Jose Rizal: Persecution and Exile in Dapitan

Jose Rizal's arrival in Manila on June 26, 1892 had become very sensational among the Filipinos. His
popularity feared the Spaniards, and as such, payed careful attention to his every moves – all houses where he had
been were searched and the Filipinos seen in his company were suspected. As he had planned, on July 3, 1892 he
founded the La Liga Filipina in the house of Doroteo Ongjunco in Tondo, Manila.

Four days after the civic organization's foundation, Jose Rizal was arrested by the Spanish authorities on
four grounds:

1. for publishing anti-Catholic and anti-friar books and articles;

2. for having in possession, a bundle of handbills, the Pobres Frailes, in which advocacies were in violation of
the Spanish orders;
3. for dedicating his novel, El Filibusterismo to the three “traitors” (Gomez, Burgos and Zamora) and for
emphasizing on the novel's title page that “the only salvation for the Philippines was separation from the
mother country (referring to Spain)”; and
4. for simply criticizing the religion and aiming for its exclusion from the Filipino culture.

Arrival in Dapitan

Aboard the steamer Cebu and under heavy guard, Rizal left Manila, sailing to Mindoro and Panay, until he
reached Dapitan at seven o'clock in the evening of June 17. From that day until July 31, 1896, Dapitan became
the bear witness to one of the most fruitful periods in Rizal's life. His stay in the province was more than “he” living
in exile – it was the period when Rizal had been more focused on serving the people and the society through his
civic works, medical practices, land development and promotion of education.

Challenging the religion

In Dapitan, Rizal had a scholarly debate with Father Pablo Pastells regarding religion. This exchange of
heated arguments revealed the anti-Christian Rizal – his bitterness on the abuses performed by friars, doing such
under the name of the sacred religion. Father Pastells tried his best to win Rizal back to the faith but fortunately or
unfortunately, in vain. These series of debate ended inconclusively in which neither of them convinced the other of
his judgments/arguments.

Careers and contributions

Rizal had maximized his stay in Dapitan by devoting much of his time in improving his artistic and literary
skills; doing agricultural and civic projects; engaging in business activities, and writing letters to his friends in
Europe, particularly to Ferdinand Blumentritt and Reinhold Rost. His careers and achievements in different fields
were as follows:

- As a physician, Rizal provided free medicine to his patients, most of them were underprivileged. However,
he also had wealthy patients who paid him well enough for his excellent surgical skill. Among them were
 Don Ignacio Tumarong who gave Rizal 3000 pesos for restoring his sight, an Englishman who gave him
500 pesos, and Aklanon haciendero, Don Francisco Azcarraga, who paid him a cargo of sugar. His skill
was put into test in August 1893 when his mother, Doña Teodora Alonzo, was placed under ophthalmic
surgery for the third time. The operation was a success, however, Alonzo, ignored her son's instructions
and removed the bandages in her eyes which lead to irritation and infection.
- As an engineer, Rizal applied his knowledge through the waterworks system he constructed in Dapitan.
Going back to his academic life, Rizal obtained the title of expert surveyor (perito agrimensor) from the
Ateneo Municipal. From his practical knowledge as agrimensor, he widened his knowledge by reading
engineering-related books. As a result, despite the inadequacy of tools at hand, he successfully provided a
good water system in the province.
- As an educator, Rizal established a school in Dapitan which was attended by 16 young boys from
prominent families. Instead of charging them for the matriculation, he made the students do community
projects for him like maintaining his garden and field. He taught them reading, writing in English and
Spanish, geography, history, mathematics, industrial work, nature study, morals and gymnastics. He
encouraged his students to engage in sports activities to strengthen their bodies as well. There was no
formal room, like the typical classroom nowadays. Classes were conducted from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. with the
teacher sitting on a hammock while the students sat on a long bamboo bench.
- As an agriculturist, Rizal devoted time in planting important crops and fruit bearing trees in his 16-hectare
land (later, reaching as large as 70 hectares). He planted cacao, coffee, sugarcane, and coconuts, among
many others. He even invested part of his earnings from being a medical practitioner and his 6000-peso
winnings from a lottery on lands. From the United States, he imported agricultural machinery and
introduced to the native farmers of Dapitan the modern agricultural methods. Rizal also visualized of
having an agricultural colony in Sitio Ponot, within the Sindañgan Bay. He believed that the area was
suitable for cattle-raising and for cash-crops as the area had abundant water. Unfortunately, this plan did
not materialize.
- As a businessman, the adventurous Rizal, with his partner, Ramon Carreon, tried his luck in the fishing,
hemp and copra industries. In a letter to his brother-in-law, Manuel T. Hidalgo, he pointed out the potential
of the fishing industry in the province (as the area was abundant with fish and good beach). He also
requested that two good Calamba fishermen be sent to Dapitan to teach the fisher folks of the new fishing
methods, using a big net called pukutan. But the industry in which Rizal became more successful was in
hemp, shipping the said product to a foreign firm in Manila.
- As an inventor, little was known of Rizal. In 1887, during his medical practice in Calamba, he invented a
special type of lighter called sulpukan which he sent to Blumentritt as a gift. According to Rizal, the wooden
lighter's mechanism was based on the principle of compressed air. Another of his inventions was the
wooden brick-maker can manufacture about 6,000 bricks a day.
- As an artist, he had contributed his talent in the sisters of Charity who were preparing for the arrival of the
image of the Holy Virgin. Rizal was actually the person who modeled the image's right foot and other
details. He also conceptualizes its curtain, which was oil-painted by a sister under his instruction. He also
made sketches of anything which attracted him in Dapitan. Among his collections were the three rare
 fauna species that he discovered (dragon/lizard, frog and beetle) and the fishes he caught. He also
sculptured the statuette called “The Mother's Revenge” which represented his dog, Syria, avenging her
puppy to a crocodile which killed it.
- As a linguist, Rizal was interested in the languages used in Dapitan, thus, studied and made comparisons
of the Bisayan and Malayan languages existing in the region. In fact, Rizal had knowledge in 22
languages: Tagalog, Ilocano, Bisayan, Subanen, Spanish, Latin, Greek, English, French, German, Arabic,
Malayan, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Dutch, Catalan, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Swedish and
Russian.
- As a scientist, Rizal shared his interest with nature to his students. With his boys, they explored the jungles
and searched for specimens which he sent to museums in Europe, particularly in Dressed Museum. In
return, scientific books and surgical instruments were delivered to him from the European scientists. He
also made a bulk of other researches and studies in the fields of ethnography, archaeology, geology,
anthropology and geography. However, Rizal's most significant contribution in the scientific world was his
discovery of three species:
Draco rizali – flying dragon
Apogonia rizali – small beetle
Rhacophorus rizali – rare frog
- Rizal also partakes in civic works in Dapitan. Upon arriving in the province, he noticed its poor condition.
He drained the marshes of Dapitan to get rid of malaria-carrying mosquitoes. He also provided lighting
system – coconut oil lamps posted in dark streets – in the province out of what he earned from being a
physician. He beautified Dapitan by remodeling the town plaza, with the aid of his Jesuit teacher, Fr.
Francisco Sanchez, and created a relief map of Mindanao (footnote: using stones, soil and grass) right in
front the church.

Romantic affair with Josephine Bracken

Rizal had always been missing his family and their happy moments together in Calamba and his despair
doubled upon the announcement of Leonor Rivera's death. Not soon, to his surprise, an Irish girl enlightened his
rather gloomy heart. This girl was the 18-year-old Josephine Bracken who, to Wenceslao Retana's words, was
“slender, a chestnut blond, with blue eyes, dressed with elegant simplicity, with an atmosphere of light (gaiety).”

From Hongkong, she arrived in Dapitan in February, 1895 with his blind foster father, George Taufer, and a
Filipina named Manuela Orlac. Rizal's fame as an ophthalmic surgeon reached overseas, and one of Rizal's
friends, Julio Llorente referred the group to Rizal. Rizal and Bracken instantly fell in love with each and in just one
month, they agreed to marry which appalled and disturbed Taufer. However, the parish priest of Dapitan, Father
Pedro Obach, refused to do so unless they be permitted by the Bishop of Cebu.

On the other hand, Taufer returned to Hongkong uncured. Because no priest was willing to marry the two,
the couple exchanged their vows before God in their own way, which scandalized Fr. Obach. In 1896, their love
bears its fruit – Josephine was pregnant. Unfortunately, Bracken gave birth to a one-month premature baby boy
who lived only for three hours. The child was buried in Dapitan, bearing the name Francisco, after Rizal's father.
Katipunan seek Rizal's advice

Prior to the outbreak of the revolution, the Katipunan leader, Andres Bonifacio, seek the advice of Jose
Rizal. In a secret meeting on May 2, 1896 at Bitukang Manok river in Pasig, the group agreed to send Dr. Pio
Valenzuela as a representative to Dapitan who will inform Rizal of their plan to launch a revolution against the
Spaniards. On board the steamer Venus, Valenzuela left Manila on June 15, 1892 and in 6 days, arrived at
Dapitan with a blind companion, Raymundo Mata. At night, Rizal and Valenzuela had a talk in the former's garden.
There, Valenzuela told him of the Katipunan's plan. Regarding this, Rizal outspokenly objected Bonifacio's
“premature” idea for two reasons:

1. the Filipinos were still unready for such bloody revolution; and
2. the Katipunan lacked machinery – before plotting a revolution, there must be sufficient arms
and funds collected.

Valenzuela also told Rizal of their plan to rescue him in Dapitan. Again, the exiled hero disagreed because
he had no plan of breaking his word of honor to the Spanish authorities.

As a volunteer in Cuba

During the peak of the Cuban revolution, Rizal offered his services as a military doctor to compromise with
the shortage of physicians in the said country. It was his friend Ferdinand Blumentritt who informed him of the
situation in Cuba and suggested that he volunteer himself as army doctor. On December 17, 1895, Rizal sent a
letter to Governor General Ramon Blanco rendering his service for Cuba. But for months Rizal awaited in vain for
the governor's reply, and loss hope that his request will be granted. It was only on July 30, 1896 when Rizal
received a letter from Governor Blanco, dated July 2, 1896, accepting his offer. The letter also stated that Rizal
will be given a pass so that he can go to Manila, then to Spain where its Minister of War will assign shim to the
Army of Operations in Cuba.

Farewell to Dapitan

At midnight of July 31, 1896, Jose Rizal left Dapitan on board the steamer España, together with Narcisa,
Josephine, Angelica (Narcisa's daughter), three nephews and six of his students. Many were saddened as the
adopted son of Dapitan left. In Cebu, on their way to Manila, Rizal successfully performed an ophthalmic
operation to a merchant who paid him fifty silver pesos. After almost a week, on August 6, 1896, España arrived in
Manila. Rizal was supposedly to board the Isla de Luzon for Spain, but unfortunately, left ahead of time. Instead,
he was transferred to the Spanish cruiser Castilla to stay and wait for the next mail boat that would sail for Spain
next month. He was prohibited from leaving the vicinity but was allowed to accept visitors so long as they were his
immediate family. Of course, all these delays were part of the drama – Rizal has now fallen to the critical/deadly
Spanish trap.