Chapter

V
EXILE, TRIAL, AND DEATH
Presented by: Krisma Heisyruth Maguensay
Trisha Mae A. Jaramillo
Rodalyn G. Jimenez
JOSE RIZAL'S BITTER SWEET
LIFE IN DAPITAN

Presented by: Krisma Heisyruth Maguensay

JOSE RIZAL OPTED TO LIVE AT COMMANDANT
RESIDEN THEY CALLED “CASA REAL”

THE COMMANDAN CAPTAIN RICARDO CARNICERO AND

JOSE RIZAL BECAME GOOD FRIENDS.
RIZAL WROTE A POEM ‘A DON RICARDO CARNICERO’ HONORING
THE KIND COMMANDANT ON THE OCCASI OF HIS BIRTHDAY ON
AUGUST 26, 1892.

IN SEPTEPBER 1892, RIZAL AND CARNICERO WON A LOTTERY.

THE MANILA LOTTERY TICKET NO. 9736 JOINTLY OWNED
BY RIZAL, CARNICERO AND A SPANISH RESIDENT OF
DIPOLONG WON THE SECOND PRICE OF 20,000 PESOS.
PROPERTY OF MORE THAN 10 HECTARES, HE PUT UP THREE
HOUSES MADE IN BAMBOO, WOOD, AND NIPA.

HE LIVED IN A HOUSE THAT SQUARE IN SHAPE. ANOTHER HOUSE,

WHICH WAS HEXAGONAL, WAS A BARN WHERE RIZAL KEPT HID
CHICKENS. IN HIS OCTAGONAL HOUSE LIVED SOME OF HIS PUPILS.
RIZAL ALSO ESTABLISHED A SCHOOL.
 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 AND DOMESTICATED

SOME ANIMALS.
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 5 IN THE MORNING TO SEE HIS PLANTS, FEED

HIS ANIMALS, AND PREPARE BREAKFAST.

PADDLING HID BOAT CALLED “BAROTO” 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 BEGAN AT ABOUT 2PM AND
WOULD END AT 4 OR 5 IN THE AFTETNOON.
 RIZAL AND
THE THE FIRST ATTEMP BY THE
JESUITS JESUITS FRIARS TO WIN BACK
THE DEPORTED RIZAL TO THE
CATHOLIC FOLD WAS THE
REFUSING TO OFFER FOR HIM TO LIVE IN THE
COMPRAMISE, RIZAL DID DAPITAN CONVENT UNDER
NOT STAY WITH THE SOME CONDITIONS.
PARISH PRIEST ANTONIO
OBACH IN THE CHURCH
CONVENT
JUST IN A MONTH AFTER RIZAL WAS DEPORTED TO DAPITAN, THE
JESUITS ORDER ASSIGNED TO DAPITAN THE PRIEST FRANCISCO DE
PAULA SANCHEZ, RIZAL’S FAVORITE TEACHER IN ATENEO. MANY
TIMES, THEY ENGAGED IN CORDIAL RELIGIOUS DISCISSIONS. BUT
THOUGH RIZAL APPRECIATED HIS MOTHER’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 JESUITS SOCIETY IN

THE PHILIPPINES, ALSO MADE SOME ATTEMPTS BY
CORRESPONDENCE TO WIN OVER THE CATHOLICISM THE EXILED
PHYSICIAN.
FOUR TIMES THEY EXCHANGED LETTERS FROM SEPTEMBER
1892 TO APRIL 1893. RIZAL CONSISTENTLY ATTENDED MASS
IN DAPITAN, HE REFUSES TO ESPOUSE THE CONVENTIONAL
TYPE OF CATHOLICISM.
 ACHIEVEMENTS IN DAPITAN
RIZAL PROVIDED SIGNIFICANT COMMUNITY SERVICES IN DAPITAN LIKE:

• IMPROVING TOWN DRAINAGE AND CONSTRUCTING BETTER

WATER SYSTEM

•HE TAUGHT THE TOWN FOLKS ABOUT HEALTH AND SANITATION

AS TO AVOID THE SPREAD OF DISEASES

• WITH HIS FRIENS JESUIT PRIEST FRIEND SANCHEZ, RIZAL MADE A

HUGE MAP OF MINDANAO IN DAPITAN .
• HE BETTERED THEIR FOREST BY PROVIDING EVIDENT TRIALS,
SRAIRS, AND SOME BENCHES.

•HE INVENTED WOODEN MACHINE FOR MASS PRODUCTION OF

BRICKS.

• HE BUILD A WATER DAM FOR THE COMMUNITY WITH THE HELP

OF HIS STUDENTS
HE TREATED PATIENTS REGALDLESS OF THEIR ECONOMIC AND
SOCIAL STATUS. HIS SPECIALIZATION WAS OPTHALMOLOGY BUT
HE ALSO OFFERED TREATMENTS TO ALMOST KINDS OF DISEASES
LIKE FEVER, SPRAIN, BROKEN BONES, TYPHOID, AND HERNIA.

•THEY TRADE THEIR CROPS IN MANILA.

• LESSONS IN ABACA-WEAVING

•TECHNIQUES IN FISHING
 AS A SCIENTIST AND PHILOLOGIST
RIZAL INSPECTED DAPITAN’S RICH FLORA AND FAUNA, PROVING
A SORT OF TAXONOMY TO NUMEROUS KINDS OF FOREST AND
SEA CREATURESS.

HE SENT VARIOUS BIOLOGICAL SPECIMENS TO SCIENTIST IN

EUROPE LIKE HIS FRIEND DOCTOR ADOLPH B. MEYER IN DRESEN.
IN RETURN, THEY SENT HIM BOOKS AND OHER ACADEMIC
READING MATERIALS
THRE SPECIES WERE NAMED AFTER HIM: A DAPITAN FROG
( RHACOPHOCUS RIZALI), A TYPE OF BEETLE ( APOGONIA RIZALI)
AND A FYILINH DRAGON ( DRACO RIZALI)

HE ALSO ENGAGED HIMSELF IN THE STUDY OF LANGUAGE,

CULTURE, AND LITERATURE. HE EXAMINED LOCAL FOLKLORES,
CUSTOMS, TAGALOG GRAMMAR, AND THE MALAY LANGUAGE.
 THE SPIES AND SECRET EMISSARY

RIZAL ENCOUNTER WITH THE FRIAR’S SPY

PABLO MERCADO IS THE ASSUMED NAME OF THE SPY WHO

VISITED RIZAL AT HIS HOUSE AND PRETENDED TO BE
RELATIVE BY SHOWING A PHOTO OF RIZAL AND A PAIR OF
BUTTONS WITH THE INITIALS P.M. AS EVIDENCE OF KINSHIP
THE SPY STAYED IN DAPITAN AND SPREAD TALKS AMONG THE
PEOPLE THAT HE WAS A RELATIVE OF RIZAL.
RIZAL WENT TO THE COMANDANCIA AND REPORTED THE
IMPOSTOR TO CAPTAIN JUAN SITGES.
AND THEN PABLO MERCADO WAS ARRESTED.
 VISITED BY LOVED ONES

DURING HIS EXILE, RIZAL WAS VISITED BY HIS MOTHER, HIS

SISTER TRINIDAD, MARIA AND NARCISA, HIS NEPHEWS
TEODOSIO, ESTANISLAO, MAURICIO AND PRUDENCIO SINCE
AUGUST 1893

RIZAL WAS IN DAPITAN WHEN HE LEARNED THAT HIS TRUE

LOVE LEONOR RIVERA HAD DIED. HE WAS CONSOLED BY THE
VISITS OF HIS MOTHER AND SOME SISTERS.
 GOODBYE DAPITAN
RIZAL’S FOUR YEAR EXILE IN DAPITAN ENDED ON JULY 31, 1896

•AT MIDNIGHT ON THAT DATE HE EMBARKED ON THE BOARD THE

STREAMER ESPAÑA

•AD FAREWELL MUSIC, THE TOWN BRASS BAND PLAYED A FUNERAL

SONG.

• WHEN HE COULD NO LONGER SEE THE SHORELINE, HE WENT TO

HIS CABIN AND WROTE HIS DIARY: “ I HAVE BEEN IN THAT DISTRICT
FOR FOUR YEARS, THIRTEEN DAYS, AND FEW HOURS.”
From Dapitan to Trial in Fort Santiago

Presented by: Trisha Mae A. Jaramillo

 From Dapitan to Trial in Fort Santiago

July 31, 1896 - Rizal left Dapitan for Manila.

Various stopover areas:
* Rizal had visited some friends like a former classmate from Madrid and had
cured a sick Guardia Civil captain in Dapitan.
* He carried out four operations and gave out prescriptions to many other
patients in Cebu.
* He saw the historical Mactan Island in Iloilo and went shopping and was
impressed by the Molo church.
* The ship sailed to Capiz, Romblom and finally to Manila.
 In Manila

* August 6, 1896 Rizal arrived in Manila.

* Katipunero Emilio Jacinto disguise as a ship crew member to get close to Rizal.
* Katipunan Member Guillermo Masankay circled the ship in a boat.
* Rizal missed the mail boat Isla de Luzon going to Spain, he was transferred to Spanish
Cruise “Castilla” docked at Cebu.
* August 19, 1896 the Katipunan plot to revolt against the Spanish authorities.
* August 29 and 30 it is the First Katipunan’s major assaults happened, were 100 Spanish
soldiers attacked, 150 Probationer were killed, 200 were taken prison.
* August 30, on the same day Blanco issued letters of recommendation on Rizal’s behalf to
the Spanish Minister of War and the Minister of Colonies.
*September 2, 1896 Rizal was transported to the ship Isla de Panay.
 Going to Spain

* September 7, 1896 the Isla de Panay arrived at Singapore.

* The Singaporean resident Don Manuel Camus and some Filipino co-passenger Don Pedro Roxas
urging Rizal to stay in Singapore to save his life.
* Blanco and the Ministers of War and Colonies had been exchanging telegrams, planning Rizal’s
arrest upon reaching Barcelona.
* September 27, 1896 the ship Isla de Panay made a stopover at Port Said Egypt.
* Rizal had the feeling that he had already been associated with the Filipino revolution as his co-
passengers became aloof to him.
* Rizal wrote a letter to Blumentritt informing that he received some information that Blanco had an
order to arrest him.
* September 30, 1896 before reaching Malta, Rizal was officially ordered to stay in his cabin
until Blanco’s orders come.
* October 3, 1896 Rizal is a prisoner onboard.
* General Eulogio Despajol the Military Commander of Barcelona who ordered to place Rizal
under heavy guard - the same former governor general who deported Rizal to Dapitan in 1892.
* October 6, Early in the morning Rizal was transported to Monjuich prison-fortress. In the
afternoon he was brought to Despujol who told him that there was an order to ship Rizal back to
Manila in the evening. At 8 p.m Rizal was then taken aboard the ship “Colon” which left for
Manila.
 Last Home Coming

* November 3, 1896 Rizal was arrived in Manila as a prisoner and he was detained in Fort Santiago
where he had been imprisoned 4 years ago.
* The Preliminary Investigation began. Rizal the accused, appeared before the Judge Advocate, Colonel
Francisco Olive.
* 15 pieces of evidence were presented:
15 pieces of evidence were presented:
1.A letter of Antonio Luna to Mariano Ponce
2.A letter of Rizal to his family.
3.A letter from Marcelo H. del Pilar to Deodato Areliano
4.A poem entitled “Kundiman”
5.A letter of Carlos Oliver to an unidentified person
6.A Masonic document
7.A letter signed Dimasalang
8.A letter of Dimasalang to an unidentified committee
9.An anonymous and undated letter to the Editor of the Hongkong Telegraph
10.A letter of Ildefonso Laurel to Rizal
11.A letter of Rizal Segundo
12.A letter of Marcelo H. del Pilar to Don Juan A. Tenluz
13.Transcript of speech of Pingkian
14.Transcript of speech of Tik-tik
15.A poem by Laong Laan
* November 26, 1896 Colonel Olive submitted the report to Blanco, and Captain Rafael Dominguez was
assigned as special Judge Advocate in Rizal’s case. He (Dominguez) made a summary of the case and
delivered it to Blanco who subsequently sent the papers to Judge Advocate-General Don Nicolas dela Pea.
Pea recommended that:
a. Rizal be instantly brought to trial.
b. He should be kept in jail.
c. An order of attachment be issued against his property.
d. He should be defended in court by an army officer, not by a civilian lawyer.
* December 8, Rizal was given the 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
Clamaba in 1887.
* December 11, the formal charges were read to Rizal in his prison cell, with Lt. Luis Taviel de Andrade on
his side. He was accused of being the main organizer and the “living soul” of the Filipino.
* December 15, Rizal wrote a manifesto appealing to the revolutionaries to discontinue the uprising and
pursue to attain liberty instead by means of education and of labor.
* Polavieja disallowed to issue Rizal’s manifesto.
The Rat in the Kangaroo Court
* December 26, Cuartel de Espaa a Filipino patriot was once figuratively reffered
to by Spanish officials as a “trapped rat” appeared in the kangaroo court inside the
military building.
* Judge Advocate Dominguez presented Rizal’s criminal case followed by the
lengthy speech of Prosecuting Attorney Enrique de Alcocer.
* 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 was but
natural for anyone to yearn for liberty and independence.
* 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.
1.As testified by Pio Valenzuela, Rizal was against rebellion
2.He had not written a letter addressed to the Katipunan comprising revolutionary elements
3.Without his knowledge, his name was used by the Katipunan, if he really was guilty, he could have
escaped while he was in Singapore
4.If he was guilty, he should have left the country while in exile
5.If he was really the leader of the revolution, the revolutionists should have consulted him
6.He did not deny that he wrote the by-laws of the La Liga Filipina
7.After the first meeting of La Liga, the association banish
8.If the La Liga was reorganized nine months later, he had no idea about it
9.If the La Liga had revolutionary purpose, then Katipunan should not have been organized
10.If the Spanish authorities found his letters having bitter atmosphere
11.He lived an exemplary life in Dapitan
12.He delivered at Doroteo Ongjunco’s house had inspired the revolution
* Lt. Col. Arjona declared the trial over. The entire defense was indifferently
disregarded in Rizal’s mock trial as it instantaneously considered him guilty.
* The trial ended with the reading of the sentence- Jose Rizal was found guilty,
and the sentence was death by firing squad.
* December 26, Governor-General Polavieja signed the court decision
* December 30, 1896 at 7 a.m at Bagumbayan decreed that the guilty be executed
by firing squad
 Rizal’s Last 25 hours

Presented by: Rodalyn G. Jimenez

 From 6 am to 12 Noon
At 6 a.m. of December 29, Judge Advocate Dominguez formally read the
death sentence of Rizal.

At 7 a.m., he was transferred to either his “death cell” or “prison chapel”. He

was visited by Jesuit priest, 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.”
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 a heated
discussion about religion as witnessed by Rosell.

Two other priest, 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.
Through still believing in the Holy Scriptures, Rizal supposedly refused to retract this
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 feelings, I would be a
hypocrite and would then be offending God”.
 From Noon to 7pm

At 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. 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 priest 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.
Rizal then wrote letters and dedications and rested shortly.
At 4 p.m., the sorrowful Doa Teodora and Jose’s sisters went to see the sentenced Rizal. The
mother was not allowed a last embrace by the guard, but her beloved son, in grief, managed to
express a kiss on her hand. Dominguez was said to have been moved with compassion at the
sight of Rizal’s kneeling before his mother and asking for 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 Tuon, went to see Rizal to exchange
some views with him at about 5:30 p.m. Balaguer and March then left, leaving Vilaclara and
Tuon in Rizal’s cell. As Rosell was leaving at about 6 p.m., Josephine Braken arrived in Fort
Santiago. Rizal called for her, and they emotionally talked with each other.
The Night of December 29

At 7 p.m., Faura returned and convinced Rizal to trust him and some other Ateneo professors. After
some quiet moments, Rizal purportedly confessed to Faura.
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 Cestao arrived and had an
amiable talk with Rizal.
Historians Gregorio and Sonia Zaide alleged that at 10 p.m. Rizal and some Catholic priests
worked on the hero’s retraction. Supposedly, Balaguer brought to Rizal a retraction draft made by
Archbishop Bernardino Nozaleda, 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 was said that he wrote his
retraction renouncing freemasonry and his anti-Catholic ideas. (Zaide’s book, 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 he crack of dawn of
December 30, perhaps praying and meditating once in a while.
The Early Morning of December 30

At 3 a.m., Rizal heard Mass, confessed sins, and took Communion. At about 4 a.m., Rizal
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 Mentaioned ”
three soft-boiled eggs” and narrated that Rizal ate two of them. Historian Ambeth R. Ocampo,
on the other hand, wrote “three hard-boiled eggs” and related that Rizal “did not have any
breakfast”.
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 his massage 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, the Zaides 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… Goodbye, 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. Da. Teodora Alonso
6 o’clock in the morning, December 30,1896.
Jose Rizal
Slow Walk to Death
At 6:30 a.m. Rizal in black suit and 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 March and Vilaclara. In front of them were the advance guards and armed soldiers behind them
was 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 on that morning, many 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".
Once in a while, Rizal conversed with the priests, commenting on things like his happy years at the
Ateneo as the 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 take 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 finally agreed to turn his back to the firing squad
on the condition that he would 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 have few minutes to
live. The curious doctor was startled to find Rizal's pulse normal. Before leaving Rizal in his
appointed place, the priest 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' long guns barked at once. Rizal yelled
Christ's two last words "Consummatum est!" (It is finished!) as he simultaneously exerted a
final effort to twist his bullet -pierced body halfway around. Facing the sky, Jose Rizal fell on the
ground dead at exactly 7:03 on the morning of December 30, 1896.
 Thank You
&
God Bless us all!