Chapter 23
Last Homecoming and Trial
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No longer an exile, Rizal had a pleasant trip from
Dapitan to Manila with delightful stopovers in
Dumaguete, Cebu, Iloilo, Capiz, and Romblon.
He missedthe regular steamer Isla de Luzon which sailed
toSpain the day before he arrived in Manila Bay while waiting
for the next ship for Spain, he was kept
as a guest´
onboard the Spanish cruiser Castilla.
August 26, 1896, Andres Bonifacio and the Katipunan raised the
cry of revolution in the hills of Balintawak a few miles north of
Manila. Rizal, worried about the raging hostilities, left for Spain
on the steamer Isla de Panay.
September 3, 1896. It was his last trip abroad.
From Dapitan to Manila.
Leaving Dapitan at midnight, July 31, 1896, the
Spaña with Rizal and party on board, sailed northward.
At dawn the next day(Saturday, August 1)
it anchored at Dumaguete, capital of Negros
Oriental,Dumaguete wrote Rizal his Travel diary
‘Spreads out on the beach. There are big houses, some with galvanized iron
roofing. Outstanding are the house of a lady, whose name I forgotten, which is
occupied by the government and another one just begun with ipil posts´.
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In Dumaguete, Rizal visited a friend and former
classmate, Herrero Regidor, and Rufina family.
In the afternoon he operated on a Spanish captain of
the Guardia civil.
The España left Dumaguete about 1:00 p.m and
reached Cebu of the following morning. Rizal was
fascinated by the entrance to Cebu which he
considered beautiful´.
At the house of Attorney Mateos. He met an old
couple whom he had known in Madrid
In Cebu. He wrote in his diary, I did two operations of
strabotomy, one operation on the ears, and
another of
tumor´.
In the morning of Monday August 3, Rizal left Cebu going
to Iloilo.
‘The voyage was fine. At the right we saw Mactan an island famous for what happened to
Magellan. The whole afternoon was magnificent . . . We saw many islands along our way .
. . The next day, in the morning, we entered Iloilo´ . . .Rizal landed at Iloilo, went
shopping in the city, and visited Molo’
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Of the Molo church he commented:
‘ The church is pretty outside and the interior is not bad, considering that it had
been painted by a lad. The paintings are mostly copies of biblical scenes by Gustave
Dore’.
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From Iloilo, Rizal’s ship sailed to Capiz
After a brief stopover, it proceeded towards
Manila via Romblon
Rizal Misses Ship Going to Spain (España)
Arrived in Manila Bay early in August 6, 1896
Unfortunately, Rizal was not able to catch the mail ship
Isla de Luzon for Spain because it had departed the
previous day at 5:00 p.m. . He was greatly
disappointed, but he took this unlucky incidence with
abiding resignation.
Governor Ramon Blanco
-Writing to Bluementritt later, Rizal mentioned this episode,
‘Unfortunately, I did not catch the mail ship for Spain, and fearing that my stay in
Manila for month might bring me troubles I made known to the governor general, while
remaining on the board the ship (España) of my wish to be isolated from everybody, except my
family´.
Near midnight of the same day. August 6
Rizal was transferred to the Spanish cruiser Castilla by order of
Governor General Ramon Blanco. Rizal stayed on the cruiser for about a
month, from August 6 to September 2,1869,
pending the availability
of Spain-bound steamer.
Outbreak of Philippine Revolution
While Rizal was patiently waiting on the cruiser Castilla for the
next steamer to take him to Spain, portentous events occurred,
presaging the downfall of Spanish power in Asia.
August 19, 1896
The Katipunan plot to overthrow Spanish rule by means of
revolution was discovered by Fray Mariano Gil Augustinian cura of
Tondo
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This startling incident stuck terror into the hearts of the Spanish officials
and residents, producing a hysteria of vindictive retaliation against the
Filipino patriots
August 26,1896
‘Cry of Balintawak´ which was raised by Bonifacio and his valiant
Katipuneros in PugadLawin.
At sunrise of August 30
The revolution led by Bonifacio and Jacinto attacked San Juan near the city of
Manila, but they were repulse with heavy losses. In the afternoon, after the Battle
of San Juan, Governor General Blanco proclaimed as tate of war in the first eight
provinces for rising in arms against Spain Manila (as province),
Bulacan
Cavite
Batangas
Laguna
Pampanga
Nueva Ecija
Tarlac
Manila
Rizal learned of the eruption of the revolution and the raging battles around
Manila through the newspaper he read the Castilla.
Rizal He was worried for two
reasons:
(1)The violent revolution which
he sincerely believed to be
premature and would only cause
much suffering and terrible loss
of human lives and property, had
started
(2) It would arouse Spanish
vengeance against all Filipino
patriots
August 30, 1896 (Departure for Spain)
The day when the state of war was proclaimed in the eight
provinces, Rizal received from Governor General Blanco two letters
of the introduction for
1. The Minister of War
2. The Minister of Colonies
with a covering letter which absolved him from all blame for raging
revolution.
At 6:00 p.m., September 2
Rizal was transferred to the steamer Isla de Panay which was sailing
for Barcelona, Spain. The next morning, September 3,
the
steamer left Manila Bay. At last, Rizal's last trip to Spain
began. Among
his fellow passengers onboard were Don Pedro
Roxas (rich Manila Creole
Industrialist and his friend) and his son named Periquin
September 7 (Rizal in Singapore)
The Isla de Panay arrived at Singapore . The following morning Rizal and
other passengers went ashore for sightseeing and shopping for souvenirs.
In the travel diary, Rizal wrote:
‘I have observed some changes: There more Chinese merchants and less
Indians. . . I bought a Chinese gown. . . Singapore has changed much since
I saw it for the first time in 1882’.
Don Pedro with his son, disembarked at Singapore. He advised Rizal to stay
behind too and take advantage of the protection of the British law. Rizal
did not heed his advice.
Don Manuel Camus and several Filipino residents of Singapore, urging him
to stay in Singapore to save his life. He also ignored the appeal because he
had given his word of honor to Governor General Blanco and he did not
like to break it.
Victim of Spanish Duplicity.
By refusing to break his word of honor in Singapore, Rizal
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sealed
his own doom.
For without his knowledge, Governor Blanco was secretly
conspiring with the Ministers of War and the
Colonies
(ultramar) for his destruction
Great hero and genius that he was, Rizal proved to be as
gullible as Sultan Zaide, another victim of Spanish intrigue.
‘For all his wonderful talents, Rizal was after all a mortal man who committed
mistakes. And one of his greatest mistakes was to believe that Governor General
Blanco was a man of honor and a friend because he allowed him to go as a free
man to Spain to become a physician-surgeon of the Spanish army in Cuba,
where a bloody revolution was raging, and gave him two nice letters
of introduction addressed to the Spanish Ministers of War and the Colonies’
Rizal Arrested Before Reaching Barcelona
September 8, 1:00 p.m.
The Isla de Panay, with Rizal onboard, left Singapore, unaware of the
Spanish duplicity particularly of Governor General Blanco's infernal deceit,
he happily continued the voyage towards Barcelona.
September 25
He saw the steamer Isla de Luzon, leaving the Suez Canal crammed with
Spanish troops.
September 27, Sunday (Two days later)
He heard from the passengers that a telegram arrived from Manila
reporting the execution of Francisco Roxas Genato and Osorio
September 28 (a day after the steamer had left Port Said)
A passenger told Rizal the bad news that he would be arrested by order
of Governor General Blanco and would be sent to prison in Cueta (Spanish
Morocco), opposite Gibraltar.
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Shocked by the alarming news, Rizal belatedly realized that he
was duped by the unscrupulous Spanish officials, particularly the sly
Governor General Blanco. With an agonizing heart, he
immediately wrote a letter to his best friend, Blumentritt,
unburdening his disgust and bitterness as follows:
‘There was nothing official yet about impending arrest; it was still merely
shipboard gossip. There are people on board who do nothing but slander me and
invent fanciful stories about me. I'm going to become a legendary personage.’
September 30 (at 4:00 p.m.)
He was officially notified by Captain Alemany that he should stay in his
cabin until further orders from Manila. He graciously compiled with the
captain's directive
September 30 (6:25 p.m. - arrival in Barcelona as prisoner)
‘I saw through a tiny window. the beautiful view of the port with its monumental
and significant castle in three levels . . . illumined by the lingering afternoon
lights.’
October 3, at 10:00 o'clock in the morning
The Isla de Panay arrived in Barcelona, with Rizal a prisoner on
board.The trip from Manila to Barcelona lasted exactly 30 days.
He was kept under heavy guard in his cabin for three days. His
jailor was no longer the ship captain but the Military
Commander of Barcelona, who happened to be
General Eulogio Despujol
The same one who ordered his banishment to Dapitan in July, 1892. It was
one of those coincidences in the lives of men that make "history stranger
than fiction."On his second day in Barcelona, Rizal, although held
incommunicado in his cabin, noticed the city celebration of the feast of St,
Francis of Assisi. He recorded it in his diary as follows:
‘At 12:00 o'clock I counted as many as 31 cannon shots and at6:00 there
were again as many. At night there was a concert in the dining room which can
be heard from my cabin’.
On October 6 (3:00 a.m.)
Rizal was awakened by the guards and escorted to the grim
infamous prison-fortress named Monjuich.
He spent the whole morning in a cell.
and
2:00 in the afternoon
- He was taken out of prison by the guards and brought to the
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headquarters of General Despujol.
In the interview, which lasted a quarter of an hour, the brusque
general told Rizal that he would be shipped back to Manila on
board the transport ship Colon which was leaving that
evening. After the Interview, Rizal was taken abroad the Colon
which was "full of soldiers and officers and their families."
October 6 (8:00 p.m.)
The ship left Barcelona, with Rizal on board S.S. Colon
Rizal's Cell
Fort Santiago