Q.

: In  your personal judgment, is Dr. Jose Rizal guilty or not on the

charges levelled against him by the Spanish military tribunal.

In 1887, Jose Rizal wrote Noli me tángere and its sequel, El

filibusterismo, in 1891. In 1892, Jose Rizal created a nonviolent society
called La Liga Filipina. The goal of the group was to achieve equality for
the Filipinos and the Spanish in the Philippines and to unify the whole
archipelago under one civilization. The Spaniards felt threatened
because of his writings and this group, so they charged him with
rebellion, sedition, and illegal association.

For me, Rizal is not guilty of rebellion. His writings are not some
sort of rebellion. He just clearly put reality into his writings. It is the
Filipinos who became aware of the truth. They had gained the courage
to fight for their rights.

Rizal was also not guilty of sedition. After Andres Bonifacio led the
cry of Pugad Lawin, Rizal was accused of sedition. In the first place, Rizal
was already against the plan of the Katipuneros. He believed that that
was not the right time for revolution due to a lack of preparedness.

Though Rizal was not guilty of rebellion and sedition, he was guilty
of illegal association. He was guilty because La Liga Filipina was an illegal
organization. But the organization didn't even plan a revolution, though
that was their last option in case their other methods didn't work.

It proves the mistreatment of the Spaniards against the Filipinos.

Rizal was not even guilty of those two charges, but because the
Spaniards felt threatened, he was found guilty. Rizal just opened the
eyes of the Filipinos to the abuses of the Spaniards and inspired them,
which led to revolution.