RIZAL’S LAST

HOMECOMING, TRIAL
AND MARTYRDOM
CONFISCATION OF RIZAL’S DIARY AND
UNSUCCESSFUL RESCUE IN SINGAPORE
■ On October 11, Rizal’s diary was taken away by the
authorities for they suspected that he might be writing
something seditious. On November 2, it was returned to him
■ In Singapore, Rizal’s friends dispatched a lawyer to institute
proceedings at the Singapore Court for the removal of Rizal
from the steamer. It was denied because he was on board a
warship, which, under international law, was beyond the
jurisdiction of Singapore
ARRIVAL IN MANILA AND
PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION
■ On November 3, 1896, the Colon reached Manila. Rizal was transferred
under heavy guard from the ship to Fort Santiago
■ On November 20, 1896, Rizal appeared before the Judge Advocate
Francisco Olive and was subjected to investigation. He answered questions
but he was not permitted to confront those who testified against him
■ Beforehand, Filipino patriots, mostly Katipuneros, including Paciano, were
brutally tortured to implicate Rizal
■ 2 kinds of evidences were presented against Rizal – the domentary and
testimonial evidences
DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCES
AGAINST RIZAL
■ A letter from Antonio Luna to Mariano Ponce, dated Madrid,
October 16, 1888, showing Rizal’s connection with the Filipino
reform campaign in Spain
■ 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
■ A letter from Marcelo H. del Pilar to Deodato Arellano, dated
Madrid, January 17, 1889, implicating Rizal in the Propaganda
campaign in Spain
DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCES
AGAINST RIZAL
■ A poem entitled Kundiman, allegedly written by Rizal in
Manila on September 12, 1891
■ A letter of Carlos Oliver to an unidentified person, dated
Barcelona, September 18, 1891, describing Rizal as the
man to free the Philippines from Spanish oppression
■ A Masonic document, dated Manila, February 9, 1892,
honoring Rizal for his patriotic services
DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCES
AGAINST RIZAL
■ A letter signed Dimasalang (Rizal’s pen name) to Jose Zulueta
(Tenluz), dated Hongkong, May 24, 1892, stating that he was
preparing a safe refuge for Filipinos who maybe persecuted by the
Spanish authorities
■ A letter of Dimasalang to an unidentified committee, dated
Hongkong, June 1, 1892, soliciting the aid of the committee in the
patriotic work
■ An anonymous and undated letter to the Editor of the Hongkong
Telegraph, censuring the banishment of Rizal to Dapitan
DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCES
AGAINST RIZAL
■ A letter of Ildefonso Laurel to Rizal, dated Manila, September 3, 1892,
saying that the Filipino people look up to Rizal as their saviour
■ A letter of Ildefonso Laurel to Rizal, dated Manila, 1893, informing an
unidentified correspondent of the arrest and banishment of Doroteo
Cortez and Ambrosio Salvador
■ A letter of Marcelo H. del Pilar to Juan Zulueta, dated Madrid, June 1,
1893, recommending the establishment of a special organization
independent of Masonry, to help the cause of the Filipino people
DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCES
AGAINST RIZAL
■ 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!”
■ Transcript of a speech of Tik-Tik (Jose Turiano Santiago) in the same
Katipunan reunion wherein the Katipuneros shouted “Long live the
eminent Doctor Rizal! Death to the oppressor nation!”
■ 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
Kundiman

■ In the orient beautiful…Where the sun is

born, In a land of beauty…Full of
enchantments…But bound in chains… The
land dearest to me…She is a slave
oppressed…Groaning in the tyrant’s grips;
Lucky shall he be…Who can give her liberty!
TESTIMONIAL EVIDENCES
AGAINST RIZAL
■ The testimonial evidence consisted of the oral
testimonies of Martin Constantino, Aguedo del
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
OTHER COURT PROCEEDINGS

■ After the preliminary investigation, the records of the case

was transmitted to Governor General Ramon Blanco, who
appointed Captain Rafael Dominguez to institute the
corresponding action against Rizal. Immediately,
Dominguez returned the papers to the Governor General
who transmitted them to the Judge Advocate General
■ Judge Advocate General Nicolas dela Pena submitted
recommendations to the court
RECOMMENDATIONS OF JUDGE
ADVOCATE GENERAL
■ That Rizal, the accused , be brought to trial
■ That Rizal should be kept in prison
■ That an order of attachment be issued against Rizal’s
property to the amount of 1 million pesos as indemnity
■ That Rizal should be defended in court by an army
officer, not by a civilian lawyer
RIZAL CHOOSES HIS DEFENDER

■ On December 8, 1896, a list of Spanish army

officers was presented to Rizal. He chose 1st
Lieutenant of the Artillery, Don Luis Taviel de
Andrade as his defense counsel
■ Luis Taviel de Andrade happened to be the
brother of Rizal’s bodyguard in Calamba
READING OF CHARGES TO THE
ACCUSED
■ On December 11, 1896, the charges were formally read to
Rizal in his prison cell as the…”principal organizer and living
soul of the Filipino insurrection, the founder of societies,
periodicals and books dedicated to fomenting and propagating
ideas of rebellion.”
■ Rizal pleaded not guilty on the crime of rebellion
■ On December 13, 1896, Governor General Camilo de
Polavieja replaced Governor General Ramon Blanco
RIZAL’S MANIFESTO TO HIS PEOPLE WHICH
WAS NOT ISSUED TO THE FILIPINOS

…On my return from Spain, I learned that my name had

been used as a war cry among some who were in arms…My
countrymen; I have given proofs of desiring liberties for our
country. 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…Return then to your homes, and may God forgive
those who have acted in bad faith
RIZAL’S SADDEST CHRISTMAS

■ On December 25, 1896, Rizal had a dark and

cheerless Christmas in his prison cell
■ Rizal, who was accustomed to spend Christmas with
his family and friends, found himself alone and
depressed
■ On Christmas eve, Rizal wrote a letter to his defense
counsel
THE TRIAL OF RIZAL

■ Rizal, a civilian, was tried by a military court. It accepted

all the charges and ignored all proofs in his favor
■ Rizal was not given the right to face the witnesses against
him in open court
■ Defense Counsel Taviel de Andrade ended his defense:
“The judges cannot be vindictive; the judges can only be
just.”
RIZAL’S SUPPLEMENTARY DEFENSE
AS READ BY HIM BEFORE THE COURT
■ He could not be guilty of rebellion, for he advised Dr. Pio
Valenzuela in Dapitan not to rise in revolution
■ He did not correspond with the radical revolutionary elements
■ The revolutionists used his name without his knowledge. If he
were guilty, he could have escaped in Singapore
■ 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
RIZAL’S SUPPLEMENTARY DEFENSE
AS READ BY HIM BEFORE THE COURT
■ If he were a chief in the revolution, why was he not consulted
by the revolutionists?
■ It was true, he wrote the by-laws of the La Liga Filipina, but
this is only a civic association – not a revolutionary society
■ The La Liga Filipina did not live long, for after the first
meeting, he was banished to Dapitan and it died out
■ If the Liga was reorganized 9 months later, he did not know
about it
RIZAL’S SUPPLEMENTARY DEFENSE
AS READ BY HIM BEFORE THE COURT
■ The Liga did not serve the purpose of the revolutionists,
otherwise they would not have supplanted it with the
Katipunan
■ 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 brothers in-law were deported
RIZAL’S SUPPLEMENTARY DEFENSE
AS READ BY HIM BEFORE THE COURT
■ His life in Dapitan had been exemplary as the politico-military
commanders and missionary priests could attest
■ 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 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 could never sanction any violent
movement
CAMILO DE POLAVIEJA’S DECREE
FOR THE EXECUTION OF RIZAL
■ …I approve the sentence dictated by the Court
Martial, 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 (Manila, December
28, 1896)
LAST HOURS OF RIZAL

■ 6:00 AM, December 29, 1896 – Judge Advocate Captain Rafael

Dominguez read the death sentence to Rizal – to be shot at the
back by a firing squad
■ 7:00 AM – Rizal moved to the prison chapel. His first visitors
were Father Miguel Saderra Mata (Rector of Ateneo) and Father
Luis Viza, Jesuit teacher. At 7:15 AM, Father Saderra left. Rizal
reminded Father Viza of the statuette of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
which he had carved as a student. Father Viza got the statuette
from his pocket and gave it to Rizal
LAST HOURS OF RIZAL

■ 8:00 AM – Father Antonio Rosell arrived and joined Rizal at breakfast. Lt.
Luis Taviel de Andrade came after breakfast. Rizal thanked him for his
gallant services
■ 9:00 AM – Father Federico Faura arrived. Rizal reminded him of what the
priest said to him that someday, he would lose his head for writing the
Noli. Rizal remarked that the priest is indeed a prophet
■ 10:00 AM – Fathers Jose Vilaclara (Rizal’s teacher at Ateneo) and Vicente
Balaguer (Jesuit missionary in Dapitan) visited Rizal. After them, the
Spanish journalist, Santiago Mataix interviewed Rizal for the newspaper
El Heraldo de Madrid
LAST HOURS OF RIZAL

■ 12:00 AM (noon) to 3:30 PM – Rizal was left alone in his cell. He

took lunch. It was probably this time that he finished his farewell
poem which he hid in his alcohol cooking stove, a gift given by
Paz Pardo de Tavera during his visit in Paris in 1890. Rizal also
wrote his last letter to Professor Blumentritt, his best friend, in
German
■ 3:30 PM – Father Balaguer returned to Fort Santiago and
discussed with Rizal about his retraction of the anti-Catholic ideas
in his writings, and his membership in Masonry
RIZAL’S LAST LETTER TO
PROFESSOR BLUMENTRITT
■ My dear Brother, When you receive this letter, I
shall be dead. Tomorrow at seven, I shall be shot;
but I am innocent of the crime of rebellion. I am
going to die with a tranquil conscience. Goodbye
my best, my dearest friend, and never think ill of
me. Regards to the entire family. I am leaving a
book for you as a last remembrance of mine
LAST HOURS OF RIZAL

■ 4:00 PM – Rizal’s mother arrived. Rizal knelt down before her and
kissed her hands, begging for forgiveness. Trinidad entered the cell
to fetch her mother. Rizal gave to Trinidad the alcohol cooking
stove, whispering in English, “There is something inside.”
■ 6:00 PM – Don Silvino Lopez Tunon, the Dean of the Manila
Cathedral came
■ 8:00 PM – Rizal had his last supper. He informed Captain
Dominguez who was with him, that he forgave his enemies,
including the military judges who condemned him to death
LAST HOURS OF RIZAL

■ 9:30 PM – Rizal was visited by Don Gaspar Cestano, the fiscal of the
Royal Audiencia of Manila
■ 10:00 PM – the draft of the retraction was submitted by Father
Balaguer to Rizal but it was rejected. A shorter retraction which was
prepared by Father Pio Pi, Superior of the Jesuit Society was signed by
Rizal, after making some changes
■ December 30, 1896, 3:00 AM – Rizal heard Mass, confessed his sins,
and took Holy Communion
■ 5:30 AM – Rizal took his last breakfast and wrote 2 letters
LETTER OF RIZAL (TO FAMILY)

Dear Parents, Brothers and Sisters…I die resigned, hoping

that with my death you will be left in peace. Forgive one
another. Love your old parents very much in my memory.
Bury me in the ground. Place a stone and a cross over it.
My name, the date of my birth, and of my death. Nothing
more. If later you wish to surround my grave with a fence,
you can do so. No anniversaries. I prefer Paang Bundok.
Have pity on poor Josephine
 LETTER OF RIZAL (TO
PACIANO)
My dear Brother, Now I am about to die and it is you that I
dedicate my lines, to tell you how sad I am to leave you
alone…I am thinking ow how hard you have worked to give
me a career. Brother of mine, if the fruit has been bitter, it is
not my fault but the fault of circumstances. I am sorry. Tell
our father I remember him, and how! I remember my whole
childhood, of his affection and his love. Ask him to forgive
me for the pain that I have unwillingly caused him
LAST HOURS OF RIZAL

■ 5:30 AM – Josephine Bracken, accompanied by

Josefa, Rizal’s sister, arrived. Rizal bade her farewell,
as a last gift, Rizal gave her a religious book,
Imitation of Christ by Father Thomas Kempis (To my
dear unhappy wife, Josephine, December 30th, 1896)
■ 6:00 AM – Rizal wrote his last letters to his parents
RIZAL’S LAST LETTERS TO HIS
PARENTS
■ My beloved Father, Pardon me for the pain with
which I repay you for sorrows and sacrifices for
my education. I did not want nor did I prefer it.
Goodbye, Father, goodbye…Jose Rizal
■ To my very dear Mother, Sra. Dna. Teodora
Alonso 6 o’clock in the morning, December 30,
1896. Jose Rizal
DEATH MARCH TO BAGUMBAYAN
AND MARTYRDOM OF A HERO
■ 6:30 AM – a trumpet sounded at Fort Santiago, a signal for Rizal to begin
the death march. There was an advance guard of 4 soldiers, Rizal
followed with his defense counsel and 2 Jesuit priests. There were more
soldiers behind him
■ Rizal was dressed in a black suit, black hat, black shoes, white shirt, and
black tie
■ A vast crowd of spectators gathered on the street to see how a martyr dies
■ They reached the Bagumbayan field. A grassy lawn by the shore of
Manila Bay, between two lamp posts
DEATH MARCH TO BAGUMBAYAN
AND MARTYRDOM OF A HERO
■ Rizal bade farewell to Fathers March and Vilaclara, and Lt. Taviel de
Andrade. One of the priests offered him a crucifix. Rizal bowed his
head and kissed it
■ Rizal requested the commander of the firing squad, that he be shot
facing the firing squad. His request was denied, for the captain had
implicit orders to shoot him in the back
■ Reluctantly, Rizal turned his back to the firing squad and faced the sea
■ A Spanish military physician, Dr. Felipe Ruiz Castillo, asked Rizal’s
permission to feel his pulse. He was amazed to find that it was normal
DEATH MARCH TO BAGUMBAYAN
AND MARTYRDOM OF A HERO
■ The death ruffles of the drums filled the air. Above it, the sharp
command “Fire” was heard, and the guns of the firing squad barked
■ The firing squad was composed of 8 Filipino soldiers
■ Rizal, with supreme effort, turned his bullet-riddled body to the right,
and fell on the ground dead – with face upward, facing the morning
sun
■ It was 7:03 AM when Rizal died – aged 35 years, 5 months and 11
days
■ Rizal was buried at the Paco Cemetery, without a coffin
EXCERPT FROM RIZAL’S
FAREWELL POEM
“I die just when I see the dawn break, Through the
gloom of night, to herald the day; And if color is
lacking my blood thou shalt take, Poured out at
need for thy dear sake, To dye with its crimson the
walking ray”