Lesson 10: TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF RIZAL

DISCUSSION
On December 6, 1896, the trial of Dr. Jose Rizal by a Spanish military court for sedition,
rebellion and conspiracy, began. This leads to his execution and martyrdom.

Jose Rizal who was imprisoned first in Barcelona and later in Fort Santiago, was implicated in
the revolution which was launched in August 1896 by the Katipunan led by Andres Bonifacio,
whose aim was to liberate the country from Spanish colonization.

He pleaded his innocence but he was still convicted on all three charges of rebellion, sedition
and conspiracy and sentenced to death.

Earlier, Rizal was already considered as an enemy of the state by the Spanish authorities with
the publication of his two great novels -- Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.
(Source: Philippine News Agency archives)

Rizal’s Defender Lt. Luis Taviel de Andrade,1st Lieutenant of the Artillery, brother of Jose
Taviel de Andrade, the bodyguard of Rizal. Rizal’s Arraignment was on December 11, 1896,
charged with the crime of rebellion, and the formation of illegal associations. Rizal replied that:
he does not question the jurisdiction of the court, he has nothing to amend except that during
his exile in Dapitan in 1892, he had not dealt in political matters; He has nothing to admit on
the charges against him, he had nothing to admit on the declarations of the witnesses he had
not met nor knew.

On December 13, 1896 while in Detention, Rizal released a manifesto that he denounces the
revolution and condemned Katipunan for using his name without his permission. On December
26, 1896, the actual trial at Hall of Banners of the Cuartel de España, he was accused of 3
crimes: rebellion, sedition, illegal associations with a Penalty of Life imprisonment-death for
rebellion and sedition, correctional imprisonment and a fine of 325 to 3250 pesetas for illegal
association.

As testified by Pio Valenzuela, Rizal was against rebellion. He had not written a letter
addressed to the Katipunan comprising revolutionary elements. Without his knowledge, his
name was used by the Katipunan; if he really was guilty, he could have escaped while he was in
Singapore, if he was guilty, he should have left the country while in exile; he shouldn't have
built a home, bought a parcel of land or established a hospital in Dapitan. If he was really the
leader of the revolution, the revolutionists should have consulted him. He did not deny that he
wrote the by-laws of the La Liga Filipina, but to make things clear, the organization was a civic
association, not a revolutionary society.

Defense of Rizal. After the first meeting of La Liga, the association banished because of his
exile in Dapitan, thus, did not last long. If the La Liga was reorganized nine months later, he
had no idea about it. If the La Liga had a revolutionary purpose, then Katipunan should not
have been organized. If the Spanish authorities found his letters having bitter atmosphere, it
was because in 1890 his family was being persecuted resulting to their dispossession of
properties and deportation of all his brother- in-laws. He lived an exemplary life in Dapitan –
the politico-military commanders and missionary priests in the province could attest to that. If
according to witnesses the speech he delivered at Doroteo Ongjunco's house had inspired the
revolution, then he want to confront these persons. If he really was for the revolution, then why
did the Katipunan sent an unfamiliar emissary to him in Dapitan? It is so because all his friends
were aware that he never advocated violence.

December 28, 1896, governor General Camilo Garcia de 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. Thus, Rizal was executed on said date in Bagumbayan (Luneta), which has
been renamed Rizal Park in his memoir

https://www.slideshare.net/djoshuaabel/trial-of-rizal

FILIPINO REBELLION AFTER RIZAL'S EXECUTION

The following words are excerpt from Jeffrey Hays’ FACTS AND DETAILS “Jose Rizal’s
Execution and Filipino Rebellions Against Spain”

The Philippine independence struggle turned more violent after Rizal's death. It was led first by
Andres Bonifacio and later by Emilio Aguinaldo. Emilio Aguinaldo was a peasant worker and an
idealist young firebrand. Rizal's death filled the rebels with new determination, but the Katipunan
was becoming divided between supporters of Bonifacio, who revealed himself to be an
increasingly ineffective leader, and its rising star, Aguinaldo. At a convention held at Tejeros, the
Katipunan's headquarters in March 1897, delegates elected Aguinaldo president and demoted
Bonifacio to the post of director of the interior. Bonifacio withdrew with his supporters and
formed his own government. After fighting broke out between Bonifacio's and Aguinaldo's
troops, Bonifacio was arrested, tried, and on May 10, 1897, executed by order of Aguinaldo.
[Source: Library of Congress *]

Aguinaldo He extracted some concessions from the Spaniards in 1897 and declared Philippines
independence on June, 12, 1898 from the balcony of his home in Cavite and established
himself as president of an ill-fated provisional Philippine Republic after Filipinos drove the
Spanish from most of the archipelago. Through their revolutionary proclamation, Filipinos claim
that the Philippines was the first democratic republic in Asia. In one battle unarmed rebels on
the island of Negros tricked the Spanish into retreating by launching an attack with “cannons”
made rolled-up palm-leaf mats painted black and “bayonet rifles” constructed from bamboo.

As 1897 wore on, Aguinaldo himself suffered reverses at the hands of Spanish troops, being
forced from Cavite in June and retreating to Biak-na-Bato in Bulacan Province. The futility of the
struggle was becoming apparent on both sides. Although Spanish troops were able to defeat
insurgents on the battlefield, they could not suppress guerrilla activity. In August armistice
negotiations were opened between Aguinaldo and a new Spanish governor.
After three years of bloodshed, most of it Filipino, a Spanish-Filipino peace pact was signed in
Hong Kong in December, 1897. According to the agreement the Spanish governor of the
Philippines would pay Aguinaldo the equivalent of US$800,000, and the rebel leader and his
government would go into exile. Aguinaldo established himself in Hong Kong, and the Spanish
bought themselves time. Within the year, however, their more than three centuries of rule in the
islands would come to an abrupt and unexpected end. *

According to Lonely Planet: “Predictably, the pact's demands satisfied nobody. Promises of
reform by the Spanish were broken, as were promises by the Filipinos to stop their revolutionary
plotting. The Filipino cause attracted huge support from the Japanese, who tried unsuccessfully
to send money and two boatloads of weapons to the exiled revolutionaries in Hong Kong.

When the Spanish-American War broke out in April 1898, Spain’s fleet was easily defeated at
Manila. Aguinaldo returned, and his 12,000 troops kept the Spanish forces bottled up in Manila
until U.S. troops landed. The Spanish cause was doomed, but the Americans did nothing to
accommodate the inclusion of Aguinaldo in the succession. Fighting between American and
Filipino troops broke out almost as soon as the Spanish had been defeated. Aguinaldo issued a
declaration of independence on June 12, 1898. However, the Treaty of Paris, signed on
December 10, 1898, by the United States and Spain, ceded the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto
Rico to the United States, recognized Cuban independence, and gave US$20 million to Spain.
A revolutionary congress convened at Malolos, north of Manila, promulgated a constitution on
January 21, 1899, and inaugurated Aguinaldo as president of the new republic two days later.
Hostilities broke out in February 1899, and by March 1901 Aguinaldo had been captured and his
forces defeated. Despite Aguinaldo’s call to his compatriots to lay down their arms, insurgent
resistance continued until 1903. The Moros, suspicious of both the Christian Filipino insurgents
and the Americans, remained largely neutral, but eventually their own armed resistance had to
be subjugated, and Moro territory was placed under U.S. military rule until 1914. *

http://factsanddetails.com/southeast-asia/Philippines/sub5_6a/entry-3839.html
© 2008 Jeffrey Hays
Last updated June 2015

COMPREHENSION CHECK

Direction: Answer the following questions; Write your answer in the answer sheet provided.
1. What were the charges against Rizal?
________________________________________
2. Who was his defense counsel?
________________________________________
3. Did Rizal plead guilty of the crimes?
________________________________________
4. Who signed the execution of Rizal?
________________________________________
5. Where and When was Rizal executed?
_______________________________________
ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY

1. Discuss the events that ensued after the execution of Rizal. Write your answer in
the space provided.
_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Rubrics

5- Discussion is properly organized, every paragraph has a topic with complete

details

4- Discussion is properly organized, every paragraph has a topic with details

1- Discussion is properly organized, most paragraph has a topic with details

2- Discussion is organized, most paragraph has a topic with few details

1- Discussion is poorly organized, few paragraph has a topic with few details

REFERENCES

Capino, Diosdado, G. ,et.al. 1977., Rizal’s Life, Works and Writings: their Impact on
our National Identity. JMC Press, Inc. Quezon City

Deleon, Hector S. et.al., 2011, Texbook on the Philippine Constitution ,Rex Book
Store, Manila

Maguigad, Rogelio B., et. Al., 2000, Jose Rizal; The First Filipino, Optimum Books,
Sta.Mesa, Manila
 Ocampo, A. R., 1990, Rizal Without the Overcoat, ANVIL Publishing, Inc. Pasig,
Metro Manila

Zaide, Gregorio F. , et. Al., 2008, “Jose Rizal : Life, Woks and Writings of a
genius, Writer, Scientist and national Hero”.second edition., All-Nations
Publishing Co., Inc. Quezon City

National Historical Institute, 2007, Jose Rizal’s Political and Historical Writings,
ermita, Manila. p. 130 p. 227