Last Hours to Martyrdom

 Biographer Wenceslao Retana, Rafael

Palma, Leon Ma. Guerrero- recounted Rizal’s
gift of genius, methodical lifestyle and
productive hours
 Lieutenant Andrade- learned that the
maximum penalty of death could not be
evaded because government has arranged
even the most inclusive and flimsy evidence
against the accused
 Doña Teodora- went ot Malacañang with a
petition for a pardon but not admitted to the
palace
 Rizal learned on Christmas Day that an
ordinary court martial of the Post was
contituted to try him for the complex and
capital crime of rebellion
 Rizal’s final fate and confrontation with the
Manila government had been sealed by the
publication of Noli (March,1887) and Fili
(September, 1891)
 Noli and Fili- transformed Rizal from a social to
a political crusader for his people
 Love of country- supreme mission of a lifetime
Rizal’s Remain
 Article from Luis R. Sioson-member of
Historical Commission shows that a last
request of Rizal before his execution was
denied by Spanish authorities
 One final wish of Rizal was to allow his
mother Teodora Alonso to take possession of
his corpse
 Manila Mayor Manuel Luengo allowed Rizal’s
mother to take her son’s body
 After execution, Rizal’s family went to
Bagumbayan to claim the body but found
none
 Narcisa searched the whole day bringing a
small marble slab which the family wanted to
place on Rizal’s grave but they failed to find
the body
 Passing at Paco cemetery, Narcisa saw
“guardia civiles”,something unusual in those
days
 Narcisa struggled to sneak in and saw a plot
of freshly dug earth which turned out to be her
brother’s unmarked grave
 Narcisa placed the small marble slab she had
carried and which inscribed “R.P.J”
 “R.P.J”- actually Jose Protacio Rizal’s initials,
but only in reverse
Intentionally done by the family so the
authorities would not notice that the marble
slab designed by Doroteo Ongjungco- a family
friend belonged to Rizal
August 17,1898- Americans took over Manila,
the family led by Narcisa, her daughter,
Angelica and several sculptor friends had
Rizal’s body exhumed, almost 2 years after his
death
 Rizal’s body was buried without a
coffin,clothes and shoes was identified by the
family
 Rizal’s vertebra showed a bullet bored
through, leaving a scar. Narcisa kept hat
bullet-scarred bone in a glass and silver cup in
her house
 Rest of Rizal’s bones were taken home by
Narcisa, where they were washed with
reverence by family friends Higinio Francisco
 De Jesus- crafted an ivory urn to serve as
receptacle for Rizal’s remain which became
the center of frequent public display
 December 29,1912-16 years after Rizals
bones were retrieved by his sister, the ivory
urn with Rizal's remains was carried in a
procession to the Ayuntamiento in
Intramuros, a symbol of the mighty Spanish
rule
 The urn became the object of patriotic and
civic groups' vigil
 Ivory urn was transferred to Luneta on “an
artillery caisson drawn by 6 horses”
 Rizal’s parents, Teodora Alonso and Francisco
Mercado did not live long to see the
monument offered by a grateful nation to
their martyred son
 On Dr. Rizal’s Alleged
Retraction
 October 12,1960- Collegian issue, the official
publication of the University of the Philippines
present the article on the alleged retraction
1. Alleged Retraction Document-A“Pious
Fraud”
 An insult not only to the venerable memory of
the dead hero but more particularly so to the
intelligence of the greatest Filipino
 In his Commonwealth Biographical contest-
winning book “The Pride of the Malay
Race”(translated by Roman Ozaeta), nDr.
Rafael Palma-one time president of the
university
 Presented the soundest argument- why Dr.
Rizal would never retract and could never have
retracted his Masonic affiliation
 If it takes a Roman Catholic to understand
another of the same sect, then it may be
equally stated that it takes a Mason to
understand fully another Mason
 2. Freemasonry Not Anti-
Catholic
 Roman Catholic fanatics abpund, so much
publicity has been circulated that Freemasonry
is anti-Catholic and Masons are enemies of the
Catholic Church
 Masonry-main object is
 “brotherhood among men under the
fatherhood of God”.
 If Dr. Rizal died as a Mason, then he died as
an enemy of the Catholic Church
 Dr. Rizal, the Philippines' national hero, died
as a Mason
 3. Father Burgos-Not an Enemy of the
State Either
 There is no conclusive proof as yet that Father
Burgos was really guilty of trumped-up charges
him by jealous and anti-nationalistic persons
 Father Burgos is a native priest who was so
nationalistic to the point of working for the
secularization of philippine parishes
 4. The Case of NBI Handwriting
Expert
 The alleged retraction paper examined was
not the original but only a photostatic copy of
same. (original is inaccesible to general public
for closer scrutiny)