I. Jose Rizal’s First Homecoming
The
• August, 1887 : Rizal arrived in the Philippines from Europe
• Prior to his homecoming, Jose Rizal was advised by his friends
not to go back to the country due to the impact created by the
Noli Me Tangere that has made him more popular even to the
authorities.
• While in Calamba, Laguna he operated his mother’s cataracts. It
is the first time that such operation was done in the Philippines at
that time. He also put up a clinic for eye operations/surgery and
was successful in his operations on people with cataracts. People
flocked to Calamba and he became famous.
• Jose Rizal was summoned to Malacañang Palace by the
governor-general regarding the Noli Me Tangere. The governor-
general appointed a committee that will review the novel. In
attempt to spy on Jose Rizal, the governorgeneral assigned Jose
Taviel de Andrade a young Spanish official of the Civil Guard to
serve as Rizal’s personal escort.
• The committee’s review of the Noli concluded that the novel is:
 “impious, heretical, or scandalous”
 it is against the doctrine, against the church and the religious
orders
 It is against the institutions, civil, military, social and political
which the Government of Spain implanted in the Philippines
 it aims to inspire among the loyal and submissive sons of Spain
in these distant islands, profound, and furious hate to the mother
country…"
• In January 1888, Jose Rizal wrote a petition to the Administrator
of Public Islands of Laguna about the Haciendas of the friars in
Calamba. He cited all the grievances of the Calamba folks and
tenants against the supposed owner of the hacienda. He said the
owner didn’t help in the improvement of agriculture, in the
celebration of the town fiesta, in the education of the children,
and that the profit of the hacienda increased due to the increased
rentals
• In March 1888, a manifesto was sent to the governor-general to
petition the ouster of Spanish friars from the Philippines. It was
considered as the first public reaction to the Noli Me, Tangere.
manifesto was regarded by Spanish authorities as subversive and
anti-clerical and the 28 people who signed it were jailed and
punished. The manifesto was also debated in the Senate of Spain
and all of the legislators agreed to the action done by the Spanish
authorities in the Philippines. (Reactions to Noli Me Tangere)
II. Reasons of Jose Rizal’s travel to Europe => The friars became furious
to Jose Rizal because of the Noli Me Tangere and his petition regarding
the grievances of Calamba people and tenants. They lobbied for the
confiscation and prohibition of the Noli and the consequent arrest of
Jose Rizal. In order to avoid persecution, Paciano and Narcisa Rizal
convinced Jose to go out of the country. Through the help of some of
his family members, Rizal left the Philippines in February, 1888.
III. Jose Rizal in Hong Kong, Macau and Japan => Jose Rizal reached
Hong Kong on February 08, 1888 and boarded in the house of Jose Maria
Basa. After visiting Hong Kong, he left and visited Macau then left for
Japan. In Japan, Rizal studied the habits and customs of the Japanese
people, their language, theaters and commerce.He wrote Blumentritt
about the honesty, courtesy, cleanliness and industry of the Japanese
people. However, he also expressed his disgust on the use of the man
drawn jinrikisha. Rizal met Usui Seiko [O Sei-san] They had love affair but
it was short lived. On April 13, 1888, Rizal left Yokohama for San
Francisco, on board the Belgic.
IV. Jose Rizal in U.S.A. => Jose Rizal allotted three weeks to tour around
U.S. but it was not followed because he was quarantined for eight days in
San Francisco for the custom officials refused to admit the 800 Chinese
on board the ship. He was not greatly impressed of the U.S. and he noted
the prevalence of rampant discrimination especially to the Chinese and
‘negro’. From New York, he boarded the ship City of Rome and reached
Liverpool, on May, 24, 1888. From there, he went to England.
IV. Jose Rizal in England => Jose Rizal started to work in the British
Museum Library for the annotation of Antonio de Morga’s Sucesos de las
Islas Filipinas [Events in the Philipines - 1609] wherein he refuted the
accusations of prejudiced Spanish writers against Filipinos Presented the
16th century Filipino culture and showed that Filipinos had developed Rizal in Calamba:
culture even before the coming of the Spaniards.
• In January 1888, Jose Rizal wrote a petition about the
While completing his annotation to the Sucesos, he also began Haciendas of the friars in Calamba.
writing the El Filibusterismo, the sequel of the Noli Me Tangere. On • He cited all the grievances of the Calamba folks and tenants
December 1888, Filipinos in Barcelona, Spain organized and founded the against the supposed owner of the hacienda.
La Solidaridad. The publication of the newspaper started on Feb 1889. •
Jose Rizal was in London but was elected as the honorary president of
the organization. The organization through the La Solidaridad demanded
for reforms and the assimilation of Philippines to Spain. Jose Rizal
continued to contribute articles in the La Solidaridad such as ‘The
Philippines: A century hence’ and ‘To the Young Women of Malolos’.

‘In order to read the destiny of a

people, it is necessary to open the
book of its past, and this, for the
Philippines may be reduced in
general terms to what follows.’

VI. Rizal in Europe => Jose Rizal organized the Indios Bravos
 Rizal finished the El Filibusterismo in 1891 in Ghent,
Belgium
 It was dedicated to the Gomburza. But due to lack of
money, Rizal almost decided not to publish it. Fortunately
for him he got financial help from Valentin Ventura who
lent him money for the printing of the novel.

Jose Rizal went to Hong Kong to meet his family in December 1891.
He expressed to them his plan to establish a colony in Borneo to be
free from the Spaniards but it his family members did not approve it.
He put up a clinic in Hong Kong and became known as ‘Spanish
doctor’. In June 21, 1892, together with his sister Lucia sailed back to
Manila. When they arrived in Manila, authorities who searched their
luggage claimed that his sister carried with her seditious writings
under her pillow case. The package included copies of a tract called
“The Poor Friars - a caustic attack on the Dominicans.