LESSON 9: RIZAL’S TRIAL AND DEATH
LAST HOMECOMING
Day by day, since leaving October 6, 1896,
Rizal conscientiously recorded events in his
diary. It was known to the Spanish authorities
on board that Rizal was keeping track of the
daily events in his diary. They were curious
and suspicious on what Rizal might be writing
on his diary. They feared that he might be
writing something seditious or treasonable.
On October 11 before reaching Port Said,
Rizal’s diary was taken away and was
critically scrutinized by the authorities.
Nothing dangerous was found in its contents.
The diary was given back to him on November
2.
Dr. Antonio Ma. Regidor and Sixto Lopez
dispatched frantic telegrams to an English
lawyer in Singapore named Hugh Fort to
rescue Rizal from the Spanish steamer when
it reached Singapore by means of a writ of
habeas corpus. When the steamer arrived in
Singapore, Atty. Fort instituted proceedings
at the Singapore Court for the removal of
Rizal from the steamer. The crux of Mr. Ford's
legal contention was that Rizal was illegally
detained on the Spanish steamer.
Unfortunately, Chief Justice Loinel Cox
denied the writ on the ground that the
steamer was carrying Spanish troops in the
Philippines. Hence, it is a warship of a foreign
power, which under international law was
beyond the jurisdiction of the Singapore
authorities. Rizal was unaware of the attempt
made by his friends to rescue him in
Singapore because he was then kept behind
bars in the ship.
The steamer reached Manila on November 3
where it was greeted with wild rejoicings by
the Spaniards and friars because it brought
more reinforcements and military supplies.
While the Spanish community was exalting
with joy, Rizal was quietly transferred under
heavy guard from the ship to Fort Santiago.
The Spanish authorities fished for evidence
against Rizal. Many Filipino patriots were
brutally tortured to implicate Rizal. Paciano
was arrested and cruelly tortured. He
suffered all pains inflicted by Spain’s
diabolical torturers, but he never signed any
damaging statement incriminating his
younger brother. Although his body was
shattered on the torture rack and his left
hand crushed by the screw, his valiant Asian
spirit remained unbroken.
THE TRIAL OF JOSE RIZAL
The preliminary investigation began on
November 20. Rizal appeared before the
Judge Advocate Colonel Francisco Olive. He
was subjected to a grueling five-day
investigation. He was informed of the charges
against him. He answered the questions asked
by the Judge Advocate but he was not
permitted to confront those who testified
against him. Two kinds of evidence were
presented against Rizal namely, documentary
and testimonial. The documentary evidence
consisted of 15 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 a slave oppressed
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 LESSON 9: RIZAL’S TRIAL AND DEATH
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 of Dimasalang to an
unidentified committee, dated Hong
Kong, June 1, 1892, soliciting the aid
of the committee in the patriotic
work;
9. an anonymous and undated letter to
the editor of the Hong Kong Telegraph,
censoring 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 as their savior;
11. a letter of Ildefonso Laurel to Rizal,
dated Manila, informing an
unidentified correspondent of the
arrest and banishment of Doroteo
Cortez and Ambrosio Salvador;
12. a letter of Marcelo H del Pilar to Don
Juan A. Tenluz, dated Madrid, June 1,
1893, recommending the
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 Dr. Rizal! Unity!”;
14. transcript of a speech of Tik-Tik (Jose
Turiano Santiago) in the same
Katipunan reunion, wherein the
katipuneros shouted: “Long live the
eminent Dr. Rizal! Death to the
oppressor nation!”
15. a poem by Laong Laan (Rizal), entitled
A Talisay, in which the author makes
the Dapitan school boys sing that they
know how to fight for their rights.
The testimonial evidence consisted of the
oral testimonies of Martin Constantino,
Aguado del Rosario, Jose Reyes, Moises
Salvador, Jose Dizon, Domingo Franco,
Deodato Arellano, Ambrosia Salvador, Pedro
Serrano Lactaw, Dr. Pio Valenzuela, Antonio
Salazar, Francisco Quison, and Timoteo Paez.
On November 26, after the preliminary
investigation, Colonel Olive transmitted the
records of the case to Governor General
Ramon Blanco, and the letter appointed
Captain Rafael Dominguez as a special Judge
Advocate to institute the corresponding
action against Rizal. Immediately, Dominguez
made a brief resume of the charges and
returned the papers to Governor General
Blanco who, transmitted them to the Judge
Advocate General, Don Nicolas de la Peña, for
an opinion. After studying the papers, Peña
submitted the following recommendations:
a) the accused to be immediately brought
to trial;
b) he should be kept in prison;
c) an order of attachment be issued
against his property to the amount of
1,000,000 pesos as indemnity; and
d) he should be defended in court by an
army officer, not by a civilian lawyer.
The only right given to Rizal by the Spanish
authorities was to choose his defense
counsel. And even this was highly restricted,
for he had to choose only from a list
submitted to him. On December 8, a list of
100 of first and second lieutenants in the
Spanish army was presented to him. He
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 LESSON 9: RIZAL’S TRIAL AND DEATH
looked over the list and one name strucked
his fancy. It was Don Luis Taviel de Andrade,
First Lieutenant of the Artillery. The name
was familiar to him that made him chose the
Lieutenant to be his defender in court. Lt.
Luis Taviel de Andrade proved to be the
brother of Lieutenant Jose Taviel de
Andrade, his bodyguard in Calamba in 1887.
Upon being notified by the authorities that he
was chosen to defend the accused, he gladly
accepted the task for he had previously heard
from his older brother about Dr. Rizal of
Calamba.
On December 11, information of charges was
formally read to Rizal in his prison cell with
his counsel present. He was accused 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.” As the accused, Rizal raised no
objection on the jurisdiction of the court but
pleaded not guilty to the crime of rebellion.
He admitted that he wrote the constitution of
the Liga Filipina which was merely a civic
association. He waived the right to amend or
make further statements already made,
except that he had taken no part in politics
since his exile to Dapitan. Dominguez
forwarded the papers of the Rizal case to
Malacañang Palace on December 13, the
same day when General Camilo G. de
Polavieja, with the help of the powerful
Dominican Friars, became Governor General
of the Philippines, succeeding General
Blanco. The withdrawal of Blanco from the
gubernatorial office sealed Rizal’s fate, for
he was more humane in character than the
ruthless Polavieja and, moreover, he firmly
believed that Rizal was not a traitor to Spain.
On December 15, Rizal wrote a manifesto to
his people appealing to them to stop the
necessary shedding of blood and to achieve
their liberties by means of education and
industry. Fortunately for Rizal, Judge
Advocate General Nicolas de la Peña
recommended to Governor General Polavieja
that the manifesto be suppressed. The latter
headed the recommendation so that Rizal’s
manifesto was not issued to the people. Thus,
Rizal was “saved from the shame of his
manifesto’s being misinterpreted and
disobeyed by the Filipinos in arms.”
Rizal’s saddest Christmas was on December
25, 1896. He used to spend this merry season
in the company of his beloved family or dear
friends, but he found himself alone and
depressed in a dreary prison cell.
The trial of Rizal was an eloquent proof of
Spanish injustice and misrule. 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. On December 26,
Rizal attended his trial on a court-martial and
sat on a bench between two soldiers. His arms
were tied behind, elbow to elbow, like a
common felon. He was dressed in a black
woolen suit with a white vest and black tie.
He was calm and dignified in appearance. The
trial was opened by Judge Advocate
Dominguez who explained the case against
Rizal. After him, Prosecuting Attorney
Alcocer arose and delivered a long speech
summarizing the charges against Rizal and
urged the court to give the verdict of death
to the accused. The Spanish spectators
applauded noisily on Alcocer’s petition for
the sentence of death.
After the prosecuting attorney finished this
spirited harangue, Defense Counsel Taviel de
Andrade took the floor and read his eloquent
defense of Rizal. He ended his defense with a
noble, but futile, admonition to the members
of the military. When Rizal was asked
whether he had anything to say, he then read
a supplementary to his defense which he
wrote in his prison cell. The military court,
prejudiced as it was, remain indifferent to
Rizal’s pleading. The president considered
the trial over and ordered the hall cleared.
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 LESSON 9: RIZAL’S TRIAL AND DEATH
After a short deliberation, the military court
unanimously voted for the sentence of death.
And on the same day, the decision was
submitted to the Governor General.
On December 28, Polavieja approved the
decision of the court-martial and ordered
Rizal to be shot at 7:00 o'clock in the morning
of December 30 at Bagumbayan Field.
THE EXECUTION OF RIZAL
Martyrs are rare stars in the vast firmament
of humanity. Every instance of martyrdom
is distinct in magnitude and
direction. Indeed, martyrs are the meteors of
history, they flash across the sky and light the
world; and in the process consume
themselves.
Rizal’s death was an emotional event in our
history as it produced a “martyr” and
resulted in some form of social change or
transformation in our lives as a people. Rizal
was put to death for “subversion” by the
dominant political forces. He presented a
sector of society which had begun to trouble
and therefore constituted a real threat to the
existing social order.
After the court-martial, Rizal returned to his
cell in Fort Santiago to prepare his
rendezvous with destiny. During his last day,
he was busy meeting visitors, including Jesuit
priests, Josephine Bracken and members of
his family, a Spanish newspaper
correspondent, some friends, and secretly
finishing his farewell poem.
On December 29, 1896, Captain Rafael
Dominguez, who was designated by Governor
General Camilo Polavieja to take charge of all
arrangements for the execution of the
condemned prisoner, read the death
sentence to Rizal - to be shot at the back by
a firing squad at 7:00 AM in Bagumbayan. An
hour after the reading of the death sentence,
Rizal was moved to the prison chapel, where
he spent his last moments. He finished
writing his poem and hid it inside his alcohol
cooking stove which was given to him as a gift
by Paz Pardo de Tavera (wife of Juan Luna)
during his visit to Paris in 1890. At the same
time, he wrote his last letter to Professor
Blumentritt in German. At 4:00PM, Rizal’s
mother arrived. Rizal knelt before her and
kissed her hands, begging her to forgive him.
Both mother and son were crying as the
guards separated them. Shortly after,
Trinidad entered the cell to fetch her
mother. As they were leaving, Rizal gave to
Trinidad the alcohol cooking stove,
whispering to her in English: “There is
something inside.” Trinidad understood. She
knew English because Rizal taught her this
language.
At 3 o'clock in the morning of December 30,
1896, Rizal heard mass, confessed his sins,
and took Holy Communion. At 5:30 AM, he
took his last breakfast. After this, he wrote
two letters, the first addressed to his family
and the second to his older brother Paciano.
To my family,
I ask you for forgiveness for the pain I
cause you, but someday I shall have to die
and it is better that I die now in the
plentitude of my conscience.
Dear parents, brother, and sisters,
give thanks to God that I may preserve my
tranquility before my death. I die resigned,
hoping that with my death you will be left in
peace, Ah! it is better to die than to live
suffering. Console yourselves.
I enjoin you to forgive one another the
little meannesses of life and try to live
united in peace and good harmony. Treat
your parents as you would like to be treated
by your children later. Love them very much
in my memory.
Bury me in the ground. Place a stone
and a cross over it. My name, the date of my
birth, and of my death. Nothing more. if
later you wish to surround my grave with a
fence, you can do so. No anniversaries. I
prefer Paang Bundok.
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 LESSON 9: RIZAL’S TRIAL AND DEATH
Have pity on poor Josephine.
Last letter to Paciano:
My dear brother:
It has been four years and a half that
we have not seen each other, nor have we
communicated with each other. I do not think
it is due to lack of affection on my part nor
on yours, but because, knowing each other so
well, we do not need to talk to understand
each other.
Now I am about to die, and it is to you
that I dedicate my last lines, to tell you how
sad I am to leave you alone in life, burdened
with the weight of the family and our old
parents.
I am thinking now how hard you have
worked to give me a career; I believe I have
tried not to waste my time. Brother of mine:
if the fruit has been bitter, it is not my fault,
but the fault of circumstances. I know that
you have suffered much on my account, and I
am sorry.
I assure you, brother, that I die
innocent of this crime of rebellion. If my
former writings have contributed, I do not
deny it absolutely; but then, I thought I have
expiated for the past with my deportation.
Tell our father I remember him, and
how! I remember my whole childhood, of his
affection and his love. Ask him to forgive me
for the pain that I have unwillingly caused
him.
Josephine Bracken accompanied by Josefa
arrived while he was having his breakfast.
Josephine, 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 Fr. Thomas a Kempis, which he
autographed.
About 6:30 AM, a trumpet sounded at Fort
Santiago, a signal to begin the death march
to Bagumbayan, the designated place for the
execution. The advanced guard of four
soldiers with bayoneted rifles moved. A few
meters behind, Rizal walked calmly, with his
defense counsel on one side and two Jesuit
priests on the other. More well-armed
soldiers marched behind him. 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,
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. Going
through the narrow Postigo gate, one of the
gates of the city wall, the cavalcade reached
the Malecon, which was deserted. Rizal
looked at the sky. They reached the
Bagumbayan Field. The spectators crowded a
huge square formed by soldiers. The
cavalcade entered this square. Rizal walked
serenely to the place, where he was told to
stand. It was a grassy lawn by the shore of
Manila Bay, between two lamp posts.
Rizal, knowing that his rendezvous with
destiny was imminent, bade farewell to
Fathers March and Vilaclara and to his gallant
defender, Lt. Luis Taviel de Andrade.
Although his arms were tied, he firmly
clasped their hands in parting. One of the
priests blessed him and offered him a crucifix
to kiss. Rizal reverently bowed his head and
kissed it. Then he requested the commander
of the firing squad, that he should be shot
facing the firing squad because such position
was only taken by traitors and he was not one
of them. His request was denied because the
captain was given an order to shoot him in the
back. Failing to have his request granted, he
asked to be shot at the back instead of the
head so that he may, at the end, turn his head
and body sidewise and fall with his face
upward. The captain agreed, he also asked if
he would like to kneel, but Rizal refused and
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 LESSON 9: RIZAL’S TRIAL AND DEATH
did not agree to be blindfolded. Reluctantly,
Rizal turned his back to the firing squad and
face the sea. A Spanish military physician, Dr.
Felipe Ruiz Castillo, asked his permission to
feel his pulse, which request was graciously
granted. Dr. Castillo was amazed to find it
normal, showing that Rizal was not afraid to
die. The death ruffles at the drums filled the
air. Above the drum-beats, the sharp
command “Fire” was heard, and the guns of
the firing squad barked. He shouted
“Consummatum Est” before the shot run out.
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 when he died in the bloom of
manhood - aged 35 years, five months, and 11
days.

Rizal’s family was not able to take hold of his

body. The military had secretly buried his
body at the Paco cemetery. Her sister Narcisa
looked for the cadaver everywhere but could
not find it. She passed by the unused Paco
cemetery and saw through the open gate
some civil guards. Finding this uncommon,
she entered the cemetery and searched the
place. She saw a grave with freshly turned
earth and knew at once it was her brother’s
body. With a little money, she asked the
gravedigger to place a plaque on it with her
brother’s initial reverse. That is R.P.J. for
Rizal Protacio Jose. After the Americans had
taken Manila, Narcisa requested the new
government to grant her permission to
exhume the body of his brother. They found
out that the body was never placed in a
coffin, nor even wrapped by anything. Rizal’s
family had possession of the body and the
remains were instituted at the base of the
Rizal monument which was erected at the
center of the Luneta.

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