The Martyrdom of Dr. Jose P.

Rizal

Dr. Jose P. Rizal wrote the political novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.

In recognition of his overriding and overwhelming influence over the people at the
time, he was falsely and cruelly charged for crimes he did not and could not commit,
if only to dampen the growing rebellion or at least find a principal scapegoat.

His defense was centered on his avowed innocence and the absence of concrete and
specific evidence against him. Notwithstanding the brilliant defense presented by his
lawyer and his own "Supplements To My Defense," which he personally delivered,
clearly and logically demonstrating the falsity of the charges and the inherent
inconsistencies of the evidence against him, the Military Court convicted Dr. Rizal,
thus:

"In the City of Manila, on the 26th day of December, 1896: The Court Martial met
on this day under the presidency of Lieutenant Colonel Don Jose Tagores Arojana to
try and decide the case instituted against Don Jose Rizal Mercadyo y Alonso, accused
of the crimes of rebellion, sedition, and illegal association; has "examined it minutely
and carefully after the reading of the actuations made therein by the Judge
Advocate; and, having heard the accusation of the Fiscal, the brief of the defense,
and the supplement thereto read by the accused, the Court Martial declares that the
act complained of constitutes the crimes of founding illegal associations and promoting
and inciting rebellion, the first being a necessary means of committing the second; it
resulting that the accused Don Jose Rizal is responsible as principal.

"Wherefore, the Court decides that it ought to condemn and condemns the said Don
Jose Rizal to the penalty of death; and in case of pardon, the penalty, unless
specifically remitted, shall carry with it the accessories of absolute, perpetual
disqualification and subjection of the accused to the surveillance of the authorities
during his whole life, to pay as indemnity to the State the sum of 100,000 pesos,
with the obligation of transmitting the satisfaction of this indemnity to his heirs, all
in accordance with articles 18, No. 2, in relation to No. 1 of 189, and 230, in
relation to 229, No. 1; 11, 53, 63, 80, 89, 119, and 188, and No. 189, No. 1, 22,
No. 1, 123, in relation to 11, No. 3, 122, and others of general application of the
Penal Code.

"It is so pronounced and ordered by the Court Martial, the President and Members of
in accordance with articles 18, No. 2, in relation to No. 1 of 189, and 230, in
relation to 229, No. 1; 11, 53, 63, 80, 89, 119, and 188, and No. 189, No. 1, 22,
No. 1, 123, in relation to 11, No. 3, 122, and others of general application of the
Penal Code.

"It is so pronounced and ordered by the Court Martial, the President and Members of
the same signing: Jose Tagores, Braulio Rodriguez Nunez, Ricardo Munoz, Fermin
Perez Rodriguez, Manuel Requera, Manuel Diaz Escribano, Santiago Izquierdo."
(Quoted in The Pride of the Malay Race, p. 315)

Upon recommendation of Judge Advocate General Don Nicolas de la Peña this sentence
was confirmed by Governor and Captain General Camilo G. de Polavieja who issued the
following order:

"Manila, December 28, 1896. Conformably to the foregoing opinion, I approve the
sentence dictated by the Court Martial in the present case, in virtue of which the
death penalty is imposed on the accused JOSE RIZAL MERCADO, which shall be
executed by shooting him at 7 o'clock in the morning of the 30th of this month in
the field of Bagumbayan, and with the formalities which the law requires. For
compliance and the rest that may correspond, let this be returned to the Judge
Advocate, Captain Don Rafael Dominguez. Camilo G. de Polavieja." (ibid, P-139)

And so it came to pass that Dr. Jose Rizal, ophthalmologist, poet, writer, genius,
artist, sculptor, scientist, patriot, was executed with a volley of shots that snapped
the life of a man but signaled the end of almost four centuries of colonial domination
and gave birth to a new nation that hungered for independence.

But just before his death, Dr. Rizal was able to write his masterpiece in a 15.5 cm
by 9.5 cm paper. He inserted this at the bottom of his alcohol burner which he gave
to his sister Trinidad and whispered the information in English. Though without a
title nor signature, it has been popularized under the title "Mi Ultimo Adios". It is
likewise referred to as "Ultimo Pensamiento".

This masterpiece has been translated into no less than one hundred versions, in
English, in European and Asian languages, and in the various dialects of the Philippines.
The first known Tagalog version was supposed to have been written by Andres
Bonifacio. While the first English version was that of Zanoni Volpicelli. The most
popular and widely used English version is that written by Charles E. Derbyshire. It is
this version that is reproduced in this undertaking.

During the debate on the "Cooper Bill" in the United States Congress, June 19,
1902, Congressman Henry Allen Cooper of Wisconsin, Chairman of the Committee on
Insular Affairs, delivered the English version of Rizal's Ultimo Adios and "at the end of
the recital and shaking with emotion" rhetorically asked:
this version that is reproduced in this undertaking.

During the debate on the "Cooper Bill" in the United States Congress, June 19,
1902, Congressman Henry Allen Cooper of Wisconsin, Chairman of the Committee on
Insular Affairs, delivered the English version of Rizal's Ultimo Adios and "at the end of
the recital and shaking with emotion" rhetorically asked:

"Pirates, barbarians, savages, incapable of civilization!' How many of the civilized

slanderers of his race could ever be capable of thoughts like these… Search the long
and bloody roll of the world's martyred dead and where - of what soil, under what
sky - did Tyranny ever claim a nobler victim… It has been said that if American
institutions had done nothing else than furnish to the world the character of George
Washington, that alone would entitle them to the respect of mankind. So, Sir, I say
to all those who denounce the Filipinos indiscriminately as barbarians and savages,
without possibility of a civilized future, that his despised race proved itself entitled
to their respect and to the respect of mankind when it furnished to the world the
character of Jose Rizal." (Nicolas Zafra, Jose Rizal: Historical Studies, 1977, p. 151:
The bill was approved on July 1, 1902 and is variously known as the "Cooper Bill",
the "Philippine Bill of 1902", and the "Organic Act of the Philippine Islands".)