CHAPTER 7: RIZAL BEFORE THE EXECUTION
FROM DAPITAN TO MANILA
⮚ July 31, 1896 - Rizal left Dapitan at midnight boarding the Espaňa .
⮚ August 1- He arrived in Dumaguete. He visited his friend and former classmate - Herrero Regidor.
In Cebu, Rizal was fascinated by the entrance which he considered “beautiful”. He did two
operations of strabotomy.
⮚ Rizal landed in Iloilo and visited Molo.
⮚ From Iloilo, Rizal’s ship sailed Capiz. After a brief stopover, it proceeded towards Manila via
Romblon
RIZAL MISSES SHIP GOING TO SPAIN
- The Espaňa arrived in Manila Bay early in the morning of Thursday, August 6, 1896.
Unfortunately, Rizal was not able to catch the mail ship Isla de Luzon for Spain.
- Rizal was transferred to the Spanish cruiser Castilla, by order of Governor General Blanco. He
was given good accommodation by the gallant captain, Enrique Santalo.
- Rizal stayed in the cruiser for about a month, from August 6 to September 2.
OUTBREAK OF THE PHILIPPINE REVOLUTION
August 26, 1896- the “Cry of Balintawak” was raised by Bonifacio and his valiant Katipuneros.
August 30 - revolutionists attacked San Juan. Governor General Blanco proclaimed a state of war in the
first eight provinces (Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Batangas, Laguna, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija and Tarlac).
Rizal worried for two reasons:
[Link] violent revolution which he sincerely believed to be premature and would only cause much
suffering and terrible loss of human lives and property.
[Link] would arouse Spanish vengeance against all Filipino patriots.
DEPARTURE FOR SPAIN
August 30, 1896 - Rizal received two letters from Governor General Blanco
The Ministers of Wars
The Ministers of Colonies
September 2 – Rizal was transferred to the steamer Isla de Panay which was sailing for Barcelona, Spain.
September 3 – the steamer left Manila Bay.
Fellow passengers on board were Don Pedro Roxas (rich Manila creole industrialist and is friend) and his
son named Periquin.
RIZAL IN SINGAPORE
⮚ Isla de Panay arrived Singapore.
⮚ He have observed some changes like there are more Chinese merchants and fewer Indian.
⮚ Don Pedro and his son disembarked at Singapore in the evening of September 7. He advised
Rizal to stay behind too and take advantage of the protection of the British law but Rizal did not
heed his advise. He also ignored their appeal because he had given his word of honor to
Governor General Blanco.
VICTIM OF SPANISH DUPLICITY
⮚ By refusing to break his word of honor in Singapore, Rizal sealed his own doom. For without
knowledge, Governor General Blanco was secretly conspiring with the Ministers of War and the
Colonies for his destruction.
⮚ Rizal was unaware that since his departure from Manila Bay on his way to Spain, Blanco and the
Ministers of War and the Colonies were exchanging coded telegrams and confidential messages
for his arrest upon reaching Barcelona.
RIZAL ARRESTED BEFORE REACHING BARCELONA
⮚ September 8 - The Isla de Panay left Singapore at 1 pm.
⮚ September 25 – He saw the steamer Isla de Luzon, leaving the Suez Canal, crammed with Spanish
troops.
⮚ September 27 – He heard that a telegram arrived from Manila reporting the execution of
Francisco Roxas, Genato, and Osorio.
⮚ September 28 – a passenger told Rizal the bad news that he would be arrested by order of
Governor General Blanco and would be sent in Cueta (Spanish Morocco).
⮚ September 30 – He was officially notified by Captain Alemany that he should stay in his cabin
until further orders from Manila.
ARRIVAL IN BARCELONA AS A PRISONER
⮚ September 30 – the steamer anchored in Malta.
⮚ October 3 – Isla de Panay arrived in Barcelona. The trip from Manila to Barcelona lasted exactly
30 days. His jailor was the Military Commander of Barcelona, who happened to be General
Eulogio Despujol.
⮚ On his second day in Barcelona, he noticed the city celebration of the feast of St. Francis of
Assisi.
⮚ October 6 – Rizal was awakened by the guards and escorted to the grim and infamous prison-
fortress named Monjuich.
⮚ With the same date, Rizal was interviewed by General Despujol. In the interview , the brusque
general told Rizal that he would be shipped back to Manila on board the trasnport ship Colon
which was leaving that evening.
⮚ July 31, 1986 – He left Dapitan
⮚ August 1 – He arrived in Dumaguete, the following day he reached Cebu
⮚ August 3 – He left Cebu going to Iloilo
⮚ August 6 – The steamer arrived in Manila Bay, since he didn't catch the mail ship for Spain he
transferred to the Spanish cruiser Castilla
⮚ From August 6 – September 2 – Rizal stayed in the cruiser
⮚ September 2 – He transferred to Isla de Panay sailing to Barcelona Spain
⮚ September 28- Rizal arrested in Cueta
⮚ October 3 – Isla de Panay arrived in Barcelona
⮚ October 6 – Rizal would be shipped back to Manila onboard the transport ship Colon
A MARTYR’S LAST HOMECOMING
⮚ Day by day, since leaving Barcelona, Rizal conscientiously recorded his events in his diary.
⮚ He was given a good cabin in the second class and although strictly guarded, he was courteously
treated by the army officers.
⮚ October 8, a friendly officer told Rizal that the Madrid newspaper were full of stories about the
bloody revolution in the Philippines and were blaming him for it.
UNSUCCESSFUL RESCUE IN SINGAPORE
⮚ News of Rizal’s predicament reached his friends in Europe and Singapore. From London, 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 habeas corpus.
⮚ When the Colon arrived in Singapore, Atty. Fort instituted proceedings at the Singapore Court
for the removal of Rizal from the steamer.
⮚ Chief Justice Loinel Cox denied the writ on the ground that the Colon was carrying Spanish
troops to the Philippines.
⮚ Rizal was unaware of the attempt made by his friends because he was then kept behind bars in
the ship.
ARRIVAL IN MANILA
⮚ November 3, the Colon reached Manila. Rizal was quietly transferred under the heavy guards
from the ship to Fort Santiago.
⮚ Spanish authorities fished evidence against Rizal. Many Filipino patriots, including Deodato
Arellano, Dr. Pio Valenzuela, Moises Salvador, Jose Dizon, Domingo Franco, Temoteo Paez, and
Pedro Serrano Laktaw, were brutally tortured to implicate Rizal.
⮚ Rizal’s own brother (Paciano) was arrested and cruelly tortured.
PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION
⮚ November 20 , the preliminary investigation began. Rizal, appeared before the Judge Advocate,
Colonel Francisco Olive .
⮚ Two kinds of evidence were presented: documentary and testimonial .
Documentary evidence, as follows:
1. A letter of Antonio Luna to Mariano Ponce, showing Rizal’ s connection with the Filipino reform
campaign in Spain.
2. A letter of Rizal to his family, 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, implicating Rizal in the Propaganda
camapaign in Spain.
4. A poem entitled Kundiman.
5. A letter of Carlos Oliver to an unidentified person, describing Rizal as the man to free the
Philippines from Spanish oppression
6. A Masonic document, honoring Rizal for his patriotic services.
7. A letter signed Dimasalang ( Rizal pseudonym) to Tenluz ( Juan Zulueta’ s pseudonym), stating
that he was preparing a safe refuge for Filipinos who may be presented by the Spanish
authorities .
8. 8. A letter of Dimasalang to an unidentified committee, soliciting the aid of the committee in the
“ patriotic work”.
9. [Link] anonymous and undated letter to the Editor of the Hong Kong Telegraph, censuring the
banishment of Rizal in Dapitan.
10. 10.A letter of Ildefonso Laurel to Rizal, saying that the Filipino people look up to him ( Rizal) as
their savior.
11. 11.. A letter to Ildefonso Laurel to Rizal, informing an unidentified correspondent of the arrest
and banishment of Doroteo Cortes and Ambrosio Salvador.
12. 12.A letter of Marcelo H. del Pilar to Don Juan A. Tenluz ( Juan Zulueta), recommending the
establishment of a special organization, independent of Masonry, to help the cause of the
Filipino people.
13. 13. Transcript of a speech of Pingkian ( Emilio Jacinto), reunion of the Katipunan in which the
following cry was uttered “ Long Live the Philippines! Long live Liberty! Long live Doctor Rizal!
Unity!”
14. [Link] of a speech of Tik-Tik ( Jose Turiano Santiago) in the same Katipunan reunion,
where in the katipunerus shouted: Long live the eminent Doctor Rizal! Death of the oppressor
nation!”
15. 15.A poem by Laong Laan ( Rizal), entitled A Talisay, in which the author makes the Dapitan
schoolboys sing that they know how to fight for their rights.
- The testimonial evidence consisted of the oral testimonies of:
1) Martin Constantino
2) Aguedo del Rosario
3) Jose Reyes
4) Moises Salvador
5) Jose Dizon
6) Domingo Franco
7) Deodato Arellano
8) Ambrosio Salvador
9) Pedro Serrano Laktaw
10) Dr. Pio Valenzuela
11) Antonio Salazar
12) Francisco Quison
13) Timoteo Paez.
- November 26 – Colonel Olive transmitted the records of the case to Governor General
Blanco, and the letter appointed Captain Rafael Dominguez as special Judge Advocate.
- Immediately, Dominguez made a brief resume and transmitted it to the Judge Advocate
General, Don Nicolas de la Peña.
After Peňa studied the papers, he submitted the following recommendations:
1. The accused be immediately brought to trial
- 2. He should be kept in prison
3. An order of attachment be issued his property to the amount of one million pesos as
indemnity
4. He should be defended in court by an army officer, not by a civilian lawyer
RIZAL CHOSE HIS DEFENDER
- On December 8, Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception, a list of 100 first and second
lieutenants in the Spanish Army was presented to Rizal.
- He choose Don Luis Taviel de Andrade, 1st Lt. of the Artillery because the name was familiar
to him and Rizal proved that Lt. Luis is the oldest brother of Jose Taviel de Andrade his
bodyguard in Calamba in 1887.
READING OF INFORMATION OF CHARGES TO THE ACCUSED
December 11, the information of charges was formally read.
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”.
December 13 - Dominguez forwarded the papers of the Rizal case to Malacaňan Palace,
same date when General Camilio G. de Polavieja, with the help of powerful Dominican friars,
became Governor General of the Philippines.
RIZAL MANIFESTO TO HIS PEOPLE
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 Peňa recommended to the Governor
General Polavieja that the manifesto be suppressed. Thus Rizal was “saved from the shame of his
manifesto’s being misinterpreted and disobeyed by the Filipino in arms.”
RIZAL’S SADDEST CHRISTMAS
December 25 – All Christendom joyously celebrated the birthday of Christ, but Rizal celebrated it with a
dark and cheerless Christmas.
Truly, the Christmas of 1896, his last on earth, was the saddest in Rizal’s life.
Brooding over his hopeless case, he wrote a letter to Lt. Taviel de Andrade.
THE RAT IN THE KANGAROO COURT
- On the morning of December 26, the Filipino patriot who was once figuratively referred to
by Spanish officials as a “trapped rat” appeared in the kangaroo court inside the military
building, “Cuartel de Espana”.
- He was tried before seven members of the military court with Lt. Col. Jose Tagores Arjona as
the president.
THE TRIAL OF RIZAL
❖ The trial of Rizal was an eloquent proof of Spanish injustice and misrule. His case was prejudged;
he was considered guilty before the actual trial.
❖ December 26 – the court-martial of Rizal started in the military building called Cuartel de
Espaňa. Seated in a long table were the seven members of the military court, dressed in their
respective army uniforms, as follows: Lt. Col. Jose Togores Arjona (president), Capt. Ricardo
Muňoz Arias, Capt. Manuel Reguera, Capt. Santiago Izquierdo Osorio , Capt. Braulio Rodriguez
Nuňez, Capt. Manuel Diaz Escribano, and the Fermin Perez Rodriguez.
❖ Also present at the courtroom were Rizal, Lt. Taviel, Capt. Rafael Dominguez (Judge Advocate),
Lt. Enrique de Alcocer (Prosecuting Attorney ), and the spectators. Among the spectator were
Josephine Bracken , some newspapermen, and many Spaniards.
❖ The court asked Rizal whether he had anything to say. Rizal then read a supplement to his
defense, by twelve points:
1. He could not be guilty of rebellion, for he advised Dr. Pio Valenzuela in Dapitan not to rise in
revolution.
2. He did not correspond with the radical, revolutionary elements.
3. The revolutionists used his name without his knowledge. If he were guilty he could have escaped
in Singapore.
4. If he had a hand in revolution, he could have escaped in a Moro vinta and would not have build a
home, a hospital, and bought lands in Dapitan.
5. 5. If he were the chief of the revolution, why was he not consulted by the revolutionists?
6. It was true that he wrote the by-laws of the Liga Filipina, but this is a civic association – not a
revolutionary society.
7. The Liga Filipina did not live long, for after the first meeting he was banished to Dapitan and it
died out.
8. If the Liga was recognized nine months later, he did not know about it.
9. The Liga did not serve the purpose of the revolutionists, otherwise they would not have
supplanted it with the Katipunan.
10. If it were true that there were some bitter comments in Rizal’ s letters, it was because they were
written in 1890 when his family was being persecuted, being dispossessed of houses, warehouse,
lands, etc. and his brother and all his brothers-in-law were deported.
11. His life in Dapitan had been exemplary as the politico- military commanders and missionary
priests could attest.
12. It was not true that the revolution was inspired by his one speech at the house of Doroteo
Ongjunco, as alleged by witnesses whom he would like to comfort.
The military court, prejudiced as it was, remained indifferent to Rizal’s pleading. The president
considered the trial over and ordered the hall cleared. The military court unanimously voted for
the sentence of death. On the same day, the court decision was submitted to Gov. Gen.
Polavieja, and he immediately sought the opinion of Judge Advocate General de la Peňa on the
court decision. The latter affirmed the death verdict.
POLAVIEJA SIGNS RIZAL’S EXECUTION
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 (Luneta).
For signing the fatal document ordering the execution of Dr. Rizal, Polavieja won the eternal odium of
the Filipino people.
The death of Rizal will evermore remain as obnoxious villains in Philippine history.
