Chapter 10

First homecoming 1887-1888

 Introduction to Chapter 10
• Rizal stayed for 5 years in Europe
• He remained at the heart a true Filipino
• Returned to PH in August 1887
• Practised medicine in Calamba
• Noli was resented by his enemies
 Decision to return home
• Rizal was warned not to return to PH after publication of Noli
• Rizal’s reasons for returning:
– Operate on his mother’s eyes
– Serve his people
– oppressed by the Spaniards
– To find out how Noli affected the Filipinos & Spaniards in PH
– Inquire why Leonor Rivera remained silent
• Blumentritt to Rizal
- live in Madrid & continue to write from there
 Delightful Trip to Manila
• Marseilles – a French port that Rizal rode from Rome
• Djemnah – Haiphong
– Played chess
– Rizal as an interpreter
– Djemnah = Orient via Suez Canal –Aden = Saigon
– Haiphong – Manila
• Rizal found Manila the same as he left it
 Happy Homecoming
• Rizal: welcomed affectionately; also worried about his
safety
– Paciano did not leave him on his first day of arrival
– Don Francisco did not let him go out alone
• He established a medical clinic in Calamba
– First patient - Dona Teodora (his mother)
– Operated eyes; could not perform surgery because
her eye cataracts were not ripe – called “Doctor Uliman”
– he came from Germany
– P900 – P5000 medical fees
Happy Homecoming (cont.)
• Rizal opened a gymnasium & introduced European sports
– Fencing and shooting
– discourage cockfights & gambling
• Rizal’s one failure (6 months – Calamba)
– unable to see Leonor Rivera
– Tried to go to Dagupan
– Leonor’s parents forbade him to go – son-in-law
– Custom Marriage arranged by parents of both bride &
groom
Storm over Noli
• His enemies plotted his doom
• Translated German poems of Von
Wildernath to Tagalog
• Governor General Emilio Terrero
– requested Rizal to the Malacanan Palace
– Noli – subversive ideas
– Rizal denied the charges against him
– exposed the truth; did not advocate
subversive ideas
Storm over Noli (cont.)
• Asked the Jesuits for the copy he sent – no
• Fathers: Francisco de Paula Sanches, Jose Bech
& Federico Faura – glad to see him
– Noli – speaks the truth; you may lose your head
for it
• Governor General Terrero
– liberal-minded Spaniard
– Assigned Spanish Lieutenant Don Jose Taviel
de Andrade as bodyguard of Rizal
– Cultured and knew painting
– Could speak English, French & Spanish
Storm over Noli (cont.)
• Governor General Terrero found nothing
wrong with Noli
• Msgr. Pedro Payo (Dominican Archbishop
of Manila)
– sent a copy of Noli to Father Rector
Gregorio Echavarria (UST) for examination
by the faculty
– Noli – heretic, impious & scandalous in the religious
order; anti- patriotic, subversive of
public order, injurious to the government of Spain & its
functions in the PH islands in the political order
– Governor General Terrero – dissatisfied w/ the report
– Dominicans were prejudiced against Rizal
Storm over Noli (cont.)
• Permanent Commission of Censorship – composed
of priests and laymen
– Fr. Salvador Font (Agustinian cura of Tondo) –
head of the Commission
– Noli – subversive ideas against the church & spain
– Importation, reproduction and circulation of the
“pernicious” book in the islands be prohibited
– Banning of Noli only made it popular
• No one was arrested or executed thanks to
Governor General Terrero
– Refused to be intimidated by the friars
Attackers of the Noli
• Father Jose Rodriguez (Prior of Guadalupe) – published a
series of eight pamphlets (Cuestiones de Sumo Interes –
Questions of Extreme interest)
– To blast Noli & other anti-spanish writings
– Sold daily in churches after mass – Filipinos were forced
to buy
• Storm over Noli reached SpainGeneral Jose Salamanca,
General Luis M. de Pando & Sr. Fernando Vida
– Vicente Barrantes (Spanish academician of Madrid) –
criticized Noli – La Espana Moderna (Spanish newspaper
of Madrid)
Defenders of the Noli
• Marcelo H. del Pilar, Dr. Antonio Ma. Regidor,
Graciano Lopez Jaena, Mariano Ponce & other
Filipino reformists – upholded the truths of Noli
• Fr. Sanchez (Rizal’s favorite teacher at the
Ateneo) – defended and praised the Noli to the
public
• Don Segismundo Moret (former Ministry of the
Crown), Dr. Miguel Morayta (historian &
statesman) & Professor Blumentritt (scholar &
educator) – read and liked the novel
Defenders of the Noli (cont.)
• Rev. Vicente Garcia – Justo Desiderio Magalang – wrote a defense of
the Noli w/c was published in Singapore as an appendix to a pamphlet
– Rizal as a graduate of Spanish universities; recipient of scholastic
honors
– Attacked the Spanish officials; not Spain
– Mortal Sin?
• Rizal defended Noli against Barrantes’ ignorance of PH affairs and
mental dishonesty – unworthy of an academician – Rizal as his master in
satire and polemics
• Fernando Canon (Geneva) – Noli – from five pesetas (one peso) to
fifty pesos per copy
Rizal and Taviel de Andrade
• Friendship between Lt. Jose Taviel de Andrade & Rizal
• Enjoyed fencing, shooting, hunting and painting
• Lt. Andrade of Rizal – “….refined, educated and
gentlemanly… Mt. Maliking – rumors – Hoisting of
German flag on top of the mountain & proclaimed
sovereignty over PH – Friars of Calamba • What marred
Rizal’s happy days in Calamba w/ Lt. Andrade
– Death of Olimpia
– Tales that he was a German spy, agent of Bismarck, a
protestant, a mason, a witch, a soul beyond salvation, etc
Calamba’s Agrarian Trouble
• Governor General Terrero – influenced by facts from Noli, ordered the
investigation of the friar estates (land taxes w/ tenant relations)
• Rizal’s findings of the Friar Estate w/ the tenants’ signatures w/ three
officials of the Calamba Hacienda
– Haciendas – towns
– Increase of rentals – increased profits of the Dominican Friars – No
contributions from the hacienda owner
– Fiesta
– Education of children
– Improvement of agriculture
– Tenants (cleaning) – dispossessed of lands for flimsy reasons
– High rates of interests – delayed payments ----confiscation of carabaos,
tools and homes
Farewell to Calamba
• Friars exerted pressure on the Malacanan Palace to eliminate Rizal –
Asked Governor General Terrero to deport Rizal; no valid charges in court
• Anonymous death threats received by Rizal’s parents ---- advised Rizal to
go away (parents, relatives & friends incl. Lt. Taviel)
• Governor General Terrero – summoned Rizal and “advised” him to leave
PH for his own good. Rizal was given a chance to escape
• Reasons for compelled decision to leave
– His presence jeopardizes the safety and happiness of his family &
friends
– He could fight better his enemies & serve his country’s cause
w/greater efficacy by wrtiting in foreign countries
A Poem for Lipa
• Poem as commemoration - Calamba’s elevation from
a town to a villa (city) – Becarra Law of 1888
– Himno Al Trabajo (Hymn to Labor)