Readings in the Philippine History

Activity Five
Yu, Maria Jessica
BSE ENG-CHI 1A

Why was Rizal’s retraction still an issue today?

The controversy regarding the retraction or the draft stating the withdrawal of Rizal from his past
statements about the Catholic church resulted into an opposition between the Catholic Rizalists
and the Masonic Rizalists which both aims to prove their perception of the event. It is clearly a
debatable issue until today due to the lack of reliable testimonies and evidence which will
support or favor an opposition. This topic is related to the life and works of Rizal, but it does not
nullify his title of being the National Hero of the Philippines because despite of his actions and
exclamations towards the Catholic church, it will not change nor dissolve the value of the heroic
act that he did for his country.

This controversy is a crucial part of our history, every important event that phased us made and
shaped our present. It is also crucial to analyze and thoroughly study the sources of these
information before deciding on whether it is a true part of the said event and if not, it will be put
through a series of investigation to prove that it is a hoax. One significant reason why this is still
an issue even in today’s generation is because this keeps the history of our country alive and
well-preserved that must be passed on from generation to generations with a consistent and
steady structure so it must be set straight and proven true to avoid misinformation and the spread
of hoax information.

How would you justify the statement: If Rizal did not retract his anti-Catholic beliefs and
writings, why did he do it? If not, why do you think so?

Rizal is Rizal, he is a man of his words and actions. It was obviously shown and stated in his
works that he deplore the Catholic Church and their deeds even in his last literary piece which is
the “Mi Ultimo Adios” he stood firm with his beliefs and perception. It was said that these
challenged the reputation of the church hence, they convinced Rizal to retract and reconvert
himself to Catholicism.

There are findings and studies wherein the marriage of Rizal to Josephine Bracken was the
reason why Rizal signed a retraction draft made by the friars however, the main witnesses for
this event were mostly the priests that he despised the most, so it is hard to believe the
testimonies given by this friars. The feud between Rizal and the Catholic church reached to the
point where Rizal was detained and executed but even after having said that Rizal signed a
retraction, he still faced a death sentence. Some believe that the signature was forged and that
Rizal sticked to his beliefs even until his final moments.

Rizal is a patriotic man and his love for his nation weighs more than any love he feels for
women, at least that’s what his works shows us and if he truly retracted, it will mean that he did
not have a firm state of mind and stand and he does not deserve the title however, because this
controversy is questionable and is yet to be proven, it is up to the readers and audiences to form
their own interpretation and stand regarding whether Rizal retracted or stood on his ground until
the end.