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Trial and Martyrdom of Jose Rizal
Trial and Martyrdom of Jose Rizal
Welcome to the seventh lesson on thre course on the Life and Works
of Jose Rizal. This lesson provides a discussion on the trial and
martyrdom of Jose Rizal. It discusses the events of Dr. Rizal’s trial and
execution. It also discusses the manifesto of Jose Rizal regarding the
1896 Philippine revolution and his poem ‘Mi Ultimo Adios.’
Objectives:
The following are the learning outcomes we are expected to achieve at
the end of the lesson:
Activities/Exercises
Accomplish the module execises. Watch movie clip about Rizal’s life and
experiences in Europe. Read some of Jose Rizal’s works.
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August 1, 1896:
Rizal bade farewell to the Dapitan students and neighbors, and sailed for Manila with
his wifeand sister.
August 5, 1896:
Andres Bonifacio prepared to save him. Emilio Jacinto and others, disguised as
sailors, went to the S. S. España on a launch. Jacinto started to swab down the deck
until he had a chance to speak to Rizal alone. Rizal refused to escape.
September 3, 1896:
Bearing letters of introduction from the Governor-General to the Secretaries of War
and Foreign Affairs in Spain, he departed for Barcelona.
An attempt was made to rescue Jose Rizalby Pedro B. Roxas, a fellow
Filipinopassenger, and CaptainCamus, while he was in Singapore bound for Spain
October 6, 1896:
3:00 AM: On his 4th day of being held in his cabin at the MV Isla de Panay docked at
Barcelona, Spain on his way to Cuba, Rizal was awakened to be brought to Montjuic
Prison in Barcelona, Spain.
2:00 PM: Interview with General EulogioDespujol
8:00 PM: Aboard the Colon, Rizal left Barcelona for Manila.
Another attempt was made to rescue Jose Rizal by Dr. Antonio Regidor, Sixto Lopez
when he was in Singapore going back to the Philippines. The attempt was
unsuccessful.
November 3, 1896:
Rizal was brought to Fort Santiago, where other patriots, including his brother
Paciano, were being tortured to implicate him. Paciano refused to sign anything
despite his body beingbroken and his left hand crushed.
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LIFE AND WORKS OF JOSE RIZAL
December 8, 1896:
From a list submitted to him by the authorities, he chose the brother of his friend, Lt.
Luis Taviel de Andrade to become his trial lawyer. He was only made to choose
among army officers and not a civilian lawyer.
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LIFE AND WORKS OF JOSE RIZAL
alcohol stove, “There is something inside.” They were also accompanied by Narcisa,
Lucia, Josefa, Maria and son Mauricio Cruz. Leoncio Lopez Rizal, Narcisa’s eleven-
year-old son, was not allowed to enter the cell. While leaving for their carriages, an
official handed over the alcohol stove to Narcisa. After their visit, Fathers Vilaclara
and Estanislao March returned to the cell followed by Father Rosell.
6:00 PM: Rizal was visited by the Dean of the Manila Cathedral, Don Silvino Lopez
Tuñon. Fathers Balaguer and March left Father Vilaclara to be with the two.
8:00 PM: Rizal’s last supper where he informed Captain Dominguez that he already
forgave those who condemned him.
9:30 PM: Rizal was visited by the fiscal of the Royal Audiencia of Manila, Don
Gaspar Cestaño with whom Rizal offered the best chair of the cell. According to
accounts, the fiscal left with “a good impression of Rizal’s intelligence and noble
character.”
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Fathers Vilaclara and March and other soldiers. They passed by the Intramuros plaza,
then turned right to the Postigo gate then left at Malecon, the bayside road now known
as Bonifacio Drive.
7:00 AM: Rizal, after arriving on the execution site at the Luneta de Bagumbayan,
was checked with his pulse by Dr. Felipe Ruiz Castillo. It was perfectly normal.
Rizal once wrote, “I wish to show those who deny us patriotism that we know how to
die for our duty and our convictions.”
“Preparen.” “Apunten.” Rizal shouted, “Consummatum est.” It is done.
7:03 AM: With the captain shouting “Fuego!” Shouts rang out from the guns of eight
indio soldiers. Rizal, being a convicted criminal was not facing the firing squad. As
he was hit, he resists and turns himself to face his executors. He falls down, and dies
facing the sky. The Spaniards shouted “Viva España! Muerte a los traidores!”
But in two years, the victorious Philippine revolutionaries will seal the fate of the
Spanish Empire in the east. Three hundred thirty three years of Spanish Colonialism
ended in 1898.
December 30, 1896, afternoon: Narcisa, after a long search, discovered where her
brother’s body was secretly buried, at the old unused Paco Cemetery. She asked the
guards to place a marble plaque designed by DoroteoOngjungco containing Rizal’s
initials in reverse—“RPJ”.
*Sources of information:
Yoder, Robert. The Life and Writings of Dr. Jose Rizal. Accessed from
http://joserizal.nhcp.gov.ph/Biography/man_and_martyr/chapter15.htm
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LIFE AND WORKS OF JOSE RIZAL
opposing reactions of Filipinos to its passage. There were that anti and pro
RH Law who rallied for or against its implementation. Half a century ago,
similar thing happened to the Rizal Law. According to the historian Ambeth
Ocampo (1990), the debate was so intense that it ended in a fist fight between
two hot –headed lawmakers. The strongest opposition came from the
Catholic Church, arguing that the law would violate the freedom of
conscience and religion. They argued that “Rizal violated the Church’s laws
specifically Canon Law 1399, which forbids books that attack or ridicule any
of the catholic dogmas or which defend errors condemned by the Holy See.”
They also argued that only 25 passages of the Noli Me Tangere were patriotic as
compared to the 120 passages that were anti-catholic. Furthermore, they pointed out
that Rizal retracted his ‘attacks’ on the Catholic Church before he was executed.
They maintained that Filipinos could still venerate him as a national hero even
without reading the two novels and that Filipino students could read other works
done by Rizal instead of the two Novels. The Catholic Church’ opposition went up
to the extent of threatening religious sanctions to all the supporters of the law. A
bishop wrote a letter to Rafael Palma a biographer of Rizal, saying that “we prohibit
under the pain of sin and canonical sanctions the reading, keeping or retention of
the same [Noli and El Fili] whether in original or in translation in the Archdiocese
of Manila and Cebu.”
Read the full text of the CBCP’s statement opposing the Rizal Law in the following
website: http://www.cbcponline.net/documents/1950s/1956-novels_of_rizal.html
Among the prominent ‘defenders’ of Rizal Law was Sen. Claro M. Recto who was
the author of the law and fought hard for its passage despite the threat of losing votes
and religious sanctions. He assailed the people who opposed the law by saying that
fighting against the law is like fighting Rizal and attempting to “blot out his
memory”. The supporters of the bill maintained that law would uplift Filipino sense
of identity and nationalism especially during that time when Filipino sense of
identity and nationalism was dwindling and the prevalence of American
neocolonialism in the Philippines.
After long and divisive debates, the Rizal Law was passed with certain provisions
that served as compromise between two opposing sides. One of these compromises
is the exemption given to those who feel that their faith is damaged by reading of
Rizal’s novels provided, that they file a sworn statement stating as such as stated in
Sec. 1o f the Rizal Law.
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Read the following articles for the different views about Jose Rizal’s
‘role’ in the 1896 Philippine revolution
http://philippinestudies.net/ojs/index.php/ps/article/download/548/55
1.http://nhcp.gov.ph/jose-rizal-and-the-revolution-revisiting-renato-
constatinos-veneration-without-understanding/
http://www.philreporter.com/Issue06-16-31-
05/Veneration%20without%20Understanding2.doc.
http://opmanong.ssc.hawaii.edu/pdfdownloads/rizal.pdf
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References
Agoncillo, Teodoro A. 1990. History of the Filipino People .Lungsod Quezon:
Garotech Publishing.
Constantino, Renato, 1975.Philippines: A Past Revisited( Vol. 1).
Craig, A. (1909). The Story of Jose Rizal. Manila, Philippine Education
Publishing Co.
Craig, Austin. Lineage Life and Labors of Jose Rizal Philippine Patriot
Guerrero, Leon Ma. 1998. Jose Rizal: The First Filipino. Manila
Ocampo, Ambeth R. 2000. Rizal Without the Overcoat. Pasig City: Anvil
Publising Inc.,
Ocampo, Nilo S. 1995. Rizal: Makabayan at Martir. Diliman, Q.C.: University
of the Philippines Press
Quibuyen, Floro C. 1999. A Nation Aborted: Rizal, American hegemony and
Philippine nationalism. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press
Internet Sources:
http://joserizal.nhcp.gov.ph/Biography/man_and_martyr/chapter14.htm
http://xiaochua.net/2012/12/25/the-last-days-of-jose-rizal-a-timeline-of-his-
last-arrest-incarceration-execution-and-the-journey-of-his-remains/
http://joserizal.nhcp.gov.ph/Biography/man_and_martyr/chapter15.htm
http://joserizal.nhcp.gov.ph/Biography/man_and_martyr/chapter17.htm
https://bangkanixiao.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/rizal-poems-2-mi-ultimo-
adios.pdf
http://joserizal.ph/pm01.html
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