Martyrdom at Bagumbayan

• Rizal returned to his cell in

Fort Santiago to prepare his
rendezvous with destiny.
• From December 29,1896 (6
am) – December 30,1896,
he was busy meeting visitor
s which includes his family
and friends. He secretly
finished his farewell poem –
Mi Ultimo Adios
 Rizal’s Last Hours
December 29, 1896

6:00
Captain Rafael Rodriguez read Rizal’s death sentence –
A.M. he will be shot at the back by firing squad at 7:00 A.M.
in Bagumbayan (Luneta).

Rizal was moved to the prison

7:00
A.M.
chapel where he spent his last
moments. His first visitors
were Fr. Miguel Mata and Fr.
Luiz Viza
 Rizal reminded Fr. Luis Viza, the
7:15 statuette of the Sacred Heart of
A.M.
Jesus.
Fr. Viza gave Rizal the statuette an
d Rizal placed it on his table.

8:00
Rizal had a breakfast with Fr.
A.M. Antonio Rosell.
After breakfast, his attorney,
Lt. Luis Taviel de Andrade
Came. Lt. Luis Taviel de Andrade
 Fr. Frederico Faura arrived.
9:00
A.M. Rizal reminded the priest of his
earlier ‘prophecy’ about Rizal

More Jesuit priests had visited

him. (Fr. Villaclara and
10:00
A.M.
Fr. Balaguer)
After then, he was
interviewed by Santiago Mataix
for the newspaper El Heraldo de
Madrid.
12:00
P.M. • Rizal was left alone in his cell.
• He took his lunch and continued
writing his farewell poem which
he hid in an alcohol cooking stove.
• He also wrote his last letter to
Professor Blumentritt.
“I am going to die with a tranquil
conscience.
3:30 Goodbye, my best,my dearest friend and
P.M.
never think ill of me”
3:30
Father Vicente Balaguer returned to his cell
P.M. and discussed with Rizal his retraction letter.

Teodora Alonzo visited him.

They had a very emotional
4:00
P.M.
encounter. Rizal gave the alcohol
cooking stove to Trinidad which
contains his farewellpoem.
Several priests have visited him
afterwards.
6:00 Rizal received a new visitor, Don Silvino Lopez Tuñon, the
P.M.
Dean of the Manila Cathedral.

8:00 Rizal had his last supper. He told Capt. Dominguez that
P.M.
he forgave his enemies who condemned him to death.

Rizal was visited by Don Gaspar Cestaño, the fiscal of the

9:30
P.M. Royal Audiencia of Manila. Rizal offered him the best
chair inside the room and they had pleasant
conversation.
 • The draft of the retraction letter sent by
the anti-Filipino Archbishop Bernardino
Nozaleda and was given by Fr. Balaguer
to Rizal for his signature. He had
rejected it.
Rizal then wrote his retraction.
10:00
• Upon Rizal’s death, his supposedly
P.M. ‘retraction letter’ became of one of the
most controversial documents in our
history. This ‘retraction letter’ allegedly
contains his renunciation of the
Masonry and his ‘anti-Catholic religious
ideas.’
• Some Rizalists claim that it is fake while
some believe it to be genuine.
 DECEMBER 3O,1896 Rizal’s Last Hours

3:00 Rizal attended a mass, confessed his

A.M.
sins and took Holy communion.

5:30 Rizal had his last breakfast. He wrote

A.M. two letters for his family.
Josephine Bracken arrived together with
Josefa, with tears in her eyes, bade him
farewell. Rizal embraced her for the last
time, and before she left, Rizal gave her
a last gift – a religious book, Imitation
of Christ by Father ThomasKempis.
 As the soldiers were getting ready for the
6:00
A.M. death march to Bagumbayan, Rizal wrote his
last letter to his beloved parents.
“My beloved Father, pardon me for the
pain with which I repay you, for sorrows and
sacrifices for my education. I did not want it
nor did I prefer it. Goodbye Father, goodbye.”
“To my very dear Mother, Sra. Dona
Teodora Alonso 6 o’oclock in the morning,
December 30, 1896.”
6:30 At about 6:30 A.M., a trumpet
A.M. sounded at Fort Santiago, a
signal to begin the death
march to Bagumbayan.
Rizal walked calmly with his
defense counsel and two Jesuit
priests at his sides.
He was dressed elegantly in a
black suit, black derby hat,
black shoes, white shirt and
black tie. His arms were tied
behind from elbow to elbow.
• There a lot of spectators lining the street from Fort
Santiago to Bagumbayan.
• As he was going through the narrow Postigo Gate, Rizal
looked at the sky and said to one of the priests: “How be
autiful it is today, Father. What morning could be more
serene! How clear is Corregidor and the mountains of
Cavite! On mornings like this, I used to take a walk with
my sweetheart.”
• While he was passing in front of the Ateneo, he saw the
college towers above the walls. He asked: “Is that the
Ateneo, Father?” “Yes”, replied the priest.
• They reached the Bagumbayan field and Rizal
walked serenely to the place.
• Rizal bade farewell to Fr. March, Fr.Villaclara
and Lt. de Andrade.
• A Spanish military physician, Dr. Felipe Ruiz
Castillo, asked his permission to feel his pulse.
He was amazed to find it normal, showing that
Jose Rizal was not afraid to die.
7:03 • The death ruffles of the drums filled
A.M. the air. Above the drum beats, the
sharp command “Fire” was heard
and the guns of the firing squad
barked. ,
• Rizal with supreme effort,turned his
bullet-riddled body to the right, and
fell on the ground dead – with face
upward facing the morning sun.
• It was exactly 7:03 in the morning –
aged 35years, 5 months and 11days.
His last words during his execution
was “Consummatum Est”.
It is also interesting to note that 14years before his
Execution, Rizal predicted that he would die on December 30th.
The entry in his diary reads as follows:

January 1, 1883.
Two nights ago, that is 30 december, I had a frightful nightmare
when I almost died. I dreamed that, imitating an actor dying on
stage, I felt vividly that my breath was failing and I was rapidly
losing my strength. Then my vision became dim and dense
Darkness enveloped me– they are the pangs of death.
 AFTERMATH OF A HERO-MARTYR’S DEATH
At the time when the bullets of Spain’s firing squad killed
Dr. Rizal, the Spaniards residents, friars (Jesuits not included),
corrupt officials exulted with sadistic joy, for Rizal, formidable
Champion of Filipino freedom, was gone. In fact, after the hero’s
Execution the Spanish spectators shouted “Viva España!” and
played the gay Marcha de Cadiz

Spaniards bullet killed Rizal and destroyed his brain, but the
libertarian ideas spawned by his brain destroyed the Spanish rule in
the Philippines, For the execution of Rizal presaged the foundation
of an independent nation.
AFTERMATH OF A HERO-MARTYR’S DEATH

By his writings, which awakened Filipino nationalism and paved

the way for the Philippine Revolution, he proved that “the pen
is mightier than the sword.” As a many-splendored genius,
writer, scientist and political martyr, he richly deserves history’s
salute as the national hero of the Philippines.