José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda was born on June 19, 1861,

35 years old when he died. The seventh of the eleven children born to a relatively
well-off family in a Dominican-ownedtenant land in Calamba, Laguna, Jose Rizal
lived and died during the Spanish colonial era in the Philippines.

Jose’s father, Francisco Mercado Rizal, was a productive farmer from Binan,
Laguna, while his mother, Teodora Alonzo y Quintos, was an educated and
highly cultured woman from Sta. Cruz, Manila.

In his early childhood, Jose had mastered the alphabet, learned to write and read
books like the Spanish version of the Vulgate Bible. At young age, he already
showed inclinations to arts. He amazed his family by his pencil drawings, sketches,
and moldings of clay. Later in his childhood, he showed special talent in painting
and sculpture, wrote a Tagalog play which was presented at a Calamba fiesta, and
penned a short play in Spanish which was presented in school.

At the age of eleven, Rizal attended the Ateneo Municipal de Manila and
obtained at the age of 16 his Bachelor of Arts degree with an average of
"excellent". In the same year (1877), he took Philosophy and Letters at the
University of Santo Tomas, while at the same time enrolled in a course in land
surveying at the Ateneo. He finished his surveyor's training in 1877, passed the
licensing exam in May 1878, though the license was granted to him only in 1881
when he reached the age of majority. He enrolled in medicine at the University
of Santo Tomas in 1878. Sensing however that the Filipino students were being
discriminated by the Dominican professors, he left UST without finishing his
course.
On May 3, 1882, he went to Spain and enrolled at the Universidad Central de
Madrid. In June of 1884, he received the degree of Licentiate in Medicine at the
age of 23. A year later, he completed his course in Philosophy and Letters with
the grade of “excellent.” Wanting to cure his mother's advancing blindness, Rizal
went to Paris, Heidelberg, and Berlin to get further knowledge and training in
ophthalmology. In Heidelberg, he completed his eye specialization.

He learned 22 languages. He wrote extraordinary poems, contributed

nationalistic essays to publications, religiously kept his diary, and corresponded to
his friends and relatives. In March 1887, he published in Berlin his first
controversial novel, the Noli Me Tangere, which revealed the tyranny and
arrogance of the Spanish clergy and officials in the Philippines. To bring to light
that the Filipinos had an impressive civilization even long before the Spanish
colonization, he annotated and reprinted in Paris Morga’s Successos De Las Islas
Filipinas. On September 18, 1891, Rizal’s more militant novel, El Filibusterismo
was printed in Ghent.

As leader of patriotic Filipinos, he became one of the leadersof the literary and
cultural organization Propaganda Movement, the patriotic society Asociacion La
Solidaridad (Solidaridad Association), the temporary social society Kidlat Club,
the society of Filipino patriots in Paris Indio Bravo, the mysterious Redencion de
los Malayos (Redemption of the Malays), and founded the La Liga Filipina, a
civic organization that subsequently gave birth to the Katipunan. In various
ways, Rizal asked for radical reforms in the Spanish colonial system and clerical
powers in the Philippines and advocated equal rights before the law for Filipinos.

When Rizal returned to the Philippines in 1892 (his second homecoming), he

was imprisoned in Fort Santiago from July 6 to July 15 on a trump-up charge that
anti-priest leaflets were found in the pillow cases of his sister Lucia who arrived
with him from Hong Kong. He was then exiled to Dapitan, an island in
Mindanao. While an exile, he engaged in agriculture, fishing, and commerce while
operating a hospital and maintaining a school for boys. Moreover, he did scientific
researches, collected specimens of rare species, corresponded with scholars
abroad, and led construction of water dam and a relief map of Mindanao.

Rizal fell in love with Josephine Bracken, a woman from Hong Kong who brought
her stepfather to Dapitan for an eye operation. Josephine became Rizal’s
‘common-law wife’. The couple had a child who was born prematurely,
Francísco Rizal y Bracken, . Prior to his relationship with Josephine, Jose Rizal
had become romantically involved with other women, the most notable of
whom were Segunda Katigbak, his first love, and Leonor Rivera, his so called
true love.

In 1896, Rizal received a permission from the Governor General to become a

volunteer military physician in the revolution in Cuba, which was at the time
also raged by yellow fever. But the ‘Katipunan’ started the Philippine Revolution
on August 26, 1896. The powerful people whose animosity Rizal had provoked
took the opportunity to implicate him to the rebellion. After a trial in a kangaroo
court, he was convicted of rebellion and sentenced to death by firing squad at
Bagumbayan Field (now Luneta).

Dressed in a black coat and trousers and tied elbow to elbow, Rizal refused to
kneel and declined the traditional blindfold. Placid and a bit pale, he even
requested to face the firing squad, maintaining that he was not a traitor to his
country and to Spain. After some sweet-talk, Rizal agreed to turn his back but
requested that he be shot in the small of the back, for that would twist his body
and cause him to fall face upward.

Executioners’ Remingtons and Mausers.

Rizal died in that serene morning of December 30, 1896.

Jose Rizal: The Adventurous Voyager

Jose temporarily left his hometown Calamba on June 6, 1868. He and his father
went on a pilgrimage to Antipolo and afterward visited his sister Saturnina in
Manila, who was at the time a student at La Concordia. Across Laguna de Bay
and the Pasig River, Jose had an unforgettably amazing trip that he did not fail to
record the journey in his memoir.

In Biñan and Manila

A year after, Paciano brought Jose to the nearby town Biñan to attend the
school of Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz. Except for occasional homecomings,
he stayed in the town for a year and a half of schooling, living in an aunt’s house
where his breakfasts generally consisted of a plate of rice and two dried sardines
(‘tuyo’).

Don Francisco sent Jose to Manila in June 1872 to enroll in Ateneo Municipal.
Paciano found Jose a boarding house in Intramuros though Jose later transferred
to a house on Calle Carballo in Santa Cruz area. The following year, Jose
transferred residence to No. 6 Calle Magallanes. Two years after, he became an
intern (boarding student) in Ateneo and stayed there until his graduation in the
institution.

From 1877 to 1882, Rizal studied in the University of Santo Tomas, enrolling in
the course on Philosophy in Letters, but shifted to Medicine a year after. He
boarded in the house of a certain Concha Leyva in Intramuros, and later in “Casa
Tomasina,” at Calle 6, Santo Tomas, Intramuros.

In ‘Casa Tomasina’, his landlord-uncle Antonio Rivera had a daughter, Leonor,

who became Jose’s sweetheart.
In Europe

Sick and tired of the discriminatory and oppressive Dominican professors, Rizal
stopped attending classes at UST in 1882. On May 3 of that year, he left for
Spain to complete his studies and widen his political knowledge through exposure
to European governments. It’s funny that his departure for Spain had gone down
to history as a ‘secret departure’ although at least ten sure people—including his
three siblings and an uncle—collaborated in his going away, exclusive of the
unnamed and unnumbered ‘Jesuit priests’ and ‘intimate friends’ who co-
conspired in the plan.

On his way to Madrid, Rizal had many stopovers. He first disembarked and visited
the town of Singapore. Onboard the steamship ‘Djemnah’ he passed through
Punta de Gales, Colombo, and Aden. En route to Marseilles, he also went across
the historic waterway of Suez Canal and visited the Italian city of Naples. He left
Marseilles, France for Barcelona in an express train.

After some months, Rizal left Barcelona for Madrid and enrolled in Medicine and
Philosophy and Letters at the Universidad Central de Madrid on November 3,
1882. In Rizal’s letter dated February 13, 1883, he informed Paciano of his
meeting with other Filipinos: “The Tuesday of the Carnival we had a Filipino
luncheon and dinner in the house of the Paternos, each one contributing one
‘duro’. We ate with our hands, boiled rice, chicken adobo, fried fish and roast
pig.”

Ironically, a year after that sumptuous feasting, Rizal became penniless as his
family encountered economic regression. One day in June 1884, won a gold
medal in a contest. At night, he attended the feast held in honor of two award-
winning Filipino painters, Juan Luna and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo. As one
student commented, “Hayop man, ‘pag gutom, tumatapang.”
An Open Letter to School Principals, Teachers, and Parents

In 1885, Rizal who had finished his two courses in Madrid went to Paris, France.
From November 1885 to February 1886, he worked as an assistant tothe
celebrated ophthalmologistDr. Louis de Weckert.

In February 3, 1886, he left Paris for Heidelberg, Germany. He attended lectures

and training at the University of Heidelberg where he is said to have completed
his eye specialization.Afterward, Rizal settled for three months in the nearby
village, Wilhemsfeld, at the pastoral house of a Protestant pastor, Dr. Karl
Ullmer. It was also during this time that the correspondence and long-distance
friendship between Jose and Ferdinand Blumentritt began. Rizal wrote a letter in
German and sent it with a bilingual (Spanish and Tagalog) book ‘Aritmiteca’ to
Blumentritt who was interested in studying Jose’s native language.

Jose traveled next to Leipzig and attended some lectures at its university. Having
reached Dresden afterward, he met and befriended Dr. Adolph B. Meyer, the
Director of the Anthropological and Ethnological Museum. Also a Filipinologist,
Meyer showed Rizal some interesting things taken from tombs in the Philippines.

In November 1886, he went to Berlin and further enhanced his skills and
knowledge in ophthalmology. In that famous city, not only did he learn other
languages but also became member of various scientific communities and
befriended many famed intellectuals at the time. On February 21, 1887, he
finished his first novel and it came off the press a month later.

Grand Europe Tour

With his friend Maximo Viola who loaned him some amount to cover for the
printing of the ‘Noli’, Rizal traveled to various places in Europe. Through Paciano’s
remittance, Jose had paid Viola and decided to further explore some places in
Europe before returning to the Philippines. They went first to see Potsdam, a city
southwest of Berlin which became the site of the Potsdam Conference (1945) at
which the leaders of powerful nations deliberated upon the postwar
administration of Germany.

On May 11, 1887, they left Berlin for Dresden and witnessed the regional floral
exposition there. Wanting to visit Blumentritt, they went to Leitmeritz, Bohemia
passing through Teschen (Decin, Czechoslovakia). Professor Blumentritt warmly
received them at Leitmeritz railroad station. The professor identified them
through the pencil sketch which Rizal had previously made of himself and sent to
his European friend. Blumentritt acted as their tour guide, introducing them to
his family and to famous European scientists like Dr. Carlos Czepelak and Prof.
Robert Klutschak.

On May 16, the two Filipinos left Leitmeritz for Prague where they saw the tomb
of the famous astronomer Copernicus. They stopped at Brunn on their way to
Vienna. They met the famed Austrian novelist Norfenfals in Vienna, and Rizal
was interviewed by Mr. Alder, a newspaper correspondent. To see the sights of
the Danube River, they left Vienna on a boat where they saw passengers using
paper napkins. From Lintz, they had a short stay in Salzburg. Reaching Munich,
they tasted the local beer advertised as Germany’s finest. In Nuremberg, they
saw the infamous torture machines used in the so-called Catholic Inquisition.
Afterward, they went to Ulm and climbed Germany’s tallest cathedral there. They
also went to Sttutgart, Baden, and then Rheinfall where they saw Europe’s most
beautiful waterfall.

In Switzerland, they toured Schaffhausen, Basel, Bern, and Lausanne before

staying in Geneva. Rizal’s 15-day stay in Geneva was generally enjoyable except
when he learned about the exhibition of some Igorots in Madrid, side by side
some animals and plants. Not only did the primitive Igorots in ‘bahag’ become
objects of ridicule and laughter, one of them (a woman) also died of pneumonia.

On June 19, 1887, Rizal treated Viola for it was his 26th birthday. Four days after,
they parted ways—Viola went back to Barcelona while Rizal proceeded to Italy. In
Italy, Rizal went to see Turin, Milan, Venice, and Florence. In Rome, he paid a
visit to the historical places like the Amphitheatre and the Roman Forum. On
June 29, he had seen the glorious edifices, like the St. Peter’s Church, in the
Vatican City. As a co-professor commented, “Nag-gala talaga ang lolo mo!”

First homecoming

Despite being warned by friends and loved ones, Jose was adamant in his decision
to return to his native land. From a French port Marseilles, he boarded on July 3
the steamer ‘Djemnah’ which sailed to the East through the Suez Canal and
reached Saigon on the 30th of the month. He then took the steamer ‘Haiphong’
and reached Manila near midnight of August 5.

After meeting some friends in Manila, he returned to Calamba on August 8.

Restoring his mother’s eyesight, he began to be dubbed as “German doctor” or
“Doctor Uliman” (from the word ‘Aleman’ which means German) and made a lot
of money because people from different places flocked him for a better vision.
Because of his enemies’ allegation that ‘Noli’ contained subversive ideas, Rizal
was summoned by the Governor General Emilio Terrero. Seeing no problem in
the book, Terrero nonetheless assigned to Rizal a body guard, Don Jose Taviel de
Andrade, to protect the ‘balikbayan’ from his adversaries.

In December 1887, the Calamba folks asked Rizal’s assistance in collecting

information as regards Dominican hacienda management. It was in compliance to
the order of the government to investigate the way friar estates were run. So
Rizal had reported, among others, that the Dominican Order had arbitrarily
increased the land rent and charged the tenants for nonexistent agricultural
services. The enraged friars pressured the governor general to ‘advise’ the author
of the ‘Noli’ to leave the country. (In other words, “napuno na talaga sa kanya ang
nga pari”)

Second Travel Abroad

What Rizal failed to accomplish in his six-month stay in the country was visiting his
girlfriend Leonor Rivera in Pangasinan. His father strongly opposed the idea,
sensing that the visit would put Leonor’s family in jeopardy.

On February 3, 1888, Rizal sailed to Hongkong onboard ‘Zafiro’ and just stayed
inside the ship during its short stop at Amoy. He stayed at Victoria Hotel in
Hongkong (not in Sta. Mesa) and visited the nearby city Macao for two days
along with a friend, Jose Maria Basa. Among other things, Rizal experienced in
Hong Kong the noisy firecracker-laden Chinese New Year and the marathon
lauriat party characterized by numerous dishes being served. (The ‘lauriat’ combo
meal in ‘Chowking’ originated from this Chinese party.)

From Hong Kong, he reached Yokohama, Japan on February 28 and proceeded to

Tokyo the next day. He lived in the Spanish legation in Tokyo upon the invitation
of its secretary, Juan Perez Caballero. In March 1888, he heard a Tokyo band
nicely playing a European music and was astonished to find out after the gig that
some of its members were Filipinos .We can surmise from this that even during
Rizal’s time, some Filipinos were already entertainers in Japan (‘Japayuki’ or
‘Japayuko)

But if there were a person who was truly entertained at the time, it was Rizal
himself who was amused by the Japanese girl who used to pass by the legation
everyday. The 23-year old Seiko Usui whom he fondly called ‘O-Sei-San’became
his tour guide and sweetheart rolled into one.

Sail to the West

Because he loved his mission more than O-Sei-San, he boarded the ‘Belgic’ on
April 13, 1888. In the vessel, he had befriended Tetcho Suehiro, a Japanese
novelist and human rights fighter who was also forced by his government to
leave his country. The ship arrived in San Francisco on April 28.

On May 6, he went to Oakland. Onboard a train, he took his evening meal at

Sacramento and woke up at Reno, Nevada. He had visited also the states of Utah,
Colorado, Nebraska, Illinois, and finally reached New York on May 13. On
Bedloe Island, he had seen the Statue of Liberty symbolizing freedom and
democracy. In

Great Britain

On May 16, 1888 on the ship ‘City of Rome’ Rizal sailed for Liverpool and arrived
on May 24. A day after, he reached London and stayed briefly at Dr. Antonio Ma.
Regidor's home. He then boarded at the Beckett family where he fell in love with
Gertrude, the oldest daughter of his landlord.

In June 1888, Rizal made friends with Dr. Reinhold Rost and his family. Expert in
Malayan language, Rost had in his house a good Filipiniana library. Rizal was
described by Rost as “a pearl of a man” (‘una perla de hombre’).

In London, Rizal manually copied and annotated Morga’s ‘Sucesos de las Islas
Filipinas’, a rare book available in the British Museum. In Spain, he met Marcelo
H. del Pilar for the first time.

In France

Leaving London for good, he went to Paris in March 1889. He shortly lived in the
house of a friend, Valentin Ventura before transferring in a little room where e
had as roommates two Filipinos, one of which was Jose Albert, a student from
Manila. In Paris, Rizal frequented the Bibliotheque Nationale, working on his
annotation of the ‘Sucesos’.

He spent his spare hours in the houses of friends like Juan Luna and his wife Paz
Pardo de Tavera. Rizal witnessed the Universal Exposition of Paris, having as its
greatest attraction the Eiffel Tower.He formed the ‘Kidlat Club’, a temporary
social club which brought together Filipinos witnessing the exposition. He also
organized the ‘Indios Bravos’, an association which envisioned Filipinos being
recognized for being admirable in many fields, and the mysterious Redencion de
los Malayos (Redemption of the Malays) which aimed to propagate useful
knowledge. In Paris, Rizal also finished and published his annotation of the
‘Sucesos.’

In Belgium

After celebrating the Yuletide season in Paris in 1889, Rizal shortly visited London
for the last time. With Jose Albert, Rizal left Paris for Brussels on January 28,
1890. The two stayed in a boarding house administered by the Jacoby sisters
(Suzanne and Marie) where Rizal met and had a transitory affair with Petite, the
niece of his landladies.

In Belgium, Rizal busied himself with writing the ‘Fili’ and contributing for La
Solidaridad using the pen names Dimas Alang and Laong Laan. When he heard
the news that the Calamba agrarian trouble was getting worse, Rizal decided to
go home. But Paciano told him through a letter that they lost the court case
against the Dominicans in the Philippines and they intended to bring the case to
Madrid. This prompted Jose to go to Madrid instead to look for a lawyer and
influential people who would defend the Calamba tenants.

In Madrid

Rizal traveled to Madrid in August 1890. Along with his lawyer, Marcelo H. Del
Pilar, he tried to seek justice for his family but could not find anyone who could
help him.

Rizal encountered many adversities and tribulations in Madrid. He heard that his
family was forced to leave their land in Calamba and some family members were
even deported to far places. One day, Rizal challenged his friend Antonio Luna to
a duel when he (Luna), being unsuccessful in seeking Nellie Boustead’s love, gave
negative comments on the lady. Rizal also dared to a duel Wenceslao Retana of
the anti-Filipino newspaper ‘La Epoca’ who wrote that Rizal’s family did not pay
their land rent. Both duels were fortunately aborted—Luna became Rizal’s good
friend again and Retana even became rizal’s first non-Filipino biographer.

In Madrid, Rizal also heard the news of Leonor Rivera's marriage with an
Englishman Henry Kipping who was the choice of Leonor’s mother. As if
‘misfortunes’ were not enough, there emerged the Del Pilar-Rizal rivalry for
leadership in the Asociacion Hispano Filipino. The supposedly healthy election for
a leader (‘Responsible’) produced divisive unpleasant split among the Filipinos in
Madrid (the Rizalistas vs. the Pilaristas). Rizal thus decided to leave Madrid, lest
his presence results in more serious faction among Filipinos in Madrid.

In Biarritz, Paris, and Brussels

Rizal proceeded to take a more than a month vacation in Biarritz, a tourist town
in southwestern France noted for its mild climate and sand beaches. Arriving
there in February 1891, Rizal was welcomed as a family guest in the house of the
Bousteds, especially by Nellie whom he had a serious (but failed) romantic
relationship

In Biarritz, he continued to worked on his ‘El Fili’ and completed its manuscript
on March 29, the eve of his departure for Paris. Valentin Ventura hosted his
short stay in Paris, and the Jacobies, especially Petite Suzanne, cordially
welcomed his arrival in Brussels in April 1891. In Brussels, Rizal revised and
prepared for printing his second novel until the end of May. By June 1891, he was
already looking for a printing firm to print the ‘El Filibusterismo.’

In Ghent

Rizal went to Ghent in July 1891 because the cost of printing in the place was
cheaper. He lived in a low-cost boarding house where he had as roommate Jose
Alejandro, an engineering student in the University of Ghent. Tightening their
belts, they rented a room exclusive of breakfast. They bought a box of biscuit,
counted the contents, and computed for their daily ration for a month. In just 15
days, Alejandro had eaten up all his shares whereas Rizal frugally limited himself
to his daily allocation.

The publisher F. Meyer-Van Loo Press, No. 66 Viaanderen Street agreed

to print the ‘El Fili’ on installment basis. Despite pawning all his jewels and living
tightfistedly, Rizal run out of funds and the printing had to be suspended on
August 6. But through Valentin Ventura’s ‘salvific’ act, the ‘El Filibusterismo’
came off the press on September 18, 1891. Two weeks after, he visited Paris for
the last time to bid goodbye to his friends and compatriots.

In Hong Kong and Sandakan

In October 1891, Rizal left Europe for Hong Kong onboard the ship ‘Melbourne’
on which he began writing his third (but unfinished) novel. He arrived in Hong
Kong on November 20 and resided at No. 5 D’ Aguilar Street, No. 2 Rednaxela
Terrace. (In case you did not notice, ‘Rednaxela’ is ‘Alexander’ spelled reversely).

Having escaped the friars’ persecution, Don Francisco, Paciano, and Silvestre
Ubaldo (Jose’s brother-in-law) also arrived in Hong Kong. Shortly after, Doña
Teodora and children Lucia, Josefa, and Trinidad also came, and the Rizal family
had a sort of family reunion in the Yuletide season of 1891.

In Hong Kong, Jose opened a medical clinic. A Portuguese friend, Dr.

Lorenzo P. Marques helped him to have plentiful patrons of various
nationalities. His successful operation on his mother’s left eye allowed her to
read again.

In March 1892, he went to Sandakan (East Malaysia) aboard ‘Menon’ to negotiate

with British authorities concerning the founding of a Filipino colony in North
Borneo (now called Sabah). On March 21, Rizal asked Governor General Eulogio
Despujol through a letter to allow the landless Filipinos, especially the deported
Calamba tenants, to establish themselves in North Borneo. Rizal was back in
Hon Kong in April, 1892.

Second homecoming

Rizal left Hong Kong on June 21, 1892 along with his sister Lucia. Without his
knowledge, the Spanish consul in Hong Kong sent a cablegram to Despujol
stating figuratively that “the rat is in the trap”. A secret case against Rizal was
thus filed in Manila for anti-religious and anti-patriotic public campaign.

Rizal and his sister arrived in Manila at 12:00 noon of June 26, 1892. At 7 pm, he
was able to confer in Malacañan with Despujol who agreed to pardon his father
and told him to return on June 29.

On June 27, he took a train and visited his friends in Central Luzon. He had a
stopover at the Bautista mansion in Malolos, Bulacan and spent the night in the
house of Evaristo Puno in Tarlac, Tarlac, about 30 kilometers away from the
residence of Leonor Rivera-Kipping in Camiling. He also went to San Fernando and
Bacolor, Pampanga and returned to Manila on June 28, at 5 pm. On June 29, 30,
and July 3, he had other interviews with Despujol. The colonization project was
rejected though Rizal’s request to lift the exile of his sisters was granted.

On the evening of July 3, Rizal spearheaded the meeting in the house of

Doroteo Ongjunco on Ylaya Street, Tondo, Manila of at least 20 Filipinos,
including Andres Bonifacio and Apolinario Mabini. Rizal explained the aims of
the civic association ‘La Liga Filipina’. Officers were then elected, having
Ambrosio Salvador as the president, thereby officially establishing the league.

Just three days after though, Rizal was arrested during his interview with the
governor general. Despujol showed him anti-friar leaflets ‘Pobres Frailes’ (Poor
Friars) allegedly discovered in his sister Lucia’s pillow cases. Imprisoned in Fort
Santiago for almost ten days, Rizal was brought at 12:30 am on July 14 to the
steamer ‘Cebu’. Passing through Mindoro and Panay, the vessel docked at
Dapitan in Zamboanga del Norte on the evening of July 17. True, Dapitan is a
scenic place with fine beaches, perhaps a soothing place for a ‘balik-bayan’ like
Rizal. But Jose was not there as a tourist or a vacationer—he was an exile. The
ship captain Delgras handed him over to the local Spanish commandant, Ricardo
Carnicero and that signaled the start of Rizal’s life as a deportee in Dapitan.

Jose Rizal's Bitter Sweet Life in Dapitan

Not willing to accede to these main conditions set by the Jesuits, Jose Rizal
instead opted to live at commandant’s residence they called ‘Casa Real’.

The commandant Captain Ricardo Carnicero and Jose Rizal became good friends
so much so that the exile did not feel that the captain was actually his guard.
Later in his life in Dapitan, Rizal wrote a poem ‘A Don Ricardo Carnicero’ honoring
the kind commandant on the occasion of his birthday on August 26, 1892.

In September 1892, Rizal and Carnicero won in a lottery. The Manila Lottery
ticket no. 9736 jointly owned by Rizal, Carnicero, and a Spanish resident of
Dipolog won the second prize of Php 20, 0000. Rizal used some part of his share
(Php 6, 200) in procuring a parcel of land near the coast of Talisay, a barrio near
Dapitan.

On a property of more than 10 hectares, he put up three houses made of

bamboo, wood, and nipa. He lived in the house which was square in shape.
Another house, which was hexagonal, was the barn where Rizal kept his chickens.
In his octagonal house lived some of his pupils—for Rizal also established a
school, teaching young boys practical subjects like reading, writing, arithmetic,
geography, and Spanish and English languages. Later, he constructed additional
huts to accommodate his recovering out-of-town patients.

Daily life as an exile

During his exile, Rizal practiced medicine, taught some pupils, and engaged in
farming and horticulture. He grew many fruit trees (like coconut, mango,
lanzones, makopa, santol, mangosteen, jackfruit, guayabanos, baluno, and nanka)
and domesticated some animals (like rabbits, dogs, cats, and chickens). The
school he founded in 1893 started with only three pupils, and had about more
than 20 students at the time his exile ended.

Rizal would rise at five in the morning to see his plants, feed his animals, and
prepare breakfast. Having taken his morning meal, he would treat the patients
who had come to his house. Paddling his boat called ‘baroto’ (he had two of
them), he would then proceed to Dapitan town to attend to his other patients
there the whole morning.

Rizal would return to Talisay to take his lunch. Teaching his pupils would begin at
about 2 pm and would end at 4 or 5 in the afternoon. With the help of his pupils,
Rizal would spend the rest of the afternoon in farming—planting trees, watering
the plants, and pruning the fruits. Rizal then would spend the night reading and
writing.

Rizal and the Jesuits

The first attempt by the Jesuit friars to win back the deported Rizal to the Catholic
fold was the offer for him to live in the Dapitan convent under some conditions.
Refusing to compromise, Rizal did not stay with the parish priest Antonio Obach in
the Church convent.

Just a month after Rizal was deported to Dapitan, the Jesuit Order assigned
to Dapitan the priest Francisco de Paula Sanchez, Rizal’s favorite teacher in
Ateneo. Many times, they engaged in cordial religious discussions. But though
Rizal appreciated his mentor’s effort, he could not be convinced to change his
mind. Nevertheless, their differences in belief did not get in the way of their good
friendship.

The priest Pablo Pastells, superior of the Jesuit Society in the Philippines, also
made some attempts by correspondence to win over to Catholicism the exiled
physician. Four times they exchanged letters from September 1892 to April 1893.
The debate was none less than scholarly and it manifested Rizal’s knowledge of
the Holy Scriptures for he quoted verses from it. Though Rizal consistently
attended mass in Dapitan, he refused to espouse the conventional type of
Catholicism.

Achievements in Dapitan

Rizal provided significant community services in Dapitan like improving the town’s
drainage and constructing better water system using empty bottles and bamboo
joints. He also taught the town folks about health and sanitation so as to avoid
the spread of diseases. With his Jesuit priest friend Sanchez, Rizal made a huge
relief map of Mindanao in Dapitan plaza. Also, he bettered their forest by
providing evident trails, stairs, and some benches. He invented a wooden
machine for mass production of bricks. Using the bricks he produced, Rizal built a
water dam for the community with the help of his students.

As the town’s doctor, Rizal equally treated all patients regardless of their
economic and social status. He accepted as ‘fees’ things like poultry and crops,
and at times, even gave his services to poor folks for free. His specialization was
ophthalmology but he also offered treatments to almost all kinds of diseases like
fever, sprain, broken bones, typhoid, and hernia.

Rizal also helped in the livelihood of the abaca farmers in Dapitan by trading
their crops in Manila. He also gave them lessons in abaca-weaving to produce
hammocks. Noticing that the fishing method by the locals was inefficient, he
taught them better techniques like weaving and using better fishing nets.

As a scientist and philologist

Aside from doing archaeological excavations, Rizal inspected Dapitan’s rich flora
and fauna, providing a sort of taxonomy to numerous kinds of forest and sea
creatures. From his laboratory and herbarium, he sent various biological
specimens to scientists in Europe like his dear friend Doctor Adolph B. Meyer in
Dresden. In return, the European scholars sent him books and other academic
reading materials.
 From the collections he sent to European scholars, at least three species
were named after him: a Dapitan frog (‘Rhacophorus rizali’), a type of beetle
(‘Apogonia rizali’), and a flying dragon (Draco rizali).

Having learned the Visayan language, he also engaged himself in the study
of language, culture, and literature. He examined local folklores, customs, Tagalog
grammar, and the Malay language. His intellectual products about these subjects,
he related to some European academicians like Doctor Reinhold Rost, his close
philologist friend in London.

Spies and secret emissary

Not just once did Rizal learn that his ‘enemies’ sent spies to gather incriminating
proofs that Rizal was a separatist and an insurgent. Perhaps disturbed by his
conscience, a physician named Matias Arrieta revealed his covert mission and
asked for forgiveness after he was cured by Rizal (Bantug, p. 115).

In March 1895, a man introduced himself to Rizal as Pablo Mercado.

Claiming to be Rizal’s relative, this stranger eagerly volunteered to bring Rizal’s
letters to certain persons in Manila. Made suspicious by the visitor’s insistence,
Rizal interrogated him and it turned out that his real name was Florencio
Nanaman of Cagayan de Misamis, paid as secret agent by the Recollect friars. But
because it was raining that evening, the kind Rizal did not command Nanaman out
of his house but even let the spy spend the rainy night in his place.

In July the next year, a different kind of emissary was sent to Rizal. Doctor
Pio Valenzuela was sent to Dapitan by Andres Bonifacio—the Katipunan leader
who believed that carrying out revolt had to be sanctioned first by Rizal. Disguised
as a mere companion of a blind patient seeking treatment from Rizal, Valenzuela
was able to discreetly deliver the Katipunan’s message for Rizal. But Rizal politely
refused to approve the uprising, suggesting that peaceful means was far better
than violent ways in obtaining freedom. Rizal further believed that a revolution
would be unsuccessful without arms and monetary support from wealthy
Filipinos. He thus recommended that if the Katipunan was to start a revolution, it
had to ask for the support of rich and educated Filipinos, like Antonio Luna who
was an expert on military strategy (Bantug, p. 133).

Visited by loved ones

Rizal was in Dapitan when he learned that his true love Leonor Rivera had died.
What somewhat consoled his desolate heart was the visits of his mother and
some sisters.

In August 1893, Doña Teodora, along with daughter Trinidad, joined Rizal in
Dapitan and resided with him in his ‘casa cuadrada’ (square house). The son
successfully operated on his mother’s cataract.

At distinct times, Jose’s sisters Maria and Narcisa also visited him. Three of
Jose’s nephews also went to Dapitan and had their early education under their
uncle: Maria’s son Mauricio (Moris) and Lucia’s sons Teodosio (Osio) and
Estanislao (Tan). Jose’s nieceAngelica, Narcisa’s daughter, also had experience
living for some time with her exiled uncle in Mindanao.

In 1895, Doña Teodora left Dapitan for Manila to be with Don Francisco who
was getting weaker. Shortly after the mother left, Josephine Bracken came to
Jose’s life. Josephine was an orphan with Irish blood and the stepdaughter of
Jose’s patient from Hongkong. Rizal and Bracken were unable to obtain a church
wedding because Jose would not retract his anti-Catholic views. He nonetheless
took Josephine as his common-law wife who kept him company and kept house
for him. Before the year ended in 1895, the couple had a child who was born
prematurely. The son who was named after Rizal’s father (Francisco) died a few
hours after birth. (For detailed discussion on Rizal-Bracken relationship, look for
the section “Josephine Bracken” under “Rizal’s love life”.)

Goodbye Dapitan
In 1895, Blumentritt informed Rizal that the revolution-ridden Cuba, another
nation colonized by Spain, was raged by yellow fever epidemic. Because there was
a shortage of physicians to attend to war victims and disease-stricken people,
Rizal in December 1895 wrote to the then Governor General Ramon Blanco,
volunteering to provide medical services in Cuba. Receiving no reply from Blanco,
Rizal lost interest in his request.

But on July 30, 1896, Rizal received a letter from the governor general
sanctioning his petition to serve as volunteer physician in Cuba. Rizal made
immediate preparations to leave, selling and giving as souvenirs to friends and
students his various properties.

In the late afternoon of July 31, Rizal got on the ‘España’ with Josephine,
Narcisa, a niece, three nephews, and three of his students. Many Dapitan folks,
especially Rizal’s students, came to see their beloved doctor for the last time.
Cordially bidding him goodbye, they shouted “Adios, Dr. Rizal!” and some of his
students even cried. With sorrowing heart, He waved his hand in farewell to the
generous and loving Dapitan folks, saying, “Adios, Dapitan!”

The steamer departed for Manila at midnight of July 31, 1896. With tears in
his eyes, Rizal later wrote in his diary onboard the ship, “I have been in that
district four years, thirteen days, and a few hours.”

JOSE RIZAL: From Dapitan to Bagumbayan

VARIOUS SIGNIFICANT EVENTS happened during Rizal’s Dapitan-to-Manila trip.

Leaving Dapitan for Manila on July 31, 1896, the steamer ‘España’ with Rizal as a
passenger made some stopovers in various areas. In Dumaguete, Rizal had visited
some friends like a former classmate from Madrid and had cured a sick Guardia
Civil captain. In Cebu, he carried out four operations and gave out prescriptions to
other patients. Going to Iloilo, he saw the historical Mactan island. He went
shopping and was impressed by the Molo church in Iloilo. The ship then sailed to
Capiz, to Romblon, and finally to Manila.
In Manila

It is said that as the steamer approached Luzon, there was an attempt by the
Katipuneros to help Rizal escape (Bantug, p. 135). The Katipunero Emilio Jacinto,
disguising himself as a ship crew member, was supposed to have managed to get
close to Rizal, while another Katipunan member, Guillermo Masankay, circled the
ship in a boat. Firm in his aim to fulfill his mission in Cuba, Rizal accordingly
refused to be rescued by Katipunan’s envoys.

Rizal arrived in Manila on August 6, 1896, a day after the mail boat ‘Isla de Luzon’
had left for Spain, and so he had to stay in Manila until the next steamer arrived.
Afraid that his one-month stay onboard the ship might bring him troubles, he
requested the governor general that he (Rizal) be isolated from everyone except
his family. The government reacted by transferring him near midnight of the same
day to the cruiser ‘Castilla’ docked at Cavite.

On August 19, the Katipunan plot to revolt against the Spanish authorities was
discovered through the confession of a certain Teodoro Patiño to Mariano Gíl,
Augustinian cura of Tondo. This discovery led to the arrest of many Katipuneros.
The Katipunan led by Bonifacio reacted by convening many of its members and
deciding to immediately begin the armed revolt. As a sign of their commitment to
the revolution, they tore their cedulas (residence certificates). Katipunan’s first
major assault happened on August 30 when the Katipuneros attacked the 100
Spanish soldiers protecting the powder magazine in San Juan. Because Spanish
reinforcements arrived, about 150 Katipuneros were killed and more than 200
were taken prisoner. This bloody encounter in San Juan and the uprisings in other
suburban Manila areas on that same day prompted the governor general to
proclaim a state of war in Manila and other seven nearby provinces.

On the same day (August 30), Blanco issued letters of recommendation on Rizal’s
behalf to Spanish Minister of War and Minister of Colonies with a cover letter
clearing Rizal of any connection to the raging revolution. On September 2, he was
transported to the ship ‘Isla de Panay.’

Going to Spain
The steamer ‘Isla de Panay’ left Manila for Barcelona the next day. Arriving in
Singapore on September 7, Rizal was urged by some Filipinos like his co-passenger
Don Pedro Roxas and Singaporean resident Don Manuel Camus to stay in the
British-controlled territory. Trusting Blanco’s words, Rizal refused to stay in
Singapore. Without his knowledge however, Blanco and the Ministers of War and
the Colonies had been exchanging telegrams, planning his arrest upon reaching
Barcelona.

As ‘Isla de Panay’ made a stopover at Port Said, Egypt on September 27, the
passengers had known that the uprising in the Philippines got worsen as
thousands of Spanish soldiers were dispatched to Manila and many Filipinos were
either killed in the battle, or arrested and executed. Rizal had the feeling that he
had already been associated to the Filipino revolution as his co-passengers
became aloof to him. A day after, he wrote a letter to Blumentritt informing him
that he (Rizal) received an information that Blanco had an order to arrest him.
Before reaching Malta on September 30, he was officially ordered to stay in his
cabin until further orders from Blanco come.

With Rizal as a prisoner onboard, the ‘Isla de Panay’ anchored at Barcelona on

October 3, 1896. He was placed under heavy guard by the then Military
Commander of Barcelona, General Eulogio Despujol, the same former governor
general who deported Rizal to Dapitan in 1892. Early in the morning of October 6,
he was transported to Monjuich prison-fortress. In the afternoon, he was brought
to Despujol who told him that there was an order to ship him (Rizal) back to
Manila in the evening.

He was then taken aboard the ship ‘Colon’ which left for Manila at 8 pm. The ship
was full of Spanish soldiers and their families who were under orders not to go
near or talk to Rizal. Though he was allowed to take walks on deck during the
journey, he was locked up and handcuffed before reaching any port.

Last homecoming
Arriving in Manila as a prisoner on November 3, 1896, Rizal was detained in Fort
Santiago where he had been imprisoned four years ago. To gather pieces of
evidence against him, some of his friends, acquaintances, members of the ‘La
Liga,’ and even his brother Paciano were tortured and forcibly questioned. As a
preliminary investigation, Rizal underwent a series of interrogation administered
by one of the judges, Colonel Francisco Olive—the same military leader who led
the troops that forced the Rizal family to vacate their Calamba home in 1890.
Those who were coerced to testify against Rizal were not allowed to be cross-
examined by the accused.

Rizal is said to have admitted knowing most of those questioned, “though he

would deny to the end that he knew either Andres Bonifacio or Apolinario
Mabini” .Fifteen pieces of documentary evidence were presented—Rizal’s letters,
letters of his compatriots like Marcelo del Pilar and Antonio Luna, a poem
(Kundiman), a Masonic document, two transcripts of speech of Katipuneros
(Emilio Jacinto and Jose Turiano Santiago), and Rizal’s poem ‘A Talisay.’ The
testimonial evidence involved the oral testimonies of 13 Filipinos notably
including that of La Liga officers like Ambrosio Salavador and Deodato Arellano,
and the Katipunero Pio Valenzuela.

Olive submitted the reports to Blanco on November 26 and Captain Rafael

Dominguez was assigned as special Judge Advocate in Rizal’s case. Dominguez
made a summary of the case and delivered it to Blanco who subsequently sent
the papers to Judge Advocate General Don Nicolas Dela Peña. After examining the
case, Peña recommended that (1) Rizal be instantly brought to trial, (2) he must
be kept in jail, (3) an order of attachment be issued against his property, and (4) a
Spanish army officer, not a civilian lawyer, be permitted to defend him in court.

On December 8, Rizal was given the restricted right to choose his lawyer from a
list of 100 Spanish army officers. He chose Lt. Luis Taviel de Andrade who turned
out to be the younger brother of his bodyguard-friend in Calamba in 1887, Jose
Taviel de Andrade. Three days after (December 11), the formal charges were read
to Rizal in his prison cell, with Andrade on his side. In short, he was accused of
being the main organizer and the ‘living soul’ of the revolution having proliferated
ideas of rebellion and of founding illegal organizations. He pleaded not guilty to
the crime of rebellion and explained that ‘La Liga’, the constitution of which he
wrote, was just a civic organization.

On December 13, the day Camilo G. de Polavieja replaced Blanco as governor

general, papers of Rizal’s criminal case were sent to Malacañang. Concern about
the welfare of his people, Rizal on December 15 wrote a manifesto appealing to
the revolutionaries to discontinue the uprising and pursue to attain liberty instead
by means of education and of labor. But de la Peña interpreted the manifesto as
all the more advocating the spirit of rebellion as it ultimately willed the Filipino
liberty. Polavieja thus disallowed to issue Rizal’s manifesto.

The rat in the kangaroo court

On December 26 morning, the Filipino patriot who was once figuratively referred
to by Spanish officials as a ‘trapped rat’ appeared in the kangaroo court inside the
military building, Cuartel de España. He was tried before seven members of the
military court with Lt. Col. Jose Togores Arjona acting as the president.

Judge Advocate Dominguez presented Rizal’s criminal case followed by the

lengthy speech of Prosecuting Attorney Enrique de Alcocer. To appeal to the
emotions of the Spanish judges, Alcocer went as far as dramatically mentioning
the Spanish soldiers who had died in the Filipino traitorous revolt and
discriminately describing Rizal as “a typical ‘Oriental,’ who had presumed to rise
from a lower social scale in order to attain powers and positions that could never
be his” (Bantug, p. 144). At the end, Alcocer petitioned for a death sentence for
Rizal and an indemnity of twenty thousand pesos.

Rizal’s defense counsel, Lt. Andrade, then took the floor and tried his very
best to save his client by reading his responsive defense, stressing too that it’s but
natural for anyone to yearn for liberty and independence. Afterward, Rizal was
allowed to read his complementary defense consisting of logical proofs that he
could have not taken part in the revolution and that La Liga was distinct from
Katipunan. He argued, among others, that he even advised the Katipunan
emissary (Valenzuela) in Dapitan not to pursue with the plan to revolt; the
revolutionists had used his name without his knowledge; he could have escaped
either in Dapitan or Singapore if he were guilty; and the civic group La Liga which
died out upon his exile did not serve the purpose of the uprising, and he had no
knowledge about its reformation.

Lt. Col. Arjona then declared the trial over. Expectedly, the entire defense
was indifferently disregarded in Rizal’s mock trial as it instantaneously considered
him guilty and unanimously voted for the death sentence.

The trial ended with the reading of the sentence. Doctor Jose Rizal was found
guilty. The sentence was death by firing squad.

On December 28, Governor General Polavieja signed the court decision and
decreed that the guilty be executed by firing squad at 7 a.m. of December 30,
1896 at Bagumbayan (Luneta). Because Rizal was also required to sign the verdict,
he stoically signed his own death sentence.

Rizal’s last 25 hours

Accounts on Rizal’s last hours vary and largely depend on the historian one is
reading. What happened in Rizal’s life from 6 a.m. of December 29, 1896 until his
execution was perhaps the most controversial in his biography, for the divisive
claims—like his supposed retraction and Catholic marriage with Bracken—
allegedly occurred within this time frame.

Standard biography nonetheless states that at 6 a.m. of December 29, Judge

Advocate Dominguez formally read the death sentence to Rizal. At about 7 a.m.,
he was transferred to either his ‘death cell’ or ‘prison chapel’. He was visited by
Jesuit priests, Miguel Saderra Mata and Luis Viza. They brought the medal of the
Ateneo’s Marian Congregation of which Rizal was a member and the wooden
statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus he had carved in the school. Rizal put the
wooden image on his table while he rejected the medal saying "Im little of a
Marian, Father.” (“Last Hours of Rizal”).

At 8 a.m., the priest Antonio Rosell arrived, after his co-priest Viza left. Rizal
shared his breakfast with Rosell. Later, Lt. Andrade came and Rizal thanked his
defense lawyer. Santiago Mataix of the Spanish newspaper ‘El Heraldo de Madrid’
interviewed Rizal at about 9 a.m. Then came the priest Federico Faura at about 10
a.m. He advised Rizal to forget about his resentment and marry Josephine
canonically. The two had heated discussion about religion as witnessed by Rosell
(“Last Hours of Rizal”).

Two other priests, Jose Vilaclara and Vicente Balaguer (missionary in Dapitan) also
visited Rizal at about 11 a.m. The Jesuits tried to convince Rizal to write a
retraction. Though still believing in the Holy Scriptures, Rizal supposedly refused
to retract his anti-Catholic views, exclaiming, “Look, Fathers, if I should assent to
all you say and sign all you want me to, just to please you, neither believing nor
feeling, I would be a hypocrite and would then be offending God.” .

At 12 noon, Rizal was left alone in his cell. He had his lunch, read the Bible, and
meditated. About this time, Balaguer reported to the Archbishop that only a little
hope remained that Rizal would retract (“Last Hours of Rizal”). Refusing to receive
visitors for the meantime, Rizal probably finished his last poem at this moment.
Rizal also wrote to Blumentritt his last letter in which he called the Austrian
scholar “my best, my dearest friend”.

He then had a talk with priests Estanislao March and Vilaclara at about 2 p.m.
Balaguer then returned to Rizal’s cell at 3:30 p.m. and allegedly discussed (again)
about Rizal’s retraction (Zaide, p. 265). Rizal then wrote letters and dedications
and rested for short.

At 4 p.m., the sorrowful Doña Teodora and Jose’s sisters came to see the
sentenced Rizal. The mother was not allowed a last embrace by the guard though
her beloved son, in quiet grief, managed to press a kiss on her hand. Dominguez is
said to have been moved with compassion at the sight of Rizal’s kneeling before
his mother and asking forgiveness. As the dear visitors were leaving, Jose handed
over to Trinidad an alcohol cooking stove, a gift from the Pardo de Taveras,
whispering to her in a language which the guards could not comprehend, “There
is something in it.” That ‘something’ was Rizal’s elegy now known as “Mi Ultimo
Adios.”
The Dean of the Manila Cathedral, Don Silvino Lopez Tuñon, came to exchange
some views with Rizal at about 5:30 p.m. Balaguer and March then left, leaving
Vilaclara andTuñon in Rizal’s cell. As Rosell was leaving at about 6 p.m., Josephine
Bracken arrived in Fort Santiago. Rizal called for her and they emotionally talked
to each other (“Last Hours of Rizal”). At 7 p.m. , Faura returned and convinced
Rizal to trust him and other Ateneo professors. After some quiet moments, Rizal
purportedly confessed to Faura (“Last Hours of Rizal”).

Rizal then took his last supper at about 8 p.m. and attended to his personal needs.
He then told Dominguez that he had forgiven his enemies and the military judges
who sentenced him to death. At about 9 or 9:30 p.m., Manila’s Royal Audiencia
Fiscal Don Gaspar Cestaño came and had an amiable talk with Rizal.

Historian Gregorio F. Zaide alleged that at 10 p.m. Rizal and some Catholic priests
worked on the hero’s retraction (Zaide & Zaide, pp. 265-266). Supposedly,
Balaguer brought to Rizal a retraction draft made by Archbishop Bernardino
Nozaleda (1890-1903) but Rizal did not like it for being long. A shorter retraction
made by Jesuit Pio Pi was then offered to Rizal which he allegedly liked. So it is
said that he wrote his retraction renouncing freemasonry and his anti-Catholic
ideas. Zaide nonetheless admitted that the supposed retraction is now a (very)
controversial document. For many reasons, Rizal’s assumed retraction and his
supposed church marriage with Bracken have been considered highly dubious by
many Rizal scholars.

Rizal then spent the night resting until the crack of dawn of December,
perhaps praying and meditating once in a while. Zaide however alleged that at 3
a.m., Rizal heard Mass, confessed sins, and took Communion.

At about 4 a.m., he picked up the book ‘Imitation of Christ’ by Thomas a

Kempis, read, and meditated. At 5 a.m. he washed up, attended to his personal
needs, read the Bible, and contemplated. For breakfast, he was given three boiled
eggs. Rizal’s grandniece Asuncion Lopez-Rizal Bantug mentioned “three soft-
boiled eggs” and narrated that Rizal ate two of them (Bantug, pp. 151-152).
Known historian Ambeth R. Ocampo, on the other hand, wrote “three hard-boiled
eggs” and related that Rizal “did not have any breakfast” (Ocampo, p. 227). Both
historians however wrote that Rizal placed the boiled egg (or eggs) to a cell
corner, saying in effect, “This is for the rats, let them celebrate likewise!”

Afterward, Rizal wrote letters, one addressed to his family and another to
Paciano. To his family, he partly wrote, “I ask you for forgiveness for the pain I
cause you … I die resigned, hoping that with my death you will be left in peace…”
He also left this message to his sisters: “I enjoin you to forgive one another… Treat
your old parents as you would like to be treated by your children later. Love them
very much in my memory.” To Paciano, he partially wrote, “I am thinking now
how hard you have worked to give me a career … I know that you have suffered
much on my account, and I am sorry.”

Though some accounts state that Bracken was forbidden from seeing Rizal on this
fateful day, Zaide wrote that at 5:30 a.m., she and Rizal’s sister Josefa came. The
couple was said to have embraced for the last time and Rizal gave to Josephine
the book ‘Imitation of Christ’ on which he wrote the dedication: “To my dear and
unhappy wife, Josephine/ December 30th, 1896/ Jose Rizal”

Before Rizal made his death march to Bagumbayan, he managed to pen his last
letters to his beloved parents. To Don Francisco, he wrote, “Pardon me for the
pain which I repay you … Good bye, Father, goodbye…”. Perhaps told by the
authorities that the march was about to begin, Rizal managed to write only the
following to his mother:

To my very dear Mother,

Sra. Dña. Teodora Alonso

6 o’clock in the morning, December 30, 1896.

Jose Rizal

At 6:30 a.m., Rizal in black suit and black bowler hat, tied elbow to elbow, began
his slow walk to Bagumbayan. He walked along with his defense lawyer, Andrade,
and two Jesuit priests, March and Vilaclara. In front of them were the advance
guard of armed soldiers and behind them were another group of military men.
The sound of a trumpet signaled the start of the death march and the muffled
sound of drums served as the musical score of the walk.

Early in that morning, plenty of people had eagerly lined the streets. Some were
sympathetic to him, others—especially the Spaniards—wanted nothing less than
to see him die. Some observed that Rizal kept keenly looking around and “it was
believed that his family or the Katipuneros would make a last-minute effort to
spring him from the trap” (Ocampo, p. 228).

Once in a while, Rizal conversed with the priests, commenting on things like his
happy years in the Ateneo as they passed by Intramuros. Commenting on the
clear morning, he was said to have uttered something like, “What a beautiful
morning! On days like this, I used to talk a walk here with my sweetheart.”

After some minutes, they arrived at the historic venue of execution. Filipino
soldiers were deliberately chosen to compose the firing squad. Behind them
stood their Spanish counterparts, ready to execute them also should they decline
to do the job.

There was just a glitch in the proceeding as Rizal refused to kneel and declined
the traditional blindfold. Maintaining that he was not a traitor to his country and
to Spain, he even requested to face the firing squad. After some sweet-talk, Rizal
agreed to turn his back to the firing squad but requested that he be shot not in
the head—but in the small of the back instead.

When agreement had been reached, Rizal thankfully shook the hand of his
defense lawyer. The military physician then asked permission to feel the pulse of
the man who had only a few minutes to live and the doctor was startled to find it
normal. Before leaving Rizal in his appointed place, the priests offered him a
crucifix to kiss “but he turned his head away and silently prepared for his death”

When the command had been given, the executioners’ guns barked at once. Rizal
yelled Christ’s two last words “Consummatum est!” (“It is finished!”)
simultaneously with his final effort to twist his bullet-pierced body halfway
around.

THE DEATH OF JOSE RIZAL

"THE OBSERVANT WILL NOTICE metal footprints on the pavement running from
Fort Santiago to the Luneta in seafront Manila. They resemble dancing patterns,
but actually trace the last steps of Jose Rizal as he walked from his prison cell to
the site of his execution on December 30, 1896. The Rizal Centennial Commission
claims that the footprints are based on Rizal’s actual shoe size. When people ask
why the steps are so small, the quick reply is: “If you are walking to your death,
would you hurry?”

The slow walk to Bagumbayan field (as Rizal Park or the Luneta was once
called) began at 6:30 a.m. on a cool, clear morning. Rizal was dressed in a black
coat and trousers and a white shirt and waistcoat. He was tied elbow to elbow,
but held up his head in a chistera or bowler hat. A bugler signaled his passage,
while the roll of drums muffled in black cloth gave cadence to his gait.

From Fort Santiago he took a right turn, and walked along the Paseo Maria
Cristina (now Bonifacio Drive), which gave him a view lifting the darkness over
Manila Bay on the right, and a last glimpse of Intramuros, shadowed by the
missing sun, on his left. He walked between two Jesuits, Father Estanislao March
and Father Jose Villaclara. They too were in black – the trademark black hats,
tunics, and heavy coats that made the young Rizal and his Ateneo schoolmates
refer to them as paniki (bats, or colloquially perhaps, batmen). Behind Rizal
walked the brother of his former bodyguard, Lieutenant Luis Taviel de Andrade,
who had vainly defended him in a farce masquerading as a trial.

The streets were lined with people who wanted to see the condemned
man, since Rizal was many things to different people: “leader of the revolution,”
physician, novelist, poet, sculptor, heretic, subversive. Rizal was a person one
could not be neutral about. Like him or hate him, he was a celebrity.

Although he was walking to his death, eyewitnesses describe Rizal as

serene – a bit pale, not because of fear of his fate, but because he had not had
any breakfast. All he had been given were three hard-boiled eggs, which he took
to a corner of his prison cell, saying, “This is for the rats; let them have a fiesta,
too.” Then he left his cell.

Rizal is said to have nodded left and right to acknowledge familiar faces in
crowd. From time to time he smiled, and is said to have made a few jokes, and
laughed at these himself because the Jesuits flanking him remained somber.
Others noticed his eyes dart quickly from left to right, and some believed that
members of his family or the Katipuneros would make a last-ditch effort to save
him from death. Was Rizal waiting for help that never came? And perhaps for an
opportunity to spurn that help? Had he expected to see his family by the
roadside? We will never know more than the fact that he was walking to his
destiny.

In the clear morning Rizal could probably see as far as Susong Dalaga, and
appreciate the silhouette of a naked woman on the mountain range across from
Manila Bay. “What a beautiful morning!” he said, “On mornings like this I used to
take walks here with my sweetheart.” Before reaching Bagumbayan, he glanced
at Intramuros, sighed, and seeing the spires of the church of San Ignacio, said: “Is
that the Ateneo? I spent many happy years there.” The Jesuits’ response is not
recorded.
 Someone had the foresight to take a photograph of the execution. The
scene looked like a box, lined, three or four people deep, on three sides. The
empty fourth side faced the bay, and the executioners’ line of fire. Eight Filipino
soldiers armed with Remingtons formed the firing squad. Behind them stood the
drummers and another line of Spanish soldiers with Mausers, ready to shoot the
Filipinos if they refused to shoot, or purposely missed their target.

When everyone was in place, there was a slight delay because Rizal refused
the customary blindfold, and asked to face the firing squad. The Spanish captain
who had guided Rizal to the site insisted that he be shot in the back as ordered,
because he was a traitor to Spain. Rizal declared that he had never been a traitor
to the country of his birth or to Spain. After some coaxing, Rizal finally turned his
back, but again refused the blindfold, and furthermore refused to kneel.

After all this haggling he made one last request: that the executioners
spare his head, and shoot him in the back towards the heart. When the captain
agreed, Rizal clasped the hand of Lieutenant Taviel de Andrade and thanked him
once more for the vain effort of defending him before the military court that
sentenced him to death.

Meanwhile, a curious Spanish military doctor felt Rizal’s pulse, and was
surprised to find it regular and normal. The Jesuits were the last to leave the
condemned man. They raised the crucifix to his face and lips, but he turned his
head away and silently prepared to meet death.

The captain raised his saber in the air, ordered his men to get ready, and
barked the order: “Preparen!” This was followed by the order to aim the rifles:
“Apunten!” In the split second before the saber was brought down with the order
to fir – “Fuego!” – Rizal shouted the last two words of the crucified Christ:
“Consummatum est!” (It is done).

The shots rang out, the bullets hit their mark, and Rizal executed that
carefully choreographed twist that he had practiced years before, which made
him fall faced up on the ground. People held their breath as soldiers came up to
the corpse and gave Rizal the tiro de gracia, one last merciful shot in the head at
close range to make sure he was really dead.

A small dog, the military mascot, ran around the corpse whining, and the
crowd moved in for a closer look, but were kept at bay by the soldiers who stood
in the first row of spectators.

After a short silence, someone shouted: “Long live Spain! Death to the
traitor!” The crowd did not respond. An officer approached the person who had
shouted, and berated him. To fill in the gap, the military band played the Marcha
de Cadiz.

It was 7:03 a.m. The show was over."

Tiniente Kiko of Calamba

WITH MORE THAN 600 resorts in the place today, its tourism’s promoters claim
that it has earned the nickname “Resort Capital of the Philippines”.

In 1848, Jose Rizal’s parents decided to build a home in this town in Laguna,
southern Luzon called Calamba. Its name was derived from "kalan-banga", which
means "clay stove" (kalan) and "water jar" (banga).

Rizal’s adoration of it’s scenic beauty—punctuated by the sights of the

Laguna de Bay, Mount Makiling, palm-covered mountains, curvy hills, and green
fields—was recorded in the poem he wrote in Ateneo de Manila in 1876, ‘Un
Recuerdo A Mi Pueblo’ (In Memory of my Town).

But if Rizal‘s poem were written today, he might have mentioned the three-
floor SM mall, shopping centers, and the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) terminus
in the place. A city since 2001, Calamba’s most recent claim to international fame
is perhaps its being the origin of Herbert Chavez, the ‘Superman’ look-alike via
plastic surgery recognized by the Guinness World Records as having the largest
collection of superman memorabilia.
Don Francisco Mercado

More than one and a half century ago, a far greater ‘superman’, Jose Rizal, was
born in the place. His father, Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado, was an
independent-minded, taciturn but dynamic gentleman from whom Jose inherited
his ‘free soul.’ Don Francisco became ‘tiniente gobernadorcillo’ (lieutenant
governor) in Calamba and was thus nicknamed ‘Tiniente Kiko’. Students’ comical
conjecture that the fictional character ‘Kikong Matsing’ of‘Batibot’ was named
after Don Francisco is, of course, unfounded.

Francisco’s great grandfather isDomingo Lam-co, a learned pro-poor or

‘maka-masa’ Chinese immigrant businessman who married a sophisticated
Chinese mestiza of Manila named Ines de la Rosa. One of their two children,
Francisco (also),resided in Binanand married Bernarda Monicha. Francisco and
Bernarda’s son, Juan Mercado, became a ‘gobernadorcillo’ (town mayor) of Biñan,
Laguna. He married Cirila Alejandra and they had 12 children, the youngest being
Jose Rizal’s father, Francisco.

Jose’s father was born on May 11, 1818 in Biñan, Laguna. When he was
eight years old, he lost his father. He was nonetheless educated as he took Latin
and Philosophy at the College of San Jose in Manila, where he met and fell in love
with Teodora Alonso, a student in the College of Santa Rosa. Married on June 28,
1848, they settled down in Calamba where they were granted lease of a rice farm
in theDominican-owned haciendas.

Don Francisco’s influence to Rizal

When Jose was seven years old, his father provided him the exciting experience of
riding a ‘casco’ (a flat-bottomed boat with a roof) on their way to a pilgrimagein
Antipolo, and to visit afterward Saturnina at the La Concordia College in Manila.As
a gift, the child Jose also received a pony named ‘Alipato’ from his father (Bantug
and Ventura).
 One of Jose’s childhood tutors, Don Leon Monroy, was Don Francisco’s
friend whom the father personally chose to teach his son the basics of Spanish
and Latin.When Monroy died after five months of tutoring Rizal, Don Francisco
sent his son to a school in Biñan. After sometime, Jose told his father that he had
already learned all there was to be taught at Biñan. Teniente Kiko firmly scolded
Jose and hustled him back to the school. Maestro Justiano Aquino Cruz, Jose’s
teacher in Biñan, later confirmed nonetheless that Jose had indeed finished
already all the needed curricular works.

Against his wife’s reluctance, Don Francisco then sent Jose to enroll at the Ateneo
Municipal in Intramuros, Manila. When Jose was in his third year in Ateneo, he
became indulge in reading novels. Because Jose requested for it, his loving father
bought him an expensive set of theUniversal History by Cesar Cantu.

While boarding in a small house on Calle Caraballo, Jose was once

persuaded by his landlady Tandang (Old) Titay to play the card game ‘panguingue’
for her. But Don Francisco suddenly arrived from Calamba and caught Jose at the
‘panguingue’ table. The father scolded the young Rizal and the respectful son
wholeheartedly accepted his father’s reprimand (Bantug and Ventura).

After the Cavite mutiny and the martyrdom of the Gomburza in 1872, Jose,
for the first time, heard of the word ‘filibustero’ (subversive). But Don Francisco
then forbade the members of his family to utter the word.And when Rizal, upon
his return to the country from Europe in 1887, wanted to visit his girlfriend
Leonor Rivera in Pangasinan, his father strongly opposed the idea. Don Francisco
believed that the visit would put Leonor’s family in danger since at the time Jose
had already earned the label ‘filibustero’ for writing the controversial Noli Me
Tangere. Later in his life, Jose would use the derivative of the term (filibusterismo)
to name his more ‘subversive’ second novel.

In 1891, Don Francisco, along with Paciano and son-in-law Silvestre Ubaldo,
had escaped from the clutch of their Spanish persecutors and opted to join Jose in
Hong Kong. The Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) were not that many in Hong
Kong yet, but it is said that the 73-year old Don Francisco loved the climate in the
place where he stayed with his beloved son.
Rizal’s love for his father

Rizal’s affection for his father may have not been given much emphasis by many
biographies. But Jose, no doubt, adored Don Francisco.

In 1881, Jose made a clay bust of his father. About six years later, he carved a life-
size wood sculpture of Don Francisco. Perhaps, Jose even spent a lot of time
finishing the life-size sculpture—because Don Kiko, unlike the national hero, was
above average in height. In honor of his father, Jose named his premature son (by
Josephine Bracken) ‘Francisco.’ The infant ‘Francisco’ unfortunately died three
hours after birth.

Before his death on December 30, 1896, Jose wrote this to his brother,
Paciano: “Tell our father I remember him, and how! I remember my whole
childhood, of his affection and his love. Ask him to forgive me for the pain that I
have unwillingly caused him.”

To his father, Jose directly wrote:

My beloved Father,

Pardon me for the pain with which I repay you for sorrows and sacrifices for my
education. I did not want nor did I prefer it.

Goodbye, Father, goodbye ….

Don Francisco died in Manila on January 5, 1898 at the age of 80, approximately a
year after his son’s martyrdom in Bagumbayan. Jose Rizal considered Teniente
Kiko as ‘model of fathers.’