Martyrdom at Bagumbayan

CHAPTER 25
The Life and Works of Rizal
 After being court-
martialed, Rizal returned to his
cell in Fort Santiago to prepare
his rendezvous with destiny.
Dec. 30, 1896 – he was busy
meeting visitors which includes
his family and friends.
 He was also able to
write his last poem – his
final contribution for the
emancipation of the
Filipino people.
 Rizal’s Last Hours

December 29, 1896

Captain Rafael Rodriguez read Rizal’s death

6:00
A.M. sentence – he will be shot at the back by firing
squad at 7:00 A.M. in Bagumbayan.
7:00 Rizal was
A.M.
moved to the prison
chapel where he
spent his last
moments. His first
visitors were Jesuit
priests.
 Rizal reminded Fr.
7:15
A.M.
Luis Viza the statuette of
the Sacred Heart of Jesus
whom he carved as a
student in Ateneo.
Rizal had a
8:00
breakfast with Fr.
A.M. Antonio Rosell. After
breakfast, his attorney,
Lt. Luis Taviel de Lt. Luis Taviel de Andrade
Andrade came.
 Fr. Frederico Faura
9:00 arrived. Rizal reminded the
A.M.
priest of his earlier
‘prophecy’ about Rizal

More Jesuit priests had

10:00
visited him. After then, he
A.M. was interviewed by Santiago
Mataix for the newspaper El
Heraldo de Madrid.
 Captain Rafael Rodriguez read Rizal’s death
6:00
A.M. sentence – he will be shot at the back by firing
squad at 7:00 A.M. in Bagumbayan.

Rizal was moved to the prison chapel where

7:00
A.M.
he spent his last moments. His first visitors were
Jesuit priests.

7:15 A.M. – Rizal reminded Fr. Luis Viza the

7:15
A.M. statuette of the Sacred Heart of Jesus whom he
carved as a student in Ateneo.
12:00
P.M. Rizal was left alone in
his cell. He took his lunch
and continued writing his
farewell poem which he hid
in an alcohol cooking stove.
He also wrote his last letter
3:00
P.M. to Professor Blumentritt.
3:30
Father Vicente Balaguer
P.M. returned to his cell and discussed
with Rizal his retraction letter.

Teodora Alonzo visited him.

They had a very emotional
4:00 encounter. Rizal gave the alcohol
P.M.
cooking stove to Trinidad which
contains his farewell poem.
Several priests have visited him
afterwards.
 The draft of the
retraction letter sent by
the anti-Filipino
10:00
P.M.
Archbishop Bernardino
Nozaleda was given by
Fr. Balaguer to Rizal for
his signature. He had
rejected it.
 Upon Rizal’s death, his supposedly ‘retraction
letter’ became of one of the most controversial
documents in our history.
This ‘retraction letter’ allegedly contains his
renunciation of the Masonry and his ‘anti-Catholic
religious ideas.’
Depending on whose side you are on, some
Rizalists claims that it is fake while some believe it to be
genuine.
There had been some evidences but so far these
had only heated up the debate between the two
factions.
 “Now I am about to die,
and it is to you I dedicate my
last lines, to tell you how sad
I am to leave you alone in life,
burdened with the weight of
the family and our old
parents.”
 Rizal’s Last Hours
December 30, 1896
Josephine Bracken
arrived together with
Rizal’s sister, Josefa, with
5:30
A.M. tears in her eyes, bade him
farewell. Rizal embraced
her for the last time, and
before she left, Rizal gave
her a last gift – a religious
book, Imitation of Christ
by Father Thomas Kempis.
 As the soldiers were getting ready for the
6:00
A.M. death march to Bagumbayan, Rizal wrote his
last letter to his beloved parents.
“My beloved Father, pardon me for the
pain with which I repay you, for sorrows and
sacrifices for my education. I did not want it
nor did I prefer it. Goodbye Father, goodbye.”
“To my very dear Mother, Sra. Dona
Teodora Alonso 6 o’oclock in the morning,
December 30, 1896.”
 At about 6:30 A.M., a
6:30
A.M.
trumpet sounded at Fort
Santiago, a signal to begin the
death march to Bagumbayan.
Rizal walked calmly with
his defense counsel and two
Jesuit priests at his sides.
He was dressed elegantly
in a black suit, black derby h
at, black shoes, white shirt and
black tie. His arms were tied
behind from elbow to elbow.
 There a lot of spectators lining the street
from Fort Santiago to Bagumbayan.
As he was going through the narrow Postigo
Gate, Rizal looked at the sky and said to one of
the priests: “How beautiful it is today, Father.
What morning could be more serene! How clear
is Corregidor and the mountains of Cavite! On
mornings like this, I used to take a walk with
my sweetheart.”
 While he was passing in front of the
Ateneo, he saw the college towers above the
walls. He asked: “Is that the Ateneo, Father?”
“Yes”, replied the priest.
A Spanish military physician, Dr. Felipe
Ruiz Castillo, asked his permission to feel his
pulse. He was amazed to find it normal,
showing that Jose Rizal was not afraid to die.
7:03
The death ruffles of the
A.M. drums filled the air. Above the
drum beats, the sharp
command “Fire” was heard,
and the guns of the firing
squad barked. Rizal, with
supreme effort, turned his
bullet-riddled body to the
right, and fell on the ground
dead – with face upward facing
the morning sun. It was exactly
7:03 in the morning – aged 35
years, 5 months and 11 days.
 References:

• https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=RIZAL+IN+FORT+SANTIAGO%5C&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiju-
uW_PPKAhVEJJQKHZXjD34QsAQIKg&biw=1280&bih=890#imgrc=wq62DO6ejM4X8M%3A

• http://www.slideshare.net/cecille1228/rizals-martyrdom-at-bagumbayan?qid=3a2becc8-e881-4c58-9e20-1f54803e3338&v=&b=&from_search=2

• https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=prison+chapel+OF+RIZAL&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjSkufUgPTKAhWEoZQKHac0APMQsAQIGg&biw=1280&
bih=890#imgrc=ddtphLu84JlGeM%3A

• https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=Luis+Taviel+de+Andrade&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-
5MuGgvTKAhUJopQKHblAASkQsAQIKQ&biw=1280&bih=890#imgrc=ATJpwbODZCK-UM%3A

• https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=Luis+Taviel+de+Andrade&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-
5MuGgvTKAhUJopQKHblAASkQsAQIKQ&biw=1280&bih=890#tbm=isch&q=Fr.+Frederico+Faura&imgrc=Y0LCPk53gKtuoM%3A

• https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=Luis+Taviel+de+Andrade&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-
5MuGgvTKAhUJopQKHblAASkQsAQIKQ&biw=1280&bih=890#tbm=isch&q=Santiago+Mataix+&imgrc=JSlsi8Xsl_0asM%3A

• https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=Luis+Taviel+de+Andrade&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-
5MuGgvTKAhUJopQKHblAASkQsAQIKQ&biw=1280&bih=890#tbm=isch&q=farewell+poem+which+he+hid+in+an+alcohol+cooking+stove&imgrc=5fe6gk_jUZZAAM%3A

• https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=Luis+Taviel+de+Andrade&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-
5MuGgvTKAhUJopQKHblAASkQsAQIKQ&biw=1280&bih=890#tbm=isch&q=Teodora+Alonzo+visited+him&imgrc=EQ-ioI-P-M7F7M%3A

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysGOw1bS79A