No, Rizal did not retract.

Although there were many opinions and evidences

presented byvarious authors as to whether Rizal did or did not retract.
Nonetheless, until now there is noproof or any justification to end the
debate.The following assertions bring about the testimonies that Rizal did not
retract before hisexecution.First was the copy of the retraction paper that was
allegedly signed by Rizal that was even kept secret and was only published in
newspapers.
When Rizal’s family requested for the originalcopy, it was said that it was lost.
Could the Jesuits be this irresponsible to not know the value ofthe paper? Or
was it just hidden?Thirty-nine years later the original copy was found in
the archdiocesan archives. Ricardo PascualPh. D who was given permission by
the Archbishop Nozaleda to examine the document and later concluded in his
book, “Rizal beyond the Grave” that the documents presented was a forgery.
The common rebuttal of this argument was either Father Balaguer or Father Pi
hadmade errors in reproducing another copy of the original.Another evidence as
to Rizal did not retract is that when Father Balaguer came to terms that
hemarried Jose and Josephine, after Jose had signed the retraction paper,
however, there were no marriage certificate or public record shown that could
prove Father Balaguer’s statements.
Why would Rizal retract when he knows for a fact that even if he signs the
retraction paper hewould still be executed? Since the Archbishop and Jesuits
cannot do anything to mitigate his penalty because the judicial process involved
was purely a military tribunal where civilian or church interference was
uncommon and not allowed. Rizal was accused of participating infilibusterous
propaganda where the penalty as provided by the Spanish Code is death. The
same of what happened to the three priests who were garrotted years earlier,
even though they were still a part of the church; they were still treated as
rebellious and were also not given a proper burial.Furthermore, way back when
Rizal was still exiled in Dapitan, Father Sanchez- Rizal’s favourite teacher from
Ateneo was sent by the Jesuits superiors to try to convince his former student’s
allegation towards the Catholic religion and Spanish religious in the Philippines.
Father Sanchez told him to retract in exchange of a professorship, a hundred
thousand pesos and an estate (Laubach, 1936) however Rizal rejected the
offer.It was argued that Rizal retracted in order to save his family from further
persecution, to give Josephine Bracken a legal status as his wife and to assure
reforms from the Spanish.
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