire Liga Filipina.
8. The omissions of the authorities shall be punished with greater severity than those of
the simple members.

Duties of the Fiscal:

1. The Fiscal shall see to it that all comply with their duty.
2. He shall accuse in the presence of the Council every infraction or failure to perform
his duty in any member of the Council.
 3. He shall inform the Council of every danger or persecution.
4. He shall investigate the condition of the funds of the Council.

Duties of the Treasurer:

1. He shall enter in a ledger the new names of the members forming the Council.
2. He shall render strict monthly account of the dues received, noted by the members
themselves, with their special countermarks.
3. He shall give a receipt and shall have a note of it made in the ledger in the hand of the
donor, for every gift in excess of one peso and not over fifty.
4. The Popular Treasurer shall keep in the treasury of the Popular Council, the third part
of the dues collected, for the necessities of the same. The remainder, whenever it
exceeds the sum of ten pesos, shall be delivered to the Provincial Treasurer, to whom
he shall show his ledger, and himself writing in the ledger of the Provincial Treasurer
the amount delivered. The Provincial Treasurer shall then give a receipt, and if it is in
accordance with the accounts, shall place his 0. K. in the ledger of the other. Like
proceedings shall follow when the Provincial Treasurer delivers funds in excess of
ten pesos to the Supreme Treasurer.
5. The Provincial Treasurer shall retain from the sums handed to him by the Popular
Treasurer one-tenth part for the expenses of the Provincial Council.
6. Whenever any member desires to give the Liga Filipina a sum in excess of fifty
pesos, he shall deposit the sum in a safe bank, under his vulgar name and then shall
deliver the receipt to the Treasurer of his choice.

Duties of the Secretary:

1. At each meeting he shall keep a record of proceedings, and shall announce what is to
be done.
2. He shall have charge of the correspondence of the Council. In case of absence or
incapacity, every authority shall name a substitute, until the Council name one to fill
his place.

Rights of the members:

1. Every member has a right to the moral, material, and pecuniary aid of his Council and
of the Liga Filipina.
2. He may demand that all the members favor him in his trade or profession whenever
he offers as many guaranties as others. For this protection, he shall transmit to his
Popular Chief his real name and his footing, so that the latter may hand it to the
Supreme Chief who shall inform all the members of the Liga Filipina of it by the
proper means.
3. In any want, injury, or injustice, the member may invoke the whole aid of the Liga
Filipina.
4. He may request capital for an enterprise whenever there are funds in the treasury.
 5. He may demand a rebate of all the institutions or members sustained directly by the
Liga Filipina, for all articles [sold him] or services rendered him.
6. No member shall be judged without first being allowed his defense.

Rights of the Secretary [sic; Chief?]

1. He shall not be discussed unless an accusation of the Fiscal precede.

2. For want of time and opportunity, he may act by and with himself, as he has the
obligation to perform the charges which may be laid on him.
3. Within the Council he shall be the judge of every question or dispute.
4. He shall be the only one who shall be empowered to know the real names of his
members or subordinates.
5. He shall have ample power to organize the details of the meetings, communications,
and undertakings, for their efficacity, security, and rapid despatch.
6. Whenever a Popular Council is sufficiently numerous, the Provincial Chief may
create other subordinate Councils after first appointing the authorities. Once
constituted, he shall allow them to elect their authorities according to the regulations.
7. Every Chief shall be empowered to establish a Council in a village where none exists,
after which he shall inform the Supreme Council or Provincial Council.
8. The Chief shall appoint the Secretary.

Rights of the Fiscal:

1. He shall cause every accused person to go out or appear while his case is being
discussed in the Council.
2. He shall be able to examine the ledgers at any time.

Rights of the Treasurer:

He shall dispose of the funds in an urgent and imperious necessity of any member or of the
Council, with the obligation of giving account and answering before the tribunal of the Liga
Filipina.

Rights of the Secretary:

He may convoke extra meetings or assemblies in addition to the monthly meetings.

Investment of the funds:

1. The member or his son, who while not having means, shall show application and
great capacities shall be sustained.
2. The poor shall be supported in his right against any powerful person.
3. The member who shall have suffered loss shall be aided.
4. Capital shall be loaned to the member who shall need it for an industry or for
agriculture.
5. The introduction of machines and industries, new or necessary in the country, shall be
 favored.
6. Shops, stores, and establishments shall be opened, where the members may be
accommodated more economically than elsewhere.

The Supreme Chief shall have power to dispose of the funds in needy cases, whenever he later
renders an account to the Supreme Council.

General Rules:

1. No one shall be admitted without a previous and unanimous vote of the Council of his
village, and without satisfying the tests to which he must submit.
2. Offices shall end every two years, except when there is an accusation by the Fiscal.
3. In order to obtain the posts, three-fourths of all the votes present shall be required.
4. The members shall elect the Popular Chief, the Popular Fiscal, and the Popular
Treasurer. The Popular authorities shall elect the Provincial authorities; and the
Provincial authorities shall elect the Supreme authorities.
5. Every time that a member becomes the Popular Chief, that fact shall be
communicated to the Supreme Chief, together with his new and old names; and the
same shall be done whenever a new Council shall be founded.
6. Communications in ordinary times, shall bear only the symbolical names both of the
writer and of the persons for whom they are intended, and the course to be pursued
shall be from the member to the Popular Chief, from the latter to the Provincial Chief
or the Supreme Chief, and vice versa. In extraordinary cases alone shall these
formalities be omitted. However, in any time or place, the Supreme Chief may
address anyone directly.
7. It is not necessary for all the members of a Council to be present to render decisions
valid. It shall be sufficient if one-half the members are present and one of the
authorities.
8. In critical moments, each Council shall be considered as the safeguard of the Liga
Filipina, and if for any cause or other the other Councils are dissolved or disappear,
each Council, each Chief, each member, shall take upon himself the mission of
reorganizing and reestablishing them.

This constitution was partly printed at London, at the London Printing Press, No. 25 Khulug
St., in both Spanish and Tagalog. Those parts printed (the ends, duties of the members, and the
general rules) contain some changes from Rizal's MS. Preceding the constitution proper is the
membership pledge to the Liga. It is as follows: "Number. i.. To.. of.. I.. of.. years of age, of..
state, profession., as a chosen son of Filipinas, declare under formal oath that I know and
entirely understand the ends aimed at by the Liga Filipina, whose text appears on the back of
the present. Therefore, I submit myself, and of my own accord petition the chief.. of this
province, to admit me as a member and coworker in the same, and for that purpose I am ready
to unconditionally lend the necessary proofs that may be demanded of me, in testimony of my
sincere adhesion! " The ends of this printed text are the same as those of the MS. The motto is
the same, and there is also a place for a countersign.

The duties of the members are somewhat changed, the changes being as
follows:

1. He shall pay two pesos for one single time, as an entrance fee, and fifty centimos as monthly
fee, from the month of his entrance. 2. With the consciousness of what he owes to his
fatherland, for whose prosperity and through the welfare that he ought to covet for his parents,
children, brothers and sisters, and the beloved beings who surround him, he must sacrifice
every personal interest, and blindly and promptly obey every command, every order, verbal or
written, which emanates from his Council or from the Provincial Chief. 3. He shall
immediately inform, and without the loss of a moment, the authorities of his Council of
whatever he sees, notes, or hears that constitutes danger for the tranquillity of the Liga Filipina
or anything touching it. He shall earnestly endeavor to be sincere, truthful, and minute in all
that he shall have to communicate. 4. He shall observe the utmost secrecy in regard to the
deeds, acts, and decisions of his Council and of the Liga Filipina in general from the profane,
even though they be his parents, brothers and sisters, children, etc., at the cost of his own life,
for this is the means by which the member will obtain what he most desires in life." Articles 5,
6, 7, 8, and 9 are the same.

The general rules of the printed version are as follows:

"In order that the candidate may be admitted as a member to the Liga Filipina, he must possess
morality, good habits, not have been proceeded against justifiably as a robber, shall not be a
gambler, drunkard, or libertine. The candidate must solicit and petition his entrance from a
member; and the latter shall communicate it to his Fiscal, for the investigations that must be
made in regard to his conduct."

On Dec. 30, 1903, a monument was erected to Rizal, to his companions, and to other founders
of the Liga Filipina by the village of Tondo, on a site given by Timoteo Paez, one of the
members of the Liga. On the monument is the following inscription: "Remember [this word in
English, the rest in Spanish]. Facing this site and at house No. 176 Ilaya St., Dr. Rizal founded
and inaugurated on the night of July 3, I892, the Liga Filipina, a national secret society, with
the assistance and approval of the following gentlemen:

Founder, Dr. Rizal; shot.

Board of directors- president, Ambrosio Salvador; arrested.
Fiscal, Agustin de la Rosa; arrested.
Treasurer, Bonifacio Arevalo; arrested.
Secretary, Deodato Arellano; first president of the national war Katipunan society; arrested.

Members

● Andres Bonifacio; supreme head of the Katipunan, who uttered the first warcry
against tyranny, August 24, 1896.
● Mamerto Natividad; seconded, in Nueva Ecija, the movement of Andres Bonifacio,
August 28, 1896; shot.
● Domingo Franco; supreme head of the Liga Filipina; shot.
 ● Moises Salvador; venerable master of the respected lodge, Balagtas; shot.
● Numeriano Adriano; first guard of the respected lodge, Balagtas; shot.
● Jose A. Dizon; venerable master of the respected lodge, Taliba; shot.
● Apolinario Mabini; legislator; arrested.
● Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista; first patriot of '68; arrested.
● Timoteo Lanuza; initiator of the manifestation for the expulsion of the friars in I888;
arrested.
● Marcelino de Santos; arbitrator and protector of La Solidaridad, the Filipino organ in
Madrid; arrested.
● Paulino Zamora; venerable master of the respected lodge, Lusong; deported.
● Juan Zulueta; member of the respected lodge, Lusong; died.
● Doroteo Ongjunco; member of the respected lodge, Lusong; owner of the house.
● Arcadio del Rosario; orator of the respected lodge, Balagtas; arrested.
● Timoteo Paez; arrested.

Sources:

1. The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803; explorations by early navigators, descriptions of

the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as
related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic,
commericial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with
European nations to the beginning of the nineteenth century; (Vol. 1, no. 52), Emma
Helen Blair, MCMVII

ACTIVITY No.3

Why did La Liga Filipina Did not lasted long

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EVALUATE

ACTIVITY no.4

1.What pushes Rizal to improve Dapitan?

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2. Why Did Bonifacio sent Dr. Pio Valenzuela to Dapitan?

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3. Why did the church in Dapitan rejected Rizals plan of Wedding with
Josephine Bracken?
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REFERENCES

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkittvSUqgc

https://www.academia.edu/37748150/Rizal_sa_dapitan

https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/822/dr-jose-rizal-in-dapitan-and-the-katipunan
A Timeline of His Last Arrest, Incarceration, Execution and
the Journey of His Remains
Compiled by Prof. Sir Michael Charleston “Xiao” B. Chua, K.O.R.
Order of the Knights of Rizal, Sucesos Chapter

6 October 1896, 3:00 AM: On his 4th day of being held in his cabin at the MV Isla de Panay docked
at Barcelona, Spain on his way to Cuba, Rizal was awakened to be brought to Montjuich Prison in
Barcelona, Spain.

6 October, 2:00 PM: Interview with General Eulogio Despujol

6 October, 8:00 PM: Aboard the Colon, Rizal left Bercelona for Manila.

3 November: Rizal was brought to Fort Santiago, where other patriots, including his brother
Paciano, were being tortured to implicate him. Paciano refused to sign anything despite being his
body broken and his left hand crushed.

20 November: Preliminary investigation began with Rizal appearing before Judge Advocate Colonel
Francisco Olive. The investigation lasted five days.

26 November: The records of the case were handed over to Governor General Ramon Blanco who
then appointed Captain Rafael Dominguez as special Judge Advocate.

8 December: From a list submitted to him by the authorities, he chose the brother of his friend, Lt.
Luis Taviel de Andrade to become his trial lawyer. He was only made to choose among army officers
and not a civilian lawyer.

11 December: In his prison cell, Rizal was read the charges against him: “principal organizer and the
living soul of the Filipino insurrection, the founder of societies, periodicals and books dedicated to
fomenting and propagating the ideas of rebellion.”

13 December: Ramon Blanco was replaced by Camilo de Polavieja, a more ruthless character, as

Governor General of the Philippines. Dominguez submitted the papers of the Rizal case to
Malacañan Palace.

15 December: Rizal issued his manifesto to certain Filipinos calling to end the “absurd” rebellion
and to fight for liberties with education as a prerequisite. The authorities supressed the manifesto.

25 December: Rizal’s saddest Christmas, away from family and friends. 

26 December, 8:00 AM: Trial of Rizal began at the Cuartel de España. On the same day, the court-
martial secretly and unanimously voted for a guilty verdict with the penalty of death before a firing
squad.

28 December: Polavieja signs the death verdict.

29 December, 6:00 AM: Rizal was read his verdict by Captain Rafael Dominguez: To be shot the
next day at 7:00 AM at the Luneta de Bagumbayan (Rizal Park).

29 December, 7:00 AM: Rizal was transferred to the chapel cell adorned by religious images to
convince him to go back to the Catholic fold. His first visitors were Jesuit priests Fathers Miguel
Saderra Mata and Luis Viza.

29 December, 7:15 AM: After Fr. Saderra left, Rizal asked Fr. Viza for the Sacred Heart statuette
which he carved when he was an Ateneo student. From his pocket the statuette appears.

29 December, 8:00 AM: Fr. Viza was relieved by Fr. Antonio Rosell who joined Rizal for breakfast.
Lt. Luis Taviel de Andrade joins them.

29 December, 9:00 AM: Fr. Federico Faura, who once said that Rizal would lose his head for
writing the Noli Me Tangere, arrived. Rizal told him, “Father you are indeed a prophet.”

29 December, 10:00 AM: Fathers José Vilaclara and Estanislao March visited Rizal, followed by a
Spanish journalist, Santiago Mataix of El Heraldo de Madrid, for an interview.

29 December, 12:00-3:30 PM: Rizal’s time alone in his cell. He had lunch, wrote letters and
probably wrote his last poem of 14 stanzas which he wrote in his flowing handwriting in a very small
piece of paper. He hid it inside his alcohol stove. The untitled poem was later known as Mi Ultimo
Adios (My Last Farewell). In its second stanza, he already praised the revolutionaries in the
battlefield for giving their lives “without doubt, without gloom.”

29 December, 3:00 PM: According to an account of the agent of the Cuerpo de Vigilancia guarding
Rizal’s cell, Rizal signed what seems to be the document retracting his anti-Catholic writings and his
membership in masonry. This event is a contentious issue among Rizal experts.

29 December, 4:00 PM: Visit of Rizal’s mother, Teodora Alonso. Then Rizal’s sister Trinidad
entered to get her mother and Rizal whispered to her in English referring to the alcohol stove, “There
is something inside.” They were also accompanied by Narcisa, Lucia, Josefa, Maria and son
Mauricio Cruz. Leoncio Lopez Rizal, Narcisa’s eleven-year-old son, was not allowed to enter the
cell. While leaving for their carriages, an official handed over the alcohol stove to Narcisa. After
their visit, Fathers Vilaclara and Estanislao March returned to the cell followed by Father Rosell.

29 December, 6:00 PM: Rizal was visited by the Dean of the Manila Cathedral, Don Silvino Lopez
Tuñon. Father March left Father Vilaclara to be with the two.

29 December, 8:00 PM: Rizal’s last supper where he informed Captain Dominguez that he already
forgave those who condemned him.

29 December, 9:30 PM: Rizal was visited by the fiscal of the Royal Audiencia of Manila, Don
Gaspar Cestaño with whom Rizal offered the best chair of the cell. According to accounts, the fiscal
left with “a good impression of Rizal’s intelligence and noble character.”

30 December, 5:30 AM: Rizal took his last meal. According to stories told to Narcisa by Lt. Luis
Taviel de Andrade, Rizal threw some eggs in the corner of a cell for the “poor rats,” “Let them have
their fiesta too.” Rizal also wrote to his family and to his brother.
30 December, 5:00 AM: Teary-eyed Josephine Bracken and Josefa Rizal came. According to the
testimony of the agent of the Cuerpo de Vigilancia, Josephine and Rizal were married. Josephine was
gifted by Rizal with the classic Thomas á Kempis book Imitations of Christ in which he inscribed,
“To my dear and unhappy wife, Josephine, December 30th, 1896, Jose Rizal.” They embraced for the
last time.

30 December, 6:00 AM: Rizal wrote his father, Francisco Mercado “My beloved Father, Pardon me
for the pain with which I repay you for sorrows and sacrifices for my education. I did not want nor
did I prefer it. Goodbye, Father, goodbye… Jose Rizal.” To his mother, he had only these words, “To
my very dear Mother, Sra. Dña Teodora Alonso 6 o’clock in the morning, December 30, 1896. Jose
Rizal.”

30 December, 6:30 AM: Death march from Fort Santiago to Bagumbayan begins. 4 soldiers with
bayoneted rifles lead the procession followed by Rizal, Taviel de Andrade, Fathers Vilaclara and
March and other soldiers. They passed by the Intramuros plaza, then turned right to the Postigo gate
then left at Malecon, the bayside road now known as Bonifacio Drive.

30 December, 7:00 AM: Rizal, after arriving on the execution site at the Luneta de Bagumbayan,
was checked with his pulse by Dr. Felipe Ruiz Castillo. It was perfectly normal. Rizal once wrote, “I
wish to show those who deny us patriotism that we know how to die for our duty and our
convictions.”

“Preparen.” “Apunten.” Rizal shouted, “Consummatum est.” It is done.

30 December, 7:03 AM: With the captain shouting “Fuego!” Shouts rang out from the guns of eight
indio soldiers. Rizal, being a convicted criminal was not facing the firing squad. As he was hit, he
resists and turns himself to face his executors. He falls down, and dies facing the sky.

“Viva España! Muerte a los traidores!”

But in two years, the victorious Philippine revolutionaries will seal the fate of the Spanish Empire in
the east. Three hundred thirty three years of Spanish Colonialism ended in 1898.

30 December 1896, afternoon: Narcisa, after a long search, discovered where her brother’s body
was secretly buried, at the old unused Paco Cemetery. She asked the guards to place a marble plaque
designed by Doroteo Ongjungco containing Rizal’s initials in reverse—“RPJ.”

17 August 1898: Four days after the Mock Battle of Manila when the Americans took over the city,
the remains of Rizal where exhumed. They were brought to Narcisa’s house, washed and cleansed
and were placed in an ivory urn designed by Romualdo Teodoro de Jesus. The urn stayed there until
1912.

29 December 1912: From Estraude Street in Binondo, Manila, the urn was transferred in a
procession headed by the masons and the Knights of Rizal to the marble hall of the Ayuntamiento de
Manila, where it stayed overnight with the Knights on guard.

30 December 1912, morning: In a solemn procession, the urn began its last journey to Rizal’s final
resting place the base of the soon-to-rise national monument to José Rizal.
30 December 1913: The Rizal National Monument at the Luneta was inaugurated. Its original design
name was “Motto Stella” (Guiding Star) and was made by Swiss sculptor Dr. Richard Kissling who
earlier also made the National Monument to William Tell, the National Hero of Switzerland.

30 December 2012: The transfer of the remains of Rizal from Binondo to the site of the Rizal
Monument was recreated one hundred years later by the Order of the Knights of Rizal and the
National Historical Commission of the Philippines in commemoration of Rizal’s 116th Martyrdom
Anniversary.

This brief timeline was prepared by a historian for the commemoration of the centenary of the
transfer of José Rizal’s remains to its present burial site at the Rizal Park which will be re-enacted
by the Order of the Knights of Rizal on 30 December 2012. This timeline was first featured at ABS-
CBN News.com in 2012, at the Bagumbayan (The official newsletter of the Order of the Knights of
Rizal) and at the souvenir program of the recently concluded 50th National Rizal Youth Leadership
Institute. Special thanks to Sir Choy Arnaldo for encouraging me to make this timeline.

ACTIVITY no.5
How do you describe the trial of Rizal ?
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RETRACTION OF RIZAL
DID RIZAL CONSIDER RETRACTING WHILE IN DAPITAN?
by Bryan Anthony C. Paraiso
Akin to walking on a mine field, the issue of José Rizal’s alleged retraction of his religious
errors stirs up the emotions of historians, flaring up into fiery debates between the pros and
cons, without any resolution in sight.
The thought of a disavowal of his beliefs is almost sacrilegious and improbable to Rizal’s
character and vehemence against oppression, as evidenced by a letter to Mariano Ponce on
April 18, 1889: “…At the sight of those injustices and cruelties…I swore to devote myself to
avenge one day so many victims, and with this idea in mind I have been studying and this can
be read in all my works and writings. God will someday give me an opportunity to carry out my
promise.”
Of the religious orders, he writes: “…the friars are not what they pretend to be nor are they
ministers to Christ, the protector of the people, nor the support of the Spanish government…
Don’t they show cruelty? Don’t they instigate the government against the people? Don’t they
manifest terror? Where are sanctity, protection, and force?”
Rizal knew that his crusade might end in death, but revealed that he was unsure of his
reaction: “…no one knows how one should behave at that supreme instant, and perhaps I
myself who preach and brag so much might manifest more fear and less energy than (Fr. Jose)
Burgos at that critical moment.”

Arguments on the retraction revolve around the veracity of the confession Rizal purportedly
signed prior to his execution and testimonies of several witnesses who had seen the act carried
out.
However, if Rizal did retract, when did he come to this decision? Was he weary of the
struggle that he decided to give in to the continuous urgings of the Jesuit fathers who were
present at his death cell? Or is it possible that Rizal had ruminated on retracting while still on
exile in Dapitan?
 Noted historian Fr. Jose Arcilla’s monumental multi-volume Jesuit Missionary Letters from
Mindanao contains several letters of the Jesuit Antonio Obach to his Mission Superior, which
may shed light on this matter. Obach wrote on July 28, 1895: “Rizal has just seen me and said
(what has been jumping from mouth to mouth of some who heard it from him), ‘Father
Antonio, I no longer want further battles with the friars, but live and work in peace.’
‘What you ought to do is retract all your errors and you will be at peace.’
‘I am ready to do what Your Reverence says, but under certain conditions.’
I gave him a pen and paper for him to write these conditions. In his own hand and style, he
wrote: ‘Conditions I ask to retract references to the matter of the friars, and no longer meddle
with them.’
—José Rizal

1. His freedom
2. Return to his family what has been confiscated or give its equivalent.
3. P50,000 to start a business to support himself

On fulfillment of these conditions, Rizal will write to the bishop.”

Does this letter provide irrefutable proof that Rizal had decided on retracting beforehand?
What is intriguing is that he had arrived at this decision, evidently, to spare his family from
further suffering and maltreatment.
Fr. Obach continues: “…Rizal says his family owned two houses of heavy materials, and he
asks that they be returned or their equivalent…I answered that the only thing I could do was to
look into the situation and if there is no difficulty, for I do not know how things are…As for the
third, I said that I do not think they would give him such a big amount. His plan…is to raise a
huge cement plant which, on a small scale…has been quite successful. But this third condition is
not important, for without it, he is ready to make a retraction provided his family is provided
for. Besides, if they grant him this amount, it would be on condition that he repays it.”
Obach’s letter also details Rizal’s initiative of opening a wholesale store in Dapitan to
compete with the Chinese traders, “who do nothing but cheat the Indios.” In fact, Rizal had
prepared the statutes and regulations of the Society of Dapitan Agriculturists, aiming to
facilitate the easy buying, selling, and storage of products for export, and curtailing the trade
monopoly of the Chinese.
 Obach believed that they had successfully persuaded Rizal to turn away from his errors: “I
am convinced that Rizal is now tired and wants to retract, but his pride strongly holds him
back…I think he will immediately break away from everything and he would be an excellent
Christian.”
In a letter on the following day, Obach reports: “Regarding the letter I sent to Your
Reverence which contains Rizal’s retraction. I would ask you to send me a model retraction…In
demanding that Rizal indicate what has been taken from his family, perhaps it will be
humiliating for the Dominican Fathers. Rizal refuses, because in this way they will (have) him
bound more tightly under obligation. On the other hand, retracting is acknowledging his errors,
and so it is his turn to humble himself…I await your letter which I can read to Rizal to convince
him what is better to do for God’s greater glory.”
By August 28, 1895, Obach recounted that Rizal requested for a detailed account of his
errors: “…Rizal came and asked me if I could draw up a list of his errors. ‘You can tell Fr. Ricart, I
am ready to write, and tell him that I myself will retract all errors I may have committed against
the Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church in my writings, and that he can make this same
retraction public in the manner he wants.’ But with this he stands to lose everything…”
Obach wrote that Rizal insisted that he and his family should receive some form of
compensation for all the troubles they endured: “But on condition that they give me P50,000
since I have no means to support myself in decency, and with that amount I could bring my
parents with me anywhere.” He no longer talks of machines and cement, and so on, and he
thinks that this amount is owed him because of the harm inflicted on him.”
Are Father Antonio Obach’s letters a reliable source about Rizal’s situation? Will these
revelations provide new clues to his frame of mind during the few hours before his death? The
mystery of Rizal’s retraction deepens.

ACTIVITY no.6 DID RIZAL REALLY RETRACTED

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REFRENCES
Ocampo, A. (1996) Rizal Without the Overcoat.Oregem International Publishing.
Paras,A (2010) Rizal Life,Works and Writings of the Greatest Malayan.HisgoPhil
Publishing
Zaide,G.(1995) Jose Rizal Life,Works and Writings Of a genius Writer ,Scientist
and National Hero.All Nations