CHAPTER 5

JOSE RIZAL’S LIFE: EXILE, TRIAL AND

DEATH

Topics:
Lecture 1: Jose Rizal’s Exile
Lecture 2: Jose Rizal’s Trial
Lecture 3: Jose Rizal’s Death

Learning Outcome:
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
1. analyze the factors that led to Jose Rizal’s execution; and
2. analyze the effects of Jose Rizal’s execution on Spanish colonial rule and the Philippine
revolution.

Class Activities:
1. Read the constitution of La Liga Filipina and fill out a table (graphic organizer) with
the aims of La Liga Filipina in one column and examples of how these aims could be
attained in another column.
2. Read Jose Rizal’s last letters to family members and Blumentritt.
3. Read Teodora Alonzo’s letter to Governor general Polavieja and write a similar letter
persuading him to spare Jose Rizal’s life.
4. Film viewing:
Option 1: Jose Rizal, GMA Films, directed by Marilou Diaz Abaya
Option 2: Rizal sa Dapitan, directed by Tikoy Aguiluz

Jose Rizal’s Exile (1892-96)

Jose dwelled as exile in Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte, a far-removed town in Mindanao
from 1892 to 1896. This four-year interregnum in Jose’s life was summed up by Zaide and Zaide
(2104) as:
 Tediously unexciting, but was abundantly fruitful with varied
achievements. He practiced medicine, pursed scientific studies, continued
his artistic and literary works, widened his knowledge of languages,
established a school for boys, promoted community development projects,
invented a wooden machine for making bricks, and engaged in farming and
commerce. Despite his multifarious activities, he kept an extensive
correspondence with his family, relatives, fellow reformists, and eminent
scientists and scholars of Europe.

In Dapitan, Jose had a very peaceful, happy, and enjoyable life and the way he lived it was
extremely good and deserving to be admired and copied. He made sure his stay in Dapitan would
be fruitful, so he engaged in manifold activities. His excellent skill in the science of medicine
spread like wild fire in Dapitan. His medical practice attracted many patients who are mostly poor.
He put to good use the curative values of the Philippine medicinal plants which he studied and
doled them out to his poor patients who could not afford to buy imported medicine. He welcomed
both affluent and indigent patients. He normally undercharged them if not for free and accepted
any payments in kind from those who had little or no money.

With the assistance of Father Francisco Sanchez, his former Jesuit teacher, Jose buckled down to
work. He enhanced the town plaza and accentuated it
with a huge relief map of Mindanao, which can still be
viewed today. One of the impressive projects of Jose was
the water system he designed and constructed in order
that people of Dapitan can have access to clean water. In
spite of lack of funds, exiguous resources and no
government assistance, he was
able to build it, armed only with
his training in Ateneo, readings
of engineering books, sheer determination and ingenuity. To reduce the
occurrence of malaria, he drained the marshes with has a profusion of
mosquitoes. Utilizing the 500 pesos he received from an English patient,
he introduced a lighting system made up of coconut oil lamps in glass
protectors which lighted up dark areas in the town.

Imbued with the value of education since childhood, Jose realized his dream to establish
his own school in which he applied the educational system he learned abroad. The school opened
with three pupils which increased to 16 and later to 21. His lessons constituted of reading, writing,
languages (Spanish and English), geography, history, mathematics (arithmetic and geometry),
industrial work, study of nature, and morals. He also trained and exposed them to gymnastics,
boxing, wrestling, stone-throwing, swimming, arnis (native fencing), and boating for physical
development and discipline. He did not charge his pupils for sharing his knowledge, instead, he
encouraged them to help him in his garden, farm, and construction projects in the community.

Jose conducted scientific studies in the rich

virgin field of Dapitan and collected specimens of
animals and plants. He forwarded these specimens to the
Dresden museum of Europe and he received scientific
books and surgical instruments as payment. He has an
impressive assemblage of his study of 346 shells from
203 species. He obtained knowledge on some rare
specimens which were named in his honor by European
scientists such as Draco rizali (a flying dragon),
Apogonia rizali (a small beetle), and Rhacophorus rizali
(a rare frog).

While in Dapitan, Jose studied the Bisayan, Subanum, and Malayan languages and wrote
a Tagalog grammar. He wrote poems entitled: A Don Ricardo Carnicero, Himno A Talisay (Hymn
to the Talisay Tree) Mi Retiro (My Retreat), El Canto del Viajero (The Song of the Traveler) and
Josephine, Josephine. He also made some drawings and sculptures of people and things that
captivated him.

Jose acquired lands in Dapitan which reached total holdings of 70 hectares, where he
constructed his house, school, and hospital, and planted in his farm many fruit trees, corn, coffee,
cacao, sugarcane, and hemp. He also introduced and encouraged the use of modern European and
American methods of agriculture. He, however, did not realize his dream of transforming Dapitan
into an agricultural colony because he did not get the acceptance and permission of the
government.

In collaboration with Ramon Carreon, a Dapitan merchant, Jose was successful in his
business ventures in fishing, copra, and hemp industries. He established the Cooperative
Association of Dapitan Farmers to break the Chinese business monopoly in Dapitan. The
confederation, according to Jose Rizal’s Political and Historical Writings (1964) aimed “to
improve the farm products, obtain better outlets for them, collect funds for their purchases, and
help the producers and workers by establishing a store wherein they can buy prime commodities
at moderate prices.”

He devised an unusual “sulpukan”, a cigarette lighter made of wood which employed the
principle of compressed air. Subsequently, it was received by Blumentritt as a gift. He also formed
an idea of a machine for making bricks. Patterned after a Belgian example, Jose’s version could
produce about 6,000 bricks daily.

In spite of his achievements in Dapitan, Jose felt empty. He missed his family, relatives,
and friends. He felt he needed somebody to rejuvenate him. Expressed in
Letters between Rizal and Family Members (1964), Jose found his answer
in Josephine Bracken:

In God’s own time, this “somebody” came to Dapitan, like

a sunbeam to dispel his melancholy mood. She was Josephine
Bracken, an Irish girl of sweet eighteen, “slender, a chestnut
blond, with blue eyes, dressed with elegant simplicity, with an
atmosphere of light gayety”. She of Irish parents. She was
born in Hong Kong on October 3, 1876 of Irish parents - James Bracken,
a corporal in the British garrison, and Elizabeth Jane MacBride.

Jose and Josephine fell in love with each other and decided to seal their relationship with
marriage but no priest would marry them. Even without the blessing of the church, Jose and
Josephine joyfully shared each other’s life in Dapitan. His happiness doubled when he learned that
Josephine was expecting a baby. By a twist of fate, the baby, only lived for three hours. He named
his baby boy ‘Francisco” in honor of his father.

In 1896, Andres Bonifacio and his Katipunan (revolutionary society he founded on July
7,1892) organized an armed rebellion. They assigned Dr. Pio Valenzuela to notify Jose Rizal
about their plan. To conceal his assignment, Dr. Pio was accompanied by Raymundo Mata, a blind
man to consult Jose’s medical advise. Jose opposed the Katipuneros very bold and shocking
uprising. He firmly believed that they are not ready for a revolution. He added that they do not
have adequate arms and funds. He also declined the offer of the Katipuneros to rescue him.

Several months before the Katipuneros communicated with Jose, Blumentritt revealed to
him the pitiful health situation (yellow fever epidemic) in war-ridden Cuba and admonished him
to volunteer as an army doctor there to enable him to end his exile. On December 17, 1895, acting
upon his friend’s counsel, Jose sent Governor General Ramon Blanco a letter, offering his medical
services in Cuba. He almost gave up hope when he did not get a response after months had passed.
However, on July 30, 1896, when he least expected it, a letter from the Spanish Governor arrived
informing him of his approval. This letter also expressed that he would be given a pass so that he
could travel to Manila, where he would be given a safe-conduct to Spain and subsequently to Cuba.
 July 31, 1896 marked Jose Rizal’s emotionally charged departure from a town he learned
to love. Many teary-eyed Dapitan folks were at the shore to bid goodbye to a person who
unselfishly did all he can for their town. With a weeping heart brimming with tears of nostalgic
memories, Jose gestured his farewell salute to the town’s devoted and friendly folks.

Jose Rizal’s Trial

Andres Bonifacio and his dauntless Katipuneros, on August 26, 1896, raised the cry of
rebellion in the hills of Balintawak (popularly known as “Cry of Balintawak”), a few miles north
of Manila. In August 30, they assaulted San Juan, near the city of Manila, but they were repelled
with massive losses. In the aftermath of the Battle of San Juan, Governor General Blanco declared
a state of war in the eight provinces for their insurgency against Spain - Manila (as a province),
Bulacan, Cavite, Batangas, Laguna, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, and Tarlac. Jose feared that the
turbulent insurrection would only beget much suffering and horrifying decimation of human lives
and property. He was also frighten of the likelihood of Spanish reprisal against all Filipino patriots.

Amidst the chaos created by the uprising, Jose received from Governor General Blanco
two letters which exculpated him from the raging insurrection. In his last trip abroad, Jose troubled
by the violent attempt of the Katipuneros to end the rule of the Spanish government, left for Spain
on September 3, 1896. He, however, was transferred to another steamer which he thought would
take him from Spain to Cuba to carry out his humanitarian offer which is to serve as military
physician. Unexpectedly, he was apprehended and unlawfully detained as a prisoner in a Spanish
steamer before reaching Barcelona. He was informed that he would be shipped back to Manila on
board the transport ship Colon. Upon arriving in Manila, on November 3,1896, the heavily guarded
Jose was transferred from the Colon to Fort Santiago.

A severe five-day preliminary investigation began on November 20,1896. Jose appeared

before the Judge Advocate, Colonel Francisco Olive who detailed the charges against him. Two
types of evidence, documentary and testimonial, were presented against Jose Rizal. Palma (1949)
in his translated work, Pride of Malay Race, made available the documentary evidence which
consisted of fifteen exhibits, as follows:

1. A letter of Antonio Luna to Mariano Ponce, dated Madrid, October

16, 1888, showing Rizal’s connection with the Filipino reform
campaign in Spain.
2. A letter of Rizal to his family, dated Madrid, August 20, 1890,
stating that the deportations are good for they will encourage the
people to hate tyranny.
 3. A letter from Marcelo H. del Pilar to Deodato Arellano, dated
Madrid, January 7, 1889, implicating Rizal in the Propaganda
campaign in Spain.
4. A poem entitled Kundiman, allegedly written by Rizal in Manila
on September 12, 1891.

This poem is as follows:

KUNDIMAN
In the Orient beautiful
Where the sun is born
In a land of beauty
Full of enchantments
But bound in chains.
Where the despot reigns,
The land dearest to me.
Ah! That is my country,
She is slave oppressed
Groaning in the tyrant’s grips;
Lucky shall he be
Who can give her liberty!

5. A letter of Carlos Oliver to an unidentified person, dated

Barcelona, September 18, 1891, describing Rizal as the man to free
the Philippines from Spanish oppression.
6. A Masonic document, dated Manila, February, 9, 1892, honoring
Rizal for his patriotic services.
7. A letter signed Dimasalang (Rizal’s pseudonym) to Tenluz (Juan
Zulueta’s pseudonym), dated Hong Kong, May 24, 1892, stating
that he was preparing a safe refuge for Filipinos who may be
persecuted by the Spanish authorities.
8. A letter to Dimasalang to an unidentified committee, dated
Hongkong, June 1, 1892, soliciting the aid of the committee in the
“patriotic work.”
9. An anonymous and undated letter to the Editor of the Hongkong
Telegraph, censuring the banishment of Rizal to Dapitan.
10. A letter of Ildefonso Laurel to Rizal, dated Manila, September 3,
1892, saying that the Filipino people look up to him (Rizal) as their
savior.
 11. A letter of Ildefonso Laurel to Rizal, dated Manila 17, 1893,
informing an unidentified correspondent of the arrest and
banishment of Doroteo Cortes and Ambrasio Salvador.
12. A letter of Marcelo del Pilar to Don Juan A. Tenluz (Juan Zulueta),
dated Madrid, June 1, 1893 recommending to establishment of a
special organization, independent of Masonry, to help the cause of
the Filipino people.
13. Transcript of a speech of Pingkian (Emilio Jacinto), in a reunion of
the Katipunan on July 23, 1893, in which the following cry was
uttered “Long Live the Philippines! Long Live Liberty! Long Live
Doctor Rizal! Unity!”
14. Transcript of a speech of Tik-Tik (Jose Turiano Santiago) in the
same Katipunan reunion, where in the katipuneros shouted: “Long
live the eminent Doctor Rizal! Death to the oppressor nation!”
15. A poem by Laong Laan (Rizal), entitled A Talisay, in which the
author makes the Dapitan schoolboys sing that they know how to
fight for their rights.

The oral testimonies of the following persons: Martin Constantino, Aguedo del Rosario,
Jose Reyes, Moises Salvador, Jose Dizon, Domingo Franco, Deodato Arellano, Ambrosio
Salvador, Pedro Serrano Laktaw, Dr. Pio Valenzuela, Antonio Salazar, Francisco Quison, and
Timoteo Paez were forwarded as testimonial evidence against Jose.

On November 26, 1896, Judge Advocate, Colonel Francisco Olive forwarded the records
of the case to Governor General Ramon Blanco, who designated Captain Rafael Dominguez as
special Judge Advocate to initiate proceeding against Jose. Captain Dominguez submitted a
summary of the action to Governor General Ramon Blanco who thereupon, send it to the Judge
Advocate General, Don Nicolas de la Peña.

After studying the papers, Peña submitted the following recommendations: (1) the accused
be immediately brought to trial; (2) he should be kept in prison; (3) an order of attachment be
issued against his property to the amount of one million pesos as indemnity; and (4) he should be
defended in the court by an army officer, not by a civilian lawyer (Zaide and Zaide, 2014).

With his counsel by his side, charges were read to Jose in his prison cell on December 11,
1896. He was accused, Medina (1998) disclosed, of being “the principal organizer and the living
soul of the Filipino insurrection, the founder of societies, periodicals and books dedicated to
fomenting and propagating ideas of rebellion.” Jose was not against the jurisdiction of the court,
but asserted that he was not guilty of revolution. He acknowledged that he authored the
Constitution of the Liga Filipina and emphasized that it was simply a civic alliance. He reiterated
that he had no political involvement since his exile to Dapitan. On December 13, 1896, Captain
Dominguez transmitted Jose’s case to the new Governor General of the Philippines, General
Camilo G. de Polavieja who replaced General Ramon Blanco.

During the time Jose was in his prison cell at Fort Santiago, he penned a manifesto seriously
asking the Filipino people to cease the needless and tumultuous war. He encouraged them to attain
freedom through education and habit of working hard and steadily. Palma (1964) promulgated this
manifesto as follows:

My Countrymen:

On my return from Spain, I learned that my name had been used as a war
cry among some who were in arms. The news painfully surprised me, but
believing it was all over, I kept silent over what I considered irremediable. Now
I hear rumors that the disturbances continue, and lest any person should still go
on using my name in bad or good faith, to remedy this abuse and to undeceive
the unwary, I hasten to address you these lines so that the truth may be known.

From the beginning, when I had news of what was being planned, I opposed
it, fought it, and demonstrated its absolute impossibility. This is the truth, and
witnesses to my word are still living. I was convinced that the idea was highly
absurd and, what was worse, would bring great suffering. I did more. When
later, in spite of my counsels, the movement broke out, I spontaneously offered
not only my services, but my life, and even my name so that they might use
them in the manner they saw fit to suppress the rebellion, for, convinced of the
evils that would befall them, I considered myself fortunate if, at any sacrifice,
I could prevent such useless misfortunes. This is equally of record.

My countrymen: I have given proofs, more than anybody else, of desiring

liberties for our country and I still desire them. But I place as a premise the
education of the people so that by means of education and of labor they might
have a personality of their own and make themselves worthy of liberties. In my
writings I have recommended redemption. I have also written (and my words
have been repeated) that reforms, to be fruitful, have to come from above, that
those that come from below are irregular and unstable. Imbued with these
ideals, I cannot but condemn and I do condemn this absurd, savage uprising
planned behind my back, which dishonors us, the Filipinos, and discredits those
who may advocate our cause. I abhor its criminal methods and disclaim all
participation therein, pitying from the bottom of my heart the unwary who have
 allowed themselves to be deceived. Return then to your homes, and may God
forgive those who have acted in bad faith.

The trial of Jose was succinctly limned by Zaide and Zaide (2014) as follows:
 The trial of Rizal was an eloquent proof of Spanish injustice and
misrule. More than a farce, it was patently a mistrial. Rizal, a civilian, was
tried by a military court composed of alien military officers. His case was
prejudged; he was considered guilty before the actual trial. The military
court met not to give him justice, but to accuse and condemn him. It
accepted all charges and testimonies against him, and ignored all arguments
and proofs in his favor. Moreover, Rizal was not given the right (which any
accused is entitled to have in a real court of justice) to face the witnesses
against him in open court.

The trial of Jose commenced in the Cuartel de Espana, a military building, on December 26, 1896,
at eight o’clock in the morning. Present in the trial were seven members of the military court: Lt.
Col. Jose Togores Arjona (President), Capt. Ricardo Munoz Arias, Capt. Manuel Reguerra, Capt.
Santiago Izquierdo Osorio, Capt. Braulio Rodriguez Nunez, Capt. Manuel Diaz Escribano, and
Capt. Fermin Perez Rodriguez. Also in the military court were Lt. Don Luis Taviel de Andrade
(Jose’s defense counsel) Capt. Rafael Dominguez (Judge Advocate) Lt. Enrique de Alcocer
(Prosecuting Attorney) and observers which included Josephine Bracken, a sister of Jose,
newspapermen, and other Spaniards.

Judge Advocate Capt. Rafael Dominguez began the trial and explained the case leveled against
Jose. Jose was charged of three crimes: rebellion, sedition, and illegal association. Lt. Enrique de
Alcocer, the prosecuting lawyer, advanced a gingerly harangue, detailing the accusations against
Jose. He mercilessly made an effort to persuade the members of the military court to punish the
accused with death sentence. Lt. Don Luis Taviel de Andrade, defense counsel of Jose tried hard
to come up with a convincing defense. He brought an end to his defense by reminding the judges
to be fair and avoid vindictiveness in their judgment. After Lt. Don Luis Taviel de Andrade’s
defense, the court queried Jose if there is anything he wanted to say. Jose confidently read a
supplement to his defense. De Viana, Augusto V. et al (2011) put forward Jose’s supplementary
defense as follows:

1. He could not be guilty of rebellion, for he advised Dr. Pio

Valenzuela in Dapitan not to rise in revolution.
2. He did not correspond with the radical, revolutionary elements.
3. The revolutionists used his name without his knowledge. If he were
guilty he could have escaped in Singapore.
4. If he had a hand in the revolution, he could have escaped in a Moro
vinta and would not have built a home, a hospital, and bought lands
in Dapitan.
5. If he were the chief of the revolution, why was he not consulted by
the revolutionists?
 6. It was true he wrote the by-laws of the Liga Filipina, but this is only
a civic association --- not a revolutionary society.
7. The Liga Filipina did not live long, for after the first meeting he
was banished to Dapitan and it died out.
8. If the Liga was reorganized nine months later, he did not know
about it.
9. The Liga did not serve the purpose of the revolutionists, otherwise
they would not have supplanted it with the Katipunan.
10. If it were true that there were some bitter comments in Rizal’s
letters, it was because they were written in 1890 when his family
was being persecuted, being dispossessed of houses, warehouses,
lands, etc. and his brother and all his brother-in-law were deported.
11. His life in Dapitan had been exemplary as the politico-military
commanders and missionary priests could arrest.
12. It was not true that the revolution was inspired by his one speech
at the house of Doroteo Ongjunco, as alleged by witnesses whom
he would like to confront. His friends knew his opposition to armed
rebellion. Why did the Katipunan send an emissary to Dapitan who
was unknown to him? Because those who knew him were aware
that he would never sanction any violent movement.

The biased military court was apathetic to Jose’s appeal. After a brief deliberation, the
members of the military court agreed to convict Jose and sentenced him to death. On December
26, 1896, the unjust military court decision was given to Governor General Camilo G. de Polavieja
who asked the judgment of judge advocate General Nicolas de la Pena who confirmed the death
verdict. On December 28, 1896, Governor General Camilo G. de Polavieja signed the court-
martial’s decision to execute Jose Rizal. Medina (1998) presented this decree as follows:

Manila, December 28, 1896:

Conformably to the foregoing opinion. I approve the sentence dictated

by the Court Martial in the present case, by virtue of which the death penalty
is imposed on the accused Jose Rizal Mercado, which shall be executed by
shooting him at 7:00 o’clock in the morning of the 30 th of this month in the
field of Bagumbayan.

For compliance and the rest may correspond, let this be returned to the
Judge Advocate, Captain Don Rafael Dominguez.
 Camilo G. de Polavieja
Jose Rizal’s Death

After learning the unjust decision of the court martial, Jose spent the next twenty fours of
his remaining life seeing and speaking to his friends, family and Josephine Bracken whom he tied
the knot with canonically on December 30, 1896 officiated by Fr. Balaguer. After the reading of
the death penalty, Jose opted to spent quiet moments in the prison chapel. He turned into writing
when he was left alone in his cell. He penned a letter to his brother Paciano, another one to his best
friend Dr. Ferdinand Blumentritt, and another letter addressed to his father and mother. It was also
assumed that he signed a document abjuring Masonry (which some scholars doubted).

It is commonly believed that on December 29, 1896, Jose composed his last poem, Mi
Ultimo Adios (My Last Farewell). He was able to thrust it inside an alcohol cooking stove which
he gave to his sister Trinidad to whom, he divulged ‘There is something in it.’ Jose’s last poem,
composed without a title and unsigned was translated in English by Charles E. Derbyshire, which
runs below:

My Last Farewell

Farewell, dear Fatherland, clime of the sun caress’d

Pearl of the Orient seas, our Eden lost!
Gladly now I go to give thee this faded life’s best,
And were it brighter, fresher or more blest
Still would I give it thee, nor count the cost.

On the field of battle, mid the frenzy of light,

Others have given their lives, without doubt or heed;
The place matters not – cypress or laurel or lily white,
Scaffold or open plain, combat or martyrdom’s plight,
‘Tis ever the same to serve our home and country’s need.

I die just when I see the down break,

Through the gloom of night, to herald the day;
And if color is lacking my blood thou shalt take,
Pour’d out at need for thy dear sake,
To dye with its crimson the walking ray.

My dreams, when life first opened to me,

My dreams, when the hopes of youth beat high,
Were to see thy lov’d face, O gem of the orient sea
From gloom and grief, from care and sorrow free;
No blush on thy brow, no tear in thine eye.
 Dream of my life, my living and burning desire,
All hail! cries the soul that is now to take flight;
All hail! And sweet it is for thee to expire,
To die for thy sake, that thou mayst aspire,
And sleep in thy bosom eternity’s long night.

If over my grave someday thou seest grow,

In the grassy sod, a humble flower,
Draw it to thy lips and kiss my soul so,
While I may feel on my brow in the cold tomb below
The touch of thy tenderness, thy breath’s warm power.

Let the moon beam over me soft and serene,

Let the dawn shed over me its radiant flashes
Let the wind with the sad lament over me keen;
And if on my cross a bird should be seen,
Let it trill its hymn of peace of my ashes.

Let the sun draw the vapors up to the sky,

And heavenward in purity bear my tardy protest;
Let some kind soul o’er my untimely fate sigh,
And in the still evening a prayer be lifted on high,
From thee O my country, that in God I may rest.

Pray for all those that hapless have died.

For all who have suffered the unmeasur’d pain;
For our mothers that bitterly their woes have cried,
For widow and orphans, for captives by torture tried;
And then for thyself that redemption thou mayst gain.

And when the dark night wraps the graveyard around,

With only the dead in their vigil to see;
Break not my repose or the mystery profound,
And perchance thou mayst hear a sad hymn resound,
‘Tis I, O my country, raising a song unto thee.

When even my grave is remembered no more,

Unmark’d by never a cross or a stone;
Let the plow sweep through it, the spade turn it o’er
That my ashes may carpet thy earthly floor,
Before into nothingness at last they are blown.

Then, will oblivion bring to me no care;

As over thy vales and plains I sweep;
Throbbing and cleansed in thy space and air,
 With color and light, with song and lament I fare,
Ever repeating and faith that I keep.

My Fatherland ador’d that my sadness to my sorrow lends,

Beloved Filipinas, hear now my last good-bye!
I give thee all; parents and kindred and friends;
For I go where no slave before the oppressor bends,
Where faith can never kill, and God reigns e’er on high!

Farewell to you all, from my soul torn away,

Friends of my childhood in the home dispossessed!
Give thanks that I rest from the wearisome day!
Farewell to thee; too, sweet friend that lightened my way;
Beloved creatures all, farewell! In death there is rest!

On December 30, 1896, approximately at six thirty in the morning, Jose’s walk towards
his death commenced signaled by a trumpet sound at Fort Santiago. The death march was
delineated by Zaide and Zaide (2014) as follows:

The advance guard of four soldiers with bayoneted rifles moved. A

few meters behind, Rizal walked calmly, with his defense counsel (Lt. Luis
Taviel de Andrade) on one side and two Jesuit priests (Fathers March and
Vilaclara) on the other. More well-armed soldiers marched behind him.

Rizal was dressed elegantly in a black suit, black derby hat, black
shoes, white shirt and a black tie. His arms were tied behind from elbow to
elbow, but the rope was quite loose to give his arms freedom of movement.

To the muffled sounds of the drums, the cavalcade somnolently

marched slowly. There was a handful of spectators lining the street from
Fort Santiago to the Plaza del Palacio in front of the Manila Cathedral.
Everybody seemed to be out at Bagumbayan, where a vast crowd gathered
to see how a martyr
dies.

As Jose calmly made his

way to Bagumbayan, he remarked
about the beauty and serenity of the
morning, uttered a few
observations about Corregidor, the
mountains of Cavite and the
Ateneo College. Upon reaching the
place of execution, Jose noticed the very large number of prying persons and soldiers waiting for
them. After final blessings were bestowed on him he said his adieu to Fr. March, Fr. Villaclara and
Lt. Taviel de Andrade. Jose’s request that he be shot facing the firing squad was denied because
there was an order to shoot him in the back. The normal pulse of Jose, felt by Dr. Felipe Ruiz
Castillo, a Spanish military doctor, proved that he did
not fear death. Above the beating of the drums that
filled the air was the cold-blooded command “Fuego”
(Fire) which ended Jose’s life. He fell to the ground
three minutes past seven o’clock in the morning and
was declared dead.

Expectedly, the passing away of Jose Rizal’s

was greeted with joy by his enemies. On the contrary,
those who love, respected and supported him were
brokenhearted and painfully inflamed. For them, he died a hero and martyr to Philippine freedom.