EXILE IN

DAPITAN (1892-
1896)
JOSE RIZAL; LIFE, WORKS AND WRITINGS

GCAS09 WED 5-8PM

GROUP 5 TOPIC 1
CAIQUET, MONTILLA
Rizal was exiled in Dapitan, a town in Mindanao under the missionary jurisdiction of the Jesuits. The
four year hiatus in his life was uneventful but was abundantly fruitful with achievements enumerated
below:
• Practiced medicine
• Pursued scientific knowledge of languages
• Established school for boys
• Promoted community development projects
• Invented a wooden machine for making bricks
• Engaged in farming and commerce
• Kept intensive correspondence with his family, relatives, fellow reformist and eminent
scientist in Europe (Blumentritt, Reinhold Rost, A.B. Meyer, W. Joest of Berlin, S. Knuttle
of Stuttgart, and N.M. Keihl of Prague)
Dapitan, a town in
Mindanao
Beginning of
Exile in Dapitan
Steamer Cebu, brought Rizal to Dapitan, carried a letter from Father Pablo
Pastells, Superior of the Jesuits Society of the Philippines, to Father Antonio
Obach, Jesuit parish priest of Dapitan.
Fr. Pastells informed Fr. Obach that Rizal could live at the parish convent on
the ff. conditions:
◈ That Rizal publicly retract his errors concerning religions and make
statements that were clearly favoring the Spanish and in opposition to
revolution.
◈ That he perform the church rites and make a confession of his past life
◈ That he conduct himself in an exemplary
manner as a Spanish subject and man of
religion.
◈ Rizal did not agree with the conditions. He
lived in the house of the commandant Capt. Father Pablo Pastells

Carnicero (warden). Carnicero and Rizal were

friends as they ate together at the same table and
has friendly conversations. Rizal also admired
the captain and wrote a poem, A Ricardo
Carnicero.

Father Antonio Obach

 Wins in Manila
Lottery
September 21, 1982, the mail boat Butuan delivered the news that the
Lottery Ticket No. 9736, jointly owned by Capt. Carnicero, Rizal and
Francisco Equilior won the second prize of P20,000.

Rizal’s share was P6,200. He gave his father P2,000 and P200 to his friend
Basa in Hong Kong, and the rest he invested in purchasing agricultural
lands along the coast of Talisay near Dapitan.

Rizal never drank hard liquor and never smoked, but was a lottery addict.
In Madrid from 1882 to 1885, he always invested at least three pesetas
every month in lottery ticket.
Rizal-Pastells Debate on Religion
Fr. Pastells sent Rizal a book by Sarda, with advice that Rizal should desist from his foolishness in
viewing religion on which Rizal revealed his anti-Catholic ideas which he had acquired in Europe and
embitterment at his persecution by the bad friars, who committed certain abuses under the cloak of
religion.
Divine Faith was also used by Fr. Pastells to win back Rizal into Catholicism but Rizal was could not be
convinced by his arguments.
They remained good friends in spite of their differences. Fr. Pastells gave Rizal a copy of the Imitacion
de Cristo (Imitation of Christ) and Rizal gave him a bust of St. Paul which he had made.
Rizal continued to hear mass at the catholic church of Dapitan and celebrate Christmas and other
religious fiestas in the Catholic was. His Catholicism was “Catholicism of Renan and Teilhard de
Chardin”.
Dapitan Church
 Rizal Challenged a
Frenchman to a Duel
Rizal was involved in a quarrel with Mr. Juan Lardet, a businessman in Dapitan. Lardet purchased many
logs from the lands of Rizal and it happened that some of the logs were of poor quality. Lardet wrote a
letter to Antonio Miranda, a Dapitan Merchant and friend of Rizal, expressed his disgust with the
business deal. Miranda indiscreetly forwarded the letter to Rizal, and Rizal being sensitive, he flared up
in anger and confronted him and challenged him to a duel.
Carnicero heard of the incident and told the Frenchman to apologize rather than accept the challenge as
he knows that Rizal is expert in martial arts. Larder wrote to Rizal in French apologizing for the
insulting comment. Rizal accepted the apology and their good relations where restored.
Rizal, because of his sensitivity, caused him to challenged Antonion Luna and W. E. Retana in 1890.
Rizal and Father
Sanchez
Fr. Pastells assigned Fr. Sanchez to Dapitan to try to bring Rizal within the
Catholic fold. Fr. Sanchez was the only priest to defend Rizal’s Noli Me
Tangere in public. Again, Rizal could not be convinced by his former
beloved teacher. Despite his failure to persuade Rizal to discard his Father Francisco de
unorthodox views on the Catholic Religion, he enjoyed the latter’s Paula Sanchez
company. He assisted Rizal in beautifying the town plaza. Rizal gave him a
manuscript entitled Estudios sobre la lengua tegala (Studies on the Tagalog
Language) on his birthday dedicated to him.

A replica of Rizal's house in Dapitan
Idyllic Life in
Dapitan
August 1893, members of Rizal’s
family took turns in visiting him. He
build his house by the seashore of
Talisay surrounded by fruit trees. He
also had another house for his school
boys and a hospital for his patients.
Rizal wrote to Bluementritt on
December 19, 1983, describing his life
in Dapitan.
Rizal’s Encounter with
the Friar’s Spy
November 1893, the spy assumed name of “Pablo Mercado” posing as a relative, secretly visited Rizal
at his house on the night of November 3, 1893. He showed a photo of Rizal and a pair of buttons with
“P.M” as evidence of his kinship with Rizal family. The strange visitor offered his services as a
confidential courier of Rizal’s letters and writings for the patriot of Manila. Rizal became suspicious and
became irked by the impostor’s lies. Rizal sent him away early the next day. When Rizal learned that the
rascal was still in Dapitan, he went to the comandancia and denounced the impostor to Capt. Juan Sitges
(succeeded Capt. Carnicero), and Capt. Sitges ordered the arrest of “Pablo Mercado” and instructed
Anastacio Adriatico to investigate him immediately.
Rizal’s Encounter with
the Friar’s Spy

The real name of was Florencio Namanan, from Cagayan de Misamis, single and about 30 years old. He
was hired by the Recollect friars to a secret mission, to spy on Rizal’s activities and to filch certain
letters and writings which might incriminate him in the revolutionary movement. Sitges suddenly
stopped the investigation and released the spy and kept the documents highly confidential. Rizal
requested for a copy of proceedings but was denied of his request.
As Physician in
Dapitan
Rizal gave free medicine for his poor patients in Dapitan. Some
rich patients paid him generously for his surgical skills. In
August 1983, his mother and sister Maria, arrived in Dapitan
and lived with him for one year and half. He successfully
operated his mother’s right eye. But Doña Teodora ignored his
son’s instruction removing the bandages from her eyes, causing
the wound to be infected. But due to Rizal’s ophthalmic
prowess, his mother’s sight was fully restored.
Rizal had many patients form the different parts of the Philippines, and even Hong Kong. A rich Filipino
patient, Don Ignacio Tumaring paid P3,000 and an Englishman paid P500. Don Florencio Azacarraga,
hacender of Aklan, paid Rizal a cargo of sugar.
Rizal studied the medicinal plants of the Philippines and prescribed it to poor patients.
Water System for
Dapitan
Rizal held the title of expert surveyor (perito
agrimensor). He constructed a system of waterworks in
order to furnish clean water to the townspeople. Modern
engineers was amazed how Rizal could have built a
system of waterworks, for he had inadequate tools and
meager materials, and his finances were very limited. He
succeeded in his waterway without the aid from the
government. Mr. H.F. Cameron, American engineer,
praised Rizal.
Community Projects
for Dapitan
Aside from the waterway system, he spent
months draining the marshes to get rid of
malaria. He used P500, which and English
patient paid him, to equip the town with
lighting system, consisted of coconut lamps
placed in the dark streets. It was not until
1894 when Manila had the first electric
lights.
Rizal and his former Jesuit teacher and
friend Fr. Sanchez, beautified the town
plaza. In front of the church, they made a
huge relief map of Mindanao out of earth,
stones and grass.
Rizal's Mindanao relief map, Dapitan.
Rizal as Teacher
In 1893, he established a school until the end of his
exile in July 1896. He has three pupils and increases to
16 and then 21. Instead of charging them tuition, he
made them work in his garden, field and construction
projects in the community.
Rizal taught, reading, writing, languages (Spanish and
English), geography, history, mathematics (arithmetic
and geometry), industrial work, nature study, morals
and gymnastics. He trained them how to collect
specimens of plants and animals, to love work and to
“behave like men”.
After class hours, he encouraged them to play games to
strengthen their bodies (gymnastics, boxing, wrestling,
stone-throwing, swimming, arnis and boating.
Hmyn to Talisay
Rizal conducted his school at his home in
Talisay, where he had his farm and hospital.
His favorite spots with his boys was under a
talisay tree. In honor to Talisay, he wrote a
poem entitled “Himno A Talisay” for his
pupils to sing.

Talisay Tree
Contributions to Science
Rizal collected specimens from Mindanao using his baroto (sailboat)
and accompanied by his pupils. They explored the jungles and
coasts, collecting specimens of insects, birds, snakes, lizards, frog,
shells and plants. He sent these specimens to the Dresden Museum
in Europe in exchange for scientific books and surgical instruments.
He built a rich collection of concology which consisted of 346 shells
representing 203 species. Some rare specimens were named in his
honor by the scientist. Among these were Draco rizali (flying
dragon), Apogonia rizali (a small beetle) and Rhacophorus rizali (a
rare frog).
He also conducted anthropological, ethnographical, archaeological,
geological and geographical studies.
Linguistic Studies
In Dapitan, he learned the Bisayan, Subanum and
Malay languages. He wrote a Tagalog grammar, made
a comparative study of the Bisayan and Malayan
languages, studied the Bisayan (Cebuan) and Subanum
languages.
Rizal knew 22 languages: Tagalog, Ilokano, Bisayan,
Subanum, Spanish, Latin, Greek, English, French,
German, Arabic, Malay, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Dutch,
Catalan, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese,
Swedish and Russian.
Artistic Works in Dapitan
Rizal contributed his painting skill to the Sisters of
Charity. For the sake of economy, the head of the image
was “procured from abroad”. The vestments except the
snake with an apple on the mouth, were made by the
sisters. Rizal modeled the right foot of the image, the
apple and serpent’s head. He also designed the exquisite
curtain, which was painted in oil by an artist Sister.
He drew three rare species of animal life, dragon, frog
and beetle, which he had discovered. He also sketched
numerous fishes he caught.
“A Mother’s Revenge”
 Artistic Works in Dapitan
In 1894, some of his pupils secretly went to
Dapitan in a boat from Talisay; a puppy of Syria
(Rizal’s dog) tried to follow but was devoured
by a crocodile. Rizal reprimanded them. To
stress the moral of the incident, he modeled a
statuette representing the mother-dog killing the
crocodile by way of avenging her lost puppy
and called it “The Mother’s Revenge”
He also made a bust of Father Guerrico (one of
his Ateneo professors), a statue of a girl (The
Dapital Girl), a woodcarving of his wife
Josephine Bracken, and a bust of St. Paul which
he gave to Fr. Pastells. Bust of Fr. Guerrico Josephine Bracken
Rizal as Farmer
Rizal bought 16 hectares of land in Talisay where he built his home, school and hospital, and planted
cacao, coffee, sugarcane and fruit trees. He later acquired more lands until it reached 70 hectares,
containing 6,000 hemp plants, 1,000 coconut trees and numerous fruit trees, sugarcane, corn, coffee
and cacao.

On his farms, he introduced modern methods of agriculture which he had observed in Europe and
America. His pupils helped him in the daily farm labor. He also imported agricultural machinery from
the US.

He dreamed of establishing an agricultural colony in sitio of Ponot near Sindagan Bay, but did not
materialized as he could not get the support of the government.
Rizal as Businessman
Rizal had a business partnership with Ramon Carreon, a Dapitan merchant, with business ventures in fishing,
copra and hemp industries. He also invited his relatives, Saturnina and Hidalgo to come to Mindanao for there is
a vast and ample field for business in the island. He told Saturnina that she could profitably engage in the
textile, jewelry and hemp business and instructed Hidalgo to help him buy a big net for trawl fishing and send
him two good Calamba fishermen to teach Dapital folks better methods of fishing.

Rizal’s most profitable business venture was in the hemp industry as stated in his letter to Bluementritt that he
made a profit of P200 in one stroke.

He was also engaged in the lime manufacturing with his partnership with Carreon.

Rizal organized the Cooperative Association of Dapitan Farmers on January 1, 1895 to break the Chinese
monopoly on business. Its purposes were to improve farm products, obtain better outlets for them, collect funds
for their purchases and help the producers and workers by establishing a store wherein they can buy prime
commodities at moderate prices.
Rizal’s Inventive Ability
In 1887, Rizal invented the sulpukan, unique
cigarette lighter that was made of wood, as a gift to
Bluementritt. Its mechanism was based on the
principle of compressed air.

In Dapitan, he invented a machine for making

bricks which could manufacture 6,000 bricks daily.
He stated this in his letter to Bluementritt on
November 20, 1895. He said that he saw the SULPUKAN
process when he was in Belgium.
My Retreat

Doña Teodora, with her eyesight fully restored,

returned to Manila in 1895. She requested her son
to write poetry again in which Rizal acknowledge
and was sent to her on October 22, 1895. This poem
was “Mi Retiro (My Retreat), which embodies his
serene life as an exile in Dapitan. It was also one of
the best ever poem penned by Rizal.
Rizal and Josephine Bracken
Josephine Bracken was an Irish girl of sweet eighteen, “slender, a chestnut
blond, with blue eyes, dressed with elegant simplicity, with an atmosphere of
light gayety”. Born in Hong Kong on October 3, 1876 of Irish Parents, James
Bracken (British Garrison Corporal) and Elizabeth Jane MacBridge (died in
childbirth). She was adopted by Mr. George Taufer, who later became blind.

Taufer was accompanied by his adopted daughter to seek the service of Dr.
Rizal in Manila. They heard that he was in Dapitan, where they preceeded,
accompanied by a Filipina companion, Manuela Orlac. They presented to
Rizal a card of introduction by Julio Llorente, his friend and schoolmate.

Josephine Bracken
Rizal and Josephine Bracken
Rizal and Josephine fell in love with each other at first side. After a month,
they decided to get married. But Fr. Obach, refused to marry without the
permission of the Bishop of Cebu.

Taufer was enraged when he heard of the projected marriage as he was unable
to endure the thought of losing his adopted daughter. He tried committing
suicide by cutting of his throat with a razor but Rizal grabbed his wrist and
prevented it. To avoid the tragedy, Josephine went with Taufer to Manila as
the blind man went away uncured because his ailment was venereal in nature
and incurable.

Taufer returned alone in Hong Kong and Josephine stayed in Manila with
Rizal’s family. She later returned to Dapitan. Since no priest would marry
them, they married themselves before the eyes of God. Rizal also made a Mr. George Taufer
poem for Josephine.
Rizal and Josephine Bracken

In early 1896, Rizal was extremely happy because Josephine was expecting a
baby. Rizal played a prank on her, frightening her causing her to have a
premature birth to an eight-month baby boy, who lived only for three hours.
This lost son was named “Francisco” in honor to his father, and was buried in
Dapitan.
Rizal and the Katipunan
While Rizal was mourning his lost, there was an armed revolution
uprising. Led by Andres Bonifacio “The Great Plebeian”, the secret
revolutionary society called Katipunan, was founded on July 7, 1892.
Dr. Pio Valenzuela was named emissary to Dapitan, to inform Rizal of
the plan of the Katipunan to launch a revolution for freedom’s sake.
On June 15, he board the steamer Venus to Dapitan, with a blind man
named Raymundo Mata, to camouflage his real mission. They had a
heart-to-heart talk in the garden and Valenzuela told him of the
Katipunan plan and of the necessity of his support.

Rizal objected Bonifacio’s audacious project to plunge the country in

bloody revolution as he believed that it was premature for two
reasons:
(1) the people are not ready for revolution
(2) (2) arms and funds must first be collected before raising the cry of
revolution.
He also disapproved the plan of Katipunan to rescue him as he had
KATIPUNAN
KATIPUNAN given his word of honor to the Spanish authorities and he did not want
to break it.
 Volunteers as Military Doctor in
Cuba
Months before he was contacted by Katipunan, Rizal offered his services as military doctor in Cuba,
which was then in the throes of a revolution and raging yellow fever epidemic. There was a shortage of
physicians to the need of the Spanish troops and Cuban people. It was Bluemtritt who informed him of
the situation.

Rizal wrote to Governor General Ramon Blanco, December 17, 1895, offering his services as military
doctor in Cuba but he received no reply from Malacañang and even gave up his hope that his
humanitarian offer would ever receive government approval.

It was until July 30, 1896 that a response letter, dated July 1, from Gov. Blanco arrived. Stating him that
the politico-military commander of Dapitan would give him a pass so that he could come to Manila,
where he would be given a safe-conduct to Spain. The Minister of War assigned him to the Army of
Operations in Cuba, detailed to the Medical Corps.
The Song of the Traveler

He wrote his heart-warming poem “El Canto del Viajero” to his delight in being free and able to travel
again, to Europe and then Cuba.
Adios, Dapitan
On July 31, 1896, Rizal’s four-year exile in Dapitan came to an end. He embarked on board the steamer
España at midnight. He was accompanied by Josephine, Narcisa and Angelica (Narcisa’s daughter), his
three nephews and six pupils. Almost all Dapitan folk were at the shore to bid goodbye to him. Many
wept as the steamer sailed away. As farewell music, the town brass band strangely played the dolorous
Funeral March of Chopin.

He wrote in his diary, “I have been in that district four years, thirteen days and a few hours.”.