M5 - Exile, Trial and Death

Rizal returned to the Philippines in 1892, feeling he needed to be in the country to effect change. Although the reform society he
founded, the Liga Filipino (Philippine League), supported non-violent action, Rizal was still exiled to Dapitan, on the island of
Mindanao. During the four years Rizal was in exile, he practiced medicine and took on students.

Execution and Legacy

In 1895, Rizal asked for permission to travel to Cuba as an army doctor. His request was approved, but in August 1896, Katipunan, a
nationalist Filipino society founded by Andres Bonifacio, revolted. Though he had no ties to the group and disapproved of its violent
methods, Rizal was arrested shortly thereafter.

After a show trial, Rizal was convicted of sedition and sentenced to death by firing squad. Rizal's public execution was carried out in
Manila on December 30, 1896, when he was 35 years old. His execution created more opposition to Spanish rule.

Spain's control of the Philippines ended in 1898, though the country did not gain lasting independence until after World War II. Rizal
remains a nationalist icon in the Philippines for helping the country take its first steps toward independence.

Ang pelikulang ito ay tungkol sa dalawang manunulat ng pelikula (filmmakers) na naghahangad ng

makagawa ng isang pelikula o dokumentaryo na magpapakita ng mga tunay na pangyayari sa buhay ng
pambansang bayani na si Dr. Jose Rizal. At hindi lamang isang ordinaryong pelikula ng buhay ni Rizal, kundi
isang pelikula na maglalahad ng mga isyu tungkol sa kanyang pagkabayani na hindi pa nalalaman ng
karamihang Pilipino.
Ang naging isang problema ng mga manunulat ng pelikula ay kung ano ang magiging pangunahing paksa ng
gagawin nilang pelikula o dokumentaryo. Ang buhay ni Rizal ay naisapelikula na ng mga banyagang director,
at ayaw nilang ihalintulad ang kanilang proyekto sa mga nauna nang pelikula. Nais nilang maiba naman ang
anggulo. Isa pang problema nila ay kung paano nila ito isusulat at kung paano nila ipaparating sa mga
manunuod ang mensaheng nais nilang iparating.
Sa kalagitnaan ng pelikula, naging malinaw na ang kanilang nais na iparating sa kanilang proyekto ay ang
tungkol sa retraksyon ni Rizal. Ang retraksyon na ito ay isang pahayag na sinasabing isinulat ni Rizal na
nilagdaan ng mga pari, na nagsasabing si Rizal ay nagbabaik-loob sa pagiging Anak ng Katoliko. Ito ay
marahil sa pagsali niya sa Masonerya, na mahigpit na ipinagbabawal sa Simabahang Katoliko. Ginawa niya
ito dahil nais niyang makaganti sa mga Espanyol na gumamit ng Relihiyon sa pagaalipin sa mga Pilipino.
Maraming lumabas na isyu at argumento. Nakuha nilang ipaliwanag ang tungkol sa retraksyon ni Rizal sa
pamamagitan ng pagsasabuhay ng mga tauhan sa buhay ni Rizal, sina Doña Lolay (ina), Josephine Bracken
(babaeng pinakasalan ni Rizal), Doña Narcisa at Trining (mga babaeng kapatid), Paciano (lalaking kapatid),
Padre Obach (ang pari na nagkasal kina Rizal at Bracken), Padre Balaguer (isa sa mga pari na nakasama ni
Rizal sa kanyang mga huling oras) at syempre si Jose Rizal.
Bawat isang tauhan ay nainterbyu ng dalawang manunulat. At sa pamamagitan ng mga interbyung ito,
marami pang lumabas na mga isyu na noon lamang nila nalaman. Isa rito ay ang tunay na estado ng pag-
iibigan nina Rizal at Bracken. Isang malaking tanong ay “Mahal ba talaga ni Josephine Bracken si Rizal?”
Dahil ayon sa kapatid ni Rizal na si Doña Narcisa, malamang ay isang espiya o kasabwat lamang siya ng mga
Espanyol sa pangangatwiran at panghihikayat kay Rizal na gawin ang retraksyon. At ipinakita rin na hindi
gusto ng pamilya ni Rizal si Bracken dahil ito raw ay “makire” at nagkukulang sa intelektwal na kaalaman.
Isa pang isyu tungkol dito ay sumulat “daw” si Rizal ng retraksyon dahil hindi papayag ang pari na
magkakasal sa kanila hangga’t hindi siya sumulat ng retraksyon. Sa huli, pumayag si Rizal sa kanyang
pamilya na magkaroon na lamang ng pribadong kasalan, sa gayon ay makakaiwas sa karagdagang isyu
tungkol sa Relihiyon.
Ayon sa kapatid na si Paciano, hindi nagsisi si Rizal na magsakripisyo para sa kanyang bayan. Ngunit
pinakita sa pelikula ang tanong na pipiliin pa kaya ni Rizal ang pagiging sakripisyo para sa Inang Bayan kung
alam niyang magiging ganito ang turing sa kaniya ng mga Pilipino? Sa aking palagay ay paninindigan pa rin
ni Rizal ang kanyang desisyon na magpabaril para sa bayan. Dahil sinabi na rin ng kanyang mga kapatid na
desidido na siya at buong-puso niyang tatanggapin ito.
Isa pang isyu ay ang pagimbita kay Rizal na sumali sa Himagsikan. Hindi niya pinaunlakan ang imbitasyong
ito. Sa pelikula, binigyan ng mga manunulat ang mga manunuod ng isang tanong: kung totoo nga ba na
kaya hindi sumali si Rizal sa Himagsikan, ay dahil hindi siya ang mamumuno nito. Sa aking palagay, hindi
siya sumali dahil ayaw niyang makipaglaban sa mga Espanyol nang gumagamit ng karahasan. Panatag na
siya na pinaglalaban niya ang bayan sa pamamagitan ng pagsulat ng mga tula at iba pang kasulatan.
Ang buong pelikula ay naging isang misteryo. Ang dalawang manunulat ay hindi pa rin sigurado sa kung
paano nila gagawin ang kanilang proyekto. Hindi nila alam kung ano ang paniniwalaan. Marami pa ring
katanungan na sila mismo ay hindi masagot. Matapos ang lahat ng pagsusuri sa mga tauhan sa buhay ni
Rizal, masasabing ang kanyang buhay ay mananatiling isang misteryo, dahil sa pagkukulang ng mga
ebidensyang magpapatunay sa isang opinyon.
 Sa bandang dulo ng pelikula, ipinakita ang dalawang manunulat ay nagsasagawa ng interbyu kay Jose Rizal,
pagkatapos ng kanyang kamatayan. Nagbabato ng tanong ang mga manunulat, at sinasagot naman nito ng
kathang-isip na si Rizal. Ngunit sa huli, sinabi ni Rizal na kaya nila nakukuha ang ganitong mga sagot galing
sa kanya ay dahil siya ay kathang-isip lamang at gawa lamang siya ng imahinasyon ng dalawang manunulat.
Parang sinasabi niya na nakikita nila ang gusto nilang makita, naririnig nila ang gusto nilang marinig at sa
gayon, isusulat nila ang proyekto tungkol kay Rizal, ang basehan ay ang kanilang mga opinyon at hindi ang
makatotohanang mga pangyayari.

Filipino Rebellion After Rizal's Execution

The Philippine independence struggle turned more violent after Rizal's death. It was led first by Andres Bonifacio and later by Emilio Aguinaldo.
Emilio Aguinaldo was a peasant worker and an idealist young firebrand. Rizal's death filled the rebels with new determination, but the Katipunan
was becoming divided between supporters of Bonifacio, who revealed himself to be an increasingly ineffective leader, and its rising star,
Aguinaldo. At a convention held at Tejeros, the Katipunan's headquarters in March 1897, delegates elected Aguinaldo president and demoted
Bonifacio to the post of director of the interior. Bonifacio withdrew with his supporters and formed his own government. After fighting broke out
between Bonifacio's and Aguinaldo's troops, Bonifacio was arrested, tried, and on May 10, 1897, executed by order of Aguinaldo. [Source: Library
of Congress *]

Aguinaldo He extracted some concessions from the Spaniards in 1897 and declared Philippines independence on June, 12, 1898 from the balcony
of his home in Cavite and established himself as president of an ill-fated provisional Philippine Republic after Filipinos drove the Spanish from most
of the archipelago. Through their revolutionary proclamation, Filipinos claim that the Philippines was the first democratic republic in Asia. In one
battle unarmed rebels on the island of Negros tricked the Spanish into retreating by launching an attack with “cannons” made rolled-up palm-leaf
mats painted black and “bayonet rifles” constructed from bamboo.

As 1897 wore on, Aguinaldo himself suffered reverses at the hands of Spanish troops, being forced from Cavite in June and retreating to Biak-na-
Bato in Bulacan Province. The futility of the struggle was becoming apparent on both sides. Although Spanish troops were able to defeat insurgents
on the battlefield, they could not suppress guerrilla activity. In August armistice negotiations were opened between Aguinaldo and a new Spanish
governor.

After three years of bloodshed, most of it Filipino, a Spanish-Filipino peace pact was signed in Hong Kong in December, 1897. According to the
agreement the Spanish governor of the Philippines would pay Aguinaldo the equivalent of US$800,000, and the rebel leader and his government
would go into exile. Aguinaldo established himself in Hong Kong, and the Spanish bought themselves time. Within the year, however, their more
than three centuries of rule in the islands would come to an abrupt and unexpected end. *

According to Lonely Planet: “Predictably, the pact's demands satisfied nobody. Promises of reform by the Spanish were broken, as were promises
by the Filipinos to stop their revolutionary plotting. The Filipino cause attracted huge support from the Japanese, who tried unsuccessfully to send
money and two boatloads of weapons to the exiled revolutionaries in Hong Kong.

When the Spanish-American War broke out in April 1898, Spain’s fleet was easily defeated at Manila. Aguinaldo returned, and his 12,000 troops
kept the Spanish forces bottled up in Manila until U.S. troops landed. The Spanish cause was doomed, but the Americans did nothing to
accommodate the inclusion of Aguinaldo in the succession. Fighting between American and Filipino troops broke out almost as soon as the Spanish
had been defeated. Aguinaldo issued a declaration of independence on June 12, 1898. However, the Treaty of Paris, signed on December 10, 1898,
by the United States and Spain, ceded the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico to the United States, recognized Cuban independence, and gave
US$20 million to Spain. A revolutionary congress convened at Malolos, north of Manila, promulgated a constitution on January 21, 1899, and
inaugurated Aguinaldo as president of the new republic two days later. Hostilities broke out in February 1899, and by March 1901 Aguinaldo had
been captured and his forces defeated. Despite Aguinaldo’s call to his compatriots to lay down their arms, insurgent resistance continued until
1903. The Moros, suspicious of both the Christian Filipino insurgents and the Americans, remained largely neutral, but eventually their own armed
resistance had to be subjugated, and Moro territory was placed under U.S. military rule until 1914. *

The 1896 Uprising and Rizal's Execution

During the early years of the Katipunan, Rizal remained in exile at Dapitan. He had promised the Spanish governor that he would not attempt an
escape, which, in that remote part of the country, would have been relatively easy. Such a course of action, however, would have both
compromised the moderate reform policy that he still advocated and confirmed the suspicions of the reactionary Spanish. Whether he came to
support Philippine independence during his period of exile is difficult to determine.

He retained, to the very end, a faith in the decency of Spanish "men of honor," which made it difficult for him to accept the revolutionary course of
the Katipunan. Revolution had broken out in Cuba in February 1895, and Rizal applied to the governor to be sent to that yellow fever-infested
island as an army doctor, believing that it was the only way he could keep his word to the governor and yet get out of his exile. His request was
granted, and he was preparing to leave for Cuba when the Katipunan revolt broke out in August 1896. An informer had tipped off a Spanish friar
about the society's existence, and Bonifacio, his hand forced, proclaimed the revolution, attacking Spanish military installations on August 29,
1896. Rizal was allowed to leave Manila on a Spanish steamship. The governor, however, apparently forced by reactionary elements, ordered
Rizal's arrest en route, and he was sent back to Manila to be tried by a military court as an accomplice of the insurrection.
 The rebels were poorly led and had few successes against colonial troops. Only in Cavite Province did they make any headway. Commanded by
Emilio Aguinaldo, the twenty-seven-year-old mayor of the town of Cavite who had been a member of the Katipunan since 1895, the rebels
defeated Civil Guard and regular colonial troops between August and November 1896 and made the province the center of the revolution.

Under a new governor, who apparently had been sponsored as a hard-line candidate by the religious orders, Rizal was brought before a military
court on fabricated charges of involvement with the Katipunan. The events of 1872 repeated themselves. A brief trial was held on December 26
and--with little chance to defend himself--Rizal was found guilty and sentenced to death. On December 30, 1896, he was brought out to the Luneta
and executed by a firing squad.

Rizal's death filled the rebels with new determination, but the Katipunan was becoming divided between supporters of Bonifacio, who revealed
himself to be an increasingly ineffective leader, and its rising star, Aguinaldo. At a convention held at Tejeros, the Katipunan's headquarters in
March 1897, delegates elected Aguinaldo president and demoted Bonifacio to the post of director of the interior. Bonifacio withdrew with his
supporters and formed his own government. After fighting broke out between Bonifacio's and Aguinaldo's troops, Bonifacio was arrested, tried,
and on May 10, 1897, executed by order of Aguinaldo.

As 1897 wore on, Aguinaldo himself suffered reverses at the hands of Spanish troops, being forced from Cavite in June and retreating to Biak-na-
Bato in Bulacan Province. The futility of the struggle was becoming apparent, however, on both sides. Although Spanish troops were able to defeat
insurgents on the battlefield, they could not suppress guerrilla activity. In August armistice negotiations were opened between Aguinaldo and a
new Spanish governor. By mid-December, an agreement was reached in which the governor would pay Aguinaldo the equivalent of US$800,000,
and the rebel leader and his government would go into exile. Aguinaldo established himself in Hong Kong, and the Spanish bought themselves
time. Within the year, however, their more than three centuries of rule in the islands would come to an abrupt and unexpected end.

On February 22, 1889, national hero Dr. Jose Rizal wrote a letter to a group of young women of Malolos supporting their plan of
putting up a night school.

The so-called Women of Malolos comprised of 20 women from prominent Chinese-Filipino families in Malolos, Bulacan who signed
and presented a letter to Governor- General Valeriano Weyler on December 12, 1888, requesting permission to open a night school
where they could be taught the Spanish language.

The Spanish parish priest, Fr. Felipe Garcia, objected so that the Governor-General turned down the petition. However, the young
women, in defiance of the friar's wrath, bravely continued their agitation for establishment of the school, a thing unheard of in the
Philippines in those times.

They finally succeeded in obtaining government approval for their project on condition that Señorita Guadalupe Reyes should be their
teacher, and that the classes be held in the day-time and not at night. The incident caused a great stir in the Philippines and in far-
away Spain. Marcelo H. Del Pilar, writing in Barcelona on February 17, 1889, requested Dr. Rizal to send a letter in Tagalog to the
brave women of Malolos.

Although busy in London annotating Morga's book, penned his famous very long letter and sent it to Del Pilar on February 22, 1889
for transmittal to Malolos.

Part of this letter reads:

I do not expect to be believed simply because it is I who am saying this; there are many people who do not listen to reason, but will listen
only to those who wear the cassock or have gray hair or no teeth; but while it is true that the aged should be venerated, because of their
travails and experience, yet the life I have lived, consecrated to the happiness of the people, adds some years, though not many, to my
age. I do not pretend to be looked upon as an idol or fetish and to be believed and listened to with the eyes closed, the head bowed, and
the arms crossed over the breast; what I ask of all is to reflect on what I tell them, think it over and sift it carefully through the sieve of
reason.

 First of all. That the tyranny of some is possible only through cowardice and negligence on the part of others.

 Second. What makes one contemptible is lack of dignity and object fear of him who holds one in contempt.

 Third. Ignorance is servitude, because as a man thinks, so he is; a man who does not think for himself lacks personality; the
blind man who allows himself to be guided by the thought of another is like the beast led by a halter.

 Fourth. He who loves his independence must first aid his fellow man, because he who refuses protection to others will find
himself without it; the isolated rib of the buri palm is easily broken, but not so the broom made of the ribs of the palm bound
together.
  Fifth. If the Filipino will not change her mode of being, let her rear no more children, let her merely give birth to them. She must
cease to be the mistress of the home, otherwise she will unconsciously betray husband, child, native land, and all.

 Sixth. All men are born equal, naked, without bonds. God did not create man to be a slave; nor did he endow him with
intelligence to have him hoodwinked, or adorn him with reason to have him deceived by others. It is not fatuous to refuse to
worship one's equal, to cultivate one's intellect, and to make use of reason in all things. Fatuous is he who makes a god of him
who makes brutes of others, and who strives to submit to his whims all that is reasonable and just.

 Seventh. Consider well what kind of religion they are teaching you. See whether it is the will of God or according to the
teachings of Christ that the poor be succored and those who suffer alleviated. Consider what they are preaching to you, the
object of the sermon, what is behind the masses, novenas, rosaries, scapularies, images, miracles, candles, belts, etc., etc.,
which they daily keep before your minds, ears, and eyes, jostling, shouting, and waxing; investigate whence they came and
whither they go, and then compare that religion with the pure religion of Christ and see whether that pretended observance of
the life of Christ does not remind you of the fat milk cow or the fattened pig, which is encouraged to grow fat not through love of
the animal, but for grossly mercenary motives.

Let us therefore reflect; let us consider our situation and see how we stand. May these poorly written lines aid you in your good purpose
and help you to pursue the plan you have initiated. "My profit will be greater than the capital invested"; and I shall gladly accept the usual
reward of all who dare tell our people the truth. May your desire to educate yourself be crowned with success; may you in the garden of
learning gather not bitter, but choice fruit, looking well before you eat, because on the surface of the globe all is deceit and often the
enemy sows weeds in your seeding-plot.