Rizal’s Exile,

Trial and Death

Exile in Dapitan
ADD A FOOTER
2
 This sleeping far-flung coastal town of Zamboanga was honored to have accommodates its
once-in-a-lifetime distinguished but unwilling guest.

 Rizal was to remain its guest until August, 1896.

 Under the close watch of Carnicero, military governor of the district, Rizal would farm, fish,
plant and raise chicken.

 He built his own house, constructed dikes, wrote poetry, attend to his growing number of
patients as the town doctor, and educated the young boys of the town in his special school.

 Rizal reported regularly to Carnicero while engaged in all such activities and commerce.
Thus, this pristine and artless town sprang to life at his inventiveness.

 Rizal, in essence, endeavored to educate and organize the people on how to “make a
better living”, and they believed him for it.

ADD A FOOTER
3
 Rizal formed a cooperative unite
and empower the Dapitan
farmers
• In a letter to his brother, he explains, “here I
have become half physician half business man.
I have established a commercial company here.
I have taught the poor Mindanao folk to unite
for trading so they may become independent
and free themselves from the Chinese and thus
be less exploited. But I have to talk a great deal
to the local governor, who despite being a good
man, is a supporter of the Chinese and prefers
the Mongol to the Mindanao people.
Fortunately, the company is prospering: we
make a little profit.”
ADD A FOOTER
4
 In order to while away the monotony of life in exile, Rizal tried to get his hands full.
He wrote tagalog grammar for Dr. Rost in London for publication in Asiatic Society.
He collected various specimens of animals for scientists-friends in Europe- Drs.
Kheil, jagor, meyer, among others.

 He even invented a game that he used to amuse his students. Being a tireless
diarist, he wrote everything he did, including the coming of visitors, his resentment
of the Chinese merchants, the description of the form and size of his house, etc. It
did not escape his attention even to write about a pretty subject as seeing the
women of the town not wearing stockings.

 The mail boat only arrived once a month and stayed only for eight hours. Once it
was moored, Rizal gathered his letters, read them in two hours and spent the next
few hours to reply to them all- mostly to families in Manila, to the Jesuits and to
Blumentritt. ADD A FOOTER
5
 Many quarters from manila and elsewhere competed to get Rizal out of Dapitan,
Some of his friends in the Propaganda carefully plotted an escape route to bring
him to Spain from exile. Yet before the logistics of the escape plan could be put to
work, Rizal made it plain that he had no plan to neither escape nor leave the
country. Such would.

 According to him, only make him appear a coward for running away. He also
argued that if an escape would be successful , his return to the country would be
next to impossible. Later, in the outbreak of the revolution, the plan would be
renewed to rescue Rizal from the ship, Colon, which held him as he was sent back
from Barcelona to the Philippines to face the charge of having caused the popular
revolt. Yet again the effort failed.
ADD A FOOTER
6
 For the religious, their concern was centered on Rizal’s re-conversion to the

catholic faith.

 Father Francisco Sanchez, the favorite teacher of Rizal in Ateneo, was sent to

Dapitan ostensibly to make ethnographic studies in Mindanao but, in fact, to

pursue Rizal.

 Father Pastells, the superior of the Jesuit mission and Rizal’s former professor,

engaged in a long and spirited correspondence with Rizal in order to exchange

philosophical and religious views. In one of their letters, Rizal wrote to Fr. Pastell.

ADD A FOOTER
7
 Then on one occasion, a certain Pablo Mercado reached the shores of Dapitan
claiming to be Rizal’s relative and ardent follower. The object of his visit was to
obtain an earnest dispatch fro him addressed to some personalities in Manila.
However, Rizal instantly sensed that his guest smelled and he alerted the
commander od the district. It was determined later that this undistinguished guest
was a paid emissary of the Recollects.

 Near the end of his stay in Dapitan, Rizal met and courted an Irish woman named
Josephine Bracken, The stepdaughter of an eye patient, Mr. Taufer, who came all
the way from Hongkong to seek his help. Though they planned to get married,
Rizal was not able to obtain an acclesiastical marriage because he would not retun
to the religion of his youth and was not known to be clearly against revolution. He
nonetheless considered Josephine to be his wife and lived with her in Dapitan.
ADD A FOOTER
8
 Josephine Bracken
Sometime in 1961, the Jose Rizal National Centennial Commission published Rizal’s letters to
his friends and relatives. Included among these letters was one written by Josephine in 1897
which gave a brief description of her life. In the letter it appears that a marriage took place
between Josephine Bracken and Jose Rizal before his execution. Many questions, however
were raised about the authenticity of the alleged letter by Josephine Bracken.

Description (sic) of My Life

 22nd February 1897 Monday

 This is when I was seven years of age, 1882

 This is when I was fifteen years of age 1890

 This was when I was eighteen years of age

 This is when I was nineteen years of age

ADD A FOOTER
9
The Revolutionary Trap
ADD A FOOTER
10
 On the day Rizal was deported to Dapitan, the KKK (Kataas-taasang, Kagalanggalangang
Katipunan ng mg Anak ng Bayan) or in short, the Katipunan, was born with Andres Bonifacio as
its duly recognized leader and founder. It was meant to replace Rizal’s ephemeral La Liga since
his banishment rendered it dead in its tracks. More expressly radical than its forerunner, the
Katipunan was founded on a platform that was meant to secure the independence of the
country through force of arms.

 Recruiting members was rather slow at first but soon membership began to increase
phenomenally, extending to the provinces surrounding Manila.

 By 1896, Bonifacio and top KKK leaders became alarmed at the growing suspicious of the
government and the friars evidenced by the increased vigilance over suspicious activities
connected with the KKK. Their growing restiveness worried Bonifacio. He knew that the people
were far from ready to battle, that arms were insufficient while money was not in abundance to
purchase more arms, and that the people had no trained army with the needed army officers.
ADD A FOOTER
11
 Faced with this dilemma, Bonifacio sent Dr. Pio Valenzuela to Dapitan under the guise of

bringing a patient for treatment in order to seek Rizal’s counsel on the possibility of a

revolution.

 On July 1, 1896 the meeting with Rizal took place. After listening attentively to Valenzuela, all

that Rizal could say was that a revolution at the time was premature. It would be heading to

disaster and bound to fail for all its glaring defects against a superior power.

 If the revolution was staged at that moment, it was certain to be a senseless waste of human

lives. Rizal adviced Valenzuela to tell the Supremo to desist from it for the meantime. He

asked to enlist the support of the Filipino elite and emphasized the need for organization,

tactical planning and money for arms. Specially, suggested that they invite Antonio Luna to

join in.
ADD A FOOTER
12
 A year before, the Cubans declared their intention to free their country.

 While the Cuban revolution got underway, the yellow fever also went on the rampage there.

Shortly before 1895 ended, Rizal tool the advice of his friend Blumentritt and wrote Governor-

General Blanco to signify his attention to tender his services as a physician in Cuba. It was one

natural course of historical events that presented itself as a way for Rizal to free himself from the

unbearable life in exile.

 Rizal’s application would take six months more before it could be granted and during such time,

he resigned to accept Dapitan as his home in perpetuity and to convert Talisay to a little Calamba

village to where he could invite his family to eventually resettle.

 Rizal received news about the approval of his petition on July 30, 1896.

ADD A FOOTER
13
 Rizal went to Manila hoping to catch the ship awaiting there bound for Spain. He missed the

ship by a day. He later transferred to a ship anchored in Cavited, the Castilla, wherein he was

to remain “detained but not a prisoner” until the next mail boat bound from Spain arrived.

 The month was August, and from where he was, he saw how events unfolded. The Katipunan

was now discovered. Arbitrary arrests and detention were made here and there and before

the month ended, the shuddering cry popular revolt already sounded off and spread like

wildfire among the neighboring provinces.

 While the horrors of the war enveloped the country, the Isla de Panay mail boat arrived,

ushered in Rizal and then took off for Spain, only to carry him back to Manila Two months

later in order to face trial for having allegedly inspired the August revolution.

ADD A FOOTER
14
Arrest, Trial and
Execution
15
ADD A FOOTER
 Rizal’s rendezvous with blood-stained historic field of Bagumbayan progressed with remarkable speed.
The steamer Colon arrived in Manila in November 3, 1896 bringing Jose Rizal, the Philippines’ future
national hero, and fresh troops from Spain to beef up its own forces in the country.

 Rizal was interrogated on November 20 and indicted 20 December 3 as the principal organizer and the
moving sprit of the insurrection. On December 10, it was decided that case should be heard by a court
martial with his defense handled by an officer of the army not a civil lawyer.

 December 19, his case was forwarded to the council of War. The following day, Rizal and his counsel
met to prepare his defense, Christmas day, December 25, Rizal was informed formally that his trial was
to begin at 10:00 in the morning the following day.

 In the trial proper on December 26, the council of War decided that he was guilty of the crime charged
against him and he was sentenced to death on the same day. On December 28, the Governor-General
confirmed the decision and fixed the date of the execution. On December 29, the sentence was
formally read to him. At 7:00 I the morning of December 30, 1896, Rizal was shot in the field of
Bagumbayan (Luneta).

ADD A FOOTER
16
 In any episode of war, not only human life is at stake, even hard-earned properties and business are sure to
lay ruins. With respect to the war of independence in the Philippines, the Spanish public clamored not only
for the swift suppression of the rebels, but they demanded the heads of those who led the insurrection.

 Among the Spaniards, the friars where particularly unhappy with Gov. Blanco’s manner of containing the
worsening crisis. Even before the outbreak of the insurrection, his administration had pandered less to the
taste of the religious. The friars perceived Blanco’s unperturbed aura, which was the characteristic of the top
brass in the military, as a sign of tolerance notwithstanding the latter’s brutal repression of the
insurrectionists.

 While the disturbances stirred the country in the early days of the insurrection, it remained a puzzle to the
enemies that Rizal was cleared by the government to sail away to Spain instead of being brought to court to
be prosecuted for having caused or inspired the revolution. With the rat in the trap once more and already
held incommunicado at fort Santiago, those concerned made sure that he could not slip out of their hands
again. While the judicial procedure took its course to gather evidence against Rizal, they aimed their best
effort to get a conviction. They wanted to make sure Rizal did not get a pardon. The power to do this lay in
the hands of the Government.

ADD A FOOTER
17
 The plotting began in the early days of the revolution. The Dominicans for all their
worth in Spain have campaigned for Blanco’s removal from the Philippines on the
ground of incompetence and “inexplicable apathy”.

 Four names were considered, but they specially singled out and recommended
Camilo de Polavieja in whom they saw a more obliging replacement. On December
3, Polovieja arrived in the Philippines and was made second in command to Blanco.

 A little more than a week later, on December 13, after an urgent appeal to Spain,
Polavieja became the new Governor-General in the General in the Philippines,
replacing Ramon Blanco, who was recalled in order to head the Royal Guards of the
queen Regent of Spain. Polavieja picked up the pace where Blanco left in the case
against Rizal. And as history would later prove, with Polavieja’s appointment, Rizal’s
fate was sealed.

ADD A FOOTER
18
 The charged sheet read in summary the Rizal was accused of the crime of rebellion through

illegal association, the latter being the means in order to commit the former, that was pursuant

to Spanish Penal Code in force in the country.

 The alleged rebellion referred to the ongoing popular revolt that broke out in late August of 1896

while the illegal association referred to the Katipunan led by Andress Bonifacio. It was a tough

assignment for the prosecution to established the guilt of the accused Rizal by proving that he,

first, favored rebellion in all his works, and that he was connected to Katipunan staged it.

ADD A FOOTER
19
 Given that Rizal was in Dapitan under tight watch of the politico-military governor years
before the present rebellion took place, it seemed impossible for the accused to have
manned the founding the and operation of the Katipunan, much have to led the rebellion.
The odds were tipped immensely against the prosecution. For all the evidence it gathered
against Rizal, the Government had to go further than argue the merits of its case, if any,
before the military tribunal and the throng of Spanish audience. Neither the guilt nor the
innocence of the accused mattered anymore.

 The immense resources of the State were engaged in the direction-trial by the military
tribunal, non-admission of further evidence and denial of the right of the accused to
confront the witness who testified against him. And for Rizal the accused, no matter how
hard he pleaded his innocence against the official charges, and even if true, he had to die
in order to save what remained of Spain in this country-her last of her colonies. The trial
was only meant to give a shade of legality for the sentence of death passed upon him.

ADD A FOOTER
20
 The evidences against Rizal consisted of wide the array of irrelevant materials-mostly
letters, text of his works and the testimonies pf Katipunero’s arrested.

 A number of the letters were written to him while in Hong Kong (prior to his exile) that made
references about his friends and fellow reformists, the editing of a newspaper and the hint of
some intramural wrangling, the North Borneo settlement project and his recognition as a
member with conferment of an honorary title from the Freemasons in the Philippines.

 Letters deploring Rizal’s banishment to Dapitan were also presented. The rest was written
by family members. None of these letters were of any probative Katipunan. Other evidences
gathered in the course of the investigation were Rizal’s picture that hanged in the venues of
Katipunan meetings where it was customary for the leaders to end their speeches with the
chant of “Long live the Philippines! Long live Liberty! Long live Dr. Rizal! Unity” Considering
hat Rizal was already a deportee at this time when these remarks were made with regularity,
he could not have been aware that KKK existed, much less know of its activities.

ADD A FOOTER
21
 It was also alleged that Rizal was already was the honorary President of the KKK, and that the organization’s
declared objective was to massacre all the Spainiards and declare Rizal as the Supreme Leader. However,
what the military officials handling his case intentionally looked over was the motive of the witness they
interrogated. Witness gave their testimonies under pain of torture while others have long standing quarrels
with Rizal.

 Other evidences exhibited in the trial were his known works-the Noli, the annotated Sucesos and the Fili as
well as the texts of the poems he composed while in Dapitan, the Kundiman and hymn to Talisay. These may
be subversive in the eyes of the authorities, but they would not establish the link with the Katipunan nor the
rebellion.

 The December 15 Manifesto to the Filipino People issued by Rizal which seemed to condemn the ongoing
uprising was rejected by the authorities. Nicholas de la Pena, reading between the lines, did revolutionary
rather than dampening their spirit. The most preposterous angle in this messy affair of Rizal’s trial was that
some material evidences for prosecution were not in their possession even at the time Rizal was prosecuted.
These documents and testimonies against Rizal were to be obtained only around June and August of 1897.
The final papers would be available by April 1898. At this time, Rizal would be a year and four months already
in his grave.
ADD A FOOTER
22
 In the morning of is trial, a crowd of mostly Spaniards filled the seats of the soldiers’ dormitory turned
into a courtroom, Seven military officers in their uniforms occupied a long table. No one among his
family members came.

 Josephine was present, accompanied by an unidentified woman, seated alone in front of the public
benches, Rizal entered, hands tied behind him, dressed in a black suit with a tie and white shirt,
escorted by two guards. At this problematic juncture in his life, he was observed to be very calm,
apparently untroubled by what he knew would happen at the recited in impassioned pitch that Rizal
was rebel since his student days; that he founded an illegal association similar to that of La Liga,
(curiously, could not even identify it was as the Katipunan) and that he was the soul of the present
insurrection. He closed his speech by asking the court to grant the death sentence. His lawyer, Taviel
de Andrade, did his best to calmly remind the judges to listen to their voices of the evidences not their
prejudices.

 He argued that Rizal’s guilt could not be pa life ad writings long before the outbreak of the present
insurrection were not conclusive enough to merit the sentence of the death. Then came Rizal’s turn to
speak. He enhanced in detail what his defense lawyer already performed.
ADD A FOOTER
23
 The sentence of death was a matter of formality.

 The arrangements of the trial and the character of the judges, in the whole, were telltale
signs that verdict was a foregone conclusion. When the judges went closed door, the mood
of the courtroom felt that the death sentence would be handed down.

 Later the afternoon, on the same day the trial, the court confirmed the death verdict. The
court even increased the recommendation of the prosecution, the Rizal would be made to
pay 100,000 pesos- the original recommendation being 20,000 to be passed on the his
family in case of inability to pay. But the confiscation of his assets his assets already began
in December 10, the day before he was formally arraigned and continued after his death. It
was meant to indemnify the government for the damages as a result of his crime of
insurrection.

 It was a case of presumption of guilt before the accused is proven innocent.

ADD A FOOTER
24
Case Studies
ADD A FOOTER
25
 Document 1 is an excerpt from the Constitution on Duties and

Rights of members of the La Liga Filipina

 Document 2 is an excerpt from the by-laws written by Rizal for the

farmer’s cooperative he envisioned in Dapitan

 Document 3 includes the two letters written by Rizal on June 20,

1892, just before travelling back to the Philippines from Hongkong

 Document 4 is a set of correspondences related to Rizal’s aborted

trip to Cuba

 Document 5 includes two materals related to Rizal’s Manifesto

 Document 6 is Rizal’s declaration for his defense

ADD A FOOTER
26
Document 1 EXCERPTS FROM THE CONSTITUTION OF THE LIGA FILIPINA
(1892)
 Purposes
 Organization
 Duties of the Members
 Rights of the Members
 General Provisions
Document 2 EXCERPTS FROM BY-LAWS OF THE ASSOCIATION OF DAPITAN
FARMERS (1895)
 Purposes
 Members
 Management
 (Signed Jose Rizal
 Dapitan, 2 January 1895
ADD A FOOTER
27
Document 3 TWO LETTERS WRITTEN BY RIZAL BEFORE COMING BACK TO
THE PHILIPPINES (HONGKONG, JUNE 20, 1892)

 To my beloved parents, brothers and friends

 To the Filipinos

Document 4 CORRESPONDENCES RELATED TO RIZAL’S TRIP TO CUBA

 Excerpt from a letter of Antonio Regidor to Jose Ma. Basa (London, September 6,
1895)

 Excerpt from a letter of Rizal to Blumentritt (Dapitan, November 20, 1895)

 Excerpt from a letter of Rizal to Blumentritt while en route to Spain (S.S. Isla de
Panay, Mediterranean September 28, 1896)
ADD A FOOTER
28