GROUP 2

THE RETRACTION OF DR. JOSE

PROTACIO RIZAL MERCADO Y
ALONSO REALONDA
Retraction – a statement saying that something you said or wrote at an earlier time is
not true or correct.

WHO IS JOSE RIZAL?

• Jose Rizal is identified as a hero of the revolution for his writings that center on
ending colonialism and liberating Filipino minds to contribute to creating the
Filipino nation.

• Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.

 DID RIZAL RETRACT?

-It is understandable, therefore, that any piece of writing from Rizal that
recants everything he wrote against the friars and the Catholic Church in the
Philippines could deal heavy damage to his image as a prominent Filipino
revolutionary.

- Such document puportedly exists, allegedly signed by Rizal a few hours

before his execution. This document, referred to as "The Retraction,"
declares Rizal's belief in the Catholic faith, and retracts everything he wrote
against the Catholic church.
Primary source: Rizal’s Retraction
Source: translated from the document found by manuel Garcia, C. M. on 18 May
1935

“ I declare myself a catholic and in this religion in which I was born and educated I
wish to live and die.

I retract with all my heart whatever in my words, writtings. Publications and

conduct has been contrary to my character as son of the catholic church. I believe
and I confess whatever she teaches and I submit to whatever she demands. I
abominate masonry, as the enemy which is of the church, and as a society
prohibited by church. The diocesan prelate may, as the superior ecclesiastical
authority, make public this spontaneous manifestation of mine in order to repair
the scandal which my act may have caused and so that God and people may
pardon me.’’

Manila 29 of December of 1896 Jose Rizal –The Retraction letter.

There are four iterations of the texts of this retraction:

1. The first was published in La Vaz Española and Diario de Manila on the day of
the execution, 30 December 1896

2. The second text appeared in Barcelona, Spain, in the magazine La Juventud,

a few months after the execution, 14 February 1897, from an anonymous
writer who was later on revealed to be Fr. Vicente Balaguer. However, the
"Original" text was only found in the archdiocesan archives on 18 Mar 1935,
after almost four decades of disappearance.

3. The Balaguer Testimony

• Doubts on the retraction document abound, especially because only one
eyewitness account of the writing of the document exists that of the Jesuit
Friar Fr Vicente Balaguer.

• According to his testimony, Rizal woke up several times, confessed four

times, attended a mass, received communion, a prayed the rosary, all of
which seemed out of character. But since it is the only testimony of allegedly
a “primary’’account that Rizal every wrote a retraction document, it has
been used to argue the authenticity of the document.
4. The testimony of Cuerpo de Vigilancia

• Another eyewitness account surfaced in 2016, through the research of

Professor Rene R. Escalante. In his research, documents of the Cuerpo de
Vigilancia included a report on the last hours of Rizal, written by Federico
Moreno.
 Rizal's Connection to Katipunan

-Precursor of Katipunan as an organization is the La Liga Filipina

-Katipuneros showed great appreciation of his work toward the same goals

- Out of the 28 members of the leadership of the Katipunan, 13 were former

members of La Liga Filipina

- Katipuneros used Rizal's name as a password

- Katipuneros decided to inform Rizal of their plans to launch the revolution

 Last Hours of Rizal

At 7:50 yesterday morning. Rizal entered death row accompanied by his

counsel, Senor Taviel de Andrade, and the Jesuit priest Vilaclara.

At 10:00, Señor Andrade left death row and Rizal spoke for long while with
the Jesuit fathers, March and Vilaclara, regarding religious matters, it seems.

At 3 in the afternoon, father March entered the chapel and Rizal handed him
what he had written.

At 5 in the morning of the 30th, the lover of Rizal arrived at prison dressed in
mourning
• The document of the retraction of jose rizal, is being hotly debated as to its
authenticity.

• It was supposed to have been signed by jose rizal moments before his death. There
were many witnesses, most of them Jesuits. The document only surfaced for public
viewing on May 13, 1935. it was found by Fr. Manuel A. Gracia at the Catholic
hierarchy’s archive in manila. But the original document was never shown to the
public , only reproductions of it.

• However, Fr. Pio pi, a Spanish Jesuit, reported that as early as 1907, the retraction
of rizal was copied verbatim and published in Spain, and reprinted in Manila. Fr.
Gracia, who found the original document, also copied it verbatim
• In both reproduction, there were conflicting version of the text. Add
to this the date of the signing was very clear in the original Spanish
document which Rizal supposedly signed. The date was “December
29, 1890.’’

• Later, another supposedly original document surfaced, it bears the

date “December 29, 189C’’. The number “0’’was evidently altered
to make it look like a letter C. the still later , another supposedly
original version came up. It has the date “December 29, 1896’’. This
time, the “0’’ became a “6’’.

• Those who strongly believed the faking of the Rizal retraction

document, reported that the forger of Rizal's signature was Roman
Rogue, the man who also forged the signature of Urbano Lacuna,
which was used to capture Aguinaldo.
• The mastermind, they say, in both Lacuna's and Rizal's signature forging was
Lazaro Segovia. They were approached by Spanish friars during the final day of
the Filipino-American war to forge Rizal's signature.

• To this day, the retraction issue is still raging like a wild fire in the forest of the
night.

• Others would like to believe that the purported retraction of Rizal was invented
by the friars to deflect the heroism of Rizal which was centered on the friar
abuses.

• Incidentally, Fr. Pio Pi, who copied verbatim Rizal's retraction, also figured
prominently during the revolution. It was him, Andres Bonifacio reported, who
had intimated to Aguinaldo the cessation of agitation in exchange of pardon.
• There are also not a few people who believe that the autobiography of
Josephine Bracken, written on February 22, 1897 is also forged and
forged badly.

• The document supposedly written by Josephine herself supported the fact

that they were married under the Catholic rites.

• But upon closer look, there is a glaring difference between the

penmanship of the document, and other letters written by Josephine to
Rizal.
• Surely, we must put the question of retraction to rest, though Rizal is a
hero, whether he retracted or not, we must investigate if he really did a
turn-around. If he did not, and the documents were forgeries, then
somebody has to pay for trying to deceive a nation.

• The retraction of Rizal remains to this day, a controversy; many

scholars, however, agree that the document does not tarnish the heroism
of Rizal. His relevance remained solidified to Filipinos and pushed them
to continue the revolution, which eventually resulted in independence in
1898.
THE CRY OF BALINTAWAK OR PUGAD
LAWIN
WHAT IS FIRST CRY?

“CRY’’
• The term “cry’’ is translated from the Spanish el grito de rebellion or el
grito for short which means ‘cry for rebellion’.

“The first cry’’

• The ‘ first cry’ is generally signified as the ‘ first call for rebellion’. It is
marked as the beginning of Philippines revolution or seeking of
independence for the Philippines from Spanish colonial rule with the use
of violence and arms.
HOW DID IT STARTED?

• With the initiative of andres bonifacio and his colleagues, they

founded a Philippine revolutionary organization, commonly know
as katipunan or kkk, with its primary goal to gain independence
form spain through a revolution.

• The katipunan was a secret organization until it was discovered in

1896 which led to start the Philippine revolution, which is now
called as the ‘first cry’.
WHAT ARE THE SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN THE FIRST CRY?

“tearing up of community tax certificates’’

• The tearing up of community tax certificates (cedulas personales)
symbolize the termination of katipunero’s loyalty to spainish regime.

“ patriotic shouts such as ‘Viva Ia independencia Filipina’ ’’

• The shout for ‘Viva la independencia Filipina!’or’long live Philippine
independence!’ was to express the goal of their secret society.
Additional information

• The revolt later grew in strength and spread and spread to 8 province
including:

Manila, Bulacan , Cavite , Pampanga, Tarlac , Laguna, Batangas , Nueva Ecija.

• Represented by the eight rays of the sun in the present Filipino flag
WHEN AND WHERE DID IT HAPPEN?

• It is very surprising that there are various versions on the dates and
venues for the first cry. This controversy remains unsolved in the
Philippine history since different Filipinos have varying accounts as to
when where it happened.

• Because of differing account and the ambiguity of place names in

these accounts, the exact date and place of the cry is disputed.
1. DR. PIO VALENZUELA
( The cry of pugad lawin)

- a Filipino physician and revolutionary leader

- at the age of 23 he joined the Katipunan and became one of the officials
- he was also a friend of Andres Bonifacio
- First version: Pugad Lawn on Wednesday of August 26, 1896
-Second version: Pugad Lawin on August 23, 1896.

2. GEN. SANTIAGO VIRATA ALVAREZ

(The cry of Bahay Toro)

- A delegado general of the provincial council of the Katipunan in Cavite

- Became the captain general and later commander in chief of the Magdiwang forces and
valiantly fought the Spaniards from 1896-1897
- In his account, the first cry happened on August 24, 1896 at Bahay Toro, Quezon City
3. GEN. GUILLERMO MASANGKAY
(The cry of Balintawak)

- He designated to build the KKK in Cavite

- he played a key role in the Filipino-American War as a revolutionary general
- First version: August 26, 1896 ("Sunday Tribune, first decade of American Occupation")
- Second Version: August 23, 1896 ("Bagong Buhay")
-Changed back on August 26, 1896 by his grand daughter Soledad Buehler-Borromeo

4. GREGORIA DE JESUS
(The First cry)

- The lakambini of the Katipunan

- She was the custodian of the documents and seal of the Katipunan
In her account, the first cry happened near Caloocan on August 25, 1896
"THE FIRST CRY HAPPENED
IN PUGAD LAWIN.”
- DR. PIO VALENZUELA was the only eyewitness who accounted that
the cry happened in Pugad Lawin

- Teodoro Agoncillio "Revolt of the Massses (1956)“

- Agoncillo used his considerable influence and campaigned to changed

the date and venue of the first cry to: Pugadlawin, August 23, 1896.

- In 1963, president Macapagal ordered that the cry of balintawak shall

be called cry of Pugad lawn. And it should be celebrated on August 23
instead of August 26.
"THE FIRST CRY HAPPENED
IN BALINTAWAK.”
- Acc. To Dr. Milagros Guerrero, Ramon, Villegas, and Emmanuel Encarnation,
stated that all these mentioned places are part of Balintawak, and quezon
city during the Spanish Regime is still not an existing place.
-Guillermo Masangkay is an eyewitness of the historic event

Events according to Masangkay:

1. August 26th (1896) meeting held in Balintawak at the house of Apolonio
Samson. Among those who attended were Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto,
and Aguedo del Rosario.
2. 9:00 am August 26th meeting was opened with Andres Bonifacio presiding
and Emilio Jacinto acting as secretary. The purpose was to discuss when the
uprising was to take place.
3. Andres Bonifacio argues with the other leaders about starting the revolt
too early and leaves.
4. Andres Bonifacio upon leaving the meeting gave a fiery speech and the
people shouted "Revolt"
5.After the speech, they all tear their cedulas (tax certificate).

6. After the pledge and tearing of cedulas, Andres Bonifacio returns to the
session hall and informs the leaders of what took place outside.

7. Despite their differences, they all voted for revolution and outside, the
people shouted "Long live the Philippine Republic!“

8. At 5:00 pm while the gathering at Balintawak were celebrating, guards

up in the trees gave a warning that the Spaniards were coming. Andres
Bonifacio then led them to prepare for the attack by the civil guards.
SUMMARY
• The term "Cry" which means 'cry for rebellion' which marks as the beginning
of the Philippine revolution led by the supreme leader, Andres Bonifacio.

• There are two important events that had happened in the first cry. We have
here the first event: the tearing of community tax certificates/cedula which
was accompanied by patriotic shouts: "Viva la independencia Filipina!'or 'Long
Live Philippine independence!'
• DR. PIO VALENZUELA accounts the Cry of Pugad Lawin on August 23, 1896.
• GEN. SANTIAGO VIRATA ALVAREZ accounts the cry of Bahay Toro on August 24,
1896
• GEN. GUILLERMO MASANGKAY accounts the cry of Balintawak on August 26,
1896
• GREGORIA DE JESUS accounts the First cry on August 25, 1896
• Among the different versions of the first cry, the cry of balintawak or pugad
lawin is the most famous and debatable because of the reputation of the
historians who wrote it according to their sources.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!