Chapter 10

First Homecoming, 1887-1888

All the alluring beauties of foreign countries and all the beautiful memories of his sojourn in alien
lands could neither make Rizal forget his fatherland nor turn his back to his own nationality. True that
he studied abroad, acquired the lore and languages of foreign nations, and enjoyed the friendship of
many great men of the Western world; but he remained at heart a true Filipino with an unquenchable
love for the Philippines and an unshakable determination to die in the land of his birth. Thus, after five
years of memorable sojourn in Europe, he returned to the Philippines in August 1887 and practised
medicine in Calamba. He lived the quiet life of a country doctor. But his enemies, who resented his
Noli, persecuted him, even threatening to kill him.

Decision to Return Home. Because of the publication of the Noli Me Tangere and the uproar it caused
among the friars, Rizal was warned by Paciano (his brother), Silvestre Ubaldo (his brother-in-law),
Chengoy (Jose M. Cecilio), and other friends not to return home. But he did not heed their warning. He
was determined to return to the Philippines for the following reasons: (1) to operate on his mother's
eyes; (2) to serve his people who had long been oppressed by Spanish tyrants; (3) to find out for
himself how the Noli and his other writings were affecting Filipinos and Spaniards in the Philippines;
and (4) to inquire why Leonor Rivera remained silent.

In a letter to Blumentritt, written in Geneva on June 19, 1887, Rizal said: "Your advice that I live in
Madrid and continue to write from there is very benevolent but I cannot accept it. I cannot endure the
life in Madrid where everything is a voice in a wilderness. My parents want to see me, and I want to see
them also. All my life I desire to live in my country by the side of my family. Until now I am not
Europeanized like the Filipinos of Madrid; I always like to return to the country of my birth".

In Rome, on June 29, 1887. Rizal wrote to his father, announcing his homecoming. "On the 15th of July,
at the latest". he wrote, “I shall embark for our country, so that from the 15th to the 30th of August, we
shall see each other".

Delightful Trip to Manila. Rizal left Rome by train for Marseilles, a French port, which he reached
without mishap. On July 3, 1887, he boarded the steamer Djemnah, the same steamer which brought
him to Europe five years ago. There were about 50 passengers, including 4 Englishmen, 2 Germans, 3
Chinese, 2 Japanese, many Frenchmen, and 1 Filipino (Rizal).

Rizal was the only one among the passengers who could speak many languages, so that he acted as
interpreter for his companions.

The steamer was enroute to the Orient via the Suez Canal. Rizal thus saw this historic canal for the
second time, the first time was when he sailed to Europe from Manila in 1882. On board, he played
chess with fellow passengers and engaged in lively conversation in many languages. Some
passengers sang: others played on the piano and accordion. After leaving Aden, the weather became
rough and some of Rizal's books got wet.

At Saigon, on July 30, he transferred to another steamer Haiphong which was Manila-bound. On
August 2, this steamer left Saigon for Manila.

Arrival in Manila. Rizal's voyage from Saigon to Manila was pleasant. On August 3rd the moon was
full, and he slept soundly the whole night. The calm sea, illumined by the silvery moonlight, was a
magnificent sight to him.

Near midnight of August 5, the Haiphong arrived in Manila. Rizal went ashore with a happy heart for he
once more trod his beloved native soil. He stayed in the city for a short time to visit his friends. He
found Manila the same as when he left it five years ago. There were the same old churches and
buildings, the same holes in the roads, the same boats on the Pasig River, and the same heary walls
surrounding the city.
Happy Homecoming. On August 8th, he returned to Calamba. His family welcomed him affectionately,
with plentiful tears of joy. Writing to Blumentritt of his homecoming, he said: "I had a pleasant voyage. I
found my family enjoying good health and our happiness was great in seeing each other again. They
shed tears of joy and I had to answer ten thousand questions at the same time".

The rejoicings of Rizal's return over, his family became worried for his safety. Paciano did not leave
him during the first days after arrival to protect him from any enemy assault. His own father would not
let him go out alone, lest something might happen to him.

In Calamba, Rizal established a medical clinic. His first patient was his mother, who was almost blind.
He treated her eyes, but could not perform any surgical operation because her eye cataracts were not
yet ripe. News of the arrival of a great doctor from Germany spread far and wide. Patients from Manila
and the provinces flocked to Calamba. Rizal, who came to be called "Doctor Uliman" because he came
from Germany, treated their ailments and soon he acquired a lucrative medical practice His
professional fees were reasonable, even gratis to the poor. Within a few months, he was able to earn
P900 as a physician. By February, 1888, he earned a total of P5,000 as medical fees.

Unlike many successful medical practitioners, Rizal did not selfishly devote all his time to enriching
hithself. He opened a gymnasium for young folks, where he introduced European sports. He tried to
interest his townmates in gymnastics, fencing! and shooting so as to discourage he cockfights and
gambling.

Rizal suffered one failure during his six months of sojourn in Calamba-his failure to see Leonor Rivera.
He tried to go to Dagupan, but his parents absolutely forbade him to go because Leonor's mother did
not like him for a son-in-law. With a heavy heart, Rizal bowed to his parent's wish. He was caught
within the iron grip of the custom of his time that marriages must be arranged by the parents of both
groom and bride.

Storm over the Noli. Meanwhile, as Rizal was peacefully living in Calamba, his enemies plotted his
doom. Aside from practising medicine, attending to his gymnasium, which he established, and taking
part in the town's civic affairs, he painted several beautiful landscapes and translated the German
poems! of Von Wildernath into Tagalog.

A few weeks after his arrival, a storm broke over his novel. One day Rizal received a letter from
Governor General Emilio Terrero (1885-88) requesting him to come to Malacañan Palace. Somebody
had whispered to the governor's ear that the Noli contained subversive ideas.

Rizal went to Manila and appeared at Malacañang. When he was informed by Governor General
Terrero of the charge he denied it, explaining that he merely exposed the truth, but he did not advocate
subversive ideas. Pleased by his explanation and curious about the controversial book, the governor
general asked the author for a copy of the Noli so that he could read it. Rizal had no copy then because
the only copy he brought home was given to a friend. However, he promised to secure one for the
governor general.

Rizal visited the Jesuit fathers to ask for the copy he sent them, but they would not part with it. The
Jesuits, especially his former professors - Fr. Francisco de Paula Sanchez, Fr. Jose Bech, and Fr.
Federico Faura -- were glad to see him. He had a spirited discussion with Father Faura, who ventured
an opinion that "everything in it was the truth", but added: "You may lose your head for it".

Fortunately, Rizal found a copy in the hands of a friend. He was able to get it and gave it to Governor
General Terrero, The governor general, who was a liberal-minded Spaniard, knew that Rizal's life was in
jeopardy because the friars were powerful. For security measure, he assigned a young Spanish
lieutenant, Don Jose Taviel de Andrade, as bodyguard of Rizal. This lieutenant belonged to a noble
family. He was cultured and knew painting, and could speak English, French, and Spanish.

Governor General Terrero read the Noli and found nothing wrong with it. But Rizal's enemies were
powerful. The Archbishop of Manila, Msgr. Pedro Payo (a Dominican) sent a copy of the Noli to Father
Rector Gregorio Echavarria of the University of Santo Tomas for examination by a committee of the
faculty. The committee, which was composed of Dominican professors, submitted its report to the
Father Rector, who immediately transmitted it to Archbishop Payo. The archbishop in turn, lost no time
in forwarding it to the governor general. This report of the faculty members of the University of Santo
Tomas stated that the Noli was "heretical, impious, and scandal ous in the religious order, and
anti-patriotic, subversive of public order, injurious to the government of Spain and its function in the
Philippine Islands in the political order".

Governor General Terrero was dissatisfied with the report of the Dominicans, for he knew that the
Dominicans were prejudiced against Rizal. He sent the novel to the Permanent Commission of
Censorship which was composed of priests and laymen. The report of this commission was drafted
by its head, Fr. Salvador Font, Augustinian cura of Tondo, and submitted to the governor general on
December 29. It found the novel to contain subversive ideas against the Church and Spain, and
recommended that the importation, reproduction and circulation of this pernicious book in the islands
be absolutely prohibited".'

When the newspapers published Font's written report of the censorship commission, Rizal and his
friends became apprehensive and uneasy. The enemies of Rizal exulted in unholy glee. The banning of
the Noli only served to make it popular. Everybody wanted to read it. News about the great book
spread among the masses. What the hated Spanish masters did not like, the oppressed masses liked
very much. Despite the government prohibition and the vigilance of the cruel Guardia Civil many
Filipinos were able to get hold of copies of the Noli which they read at night behind closed doors.

Thanks to Governor General Terrero, there were no mass imprisonment or mass execution of Filipinos.
He refused to be intimidated by the friars who clamored for harsh measures against people caught
reading the novel and its author.

Attackers of the Noli. The battle over the Noli took the form of a virulent war of words. Father Font
printed his report and distributed copies of it in order to discredit the controversial novel. Another
Augustinian, Fr. Jose Rodriguez, Prior of Guadalupe, published a series of eight pamphlets under the
general heading Cuestiones de Sumo Interes (Questions of Sup reme Interest) to blast the Noli and
other anti-Spanish writings. These eight pamphlets were entitled as follows:

1. Porque no los he de leer? (Why Should I not Read Them?).

2. Guardaos de ellos. Porque? (Beware of them. Why?).
3. Y que me dice usted de la peste? (And What Can You Tell Me of Plague?)
4. Porque triunfan los impios? (Why Do the Impious Triumph?).
5. Cree usted que de veras no hay purgatorio? (Do You Think There Is Really No Purgatory?).
6. Hay o no hay infierno? (Is There or Is There No Hell?).
7. Que le parece a usted de esos libelos? (What Do You Think of These Libels?).
8. Confesion o condenacion? (Confession or Damnation?).

Copies of these anti-Rizal pamphlets written by Fray Rod. riguez were sold daily in the churches after
Mass. Many Filipinos were forced to buy them in order not to displease the friars, but they did not
believe what their author said with hysterical fervor.

Repercussions of the storm over the Noli reached Spain. It was fiercely attacked on the session hall of
the Senate of the Spanish, Cortes by various senators, particularly General Jose de Salamanca on April
1, 1888, General Luis M. de Pando on April 12, and Sr. Fernando Vida on June 11. The Spanish
academician of Madrid, Vicente Barrantes, who formerly occupied high government positions in the
Philippines, bitterly criticized the Noli in an article published in La Espara Moderna (a newspaper of
Madrid) in January, 1890.

Defenders of the Noli. The much-maligned Noli had its gallant defenders who fearlessly came out to
prove the merits of the novel or to refute the arguments of the unkind attackers Marcelo H. del Pilar,
Dr. Antonio Ma. Regidor. Graciano Lopez Jaena, Mariano Ponce, and other Filipino reformists in
foreign lands, of course, rushed to uphold the truths of the Noli. Father Sanchez, Rizal's favorite
teacher at the Atenco, defended and praised it in public. Don Segismundo Moret, former Minister of
the Crown; Dr. Miguel Morayta, historian and statesman; and Professor Blumentritt, scholar and
educator. read and liked the novel.
A brilliant defense of the Noli came from an unexpected source. It was by Rev. Vicente Garcia, a
Filipino Catholic priest-scholar, a theologian of the Manila Cathedral, and a Tagalog Translator of the
famous Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis. Father Garcia, writing under the penname Justo
Desiderio Magalang, wrote a defense of the Noli which was published in Singapore as an appendix to
a pamphlet dated July 18, 1888. He blasted the arguments of Fr. Rodriguez as follows:

1. Rizal cannot be an "ignorant man", as Fr. Rodriguez alleged, because he was a graduate of Spanish
universities and was a recipient of scholastic honors.

2. Rizal does not attack the Church and Spain, as Fi. Rodriguez claimed, because what Rizal attacked
in the Noli were the bad Spanish officials and not Spain, and the bad and corrupt friars and not the
Church.

3. Father Rodriguez said that those who read the Noli commit a mortal sin; since he (Rodriguez) had
read the novel, therefore he also commits a mortal sin.

Later, when Rizal learned of the brilliant defense of Father Garcia of his novel, he cried because his
gratitude was overwhelming. Rizal, himself defended his novel against Barrantes attack, in a letter
written in Brussels, Belgium, in February, 1880. In this letter, he exposed Barrantes'ignorance of
Philippine affairs and mental dishonesty which is unworthy of an academician.' Barrantes met in Rizal
his master in satire and polemics.

During the days when the Noli was the target of a heated controversy between the friars (and their
minions) and the friends of Rizal, all copies of it were sold out and the price per copy soared to
unprecedented level. Both friends and enemies of the Noli found it extremely difficult to secure a copy.
According to Rizal, in a letter to Fernando Canon from Geneva, June 13, 1887, the price he set per copy
was five pesetas (equivalent to one peso), but the price later rose to fifty pesos per copy.

Rizal and Tavlel de Andrade. While the storm over the Noli was raging in fury, Rizal was not molested
in Calamba. This is due to Governor General Terrero's generosity in assigning a bodyguard to him.
Between this Spanish bodyguard. Lt. Jose Taviel de Andrade, and Rizal, a beautiful friendship
bloomed.

Together, Rizal and Andrade, both young, educated and cultured, made walking tours of the verdant
countrysides, discussed topics of common interest, and enjoyed fencing, shooting, hunting and
painting. Lt. Andrade became a great admirer of the man he was ordered to watch and protect. Years
later, he wrote of Rizal: “Rizal was refined, educated and gentlemanly. The hobbies that most
interested him were hunting, fencing, shooting painting, and hiking ... I well remember our excursion to
Mount Makiling, not so much for the beautiful view...as for the rumors and pernicious effects that
result from it. There was one who believed and reported to Manila that Rizal and I. at the top of the
mountain, hoisted the German flag and proclaimed its sovereignty over the Philippines. I imagined that
such nonsense emanated from the friars of Calamba, but did not take the trouble to make inquiries
about the matter".

What marred Rizal's happy days in Calamba with Lt. Andrade were (1) the death of his older sister.
Olimpia, and (2) the groundless tales circulated by his enemies that he was "a German spy, an agent of
Bismarck, a Protestant, a Mason, a witch, a soul beyond salvation, etc."

Calamba's Agrarian Trouble. Governor General Terrero, influenced by certain facts in Noli Me Tangere,
ordered a gov. ernment investigation of the friar estates to remedy whatever iniquities might have
been present in connection with land taxes and with tenant relations. One of the friar estates affected
was the Calamba Hacienda which the Dominican Order owned since 1883. In compliance with the
governor general's orders, dated December 30, 1887, the Civil Governor of Laguna Province directed
the municipal authorities of Calamba to investigate the agrarian conditions of their locality.

Upon hearing of the investigation, the Calamba folks solicited Rizal's help in gathering the facts and
listing their grievances against the hacienda management, so that the central government might
institute certain agrarian reforms.
After a thorough study of the conditions in Calamba, Rizal wrote down his findings which the tenants
and three of the officials of the hacienda signed on January 8, 1888. These findings, which were
formally submitted to the government for action, were the following:

1. The hacienda of the Dominican Order comprised not only the lands around Calamba, but also the
town of Calamba
2. The profits of the Dominican Order continually increased because of the arbitrary increase of the
rentals paid by the tenants.

3. The hacienda owner never contributed a single centavo for the celebration of the town fiesta, for the
education of the children, and for the improvement of agriculture.

4. Tenants who had spent much labor in clearing the lands were dispossessed of said lands for flimsy
reasons.

5. High rates of interest were charged the tenants for delayed payment of rentals, and when the rentals
could not be paid, the hacienda management confiscated their carabaos, tools, and homes.

Farewell to Calamba. Rizal's exposure of the deplorable conditions of tenancy in Calamba infuriated
further his enemies. The friars exerted pressure on Malacañan Palace to eliminate him. They asked
Governor General Terrero to deport him, but the latter refused because there was no valid charge
against Rizal in court. Anonymous threats against Rizal's life were received by his parents. The
alarmed parents, relatives and friends (including Lt. Taviel de Andrade) advised him to go away, for his
life was in danger.

One day Governor General Terrero summoned Rizal and "advised him to leave the Philippines for his
own good. He was giving Rizal a chance to escape the fury of the friars' wrath.
This time Rizal had to go. He could not very well disobey the governor general's veiled orders. But he
was not running like a coward from a fight. He was courageous, a fact which his worst enemies could
not deny. A valiant hero that he was, he was not afraid of any man and neither was he afraid to die. He
was compelled to leave Calamba for two reasons: (1) his presence in Calamba was jeopardizing the
safety and happiness of his family and friends and (2) he could fight better his enemies and serve his
country's cause with greater efficacy by writing in foreign countries.

A Poem for Lipa. Shortly before Rizal left Calamba in 1888 his friend from Lipa requested him to write
a poem in commemoration of the town's elevation to a villa (city) by virtue of the Becerra Law of 1888.
Gladly, he wrote a poem dedicated to the industrious folks of Lipa. This was the "Himno Al Trabajo"
(Hymn to Labor). He finished it and sent it to Lipa before his departure from Calamba. It runs as
follows:

HYMN TO LABOR
CHORUS: For our country in war. For our country in peace The
Filipino will be ready. While he lives and when he dies.

MEN: As soon as the East is tinted with light Forth to the fields to
plow the loam! Since it is work that sustains the man, The
motherland, family and the home. Hard though the soil may prove
to be, Implacable the sun above, For motherland, our wives and
babes. 'Twill be easy with our love.

WIVES: Courageously set out to work. Your home is safe with a

faithful wife Implanting in her children, love For wisdom, land, and
virtuous life. When nightfall brings us to our rest, May smiling
fortune guard our door; But if cruel fate should harm her man, The
wife would toil on as before.

GIRLS: Hail! Hail! Give praise to work! The country's vigour and
her wealth; For work lift up your brow serene It is your blood, your
life, your health. If any youth protests his love His work shall prove
if he be good.
That man alone who strives and toils Can find the way to feed his
brood.

BOYS: Teach us then the hardest tasks For down thy trails we turn
our feet That when our country calls tomorrow Thy purposes we
may complete. And may our elders say, who see us. See! How
worthy of their sires! No incense can exalt our dead ones Like a
brave son who aspires!