Task Performance in Readings in Philippine History

Controversy of Rizal’s Retraction Letter

A position paper prepared by:

Hormillada, Sophia

Malabag, Joy

Rubia, Illeana

Saladaga, Charene

Viray, Kate

BSHM101

Submitted to:

Ms. Anabelle Hernandez

1 st Semester

S.Y 2020-2021
Introduction

Jose Rizal played a big role in our country, he played a key role in fighting for
civil rights for the Filipino people. His ability to inspire others and his compassion for
his people made him a national hero. His writings made him more valued by most of the
people. But there’s this one issue which tells that he retracted any of his writings that
contradicts the Catholic faith. His retraction controversy is being argued by many
historians whether it is really true or not. There seems to be no end to the debate
whether Rizal retracted on the very last day of his life. Some says that the document is a
forgery while the other are asserting that it is authentic and Rizal did retracted before
his execution. Did his retraction really matter and affects his character? It’s disturbing
to think that Rizal’s death was followed by so much falsehood and controversy but this is
indeed his triumph.

Side A

There are claims that Rizal did retracted, there are evidences and documents that
will prove it. According to a testimony by Father Vicente Balaguer, a Jesuit missionary
who befriended the hero during his exile in Dapitan, Rizal accepted a shorter retraction
document prepared by the superior of the Jesuit Society in the Philippines, Father Pio
Pi. Rizal then wrote his retraction after making some modifications in the document. In
his retraction, he disavowed Masonry and religious thoughts that opposed Catholic
belief. Archivist Fr. Manuel Garcia, C.M.  discovered the “original" text containing the
so-called retraction formula in the archdiocesan archives on May 18, 1935, thirty-nine
years after Rizal’s execution. A few hours before he was shot, Rizal allegedly signed a
document stating that he was a Catholic and that he was withdrawing all his writings
against the church. The document became known as the retraction. Because of her
conversion to the church, they married Josephine Bracken, her last love.

According to Ricardo P. Garcia’s “The Great Debate: The Rizal’s Retraction”,

there were two (2) great testimonies of eyewitnesses who were privy to what happened
in Rizal’s cell from early morning of December 29 to 6:30 am of December 30.
According to Fr. Vicente Balaguer testimonies, the reasonable Rizal had several rude
awakenings; confessed, celebrated mass, had Communion, and prayed the Rosary four
(4) times. Former Lieutenant of the Infantry, Mariano Martinez Gallegos, confirmed
that Rizal himself signed a document called a retraction along with key eyewitnesses
Juan del Fresno and Eloy Moure. Both named eyewitnesses confirmed Gallegos'
statements.

According to the testimony of Cuerpo de Vigilancia “At 3 in the afternoon, Father

March entered the chapel and Rizal handed him what he had written. Immediately the
chief of the firing squad,Señordel Fresno and the Assistant of the Plaza,Señor Maure,
were informed. They entered death row and together with Rizal signed the document
that the accused had written. It seems this was the retraction.” It can be seen that the
two officials mentioned, Juan del Fresno and Eloy Moure, were the ones who signed the
retraction document as witnesses. Historians also refer to 11 eyewitnesses when Rizal
wrote his retraction, signed a Catholic prayer book, and recited Catholic prayers, and the
multitude who saw him kiss the crucifix before his execution. A great grandnephew of
Rizal, Fr. Marciano Guzman, cites that Rizal's 4 confessions were certified by 5
eyewitnesses, 10 qualified witnesses, 7 newspapers, and 12 historians and writers
including Aglipayan bishops, Masons and anti-clericals. One witness was the head of the
Spanish Supreme Court at the time of his notarized declaration and was highly esteemed
by Rizal for his integrity.

The guard also mentioned that before taking Rizal to Luneta, he married
Josephine Bracken: “At 5 this morning of the 30th, the lover of Rizal arrived at the
prison dressed in mourning. Only the former entered the chapel, followed by a military
chaplain. Donning his formal clothes and aided by a soldier of the artillery, the nuptials
of Rizal and the woman who had been his lover were performed at the point of death.
After embracing him she left, flooded with tears.” Surprisingly, Moreno recorded,
everyone who entered the cell that night, not once did anyone mention that Padre
Balaguer entered. This means that Padre Balaguer was not there, he may have been a
secondary source and only interviewed Padre Vilaclara and Padre March to formulate
his testimony.

Side B
 However on the contrary, there are also claims that Jose Rizal did not really
retracted. The original copy was found in the archdiocesan archives. Ricardo Pascual Ph.
D who was given permission by the Archbishop Nozaleda to examine the document and
later concluded that the documents presented was a forgery. The common rebuttal of
this argument was either Father Balaguer or Father Pi had made errors in reproducing
another copy of the original. Another evidence as to Rizal did not retract is that when
Father Balaguer came to terms that he married Jose and Josephine, after Jose had
signed the retraction paper, however, there were no marriage certificate or public record
shown that could prove Father Balaguer’s statements.

Since the Archbishop and Jesuits cannot do anything to mitigate his penalty
because the judicial process involved was purely a military tribunal where civilian or
church interference was uncommon and not allowed. Rizal was accused of participating
in filibusterous propaganda where the penalty as provided by the Spanish Code is death.
The same of what happened to the three priests who were garrotted years earlier, even
though they were still a part of the church; they were still treated as rebellious and were
also not given a proper burial. Others would like to believe that the purported retraction
of Rizal was invented by the friars to deflect the heroism. Senator Rafael Palma, a
former President of the University of the Philippines and a prominent Mason, argued
that a retraction is not in keeping with Rizal's character and mature beliefs. He called
the retraction story a "pious fraud."

It was argued that Rizal retracted in order to save his family from further
persecution, to give Josephine Bracken a legal status as his wife and to assure reforms
from the Spanish government. He would have been an example for the cause of the
friars; he would have been given a decent Christian burial, not buried like a dead dog
outside Paco Cemetery. The mastermind, they say, in both Lacuna’s and Rizal’s
signature forging was Lazaro Segovia. They were approached by Spanish friars during
the final day of the Filipino-American war to forge Rizal’s signature.

Two eyewitnesses Baron fernandes and Manuel Moratao Fernandez said that the
entry in the book of burials of the interment of Rizal's body is not made on the page with
those burials. No masses were said for his soul or funeral held by Catholics. A friend of
Baron Fernandez, subsequently bought from Fernande the Intellectual Property right to
the vauable manuscripts. Morato said in his "expose" that the friars forged the retraction
letter and published in the Clerico- Fascist newspapers at that time. Morato confirmed
"No, Rizal never retracted although that fake retraction was published by friars then and
is still sadly peddled in most school, but that is not true." The Rizal family did not accept
the retraction and the marriage. They knew that that if he had retracted, he would
certainly have said so in his 6a.m. communication to his mother on the fateful day of his
execution. Balaguer's account exposed itself through major discrepancies in his story.
His claim of marrying Rizal and Josephine was totally belied by the facts. In his account,
Balaguer was totally unaware that Rizal had written "Mi Último Adiós" on the eve of his
execution. Balaguer allowed no time for Rizal to write the poem. The poem in its third
stanza carries the exact date and time when it was written.

Positive Stand

There are evidences that will make us believe and agree that Rizal really did
retracted. We all know that Rizal is a man of his words but it is not impossible for him to
make his own decisions for his life before his death. It is possible that he made a
retraction letter. Why would anyone think that it is just an act of forgery. They say that
it is just the priests errors, why would the priests will make such errors. What will they
gain if they really did that? Is it for their own good? If you would ask on why would Rizal
retract when he knows for a fact that even if he signs the retraction paper he would still
be executed? It is not about the execution, it is not that he wants to save his life at the
time of the execution. Rizal made the retraction not to save himself from the execution
but to prove before he dies that he is still a son of the Catholic Church for he knows in
himself that he was born in that religion in which he wish to live and die. He still has
religious beliefs he knows all the consequences of his actions. He retracted because he
wanted to be at peace when he dies. It is also believed that Rizal retracted in order to
receive the sacraments of the faith. The remaining time of his life shall spend asking
God for the grace of faith. He died as a catholic and a proof that he died as a catholic was
he was buried inside the sacred grounds of Paco Cemetery. If you use a "weighing scale"
to compare the evidence between retraction vs. non-retraction, there is an abundance of
solid evidence in favor of retraction. That is why the most objective historians have
concluded in favor of it.

Negative Stand

There are also claims that will make us not to believe and oppose the given
evidences that Rizal had retracted. It is said that what played him false was the
involvement of the Jesuits, they took part in the effort to make him retract and return to
the catholic faith. If Rizal had indeed retracted, they would surely have given Rizal a
Catholic burial. Balaguer who claims that Rizal had retracted is not present at the
execution and also Josephine Bracken who said to be his wife in his final moment is not
there. Even Rizal’s family did not accept the retraction and the marriage. If he really did
retracted, he would certainly have said so in his mother on the morning of his execution
but there’s none. Balaguer said that he performed the marriage of Rizal and Josephine
in front of Rizal’s sisters before his final moment. But none of Rizal’s sisters went to the
fort on the morning of the execution.

It is more likely to be of Rizal’s mentality but would Rizal just simply neglect all
the writing he conceived with his hard work? The same writings that brought him to the
point of being executed? No. Rizal was fixated of the thought that he would die for the
love of his country, he, himself had coveted death a long time ago. His character speaks
so loud that even all of Rizal’s friends do not believe that he have written a retraction.
The Documents of retraction were kept secret, only copies of it were furnished to the
newspapers, but, with the exception of one person, nobody saw the original. When the
family of Rizal asked for the original of the said document or a copy of the alleged
retraction letter, the petition was denied. No masses were said for his soul or funeral
held by Catholic and Rizal burial was kept secret. If Rizal retracted, he would not have
been executed. But he was executed, therefore it can also concluded that Rizal did not
really retracted.
Final Stand
It is not impossible that Rizal had retracted but also it is not impossible too that
the retraction had been forged. Whether it is true or not, we cannot change the fact that
he is our national hero. Jose Rizal is an inspiration to fight the excesses not just against
foreign occupiers but also against some local interests who controlled the political,
social, and economy of our country. In spite of several interpretations on how should
Jose Rizal be remembered to the eyes of the people, he was still the symbol and the
inspiration for the Filipinos that need to be emulated for the next generation of people.
The retraction letter if proven true, that will not affect Rizal’s character, it doesn’t make
him less of who he is. Rizal is still Rizal, the hero who courted death to prove to those
who deny our patriotism that we know how to die for our duty and beliefs. Whether
Rizal died a catholic or an apostate nothing can change his greatness as a Filipino.
 SOURCES
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