Alwin Lantin BSEE-2C Readings in Philippine History 04/13/22

“Retraction of Rizal”

“Account of Father Vicente Balaguer”

• September 1896:

- Rizal boarded a boat in Manila to proceed to Cuba and continue as a

medical officer.

• December 1896:

- Jose Rizal was imprisoned and sentenced to death in Spain.

- he summoned the Jesuit Fathers.

- he signed the retraction and made a profession of faith.

- around 10 am of December 29, both Fr. Balaguer and Fr. Vilaclara

arrived in Rizal’s prison cell.

- Fr. Vicente and Rizal talked and seemed to have argued about
Religion.

- on that day, he also managed to convince Rizal to denounce Masonry

and return to Catholic.

- at the night December 29th, he wrote the copied report published by

the Barcelona Review.

- on December 30 of 1896 was executed in Bagumbayan (currently

known as Luneta), Manila.
 “The Cuerpo de Vigilancia de Manila Accounts”

• December 1896

- at 7:50 am of December 29 Jose Rizal was accompanied by his

counsel Señor Taviel de Andrade and Fr. Jose Vilaclara when he was
sentenced to death.

- He was also served a light breakfast light breakfast afterwards.

- At approximately 9 am the Garrison Adjutant Señor Maure asked

Rizal what he wants, then Rizal asked for a prayer book which was
brought by Fr. March.

- 10 am in the morning the Jesuit Father presented Rizal with a

prepared retraction that he refused to sign.

- At 12:30 pm Rizal ate some poached eggs and chicken then

afterwards asked the Jesuit Fathers to leave for him to have some
time to write retraction.

- At 3 pm Rizal handed the retraction to Fr. March. The chief of the

firing squad Señor Juan del Fresno and the plaza assistant Señor
Maure was informed and signed the document Rizal has written.

- At 3-5 pm accompanied by Fr. March and Fr. Vilaclara, Rizal prayed

and kneeled on the altar while reading his prayer book several times.

- In the afternoon of 6 pm, the family of Jose Rizal arrived and then he
embraced them while he bade them his farewell.

- At 8 pm in the evening Rizal was served with tinola as his last meal.

- The plaza assistant Señor Maure and both Jesuit fathers Fr. March
and Fr. Vilaclara visited the accused at 9 pm of the evening.

- On December 30, around 5 am of the morning Rizal’s lover arrived

with his sister dressed in mourning. At the point of his death, the
nuptial was performed in a chapel.

- At 7:30 0f the morning Jose Rizal was handcuffed by a European

artilleryman, and they went to his place of execution accompanied by
the Jesuits and the plaza assistant. He was also given a picture of
the holy virgin which he kissed repeatedly.

- Afterwards, the execution of Rizal happened at Manila.

 COMPARISON OF THE TWO ACCOUNTS

ACCOUNTS OF CUERPO DE ACCOUNT OF FR. BALAGUER:

VIGILANCIA DE MANILA:

SIMILARITIES:
1. Father Vicente was 1. Undeniably self-opinionated.
not mentioned in this
account. 1. Contain important
2. Lacks information.
2. This account seems to informations about Rizal’s
be more accurate. retraction.
3. Mentioned some informations
3. Gives better 2. Tells us how Religious Rizal
before the retraction.
information about the was.
4. Claims that he convinced Rizal
retraction of Rizal. 3. Shows how brutal the
to retract and convert to
4. Mentioned important Spanish Government was.
Catholic.
events that happened 4. Both accounts show how
5. Shows more emotion about
after the retractions. Rizal was unjustly sentenced
Rizal’s situation.
5. Tells us that Rizal did to death.
6. Tells how important masonry
not sign the retraction. 5. Both contain facts about the
was for Rizal.
6. Stated the time of the retraction.
events.
7. Concrete information.

Guide questions:
1. What was the major difference between the two testimonies?

2. Based on the comparison, what does it say about the credibility of the witnesess?

3. Based on the witnesses, can it be concluded that Rizal really retracted?

ANSWER TO GUIDE QUESTIONS:

1. The major difference between the two accounts is that these

two tells us two different things during the signing of Rizal’s
retraction. In Father Vicente Balaguer’s account, he stated
that after their argument about “Religious things”; he
managed to convince Rizal on condemning the masonry and
convert into being a Catholic. Also, he mentioned that after
their long argument he convinced Rizal to retract before his
execution. In the other hand, the testimony presented by the
Cuerpo de Vigilancia de Manila states that upon arguing to
the Jesuit Fathers namely Fr. March and Fr. Vilarica; both of
them did not convinced Jose Rizal to sign the retraction
before his execution. It is also clear that the account of the
Cuerpo de Vigilancia de Manila seems to contain more
concrete informations about the events occurred
before,during and after the retraction of the accused Jose
Rizal.

2. After reading and comparing both testimonies of the

witnesses, I think that the account of Father Balaguer was
mostly based on his self-opinion and emotions. While reading
his testimony, I realized that most of his given informations
were opinionated and seems to be biased. Comparing his
testimony to Cuerpo de Vigilancia de Manila accounts which
has the legitimate copies of the important documents
including the Rizal’s retraction, the credibility of the sources
of informations given by the CVM is way more believable
than of Fr. Balaguer’s account.

3. It has been argued for a long time whether Rizal really

retracted or not. Due to lack of evidence, we can’t conclude if
Rizal really retracted before his execution. Opinions cannot
be used as evidence to prove something. In order to obtain
the credibility of Rizal’s retraction, there must be enough
reliable sources and evidences to support these claims.