CHAPTER 5
JOSE RIZAL’S LIFE: EXILE, TRIAL AND DEATH
Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
1. Analyze the factors that led to Jose Rizal’s execution on Spanish colonial rule
and the Philippine revolution.
Class Activity:
1. Read the constitution of La Liga Filipina and fill out a table (graphic organizer)
with the aims of La Liga Filipina in one column and examples of these aims could be
attained in another column.
2. Read Rizal’s last letters to family members and Blumentritt.
3. Read Teodora Alonzo’s letter to Governor General Polavieja and write a similar
letter persuading him to spare Rizal’s life.
2. Analyze the effects of Jose Rizal’s execution on Spanish colonial rule and the
Philippine revolution.
Jose Rizal’s Exile (1892-96)
Jose dwelled as exile in Dapitan, Zamboanga Del Norte, a far-removed town in
Mindanao from 1892 to 1896. This four-year interregnum in Jose’s life was summed
up by Zaide and Zaide (2104) as:
Tediously unexciting, but was abundantly fruitful with varied
achievements. He practiced medicine, pursed scientific studies, continued his
artistic and literary works, widened his knowledge of languages, established a
school for boys, promoted community development projects, invented a
wooden machine for making bricks, and engaged in farming and commerce.
Despite his multifarious activities, fellow reformists, and eminent scientists and
scholars of Europe.
In Dapitan, Jose had a very peaceful, happy, and enjoyable life and the way he
lived it was extremely good and deserving to be admired and copied. He made sure
his stay in Dapitan would be fruitful, so he engaged in manifold activities. His
excellent skill in the science of medicine spread like wild fire in Dapitan. His medical
practice attracted many patients who were mostly poor. He put to good use the
curative
values
of
the
Philippines
medicinal
plants
which
he
studied
and doled them out to his poor patients who could not afford to buy imported
medicine. He welcomed both affluent and indigent patients. He normally
undercharged them if not for free and accepted any payments in kind from those
who had little or no money.
With the assistance of Father Francisco Sanchez, his former Jesuit teacher, Jose
buckled down to work. He enhanced the town plaza and accentuated it with a huge
relief map of Mindanao, which can still be viewed today. One of the impressive
projects of Jose was the water system he designed and constructed in order that
people of Dapitan can have access to clean water. In spite of lack of funds, exiguous
resources and no government assistance, he was able to build it, armed only with his
training in Ateneo, readings of engineering books, sheer determination and
ingenuity. To reduce the occurrence of malaria, he drained the marshes where
mosquitos thrived. Utilizing the 500 pesos he received from an English patient, he
introduced a lighting system made up of coconut oil lamps in glass protectors which
lighted up dark areas in the town.
Imbued with the value of education since childhood, Jose realized his dream to
establish his own school in which he applied the educational system he learned
abroad. The school opened with three pupils which increased to 16 and later to 21.
His lessons constituted of reading, writing languages (Spanish and English),
geography, history, mathematics (arithmetic and geometry), industrial work, study of
nature, and morals. He also trained and exposed them to gymnastics, boxing,
wrestling, stone-throwing, swimming, arnis (native frencing), and boating for physical
development and discipline. He did not charge his pupils for sharing his knowledge,
instead, he encouraged them to help him in his garden, farm, and construction
projects in the community.
Jose conducted scientific studies in the rich virgin field if Dapitan and collected
specimens of animals and plants. He forwarded these specimens to the Dresden
museum of Europe and he received scientific books and surgical instruments as
payment. He has an impressive assemblage of his study of 346 shells from 203
species. He obtained knowledge on some rare specimens which were named in his
honor by European scientists such as Draco rizali (a flying dragon), Apogonia rizali (a
small beetle), and
Rhacophorus rizali (a rare frog).
While in Dapitan, Jose studied the Bisayan, Subanum, and Malayan languages
and wrote a Tagalog grammar. He wrote poems entitled: A Don Ricardo Carnicero,
Himno A Talisay (Hymn to the Talisay Tree) Mi Retiro (My Retreat), El Canto del
Viajero (The Song of the Traveler) and Josephine. He also made some drawings and
sculptures of people and things that captivated him.
Jose acquired lands in Dapitan which reached total holdings of 70 hectares,
where he constructed his house, school, hospital, and planted in his farm many fruit
trees, corn, coffee, cacao, sugarcane, and hemp. He also introduced and encouraged
the use of modern European and American methods of agriculture. He, however, did
not realize his dream of transforming Dapitan into an agricultural colony because he
did not get the acceptance and permission of the government.
In collaboration with Ramon Carreon, a Dapitan merchant, Jose was successful
in his business ventures in fishing, copra, and hemp industries. He established the
Cooperative Association of Dapitan Farmers to break the Chinese business in
monopoly in Dapitan. The confederation, according to Jose Rizal’s Political and
Historical Writings(1964) aimed “to improve the 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.”
He devised an unusual “sulpukan”, a cigarette lighter made of wood which
employed the principle of compressed air. Subsequently, it was received by
Blumentritt as a gift. He also formed an idea of a machine for making bricks.
Patterned after a Belgian example, Jose’s version could produce about 6,000 bricks
daily.
In spite of his achievements in Dapitan, Jose felt empty. He missed his family,
relatives, and friends. He felt he needed somebody to rejuvenate him. Expressed
in Letters between Rizal and Family Members (1964), Jose found his answer in
Josephine Bracken:
In God’s own time, this “somebody” came to Dapitan, like a sunbeam to
dispel his
melancholy mood. She was Josephine Bracken, an Irish girl of
sweet eighteen, “slender, a chestnut blond, with blue eyes, dressed with
elegant simplicity, with an atmosphere of light gayety”. She of Irish parents. She
was born in Hong Kong on October 3, 1876 of Irish parents – James Bracken, a
corporal in the British garrison, and Elizabeth Jane MacBride.
Jose and Josephine fell inlove with each other and decided to seal their relationship
with marriage but no priest would marry them. Even without the blessing of the
church, Jose and Josephine joyfully shared each other’s life in Dapitan. His happiness
doubled when he learned that Josephine was expecting a baby. By twist of fate, the
baby, only lived for three hours. He named his baby boy “Francisco” in honor to his
father.
In 1876, Andres Bonifacio and his Katipunan (revolutionary society he founded on
July 7, 1892) organized an armed rebellion. They assigned Dr. Pio Valenzuela to
notify Jose Rizal about their plan. To conceal his assignment, Dr. Pio was
accompanied by Raymundo Mata, a blind man to consult Jose’s medical advised.
Jose opposed the Katipuneros very bold and shocking uprising. He firmly believed
that they are not ready for a revolution. He added that they do not have adequate
arms and funds. He also declined the offer of Katipuneros to rescue him.
Several months before the Katipuneros communicated with Jose, Blumentritt
revealed to him the pitiful health situation (yellow fever epidemic) in war-ridden
Cuba and admonished him to volunteer as an army doctor there to end his exile. On
December 17, 1895, acting upon his friend’s counsel, Jose sent Governor General
Ramon Blanco a letter, offering his medical services in Cuba. He almost gave up hope
when he did not get a response after months had passed.
However, on July 30, 1896, when he least expected it, a letter from the Spanish
Governor arrived informing him of his proposal. This letter also expressed that he
would be given a pass so that he could travel in Manila, where he would given a safeconduct to Spain and subsequently to Cuba.
July 31, 1896 marked Jose Rizal’s emotionally charged departure from a town he
learned to love. Many teary-eyed Dapitan folks were at the shore to bid goodbye to a
person who unselfishly did all he can for their town. With weeping heart brimming
with tears of nostalgic memories, Jose gestured his farewell salute to the town’s
devoted and friendly folks.
Jose Rizal’s Trial
Andres Binifacio and his dauntless Katipuneros, on August 26, 1896, raised the cry of
rebellion in the hills of Balintawak (popularly known as “Cry of Balintawak”), a few
miles in north of Manila. In August 30, they assaulted San Juan, near the city of
Manila, but they were repelled with massive losses. In the aftermath of the Battle of
San Juan, Governor General Blanco declared a state of war in the eight provinces for
their insurgency against Spain-Manila (as a provice), Bulacan, Cavite, Batangas,
Laguna, Pampanga, Nueva Vizcaya, and Tarlac. Jose feared that the turbulent
insurrection would only beget much suffering and horrifying decimation of human
lives and property. He was also frighten of the likelihood of Spanish reprisal against
all Filipino patriots.
Amidst the chaos created by the uprising, Jose received from Governor General
Blanco two letters which exculpated him from the raging insurrection. In his last trip
abroad, Jose troubled by the violent attempt of the Katipuneros to end the rule of
the Spanish government, left for Spain on September 3, 1896. He, however, was
transferred to another steamer which he thought would take him from Spain to Cuba
to carry out his humanitarian offer which is to serve as military physician.
Unexpectedly, he was apprehended and unlawfully detained as a prisoner in a
Spanish steamer before reaching Barcelona. He was informed that he would be
shipped back to Manila on board the transport ship Colon. Upon arriving in Manila,
on November 3, 1896, the heavily guarded Jose was transferred from the Colon to
Fort Santiago.
A Severe five-day preliminary investigation began on November 20, 1896. Jose
appeared before the Judge Advocate, Colonel Francisco Olive who detailed the
charges against him. Two types of evidence, documentary and testimonial, were
presented against Jose Rizal. Palma (1949) in his translated work, Pride of Malay
Race, made available the documentary evidence which consisted of fifteen exhibits,
as follows:
1.A letter of Antonio Luna to Mariano Ponce, dated Madrid, October 16, 1888,
showing Rizal's connection with the Filipino reform campaign in Spain.
2.A letter of Rizal to his family, dated Madrid, August 20, 1890, stating that the
deportations are good for they will encourage the people to hate tyranny.
3.A letter from Marcelo H. Del Pilar to Deodato Arellano, dated Madrid, January
7, I 889, implicating Rizal in the Propaganda campaign in Spain.
4.A poem entitled Kundiman, allegedly written by Rizal in Manila on September
12,
1891.
This poem is as follows:
KUNDIMAN
In the Orient beautiful
Where the sun is born
In a land of beauty
Full of enchantments
But bound in chains.
Where the despot reigns,
The land clearest to me.
Ah! That is my country,
She is slave oppressed
Groaning in the tyrant's grips;
Lucky shall he be
Who can give her liberty!
5.A letter of Carlos Oliver to an unidentified person, dated Barcelona,
September 18, 1891, describe Rizal as the man to free the Philippines from
Spanish oppression.
6.A Masonic document, dated Manila, February, 9, 1892, honoring Rizal for his
patriotic services.
7.A letter signed Dimasalang (Rizal's pseudonym) to Ter:.luz (Juan Zulueta's
pseudonym), dated Hong Kong, May 24, 1892, stating that he was
preparing a safe refuge for Filipinos who may be persecuted by the Spanish
authorities.
8.A letter to Dimasalang to an unidentified committee, dated Hong Kong, June
1, 1892, soliciting the aid of the committee in the, "patriotic work."
9.An anonymous and undated letter to the Editor of the Hong Kong Telegraph,
censuring the banishment of Rizal to Dapitan.
10.A letter of Ildefonso Laurel to Rizal, dated Manila, September 3, 1892, saying
that the Filipino people look up to him (Rizal) as their savior.
11.A letter of Ildefonso Laurel to Rizal, dated Manila 17, 1893, informing an
unidentified correspondent of the arrest and banishment of Doroteo
Cortes and Ambrasio Salvador.
12.A letter of Marcelo Del Pilar to Don Juan A Tenluz (Juan Zulueta), dated
Madrid, June l, 1893 recommending to establishment of a special
organization, independent of Masonry, to help the cause of the Filipino
people.
13. Transcript of a speech of Pingkian (Emilio Jacinto), in a reunion of the
Katipunan on July 23, 1893, in which the following cry was uttered "Long
Live the Philippines! Long Live Liberty! Long Live Doctor Rizal! Unity!"
14. Transcript of a speech of Tik-Tik (Jose Turiano Santiago) in the same
Katipunan reunion, where in the katipuneros shouted: "Long live the
eminent Doctor Rizal! Death to the oppressor nation!''
15.A poem by Laong Laan (Rizal), entitled A Talisay, in which the author makes
the Dapitan schoolboys sing that they know how to fight for their rights.
The oral testimonies of the following persons: Martin Constantino. Aguedo de!
Rosario, Jose Reyes, Moises Salvador, Jose Dizon, Domingo Franco, Deodato
Arellano. Ambrosio Salvador, Pedro Serrano Laktaw, Dr. Pio Valenzuela, Antonio
Salazar, Francisco Quison, and Timoteo Paez were forwarded as testimonial evidence
against Jose.
On November 26, 1896, Judge Advocate, Colonel Francisco Olive forwarded the
records of the case to Governor General Ramon Blanco, who designated Captain
Rafael Dominguez as special Judge Advocate to initiate proceeding against Jose.
Captain Dominguez submitted a summary of the action to Governor General Ramon
Blanco who thereupon, send it to the Judge Advocate General, Don Nicolas De la
Pena.
After studying the papers, Pena submitted the following recommendations: (1)
the accused be immediately brought to trial; (2) he should be kept in prison; (3) an
order of attachment be issued against his property to the amount of one million
pesos as indemnity; and (4) he should be defended in the court by an army officer,
not by a civilian lawyer (Zaide and Zaide, 2014).
With his counsel by his side, charges were read to Jose in his prison cell on
December 1 L 1896. He was accused, Medina ( 1998) disclosed, of being "the
principal organizer and the living soul of the Filipino insurrection, the founder of
societies, periodicals and books dedicated to fomenting and propagating ideas of
rebellion." Jose was not against the jurisdiction of the court, but asserted that he was
not guilty of revolution. He acknowledged that he authored the Constitution of the
Liga Filipina and empliasized that it was simply a civic alliance. He reiterated that he
had no political involvement si11 his exile to Dapitan. Or: December 13, 1896,
Captain Dominguez transmitted Jose's case to the new Governor General of the
Philippines, General Camilo G. de Polavieja who replaced General Ramon Blanco.
During the time Jose was in prison cell at Fort Santiago, he penned a manifesto
seriously asking the Filipino people to cease the needless anct tumultuous war. He
encouraged them to attain freedom through education and habit of working hard
and steadily. Palma (1964) promulgated this manifesto as follows:
My Countrymen:
On my return from Spain, I learned that my name had been used as a
war cry among some who were in arms. The news painfully surprised me,
but believing it was all over, r kept silent over what r considered
irremediable. Now I hear rumors that the disturbances continue, and lest
any person should still go on using my name in bad or good faith, to
remedy this abuse and to undeceive the unwary, I hasten to address you
these lines so that the truth may be known.
From the beginning, when I had news of what was being planned, I
opposed it, fought it, and demonstrated its absolute impossibility. This is
the truth, and witnesses to my word are still living. I was convinced that
the idea was highly absurd and, what was worse, would bring great
suffering. I did more. When later, in spite of my counsels, the movement
broke out, I spontai1eo11sly offered not only my services, but my life, and
even my name so that they might use them in the manner they saw fit to
suppress the rebellion, for, convinced of the evils that would befall them, I
considered myself fortunate if, at any sacrifice, I could prevent such useless
misfortunes. This is equally of record.
My countrymen: I have given proofs, more than. Anybody else, of
desiring liberties for our country and I still desire them. But I place as a
premise the education of the people so that by means of education and of
labor they might have a personality of their own and make themselves
worthy of liberties. In my writings I have recommended redemption. I have
also written (and my words have been updated) that reforms, to be fruitful,
have to come from above, that those that come from below are irregular
and unstable. Imbued with these ideals, I cannot but condemn and I do
condemn this absurd, savage uprising
Planned behind my back, which dishonors us, the Fiiipinos, and
discredits those who may advocate our cause. I abhor its criminal methods
and disclaim all participation therein, pitying from the bottom of my heart
the unwary who have allowed themselves to be deceived. Return then to
your homes, and may God forgive those who have acted in bad faith.
The trial of Rizal was an eloquent proof of Spanish injustice and
misrule. More than a farce, it was patently a mistrial. Rizal, a civilian, was
tried by a military court composed of alien military officers. His case was
prejudged; he was considered guilty before the actual trial. The military
court met not to give him justice, but to accuse and condemn him. lt
accepted all charges and testimonies against him, and ignored all
arguments and proofs in his favor. Moreover, Rizal was not given the night
(which any accused is entitled to have in a real court of justice) to face the
witnesses against him in open court.
The trial of Jose commenced in the Cuartel de Espana, a military building, on
December 26, 1896, at eight o'clock in the morning. Present in the trial were seven
members of the military court: Lt. Col. Jose Togores Arjona (President), Capt. Ricardo
Munoz Arias, Capt. Manuel Reguerra, Capt. Santiago Izquierdo Osorio, Capt. Braulio
Rodriguez Nunez, Capt. Manuel Diaz Escribano, and Capt. Fermin Perez Rodriguez.
Also in the military court were Lt. Don LuisTaviel de Andrade (Jose's defense counsel)
Capt. Rafael Dominguez (Judge Advocate) Lt. Enrique de Alconcer (Prosecuting
Attorney) and observers which included Josephine Bracken, a sister of Jose,
newspapermen, and other Spaniards.
Judge Advocate Capt. Rafael Dominguez began the trial and explained the case
leveled against Jose. Jose was charged of three crimes: rebellion, sedition, and illegal
association. Lt. Enrique de Alconcer, prosecuting lawyer, advanced a gingerly
harangue, detailing accusations against Jose. He mercilessly made an effort to
persuade the members of the military court to punish the accused with death
sentence. Lt. Don Luis Taviel de Andrade, defense counsel of Jose tried hard to come
up with a convincing defense. He brought an end to his defense by reminding the
judges to be fair and avoid vindictiveness in their judgment. After Lt. Don Luis Taviel
de Andrade's defense, the court queried Jose if there is anything he wanted to say.
Jose confidently read a supplement to his defense. De Viana, Augusto V. et al (2011)
put forward Jose's supplementary defense as follows:
1. He could not be guilty of rebellion, for he advised Dr. Pio Valenzuela in
Dapitan not to rise in revolution.
2. He did not correspond with the radical, revolutionary elements.
The revolutionists used his name without his knowledge. If he were guilty
he could have escaped in Singapore.
3.
If he had a hand in the revolution, he could have escaped in a
Moro vinta and would not have built a home, a hospital, and bought lands in
Dapitan .
5. If he were the chief of the revolution. Why has not he consulted by the
revolutionists?
6. It was true he wrote the by-laws of the Liga Filipina, on this a civic association
--- not a evolutionary society.
7. The Liga Filipina did not live long, for after the first meeting he was banished
to Dapitan and it died out.
8. If the Liga was reorganized nine months later, he did not know about it.
9. The Liga did not serve the purpose of the revolutionists, othenvise they would
not have supplanted it with the Katipunan.
10. If it were true that there were some bitter comments in Rizal's letters, it was
because they were written in 1890 when his family was being persecuted, being
dispossessed of houses, warehouses, lands, etc. and his brother and all his
brother-in-law were deported.
11. His life in Dapitan had been exemplary as the politico-military commanders
and missionary priests could arrest.
12. It was not true that the revolution was inspired by his one speech at the
house of Dorotea Ongjunco, as alleged by witnesses whom he would like to
confront. His friends knew his opposition to armed rebellion. Why did the
Katipunan send an emissary to Dapitan who was unknown to him? Because
those who knew him were aware that he would never sanction any violent
movement.
4.
The biased military court was apathetic to Jose's appeal. After a brief deliberation,
the members of the military court agreed to convict Jose and sentenced him to
death. On December 26, 1896, the unjust military court decision was given to
Governor General Camilo G. de Polavieja who asked the judgment of judge advocate
General Nicolas de la Pena who confirmed the death verdict. On December 28, 1896,
Governor General Camilo G. de Polavieja signed the court-martial's decision to
execute Jose Rizal. Medina (1998) presented this decree as follows:
Manila, December 28, 1896:
Conformably to the foregoing opm10n. I approve the sentence
dictated by the Court Martial in the present case, by virtue of which the
death penalty is imposed on the accused Jose Rizal Mercado, which shall
be executed by shooting him at 7:00 o'clock in the morning of the 30th of
this month in the field of Bagumbayan.
For compliance and the rest may correspond, let this be returned to
the Judge Advocate, Captain Don Rafael Dominguez.
Camilo G. de Polavieja
Jose Rizal's Death
After learning the unjust decision of the court martial, Jose spent the next
twenty fours of his remaining life seeing and speaking to his friends, family and
Josephine Bracken whom he tied the knot with canonically on December 30, 1896
officiated by Fr. Balaguer. After the reading of the death penalty, Jose opted to spent
quiet moments in the prison chapel. He turned into writing when he was left alone in
his cell. He penned a letter to his brother Paciano, another one to his best friend Dr.
Ferdinand Blumentritt, and another letter addressed to his father and mother. It was
also assumed that he signed a docunent abjuring Masonry (which some scholars
doubted).
It is commonly believed that on December 29, 1896, Jose composed his last
poem, Mi Ultimo Adios (My Last Farewell). He was able to thrust it inside an alcoh0I
cooking stove which he gave to his sister Trinidad to whom, he divulged 'There is
something in it.' Jose's last poem, composed without a title and unsigned was
translated in English by Charles E. Derbyshire, which runs below:
My Last Farewell
Farewell, dear Fatherland, clime of the sun caress' d
Pearl of the Orient seas, our Eden lost!
Gladly now I go to give thee this faded life's best,
And were it brighter, fresher or more blest
Still would I give it thee, nor count the cost.
On the field of battle, mid the frenzy of light,
Others have given their lives, without doubt or heed;
The place matters not - cypress or laurel or lily white,
Scaffold or open plain, combat or martyrdom's plight,
'Tis ever the same to serve our home and country's need.
I die just when I see the down break,
Through the gloom of riight, to herald the day;
And if color is lacking my blood thou shalt take,
Pour'd out at need for thy dear sake,
To dye with its crimson the walking ray.
My dreams, when life first opened to me.
My dreams, when the hopes of youth beat high,
Were to see thy lov'd face, O gem of the orient sea
From gloom and grief, from care and sorrow free;
No blush on thy brow, no tear in thine eye.
Dream of my life, my living and burning desire,
All hail! cries the soul that is now to take flight;
All hail! And sweet it is for thee to expire,
To die for thy sake, that thou mayst aspire,
And sleep in thy bosom eternity's long night.
If over my grave someday thou seest grow,
In the grassy sod, a humble flower,
Draw it to thy lips and kiss my soul so,
While I may feel on my brow in the cold tomb below
The touch of thy tenderness, thy breath's warm power.
Let the moon beam over me soft and serene,
Let the dawn shed over me its radiant flashes
Let the wind with the sad lament over me keen;
And if on my cross a bird should be seen,
Let it trill its hymn of peace of my ashes.
Let the sun draw the vapors up to the sky,
And heavenward in purity bear my tardy protest;
Let some kind soul o'er my untimely fate sigh,
And in the still evening a prayer be lifted on high,
From thee O my country, that in God I may rest.
Pray for all those that hapless have died.
For all who have suffered the unmeasur'd pain;
For our mothers that bitterly their woes have cried,
For widow and orphans, for captives by torture tried;
And then for thyself that redemption thou mayst gain.
And when the dark night wraps the graveyard around,
With only the dead in their vigil to see;
Break not my repose or the mystery profound,
And perchance thou mayst bear a sad hymn resound,
'Tis I, O my country, raising a song unto thee.
When even my grave is remembered no more,
Unmark' d by never a cross or a stone;
Let the plow sweep through it, the spade‚’ tum it o'er
That my ashes may carpet thy earthly floor,
Before into nothingness at last they are blown.
Then, will oblivion bring to me no care;
As over thy vales and plains I sweep:
Throbbing and cleansed in thy space and air,
With color and light, with song and lament I fare,
Ever repeating and faith that I keep.
My Fatherland ador'd that my sadness to my sorrow lends,
Beloved Filipinas, hear now my last good-bye!
I give thee all; parents and kindred and friends;
For I go where no slave before the oppressor bends,
Where faith can never kill, and God reigns e'er on high!
Farewell to you all, from my soul torn away,
Friends of my childhood in the home dispossessed!
Give thanks that I rest from the wearisome day!
Farewell to thee; too, sweet friend that lightened my way;
Beloved creatures all, farewell! In death there is rest!
On
December 30, 1896, approximately at six thirty in the morning. Jose's walk towards
his death commenced signaled by a trumpet sound at Fort Santiago. The death
march was delineated by Zaide and Zaide (2014) as follows:
The advance guard of four soldiers with bayoneted rifles moved. A few
meters behind, Rizal walked calmly, with his defense counsel (Lt Luis Taviel de
Andrade) on one side and two Jesuit priests (Fathers March and Vilaclara) on
the other. More wellarmed soldiers marched behind him.
Rizal was dressed elegantly in a black suit, black derby hat, black shoes,
white shirt and a black tie. His arms were tied behind from elbow to elbow, but
the rope was quite loose to give his arms freedom of movement.
To the muffled sounds of the drums, the cavalcade somnolently marched
slowly. There was a handful of spectators lining the street from Fort Santiago to
the Plaza de! Palacio in front of the Manila Cathedral. Everybody seemed to be
out at Bagumbayan where a vast crowd gathered to see how a martyr dies.
As Jose calmly made his way to Bagumbayan, he remarked about the beauty
and serenity of the morning, uttered a few observations about Corregidor, the
mountains or Cavite and the Ateneo College. Upon reaching the place of execution,
Jose noticed the very large number of prying persons and soldiers waiting for them.
After final blessings were bestowed on him he said his adieu to Fr. March, Fr.
Villaclara and Lt. Taviel de Andrade. Jose's request that he be shot facing the firing
squad was denied because there was an order to shoot him in the back. The normal
pulse of Jose, felt by Dr. Felipe Ruiz Castillo, a Spanish military doctor, proved that he
did not fear death. Above the beating of the drums that filled the air was the coldblooded command "Fuego" (Fire) which ended Jose's life. He fell to the ground three
minutes past seven o'clock in the morning and was declared dead.
Expectedly, the passing away of Jose Rizal's was greeted with joy by his
enemies. On the contrary, those who love, respected and supported him were
brokenhearted and painfully inflamed. For them, he died a hero and martyr to
Philippine freedom.
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Manila: National Historical Institute, 1990.
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Zaide, Gregorio and Zaide, Sonia. (1999). Jose Rizal: Life, Works and Writings. Manila:
All-Nations Publishing Co., Inc.
Zaide, Gregorio and Zaide, Sonia. (1997). Jose Rizal: Buhay, mga Ginawa at mga
Sinulat. Quezon City. All-Nations Publishing Co., Inc.
Capino, Diosdado G., Minerva A. Gonzalez, Ma., and Filipinas E. Pineda. Rizal's Life,
Works & Writings. Quezon City: Publishers Association of the Philippines, 1977.
th
References and Suggested Readings
1. Zaide, Gregorio and Zaide, Sonia M.:
Jose Rizal: Life, Works and Writings of a Genius, Writer, Scientist, and National Hero
Second Edition. All – Nations Publishing Co., Inc. Quezon City. 1999.
2. Purino, Anacoreta P.: Rizal, the Greatest Filipino Hero. Rex Book Store, Manila,
Philippines. 2008
3. José Rizal (1997). Prophecies of Jose Rizal about the Philippines: From the Pen of
the Visionary National Hero, Phenomenal Revelations and Coded Messages
about Events Past, Present and Future: Destiny of the Philippines …. Rex
Bookstore, Inc.
4. Valdez, Maria Stella S. (2007). Doctor Jose Rizal and the Writing of His Story. Rex
Bookstore, Inc.
5. Rizal, José. 1996. Noli me tangere, trans. Ma. Soledad Lacson-Locsin. Makati:
Bookmark.
6. Anderson, Benedict. 2008. Why counting counts: A study of forms of
consciousness and problems of language in Noli me tangere and El filibusterismo,
pp. 1–37. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.