Rizal arrived in the Philippines on june 16, 1892 aboard the streamer Don Juan.

He
was met by a platoon Guardia Civil Veterana. Together with his sister Lucia, Rizal stayed
in Manila and went to Malacanan to see Governor Despujol. Rizal wanted to meet him to
discuss the North Borneo project and ask for the pardon of members his Family. When
they finally met him Despujol disapproved the North Borneo project saying that is was
unpatriotic because the Filipino farmers were more needed in the philippines

He pardoned his Father but not Paciano and his Brothers-in-law He was ask to return for
another meeting. The night Rizal met with some Filipinos consisting of Apolinario Mabini,
Andres Bonifacio, Tmoteo Paez, Pedro Serrano, Ambrosio salvador and Deodato Arrelano
to convince them to join La Liga Filipina which he will establish shortly.

Rizal made a hasty to visit Malolos, San Fernando, Bacolor, San Fernando and tarlac. In
the places he visited he was welcomed by the locals. There were spies who reported on all
his activities. On the night of July 3 Rizal founded La Liga Filipina at the house of Doroteo
Ongjunco in Ilaya Street, Tondo Manila its first president was Ambrosio Salvador.

Agustin De la Rosa was its Fiscal; Bonifacio Arevalo, Treasurer and Deodato Arrelano;
secretary Despujol asked Rizal to appear before him once more and during the meeting
Despujol asked Rizal if he wanted to return the Hong kong, Rizal answered in the
affirmative . The gesture turned out to be an empty one as after some conversation
Despujol produced handbills entitled Los Pobres Frailes found in Lucia’s baggage. Written
under the pseudonym P. Jacinto the handbills ridiculed the Dominicans who amassed
fabulous wealth despite their vow of poverty.

Rizal was immediately placed under arrest and deported to Mindanao. He was detained in
Fort Santiago for nine days before being shipped off to Dapitan on July 15, 1892 The
cuerpo continued to support the propaganda movement by sending funds to support
publications like La Solidaridad. More radical elements in the old La Liga led by the
Deodato Arellano, Teodoro, Plata, Ladislao Diwa and Andres Bonifacio however broke
away on the following night when Rizal was arrested and formed the Kataastaasang
Kagalanggalang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK-ANB)
Rizal in Dapitan
Rizal arrived in Dapitan on July 17, 1892. There he would stay for the next four years.
He was placed under the supervision of Captain Ricardo Carnicero, the politico-military
commander of the district. Based on the instructions from Manila Rizal was given the
choice to live in the house of the parish priest, Fr. Antonio Obach or at Carnicero’s house.

Through Carnicero received Rizal as a prisoner, both men enjoyed each other’s company
and became good friends. Rizal made him a bust and composed a poem in his honor A Don
Ricardo Carnicero on his birthday on August 26, 1892. On the other hand of Carnicero
allowed Rizal to go anywhere and report to him only once a week. Both men placed bets on
the lottery and won a thousand pesos. With his share Rizal bought land in nearby barrio of
talisay for eighteen pesos. He built his clinic and farm there. Carnicero also wrote a letter
requesting the Governor General to alow his mother and sister to join him in Dapitan.

After some time his request was granted and his mother and sisters Maria, Narcisa and
Trinidad arrived in August 1893. Other family members visited Rizal were his Nephews
Teodosio, Estanislao, Mauricio and Prudencio. Dona Teodora and Maria stayed with him
for a year and a half .

On May 4, 1893 Carnicero was replaced by Captain Juan Sitges. Compared to

Carnicero who was a bachelor, he was a sterner commander who did not want living with a
deportee . Being Married and accompanied by his wife in his post, In 1986 Carnicero
returned as Politico-Miltary Governor of Dapitan and his time he was newly married . He
brought his bride to live with him in the comandancia.

Rizal was allowed to live with his family in his house in barrio Talisay. While staying in
Dapitan church tried to win him back to the fold .

The Jesuits sent his old professor at the ateneo. Fr. Francisco de Paula Sanchez to entice
him back to the church. The two debated on matters about the existence of god, to which
Rizal replied that man’s knowledge on the existence of God, to which Rizal replied that
man’s knowledge on the existence of God should be through reason and not faith

for who would be the one to judge one’s belief in the almighty, Rizal said that judges
should be the person himself, and not the church. Fr. Pastells noted that Rizal was a good
catholic before he left the europe and blamed the ideas he encountered there as the reason
for what he considered Rizal’s heretical Beliefs. Fr Pastells reminded Rizal that faith
superesedes everything , including reason, self-esteem and individual judgement. No matter
how wise a man is, his intelligence is limited, hence he needs the guidance of God. Rizal for
his part said that individual judgement ‘’is a gift from god and everybody should use it like
a lantern to show the wy and that self esteem if moderated by judgement, saves man from
unworthy acts.
Even as an exile Rizal kept himself busy. After acquanting himself with his surroundings
he began to make improvements. He help clean up the plaza of Dapitan and lit it up at
night with cocomut oil lamps. Rizal used the $500 paid to him by the English patient who
eyes he treated in beautifying the plaza which was planted with acacia trees. A gazebo was
erected where a band can play at night. With the helps of Fr. Francisco de Paula Sanchez,
the students of Dapitan’s parochial school and towns people Rizal and Fr. Sanchez
constructed a map of Mindanao and Sulu in front of the Dapitan Church.

Rizal establish a school and accepted students from the town. According to his letter to
Blumentritt on March 13, 1895. his class was attended by boys from the prominent citizens
of Dapitan. He did not charge tuition fees but made a requirement that they made in the
household. Rizal’s curriculum was inspired by what was being done in Germany that
emphasized balanced mental and physical development.

Rizal taught academic subjects namely arithmetic, English, Spanish, History, industrial
work, nature study and morals while physical education training included fencing,
wrestling and other sports. As a teacher Rizal sat on a hammock while the students sat on a
long bamboo bench. On one day classes were conducted in spanish, the next day in english.
Like in his days as an Ateneo student, the brightest student was called “empero” and he sat
at the head of the bench while the poorest student sat at its foot.

Rizal also had s thriving medical practice and his patients came from as far as Luzon and
Hong Kong. His patients ranged from the very poor that he gave the medicines for free
while there were those who paid him very well. Don Ignacio Tumarong who paid him
Php3,000; and an Englishman who paid him Php500 He operated on his mother’s eyes for
the third time. The operation was succesful but contrary to her son’s instructions Dona
Teodora removed her bandages causing her eye to be infected. Rizal then remarked in his
letter to his brother-in-law Manuel Hidalgo: “Now I understand very well why a physician
should not treat members of his family”

As a holder of a title in land surveying, rizal supplemented his training from Ateneo by
reading engineering books. He helped construct a waterworks system in Dapitan by taping
water from a spring and built an aqueduct using fluted tiles and covered it with lime
burned from sea coral in order to keep the water clean. Rizal’s aqueduct was several
kilometres in length and it wound in and out among the rocks across the guilles in bamboo
pipes and upheld by brick piers to the distribution reservoir. Aside from the aqueduct
Rizal also built a small dam built with rocks and burned coral to accumulate water for his
use as well as for irrigation. Rizal accomplished this feat without the use of explosives.
There was also time for love. Rizal fell in love with Josephine Bracken, the eighteen-year
old step daughter of one of his patients, George taufer. Taufer arrived with Josephine in
February 1895. They were accompained by a filipino woman named Manuela Orlac.
Taufer and Bracken came from Hong Kong to seek Rizal’z advice on the treatment of
taufer’s eyes which became blind because of syphilis. They knew about Rizal when he was
in Hong Kong and upon arriving in Dapitan, Taufer produced a card of introduction from
julio Llorente, who was one of Rizal’s friends. Josephine was born in Hong Kong on
October 3, 1876 of Irish parents .

Her father James Bracken was a private in the British Army based in the colony. Her
mother died in childbirth and she was adopted by Taufer who was married twice.

Upon seeing the young woman Rizal was smitten. Josephine had a slim and slender
body with chestnut brown hair and blue eyes. She had an elegant simplicity which
attracted Rizal to her. It was love at first sight. After a whirlwind courtship, Rizal proposed
to her. However, He could not treat Taufer’s eyes because hid blindness was irreversible.
Instead Rizal informed him that he would like to have the hand of his stepdaughter in
marriage.

Taufer resented Rizal's romance with Josephine saying that Rizal was taking away the only
"eyes" he had. He attempted suicide by trying to cut his throat with his razor. Rizal grabbed
his wrists and prevented the old man from killing himself. It was decided that Josephine and
Taufer should return to Hong Kong on the next available vessel. While staying in Manila,
Josephine put Taufer under the care of an elderly woman who accompanied him to Hong
Kong. She then returned to Dapitan to reunite with Rizal. Fr. Oback refused to marry the
couple unless Rizal retracts from his Masonic beliefs and makes a general confession of all his
sins. Also he said that he needed the prmission og the Archbishop of Cebu to which Dapitan
beloned.

Josephine and Rizal lived together without the benefit of matrimony. Since no priest
would marry them by simply joined their hands and invoked God's creations, including
mountains, the birds, and the trees as their witnesses, they can considered themselves as
married in the eyes of God.

Fr. Obach was scandalized by the relationship and preached that fire and brimstone
will be awaiting those who were living in sin. He also warned against having their children
educated by sinners like Rizal. Rizal's relationship with Josephine also became the stuff of
gossip in Dapitan. Among them that she was a temptress who cast a spell on Rizal; that she
came from the lowest rung of society in Hong Kong, that she was a prostitue in the British
colony and that she had sexual relationships with her step father who had syphilis.

Rizal's relatives and friends also looked at Josephine with suspicion and
condescension. His sisters did not like their brother marrying a lowly foreigner with an
uncertain background. It was suspected that Josephine might be a spy of the friars because
it was proven that Manuela Orlac, their companion when Josephine was first introduced to
Rizal, turned out to be friar's mistress. Josephine was also seen going into the convent with
Orlac. Despite the opposition, Rizal loved Josephine because she was a caring woman who
never complained and did all her duties as a wife should have. He considered her as his
true wife.

In early 1896 Josephine was pregnant with Rizal's child. Unfortunately she suffered
a miscarriage when the baby was sin its eight month. There where many stories about the
miscarriage - one, Rizal was said to have played a prank on Josephine; others were that she
fell; that they had a fight or that Rizal allegedly hit her in a fit of anger, these stories cannot
be confirmed since there were no witness or documentation. The baby, a boy, lived for only
three hours. Rizal named him Francisco after his own father and he buried the boy
underneath the large tree in front of his house.

Rizal had many visitors in Dapitan. One of whom was a spy of the friars whose
posed as his relative. He arrived one night identifying himself himself as Pablo Mercado.
He said he and Rizal were distant relatives. Rizal had no recollection of knowing him.
Mercado was actually Florenciano Namaan who was sent by the friars to murder him. He
tried to bait Rizal into saying something that could implicate him. Namaan made an
attempt on Rizal's life by trying to stab him. Being an expert in arnis, Rizal overpowered
Namaan who was unfortunately able to escape.

Another visitor to Rizal's was Pio Valenzuela who came as an emissary of Andres
Bonifacio who at that time had became the supremo of the Katipunan. During a meeting of
the secret society at Bitukang Manok in Pasig on May 2, 1896 the Supreme Council of the
organizaton sent Dr. Pio Valenzuela to Dapitan to ask Rizal about the plan to start a
revolution against Spain. On June 15, 1896, Valenzuela left for Dapitan accompanied by a
blind man named Raymundo Mata and a guide. Mata was to be used as a patient so
Valenzuela can meet Rizal. Upon arriving at Rizal's house at June 21, warmly received
them. Mata's eyes could not be treated becaue his blindness was permanent. Neverthless he
was thankful for having been examined by a man he admired so much. Rizal asked then
asked Valenzuela to be his guest in the evening. After supper while strolling in the garden
outside the house Valenzuela told Rizal about his real mission. He told him that his support
would be a great help to the projected revolution.

Rizal's reply was that he considered the revolution that the Katipunan was
preparing for was futile and he told to stop pursuing this nonsence. A revolution as it
would only plunge the country into a bloody conflict and many innocent people will surely
die. He believed that such a revolution was premature as the people were not ready and
that it did not have enough arms. Valenzuela admitted that the arms have to capture from
the enemy. Rizal said, A revolution should have the support of the rich and the middle class
who would provide the money and weapons for the movement otherwise they would just
disavow the revolution and side with the Spaniards. If possible the revolution must be led
by educated people. He suggested Antonio Luna to lead the Katipunan. Rizal said that if
possible the revolution must be supported by a foreign power which would supply arms.
Valenzuela said that revolution is inevitable because of the insensitivity of the colonial
government and the continued oppression of the Filipinos. He urged Rizal to consider his
decision. Rizal however remained adamant.

Valenzuela then offered Rizal to allow the Katipunan to assist him in escaping from
Dapitan as the revolution when it finally breaks out the Spaniards will naturally suspect
him as the cause. Rizal said that he had given the Spanish authorities his word of honor
that he would not flee and that ones worrying about the consequences of their actions.
When Valenzuela returned to Manila and met Katipunan Supremo Bonifacio he reported
that Rizal was very much against the revolution and that the revoluion and that the
movement lacked the necessary arms. Bonifacio flew into a rage saying "Lighting! In which
book did he read that it was necessary to get arms and ships before we start a revolution?"

The End of the Dapitan Exile

Though Rizal had a very productive life in Dapitan he considered the exile as
nothing but a golden cage. He once asked to be relocated to the Ilocos claiming ill-health.
When he heard news that Spain was in need of physicians who would serve in Cuba, which
was fighting its second war of independence, Rizal heeded the advice of his friend
Ferdinand Bluementritt to volunteer to serve in the Spanish medical corps on December
17, 1895 he wrote his request to Governor General Ramon Blanco who had replaced
Governor General Despujol in 1895. It took until July 1, 1896 when Rizal received a letter
from Governor Blanco accepting his offer. The letter reached Rizal in Dapitan on 30th of
July. At that time he was not anymore enthusiastic about serving in Cuba but nonethless
decided to proceed since he already gave his word of honor. The letter informed him that
the politico-military commander of Dapitan would give him a pass so he could sail to
Manila an on to Spain wher the Minister of the War would assign him to the Army of
Operations in Cuba.

On July 31, 1896 Rizal's exhile in Dapitan had ended. He burned down his house
sold off his things and gave a piece of his land in Talisay to his trusted workers. As he was
preparing to leave he wrote an emotional poem 'Canto del Viajero (Song of the Traveler),
In the midnight of that day, he boarded the steamer Espana. With him were his wife,
Josephine, his sisters, Narcisa, his niece, Angelica, three nephews andsix students. The
other students would accompany their teacher to Manila but could not afford to do so.
That night the townspeople of Dapitan wept because they considered Rizal as good son and
neighbor. They sent him off with a band playing a funeral piece and many wept as his ship
sailed away.

Rizal's voyage to Manila was a pleasant one. The Espana bearing Rizal made
stopovers in Dumaguete and Cebu. In Dumaguete Rizal was honored with a dinner by a
former classmate Judge Herrero Regidor. In Cebu he made a successful operation on a
cross-eyed merchant.

Upon arriving in Manila Bay, on August 6, 1896 Rizal was not able to leave
immediately since the vessel Isla de Luzon that would take him to Spain already left.nHe
was transferred to the next ship, the Spanish cruiser Castilla which remained docked at the
Bay. Rizal was not allowed to land in Manila but visits were allowed by the Spanish captain
of the Castilla. He was visited several times by Josephine, his sisters and his six students.
Fearful for his life, the Katipunan made an attempt to rescue him and smuggle him to
Japan but Rizal refused to be rescued. A young man approached Rizal and tried to
convince him to escape. "We are Katipuneros,"the man whispered to him, " we are heavily
armed, and we come to rescue you." The man turned out to be Emilio Jacinto. He had
smuggled himself abroad the Castilla pretending to be one of the sailors. He was
accompanied by other Katipuneros at that time. They had boarded the launch Caridad
which brought them to the Castilla. Rizal refused to be rescued and told Jacinto to leave
him alone. "I know what I have to do," he said.

Rizal remained aboard the Castilla from August 6 to September 2, 1896.

Meanwhile, the Katipunan was finally discovered by the Spaniards on August 9, 1896 and
on August 23, the Philppine Revolution finally break out. Rumors circulated aboard the
ship that Rizal was somehow involved in the hostilities. Despite the events Rizal received a
letter from Govenor Blanco wishing him happiness and there were two other letters of
recommendation addressed to Gen. Marcelo de Azcarraga, a Philippine-born Spaniard and
the Minister of the Colonies. On September 2, Rizal who was transferred to the Isla de
Panay, sailed off to Spain. The ship made a stop over in Singapore on the night of
September on the night of September 7, 1896. Rizal's companions Don Pedro Roxas and his
son Perequin asked Rizal to jump ship but Rizal refused to do so, saying that he was not
afraid and that he was innocent.
ARREST AND EXILE TO
DAPITAN, 1892

Caraig, Carol C.
Macatangay, Mark Leou S.