Activity 10: Identifying the Arguments

Identify the arguments and the evidence of those who are claiming that Rizal
retracted against those who are saying otherwise.

RIZAL RETRACTED

Claimant Argument 1 Evidence/Proofs

Fr. Vicente Balaguer Father Balaguer gave Rizal According to a testimony by

the long formula of on the
night before Rizal’s
execution at ten in the
evening he was given by
Father Balaguer the long
formula of retraction which
had been written by order of
the Prelate, but Rizal did not
sign it for it was too long.
Rizal asked Father Balaguer
to get a pen and jot down
what he will dictate. And that
was Rizal’s retraction
document which is
considered the chief witness
to the reality of the
Retraction.
Father Vicente Balaguer, Jesuit
missionary who befriended the
hero during his exile in Dapitan,
Rizal accepted shorter retraction
document prepared by the
superior of the Jesuit Society in
the Philippines, Father Pio Pi.
Father Balaguer’s stated as
additional evidence to prove that
Rizal really retracted. Is Rizal’s
marriage to Josephine Bracken.

Your Observation

I think there are some loopholes with Fr. Vicente Balaguer’s claim that Rizal retracted on
the night just before his execution. But all in all, even though it would be easy to say he
retracted all that he wrote about the Church, it still did not change the fact that his writings
began the wheels of change in Philippine colonial society during the Spanish period—a
change that led to our independence, and that the retraction is just one aspect of the life,
works, and writings of Rizal.

RIZAL RETRACTED
 Claimant Argument 2 Evidence/Proofs

Fr. Marciano Guzman The retraction document was
deemed authentic by Rizal
expert, Teodoro Kalaw (a
33rd degree Mason) and
"handwriting
experts...known and
recognized in our courts of
justice.
A great grandnephew of Rizal,
Fr. Marciano
Guzman cites that Rizal's
4confessionswere certifiedby5
eyewitnesses, 10 qualified
witnesses, 7 newspapers, and 12
historians and writers including
Aglipayan bishops, Masons, and
anti-clericals. H. Otley Beyer and
Dr. José I. Del Rosario, both of
UP also refer to the 11
eyewitnesses present when Rizal
wrote his retraction’s agenda
Catholic prayer book, and recited
Catholic prayers, and the
multitude who saw him kiss the
crucifix before his execution.

Your Observation

Whatever Rizal’s religion may be whether he is a protestant or a Catholic, Rizal is still

Rizal himself. A true Filipino, the true National Hero. Rizal awakened our knowledge of
nationalism. For me, that is enough. The issue will not invalidate his works in any way.

RIZAL RETRACTED

Claimant Argument 3 Evidence/Proofs

 Your Observation

RIZAL DID NOT RETRACTED

Claimant Argument 1 Evidence/Proofs

Ricardo R. Pascual “He then concluded which In his last poem “Mi Ultimo Adios”
he wrote through his book if Rizal really was married to
“Rizal beyond the grave” Josephine Bracken why did he only
that the existing document stated her as a sweet’s stranger?
was a forgery”. He stated and didn’t wrote as his sweet wife?
that its absurd that the Also, according to his poem which
original copy went missing expresses “'Adios', I go where there
and was found by Father are no slaves, no hangmen or
Manuel Garcia in the oppressors, where faith does not
archdiocesan archives 39 kill” It is evident that his referring
years later.” to the Catholic Church, it is clear
that there is bitterness behind those
phrases. If Rizal really died as a
catholic. Why did they bury him
wherein Fr. Burgos had been
positioned, which is evidently the
cemetery for anti-Catholic Church?
Why haven’t they buried Rizal at
Paco Cemetery in which good
Samaritans are supposed to be
placed? And the worst part is, he

Your Observation
RIZAL DID NOT RETRACTED
Claimant Argument 2
Yen Makabenta There is no formal letter of
retraction, which is rare for
a guy as firm in his
convictions as Rizal.
Even though he resided
with Josephine Bracken in
Dapitan throughout his
had been buried without any coffin.
Wouldn’t it be Ironic? If Jesuits
wants to prove that Rizal himself
had retracted, why did they buried
him collectively where heretics and
infidels are laid? They didn’t even
offer a mass in church for Rizal
who died as a penitent Catholic.
Evidence/Proofs
In the final pages of his In the final
pages of his biography of Rizal,
Austin Coates refutes Balaguer's
charges, which were used to
support the archbishop's retraction
and were also conveyed in a letter
from Balaguer to his Jesuit
 exile, they never married. superior, Fr. Balaguer's claim of
retraction was not accepted by the
two Jesuits present during Rizal's
execution, Pio. If Rizal had
genuinely withdrew, he would have
been buried in a Catholic cemetery.
What would he have done if he
hadn't been given a casket to begin
with, as he was? Balaguer was not
there during his execution. During
Rizal's last moments, Josephine
Bracken was also absent.

Your Observation

The part of the version circulated by ecclesiastical authorities at the time that refers to Rizal's
abjuration of masonry and his conversion to Catholicism at the last hour was not considered
satisfactory and truthful by Filipino public opinion," wrote Rafael Palma, who witnessed
Rizal's execution and saw him turn away from the Jesuit holding out a crucifix to him.
 RIZAL DID NOT RETRACTED

Claimant Argument 3 Evidence/Proofs

Luis H. Francia Rizal expresses a healthy
and profound scepticism
towards the institutional
Church’ insistence on
unthinking obedience that’s
why they wanted to get rid
of him.
Rizal's two brilliant novels, Noli
Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo,
and in his writings for La
Solidaridad, journal of the
Movement, Propaganda depicts the
might of friar power and abuse, and
of the cruelty of the colonial

Your Observation

Still, I do not believe that Rizal followed what the friars wanted. Also, to believe that he
would have renounced the works and beliefs of a lifetime, simply to just escape the sentence
of death, flies in the face of how he had lived his whole life. After all, he had decided to
return to his homeland, knowing fully well he would be placing himself in the hands of those
who hated him and who had the power and means to dispose of him legally-as had been done
with the martyrs Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora in 1872 which to whom the Fili is dedicated.