PATRICIA NICOLE BOLIVAR BSBA FM 2

CALAMBA AGRARIAN PROBLEMS

For the Calamba discussion see chapter 10 of Guerrero’s the First Filipino and part 3, chpter 3 of
Austin Coates’ s Rizal, Philippine Nationalist and Martyr (1968)

See also Rizal and the University of Santo Tomas, 167-207

Ownership of the Calamba hacienda passed on to the Dominicans after the Jesuits –who
originally owned it- were expelled in 1768. The Dominicans owned practically all the lands
around Calamba. The tenants suffered since many years due to the unjustified taxes they had
to pay. Even if there was an economic crisis or the harvest was bad, the rent and taxes went up.
The tenants suffered under the friars.

Rizal had not anticipated but he soon became the center of the tenant’s struggle against the
Dominicans. It started innocently. On 30th December 1887, when the government, wondering
why the revenue paid by the Dominicans Order had remained constant despite the ever-
increasing size of cultivated lands, formally asked the Calamba town council to determine
whether there had been any increase in the products and the size of the Dominican estate over
the past three years.

The friars wanted to withhold the tenants to tell the truth. The Rizal family as well as the other
Calamba tenants wanted to tell the truth. The tenants asked Rizal to draft a report for the town
council.

Rizal asked his town mates to supply him with all the relevant facts about the estate from the
very beginning.

What came out was a horror story of Dominican corruption and financial deceit on a massive
scale. The original hacienda owned by the Jesuits consisted of only a small part of land and
included only a part of the town, but the Dominicans had claimed a much more extensive area,
no less than the whole town and its surrounding fields. The Dominicans were paying the
government only the income tax due on the original smaller hacienda.

Rizal wrote down his findings, which were signed by the tenants in January 1888, and he
submitted the report to the government.

Rizal advised his family to stop paying the rent. The rest of the Calamba tenants followed suit
and with Rizal’s encouragement, petitioned the government to intervene by authorizing and
supervising the drawing up of a new contract between the people of Calamba and the
Dominican landowners.
The friars were furious because they were attacked on their most sensitive point: money! The
report never reached the desk of the governor-general. The Dominicans responded by filing an
action for eviction against the Calamba tenants. When the justice of the Peace of Calamba ruled
in favor of the tenants. The Dominicans immediately brought the case to the Supreme Court in
Manila, which immediately decided in the Dominican’s favor. The tenants and the Rizal family
had no recourse but to appeal their case to the Supreme Court in Madrid.

The Dominicans put pressure on Malacañang to eliminate Rizal. Governor-general Terrero

advised Rizal to leave the Philippines for his own good.

The liberal governor-general Terrerro was at that time replaced by the conservative general
Valeriano Weyler in 1888. He was completely on the side of the Dominicans. One of his first
acts was to enforce the court ruling for the eviction of the tenants. The first to be evicted was
the Rizal family.

On 6 September 1890, general Weyler began enforcing the will of the Dominicans by sending
artillery and military forces to Calamba which started to demolish the house of Rizal’s parents.
Rizal’s brother, brothers in law were arrested and exiled to different places of the archipelago.
On the first day 60 families were thrown out of their houses and the sugar mills and all other
buildings they had erected were destroyed. The Dominicans forbade the rest of the
townspeople to give the unfortunates lodging and hospitality. By the end of September 400
tenants had been evicted.
 Rizal on Agrarian Issues

By

Sarreal D. Soquiño
Agrarian problems in the Philippines during the late 19th century were apparently known to the

famous Filipino national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal. Such familiarity and interest on agrarian matters

have clearly reflected in his selected works and writings. These materials can help us
understand how Rizal had formed his views or opinion concerning the matter which he,
undoubtedly, regarded as a complicated socio-economic problem that could result to economic
dislocation, loss of trust to the justice system, revolt and violence.His Participation in the
Calamba Land Dispute Rizal was already well aware about the worsening land conflict in the
town of Calamba, Laguna between the hacienda management and the group of tenants before
he returned home , after many years of his stay in Europe in 1887. These tenants, including his
family and some relatives, leased tracts of agricultural lands from the Dominican Order1, owner
of the vast productive hacienda in the province of Laguna. The conflict rose from the continued

unreasonable increased of rentals, land confiscation and other exploitative practices of the

hacienda management. These caused financial hardships to the tenants, and worsened by other

factors such as poor harvests, crops destroyed by unfavorable weather and pestilence. Upon his

arrival from Europe, the beleaguered tenants of Calamba asked him to conduct an investigation

regarding the controversial fertile lands owned by the Dominican friars in relation to the

agricultural problem that pitted the tenants against the wealthy powerful owners. The findings
of his investigation, which he formally submitted to the colonial government, were the
following:2

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 interests 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.

As Rizal already got the ire of the friars (Spanish priests from religious congregations)

after the publication of his first novel, Noli me Tangere, became known to the latter, their
hatred

to him intensified further, particularly to the Dominicans, because of his involvement in the

investigation on the land problem in Calamba. On that same year, 1887, Rizal left for Europe

again to conduct historical research, write the second novel – El Filibusterismo – and

undoubtedly, to stay away from his enemies. His exposure to the problem in Calamba gained

him important materials which he used as source that enriched the sequel of the famous 1887

novel.

In 1890 while in Brussels (Belgium), Rizal learned that his family, relatives and some

tenants who were in conflict with the hacienda management in Calamba were dispossessed of

their lands after the court in Madrid issued its conclusion in favor of the Dominican Order. The

suit filed by the landowning friars against the tenants was a response to the refusal of Don

Francisco Mercado, father of Dr. Rizal, to pay the land rents because the hacienda management

continually raised the cost of the rental. More tenants also refused to pay the rentals which
they

also viewed as unreasonable. Thereafter, some family members of Rizal and other tenants
faced

persecution from the authorities in relation to the agrarian conflict in Calamba. Paciano (Rizal’s
older brother) and his brothers-in-law Antonio Lopez and Silvestre Ubaldo were deported to

Mindoro, while Manuel T. Hidalgo, another brother-in-law, was banished, for the second time,
to

the island of Bohol.3 The agrarian problem in Calamba that worsened in 1887 until it caused the
dispossession of

the tenants of their land in 1890 had encouraged Rizal to establish a Filipino settlement in the

island of Borneo, which was at the time under the British protectorate. Rizal wanted to move

landless Filipinos including his families and friends to North Borneo (Sabah) to occupy assigned

lands for them offered by the British North Borneo Company, engaged in lucrative agriculture

and rebuild their lives. Rizal successfully obtained an agreement with the British authorities of

Borneo that allowed the potential Filipino colonists to occupy around 100,000 acres, a beautiful

harbor, and would provide them a good government for 999 years, free of all charges.4

This is known as the Borneo Colonization Project which was enthusiastically endorsed or
supported by

many friends of Rizal including prominent figures in our history like the Luna brothers (Juan and

Antonio), Graciano Lopez-Jaena, and his Austrian friend, Ferdinand Blumentritt. Unfortunately,

Governor-General Eulogio Despujol rejected the project because he argued that the Filipino

immigration to Borneo was contrary to the interest of Spanish colonial rule.

The 1889 Article Rizal wrote many articles or essays published in the La Solidaridad – a
reformist Filipino

newspaper – that aimed to promote Filipino dignity, interest, and introduced political reforms
in the country albeit within the colonial framework. Considered as one of the earliest articles he

wrote for the said newspaper was entitled, Los Agricultures Filipinos or “The Filipino Farmers”.

It was published on March 15, 1889, In this article, Rizal commended the intention of the

Minister of the Colonies to encourage the development agriculture. However, he suggested

that the colonial government should consult the Filipino tillers who would surely be affected by
the program of the Ministry. He wrote: “We recommend, nevertheless, that he consult the
farmers also – those who are in direct contact with the soil, those who, with their own capital
and labor make the soil productive and who put into practice the methods that science or

experience dictates.”5 Natural calamities like floods and locust pests that caused poor harvest,
if not a total destruction of their crops, were not the only problems of the farmers. Rizal
emphasized that colonial institutions imposed by the colonial regime like Forced Labor and the
Constabulary (civil guards) also contributed to the problems of the farmers. The policy of
Forced Labor or polo y servicio that required native males, from 16 to 60 years old, to render
labor services to any government projects like construction of bridges, roads, ship-building,
etc., was an example of an abusive economic colonial institution that affected the Filipino
farmers. Rizal explained that the landlord lost his farm workers hired to cultivate his field or
harvest his crops because they were taken away by colonial authorities to work in any
government projects as required by the policy of forced labor. The abuses of civil guards against
the farmers or the landlords, Rizal exposed, also exacerbated the already difficult situation.
Farmers could no longer tend their fields once they were accused by civil guards of violating
certain regulations because accused were forced to clean the barracks.6 Thus, no one was
available to take care of the farm because workers spent most of their time cleaning the
barracks. In order to free himself from the abuses of those who are in power, the landowner
resorted to bribery like giving gifts or other forms of favor. On the other hand, those farms
located away from the towns were confronted with different enemies – the bandits. Rizal
narrated;7 “For those who have their farms far from the towns, it is the robber – bandit that is
a terrible enemy. There can be no favors gained, like in the others, by giving him gifts and
bribes, which do secretly, because he would then be plunged into abyss: whosoever deals with
the bandit is accused of connivance and being an accomplice of the evildoers and this would
mean certain torture, and later, exile.” However, Rizal recommended a solution to the problem
caused by the robber-bandits. Since the colonial government, or the civil guard in particular,
could not protect the farmers or the landowners, the latter should carry a firearm and “face the
danger everyday”8 as they confront the marauding bandits. Amidst rising acts of banditry
coupled with the failure of the authorities to curb such lawlessness, Rizal strongly believed that
a peaceful and law-abiding farmer or landlord must own a firearm to protect himself, his family
and properties against lawless elements who unashamedly flourished from the vulnerabilities
of the unarmed members of society. Rizal was a pro-gun advocate. But to acquire license from
the government for an acquisition of a firearm was not easy because an applicant had “to
obtain the goodwill of the neighborhood, of the civil guard, and of the parish priest”9 before
the application would be sent to the central government in Manila. This ridiculous long
bureaucratic process was further lengthened because it took many months for the applicant to
wait before the Manila government would act on the petition. After Rizal enumerated and
discussed the defects and abuses of the colonial government, in general, in relation to the
problems encountered by farmer and landowners in the islands, he asked the Ministry of the
Colonies for solutions which he described as urgent: “It would be necessary to correct this, Mr.
Minister of the Colonies, lest some malicious mind say that since the government there is
helpless, it makes friends with bandits by handing over to them the disarmed inhabitants; that
it desires to cultivate lands by speeches, plans, and agreements, a policy that should be
enforced by tying the hands of the farmers and forcing them to till the soil under the new
system. Agriculture cannot be improved by this method. What is needed is aid to those who are
engaged in it.”10

Note that this article, The Filipino Farmers, does not mention about serious agrarianrelated
issues like unjust land confiscation, unreasonable increases of rentals by hacienda owners

imposed against their tenant, and providing lands for the landless direct tillers. The notion of

social justice in relation to agrarian problems was not emphasized as the said article/essay

merely discussed matters that had prevented farmers from cultivating their lands, with higher
rate of productivity, free from external circumstances like abuses of the civil guards and
banditry which were actually soluble.

Cabesang Tales

The story of Cabesang Tales in Rizal’s second novel, El Filibusterismo, underlines an

inevitable reality of the brewing agrarian conflict during the 19th century that concluded to a

peasant revolt, an integral ingredient of the 1896 separatist revolution. His story as a tiller

occupies the entire Chapter 4 of the said novel. He brought his whole family to a thickly
forested land, cleared the area and cultivated the fertile land which caused the death of his
wife and elder daughter, Lucia, due to extreme hardwork and disease. The land was planted
with crops and eventually yielded bountiful harvests. The tragedy began when a religious order
that owns vast agricultural lands in the neighboring town claimed ownership of the rich fields
cleared by Tales and his family. The administrator of the estate of the Order demanded for an
annual rental from Tales since the latter has occupied, and earns from the friars’ property. The
poor tiller gives in to the administrator’s demand, unwilling to invite any trouble or conflict with
the powerful hacienda owner. Tales finally lost his patience when rental continues to increase
every year accompanied by threats of “dispossession” from the alleged owners if he refuses to
comply with the financial requirements they imposed. He finally refuses to pay the rent, insists
that he legally owns the land, and brings up the matter before the court of justice.
Unfortunately, Tales lost his case. The story ends with Tales becoming an outlaw, a “bandit”, or
a “robber”. His name has been mentioned several times in the novel aside from Chapter 4. In
Chapter 38, A Trick of Fate (translated by Leon Maria Guerrero), Tales is already known as
Matanglawin (eagle’s eye), leader of an armed group of outlaws who have been engaged in
violent activities against the colonial administration. His rebellious activities have been felt in
many parts of Luzon. Rizal wrote:11 “One day they would burn down a sugar mill and its fields
in Batangas, on the next murder a municipal judge in Tiani, on another take a town in

Cavite by surprise and seize the arms in the town hall. Matanglawin plundered the provinces of
the Central Valley from Tayabas to Pangasinan, and his sanguinary name echoed as far as Albay
and as far north as Kagayan.” These acts of brigandage are reminiscent of the native armed
groups during the period between 1820s and 1830s in the province of Cavite and other towns
in Southern Tagalog led by known leaders like Luis Parang, Juan Upay and Juan Balat who were
accused by colonial authorities as involved in “lawless” activities like robberies, cruelties,
violence and assassinations.12 This period in the local history of the province of Cavite, in
particular, is called the tulisanismo phenomenon. It is also interesting to note that tulisanismo
activities coincidentally appeared during the height of peasant unrest in rice and sugar-
producing provinces like Cavite, Batangas, Laguna, Tondo, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac and
Bataan where vast friar haciendas were located.13 The tale of Cabesang Tales, though fiction,
was derived from real experiences of people whom Rizal knew quite well like his family and
relatives who were unjustly dispossessed of their lands in a lawsuit with the Dominican Order
during the height of agrarian conflict in Calamba. His father, Francisco Mercado, was the first
one who refused to pay the unreasonable rent imposed by the owners of the land they tilled
which some tenants followed suit that infuriated the Dominicans in Calamba. Like Tales, who
joined the “bandits”, many natives refused colonial subjugation, preferred to spend their lives
in the mountains, and fearlessly challenged the social order. Colonial authorities called them
names like bandits, robbers, or outlaw – the tulisanes.

La Liga Filipina, 1892

The formation of the Liga Filipina in July 3, 1892 in Tondo, Manila had again

demonstrated Rizal’ interest on matters related to agriculture. The said association, founded
and inaugurated by Rizal himself, was also a society that was exclusive only for Filipinos that
aimed for national unity, reforms and defense against violence and injustice. One of its aims or
objectives was to encourage instruction, agriculture (emphasis mine), and commerce. Clearly,
he believed that a developed agricultural sector is a requirement to a genuine social and
economic progress. A nation like the Philippines, primarily an agricultural country, can never
achieve a genuine material progress if its agricultural sector is neglected and undeveloped. Rizal
wanted that his stillborn organization could provide assistance to the Filipino farmers, and
pursue technical improvements in agriculture.
 The Dapitan Farm

Farming was in the heart of the hero. The material wealth of the Mercado family came

from large-scale farming in the vast fertile lands of Calamba. The expensive bahay na bato

(expensive concrete residential building) where the young Jose grew up and nurtured by a
caring and religious family was surrounded by assorted fruit trees and various plants. Such
beautiful natural environment around him had possibly contributed to his natural propensity
for farming.

Upon his arrival in Dapitan, Rizal already thought of transferring his family and relatives who

were dispossessed of their lands in Calamba, to this remote rich island where they could work

together, develop agriculture, and live a peaceful life free from their enemies. When he won a

second prize in a lottery that earned him, 6,200.00 pesos, he immediately bought seventy (70)

hectares of arable land by the sea. Rizal introduced to his young students in Dapitan the value
of hard work and importance of agriculture as he involved them in the cultivation of the land he

won a second prize in a lottery that earned him, 6,200.00 pesos, he immediately bought
seventy (70) hectares of arable land by the sea. Rizal introduced to his young students in
Dapitan the value of hard work and importance of agriculture as he involved them in the
cultivation of the land he owned and planted it with sugarcane, corn, coffee and a variety of
fruit trees like lanka (langka or jackfruit), santol, mango, and mangosteen.14 The farm Rizal had
developed in Dapitan must be seen as a symbolic expression of every 19th century Filipino
farmer who simply wanted to till his own field, harvest the yields of his hard work, and enjoy
with his family the generosity of nature free from persecutions of the greedy landowning friars
and abuses of the civil guards and bandits.

Conclusion

Rizal knew very well that the development of agriculture in the country is fundamentally

vital to its social and economic progress. The society he formed, La Liga Filipina, sought for the

unity of the whole archipelago as one nation, encouraged education for all, and observance of

justice but such aspirations, if achieved, may not be completely meaningful to the nation’s life

majority of its people remains poor and economically unproductive. Thus, La Liga’s fourth aim
was the encouragement of agriculture and commerce. On the one hand, an article he wrote

emphasized the role of the government in the development of agriculture. Instead of pressing
the issues of landlessness and unreasonable increases of rents by big landowners, Rizal delved
into equally urgent matter related to the obligation of the government in giving protection to
the beleaguered farmers against the abuses committed by civil guards and bandits.

Rizal’s story on Cabesang Tales and his findings on the agrarian conflict in Calamba in

1887 brought to the fore the exploitative agrarian set-up created by the vast friar estates. The

friar haciendas became the source of oppression, poverty, and peasant discontentment that led
to armed revolt that challenged the Spanish colonial structures. Rizal fully understood that the
agrarian problems that surfaced during his time was a socio-economic problem because it
affected not only the farmers or peasants including their families, but its impact also generated
serious circumstances like economic dislocation, poverty, and revolt. Thus, Rizal knew very well
that agrarian conflict could ignite a national revolution.

Notes

1 Sonia M. Zaide and Gregorio F. Zaide, Jose Rizal: Life, Works and Writings of a Genius, Writer,
Scientist and

National Hero, 2 nd Edition (Quezon City: All-Nations Publishing, Co. Inc, 1994), 69, 120.

2 S. Zaide and G. Zaide, 1994, 120-121.

3 S. Zaide and G. Zaide, 1994, 171.

4 S. Zaide and G. Zaide, 1994, 206-207.

5 “The Filipino Farmers”, La Solidadridad Quincenario Democratico, vol. 1, 1889, Translated by

Guadalupe ForesGanzon (Pasig City, Metro Manila: Fundacion Santiago, 1996) 43-45.

6 La Solidaridad Quincenario Democratico, vol., 1889, 45.

7 La Solidaridad Quincenario Democratico, vol., 1889, 45.

8 La Solidaridad Quincenario Democratico, vol., 1889, 45.

9 La Solidaridad Quincenario Democratico, vol., 1889, 45.

10 La Solidaridad Quincenario Democratico, vol., 1889, 47.

11 Jose Rizal, El Filibusterismo, Translated by Leon Ma. Guerrero, (London: Longman Group
Ltd., 1965), Chapter 38, p. 309.

12 Isagani R. Medina, Cavite Before Revolution, 1571-1896, (Quezon City: University of the
Philipines Press and Cavite Historical Society, 2002), pp. 66-69.

13 Medina, 2002, 67.

14 Leon Ma. Guerrero, The First Filipino, (Pasig City, Metro Manila: Guerrero Publishing, 1998)
324. See also Corona S. Romero, Julita sta. Romana, and Lourdes Y. Santos, Rizal and the
Development of National Consciousness, 2nd edition (Quezon ave., Quezon City: KATHA
Publishing, Co., Inc., 2006) 60
 Travels of Rizal

(1888-1892)

2. Rizals First Trip Abroad 3 May 1882 Rizal left Philippines for the first time Spain. He boarded the
Salvadora using a passport of Jose Mercado, which was procured for him by his uncle Antonio Rivera,
father of Leonor Rivera. He was accompanied to the quay where the Salvadora was moored by his uncle
Antonio, Vicente Gella, and Mateo Evangelista. 15 June 1882 He left Marseilles for Barcelona in an
express train.

3. Rizal in Barcelona, Spain 20 August 1882 His article "Amor Patrio" was published in the Diarong
Tagalog, a Manila newspaper edited by Basilio Teodoro. This was the First article he wrote abroad.

4. Rizal in Madrid, Spain 2 September 1882 Rizal matriculated at the Universidad Central de Madrid. He
took the following subjects: medical clinic, surgical clinic, legal medicine and obstetrical clinic. 4
October 1882 Asked to deliver a poem by the members of Circulo Hispano-Filipino, there together in the
effort to save the association from disintegration, Rizal recited "Me piden versus." The meeting was held
at the house of Pablo Ortiga y Rey.

5.  2 November 1882 He wrote the article "Revista de Madrid" which was in intended for publication in
the Diarong Tagalog in Manila, but was not published because the newspaper stops its circulation. 7
November 1882 Rizal wrote an article entitled "Las Dudas". The article was signed Laong - Laan.

6. Rizal in Paris, France 18 June 1883 With Felipe Zamora and Cunanan, He visited the Leannec Hospital
to observe how Dr, Nicaise treated his patients. He was stunned to see the advanced facilities in the
accommodation in the said hospital. 19 June 1883 He again visited Dr. Nicaise who showed the
technique of operation. Later he went to see dupytren Museum. 20 June 1883 Rizal visited the
Lariboisiere Hospital where Felix Pardo de Tavera was an extern. Here he observe the examination of
the different diseases of women.

7. Rizal Back 1883Madrid 28 September in He enrolled at the central Universidad de Madrid for the
second course in medicine. October 1883 He came to know of the imprisonment, by order of Sr.
Vicente Barrantes, of the 14 rich innocent persons in Manila. The Prisoners who knew nothing is the
cause of their detention and who became sick later, were kept in a humid prison cell. Rizal was indignant
of his inhuman act. 2 January 1884 Rizal proposed to the member of the Circulo assembled in the
house of the Pateros, the publication of a book by association. This idea became the embryo of this first
novel Noli Me Tangere .

8.  21 June 1884 He finished the degree of Licentiate in Medicine with the grade of aprobado from the
Central Universidad de Madrid. 25 June 1884 Rizal won first prize in Greek contest, after which he
delivered a speech in honor of the two Filipino painters, Juan Luna and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo. The
occasion commemorated the triumph of the two, especially Luna who won the first prize for his
Spoliarium during the National Exposition of Fine Arts held in Madrid that year.
9.  1 July 1884 Rizal explained the term "Filibusterismo" in the newspaper of Madrid El Progreso, calling
the attention of the Spanish authorities over the case of future of the Filipinos. He asked for freedom of
the press and the right of representation of the Spanish Cortes.

10.  20 November 1884 Rizal witnessed the tumultuous scene in the Central Universidad de Madrid
where the students and professors staged a strike against excommunication imposed by the bishop on
the lecture proclaiming the freedom of science and of the teacher.

11. Rizal in Heidelberg, Germany 22 April 1886 While in Heidelberg experiencing the feeling of
nostalgia for his parents and his country, Rizal wrote the poem "A Las Flores de Heidelberg.“

12. Rizal in Berlin, Germany 21 March 1887 Copies of his novel came off the press. He sent one copy to
Prof. Blumentritt. In a letter of his Austrian friend, he say it was the first impartial and daring book to be
written on the life of the Tagalogs. He opined that the Spanish authorities and the friar would attack the
book.

13. Rizal in Manila 5 August 1887 At 9:00 o’clock in the evening, Rizal arrived at Manila after five years
of study and patriotic labors in Europe. 18 August 1887 In a letter, Archbishop P. Payo instructed Fr.
Gregorio Echevarria, Rector of the University of Sto. Thomas, that an information about the novel Noli
Me Tangere be issued by a Commission composed of University professors Fr. Matias Gomez, Fr.
Norberto del Prado and Fr. Evaristo Fernandez Arias.

14.  30 August 1887 He left Calamba for Manila to see Governor- General on the issue of the Noli Me
Tangere which caused torment among the friars in the Philippines. Governor-General Terrero asked him
for a copy and Rizal, after a few days looking for copy, handed him a worn out one. – On the same date,
the Calustro Universitario formed by the Rector of Santo Thomas upon the order of the Archbishop of
Manila, issued an order prohibiting the possession and reading of the Noli Me Tangere.

15.  September 1887 Rizal decided not to leave his family within this year. His sister Olimpia died of
hemorrhage while giving birth. His father did not permit him to go out alone and eat in the house of his
relatives. 19 October 1887 Rizal made a pencil drawing of a sailboat sailing on Lagunade Bay, which he
saw with Jose Taviel de Andrade, Lieutenant of the Civil Guards assigned by the Governor-General
Terrero to protect him, during an excursion to Los Baños. This drawing was sent to Blumentritt.

16.  29 Decmber 1887 The Permanent Board Of Censure headed by Fr. Salvador Font issued a judgment
absolutely prohibiting the circulation of the Noli Me Tangere in the Philppines. Upon the
recommendation of the Governor-General, Father Font said: "…Aside of attacking so directly, as you
have seen your Excellency, the Religion of the state, institutions and respectable persons for their
official character, the book is replete of foreign teachings and doctrines; and the general synthesis of the
same is to inspire among the loyal and submissive sons of Spain in these distant islands, profound,and
furious hate to the mother country…"

17.  3 February 1888 Rizal, after staying in the Philippines for almost six months, left Manila for
Hongkong, bringing with him P5,000 which he earned from his medical practice.
18. Rizal in Hong Kong 19 February 1888 With Jose Maria Basa, Jose Sainz de Veranda and some
Portuguese, Rizal left Hongkong for Macao on board the Kui Kiang. In Macao, they lived in the house of
Juan Lecaroz. Rizal went around for observation, especially the botanical garden. 22 February 1888
After staying in Hong Kong for almost two weeks, he left for Japan on board the Oceanic.

19.  Rizal in Japan Rizal in America Rizal Bound for England  Rizal in London  Rizal in Paris Rizal
Back in Spain

20. Some works of Rizal Translated Antonio de Moragas, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (Events in the
Philippine Islands) on 1890 El Solfeo de la Defensa (La Solidaridad) "Los agriculores Filipinos“ "En
Bosque“ "Me Piden Versos…!“ "Los Viajes“ "La Verdad para Todos“ "Verdades Neuvas"

21.  "Differencias“ "a La Patria“ "Inconsecuencias" "Filipinas Dentro de Cien Ańos“ "Filipinas
Dentro de Cien Ańos "Filipinas en el congreso" "Sobre la nueva ortografia de la lengua tagala,"
"Mariang Makiling,"

22. Rizal Back in Madrid 23 August 1890 He reported to Juan Luna what transpired between him and
Antonio Luna. They had a quarrel and they also had a duel.

23. Rizal Biarritz, France 29 March 1891 He finished writing his book El Filibusterismo. He planned,
however, of revising some chapters.

24. Rizal in Brussels, Belgium 1 May 1891 In a letter sent to Basa, Rizal reiterated [again] his desire to
be in Hong Kong, reminding the former of the amount he was borrowing for his fare. He also informed
Deodato Arellano of his plan to move from Europe to either Hongkong, Philippines or Japan, and to
renounce the receiving of pension from the Propaganda.“ 30 May 1891 Rizal set ready for printing 20
chapters of the manuscript of the El Filibusterismo. He was waiting for an amount to defray the
publication expense.

25. Rizal in Ghent, Belgium 9 July 1891 He was financially hard up. He did not receive for three months
up to this date any pension from home. He was living in the most difficult situation, renting a small room
and eating the modest food in order to economize and able to publish the Fili. He had already pawned
all his jewels. September 1890 El Fili was publish in Ghent using the donations from Rizal’s friends.

26. Rizal in the Philippines 26 June 1892 Rizal arrived in the Philippines from Hongkong on board the
boat Don Juan. After having been inspected by the custom men, he boarded in the Oriente Hotel where
he occupied room No. 22, facing the Binondo church. His sister, Lucia, accompanied him in his return to
the Philippines. In the evening, he attended the reunion held in the house of Don Ong-junco, a Chinese
mestizo, who was living in the district of Tondo. Here he met many Filipinos who were later arrested and
executed as a consequence of the discovery of the Katipunan.

27.  3 July 1892 Rizal had again an interview with Governor- General Despujol. He thanked Governor-
General Despujol for lifting the order of exile for his sisters. The Governor told him to come back the
following Wednesday. In the evening, he attended a meeting at a house on Calle Ylaya to discuss the
proposed Liga Filipina.

28. Exiled to Dapitan 6 July 1892 Rizal held the last interview with the Governor- General. The
governor-general confronted him for anti-friar bills supposedly found in the baggages of his sister Lucia.
He was ordered imprisoned in Fort Santiago (from July 6-15). 15 July 1892 At 1:00 on the morning, Rizal
was shipped on board the boat S. S. Cebu to Dapitan. He was given good cabin, but well guarded.

29. In Daptian He engaged in agriculture, fishing and business; he maintained and operated a hospital;
he conducted classes- taught the pupils English and Spanish languages and the arts

30. From Dapitan to Fort Santiago When the Philippine Revolution started on August 26, 1896, his
enemies lost no time in pressing him down. They were able to enlist witnesses that linked him with the
revolt and these were never allowed to be confronted by him. Thus, from November 3, 1986, to the
date of his execution, he was again committed to Fort Santiago.