Chapter 5: Jose Rizal’s Trial

Andres Bonifacio and his dauntless Katipuneros, on August 26, 1896, raised the cry of rebellion
in the hills of Balintawak (popularly known as “Cry of Balintawak”), a few miles in north of Manila. In
August 30, they assaulted San Juan, near the city of Manila, but they were repelled with massive losses.
In the aftermath of the Battle of San Juan, Governor General Blanco declared a state of war in the eight
provinces for their insurgency against Spain-Manila (as a province), Bulacan, Cavite, Batangas, Laguna,
Pampanga, Nueva Vizcaya, and Tarlac. Jose feared that the turbulent insurrection would only beget
much suffering and horrifying decimation of human lives and property. He was also frighten of the
likelihood of Spanish reprisal against all Filipino patriots.

Amidst the chaos created by the uprising, Jose received from Governor General Blanco two
letters which exculpated him from the raging insurrection. In his last trip abroad, Jose troubled by the
violent attempt of the Katipuneros to end the rule of the Spanish government, left for Spain on
September 3, 1896. He, however, was transferred to another steamer which he thought would take him
from Spain to Cuba to carry out his humanitarian offer which is to serve as military physician.
Unexpectedly, he was apprehended and unlawfully detained as a prisoner in a Spanish steamer before
reaching Barcelona. He was informed that he would be shipped back to Manila on board the transport
ship Colon. Upon arriving in Manila, on November 3, 1896, the heavily guarded Jose was transferred
from the Colon to Fort Santiago.

A Severe five-day preliminary investigation began on November 20, 1896. Jose appeared before
the Judge Advocate, Colonel Francisco Olive who detailed the charges against him. Two types of
evidence, documentary and testimonial, were presented against Jose Rizal. Palma (1949) in his
translated work, Pride of Malay Race, made available the documentary evidence which consisted of
fifteen exhibits, as follows:

1. A letter of Antonio Luna to Mariano Ponce, dated Madrid, October 16, 1888, showing
Rizal's connection with the Filipino reform campaign in Spain.
2. A letter of Rizal to his family, dated Madrid, August 20, 1890, 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, dated Madrid, January 7, I 889,
implicating Rizal in the Propaganda campaign in Spain.
4. A poem entitled Kundiman, allegedly written by Rizal in Manila on September 12,
1891.

This poem is as follows:

KUNDIMAN
In the Orient beautiful
Where the sun is born
In a land of beauty
Full of enchantments
 But bound in chains.
Where the despot reigns,
The land clearest to me.
Ah! That is my country,
She is slave oppressed
Groaning in the tyrant's grips;
Lucky shall he be
Who can give her liberty!

5. A letter of Carlos Oliver to an unidentified person, dated Barcelona, September 18,

1891, describe Rizal as the man to free the Philippines from Spanish oppression.
6. A Masonic document, dated Manila, February, 9, 1892, honoring Rizal for his patriotic
services.
7. A letter signed Dimasalang (Rizal's pseudonym) to Ter:.luz (Juan Zulueta's pseudonym),
dated Hong Kong, May 24, 1892, stating that he was preparing a safe refuge for Filipinos
who may be persecuted by the Spanish authorities.
8. A letter to Dimasalang to an unidentified committee, dated Hong Kong, June 1, 1892,
soliciting the aid of the committee in the, "patriotic work."
9. An anonymous and undated letter to the Editor of the Hong Kong Telegraph, censuring
the banishment of Rizal to Dapitan.
10. A letter of Ildefonso Laurel to Rizal, dated Manila, September 3, 1892, saying that the
Filipino people look up to him (Rizal) as their savior.
11. A letter of Ildefonso Laurel to Rizal, dated Manila 17, 1893, informing an unidentified
correspondent of the arrest and banishment of Doroteo Cortes and Ambrasio Salvador.
12. A letter of Marcelo Del Pilar to Don Juan A Tenluz (Juan Zulueta), dated Madrid, June l,
1893 recommending to establishment of a special organization, independent of
Masonry, to help the cause of the Filipino people.
13. Transcript of a speech of Pingkian (Emilio Jacinto), in a reunion of the Katipunan on July
23, 1893, in which the following cry was uttered "Long Live the Philippines! Long Live
Liberty! Long Live Doctor Rizal! Unity!"
14. Transcript of a speech of Tik-Tik (Jose Turiano Santiago) in the same Katipunan reunion,
where in the katipuneros shouted: "Long live the eminent Doctor Rizal! Death to the
oppressor nation!''
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 oral testimonies of the following persons: Martin Constantino. Aguedo de! Rosario, Jose
Reyes, Moises Salvador, Jose Dizon, Domingo Franco, Deodato Arellano. Ambrosio Salvador, Pedro
Serrano Laktaw, Dr. Pio Valenzuela, Antonio Salazar, Francisco Quison, and Timoteo Paez were
forwarded as testimonial evidence against Jose.
On November 26, 1896, Judge Advocate, Colonel Francisco Olive forwarded the records of the
case to Governor General Ramon Blanco, who designated Captain Rafael Dominguez as special Judge
Advocate to initiate proceeding against Jose. Captain Dominguez submitted a summary of the action to
Governor General Ramon Blanco who thereupon, send it to the Judge Advocate General, Don Nicolas De
la Pena.
After studying the papers, Pena 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
against his property to the amount of one million pesos as indemnity; and (4) he should be defended in
the court by an army officer, not by a civilian lawyer (Zaide and Zaide, 2014).
With his counsel by his side, charges were read to Jose in his prison cell on December 1 L 1896.
He was accused, Medina ( 1998) disclosed, 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." Jose was not against the jurisdiction of the court, but asserted that he
was not guilty of revolution. He acknowledged that he authored the Constitution of the Liga Filipina and
empliasized that it was simply a civic alliance. He reiterated that he had no political involvement si11 his
exile to Dapitan. Or: December 13, 1896, Captain Dominguez transmitted Jose's case to the new
Governor General of the Philippines, General Camilo G. de Polavieja who replaced General Ramon
Blanco.
During the time Jose was in prison cell at Fort Santiago, he penned a manifesto seriously asking
the Filipino people to cease the needless anct tumultuous war. He encouraged them to attain freedom
through education and habit of working hard and steadily. Palma (1964) promulgated this manifesto as
follows:

My Countrymen:
On my return from Spain, I learned that my name had been used as a war cry
among some who were in arms. The news painfully surprised me, but believing it was all
over, r kept silent over what r considered irremediable. Now I hear rumors that the
disturbances continue, and lest any person should still go on using my name in bad or
good faith, to remedy this abuse and to undeceive the unwary, I hasten to address you
these lines so that the truth may be known.
From the beginning, when I had news of what was being planned, I opposed it, fought it,
and demonstrated its absolute impossibility. This is the truth, and witnesses to my word
are still living. I was convinced that the idea was highly absurd and, what was worse,
would bring great suffering. I did more. When later, in spite of my counsels, the
movement broke out, I spontai1eo11sly offered not only my services, but my life, and
even my name so that they might use them in the manner they saw fit to suppress the
rebellion, for, convinced of the evils that would befall them, I considered myself
fortunate if, at any sacrifice, I could prevent such useless misfortunes. This is equally of
record.

My countrymen: I have given proofs, more than. Anybody else, of desiring

liberties for our country and I still desire them. But I place as a premise the education of
the people so that by means of education and of labor they might have a personality of
their own and make themselves worthy of liberties. In my writings I have recommended
redemption. I have also written (and my words have been updated) that reforms, to be
fruitful, have to come from above, that those that come from below are irregular and
unstable. Imbued with these ideals, I cannot but condemn and I do condemn this
absurd, savage uprising
Planned behind my back, which dishonors us, the Fiiipinos, and discredits those
who may advocate our cause. I abhor its criminal methods and disclaim all participation
therein, pitying from the bottom of my heart the unwary who have allowed themselves
to be deceived. Return then to your homes, and may God forgive those who have acted
in bad faith.
 The trial of Rizal was an eloquent proof of Spanish injustice and misrule. More
than a farce, it was patently a mistrial. Rizal, a civilian, was tried by a military court
composed of alien military officers. His case was prejudged; he was considered guilty
before the actual trial. The military court met not to give him justice, but to accuse and
condemn him. lt accepted all charges and testimonies against him, and ignored all
arguments and proofs in his favor. Moreover, Rizal was not given the night (which any
accused is entitled to have in a real court of justice) to face the witnesses against him in
open court.

The trial of Jose commenced in the Cuartel de Espana, a military building, on December 26,
1896, at eight o'clock in the morning. Present in the trial were seven members of the military court: Lt.
Col. Jose Togores Arjona (President), Capt. Ricardo Munoz Arias, Capt. Manuel Reguerra, Capt. Santiago
Izquierdo Osorio, Capt. Braulio Rodriguez Nunez, Capt. Manuel Diaz Escribano, and Capt. Fermin Perez
Rodriguez. Also in the military court were Lt. Don LuisTaviel de Andrade (Jose's defense counsel) Capt.
Rafael Dominguez (Judge Advocate) Lt. Enrique de Alconcer (Prosecuting Attorney) and observers which
included Josephine Bracken, a sister of Jose, newspapermen, and other Spaniards.

Judge Advocate Capt. Rafael Dominguez began the trial and explained the case leveled against
Jose. Jose was charged of three crimes: rebellion, sedition, and illegal association. Lt. Enrique de
Alconcer, prosecuting lawyer, advanced a gingerly harangue, detailing accusations against Jose. He
mercilessly made an effort to persuade the members of the military court to punish the accused with
death sentence. Lt. Don Luis Taviel de Andrade, defense counsel of Jose tried hard to come up with a
convincing defense. He brought an end to his defense by reminding the judges to be fair and avoid
vindictiveness in their judgment. After Lt. Don Luis Taviel de Andrade's defense, the court queried Jose if
there is anything he wanted to say. Jose confidently read a supplement to his defense. De Viana,
Augusto V. et al (2011) put forward Jose's supplementary defense as follows:

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 the revolution, he could have escaped in a Moro vinta and would not
have built a home, a hospital, and bought lands in Dapitan .
5. If he were the chief of the revolution. Why has not he consulted by the revolutionists?
6. It was true he wrote the by-laws of the Liga Filipina, on this a civic association --- not a
evolutionary 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 reorganized nine months later, he did not know about it.
9. The Liga did not serve the purpose of the revolutionists, othenvise 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,
warehouses, lands, etc. and his brother and all his brother-in-law were deported.
11. His life in Dapitan had been exemplary as the politico-military commanders and
missionary priests could arrest.
 12. It was not true that the revolution was inspired by his one speech at the house of
Dorotea Ongjunco, as alleged by witnesses whom he would like to confront. His friends knew his
opposition to armed rebellion. Why did the Katipunan send an emissary to Dapitan who was
unknown to him? Because those who knew him were aware that he would never sanction any
violent movement.

The biased military court was apathetic to Jose's appeal. After a brief deliberation, the members of the
military court agreed to convict Jose and sentenced him to death. On December 26, 1896, the unjust
military court decision was given to Governor General Camilo G. de Polavieja who asked the judgment of
judge advocate General Nicolas de la Pena who confirmed the death verdict. On December 28, 1896,
Governor General Camilo G. de Polavieja signed the court-martial's decision to execute Jose Rizal.
Medina (1998) presented this decree as follows:

Manila, December 28, 1896:

Conformably to the foregoing opm10n. I approve the sentence dictated by the

Court Martial in the present case, by virtue of which the death penalty is imposed on
the accused Jose Rizal Mercado, which shall be executed by shooting him at 7:00 o'clock
in the morning of the 30th of this month in the field of Bagumbayan.
For compliance and the rest may correspond, let this be returned to the Judge
Advocate, Captain Don Rafael Dominguez.