Rizal and the Revolution of 1896

Chapter 20

Rizal’s Plea for the Lifting of His Rustication Order

Rizal’s political ideas did not change even if he was an exile in Dapitan. This point was evident in the reforms he identified, which have to be implemented in the country by the Spanish government.

Carnicero, who was then the politico-military commander of Dapitan sympathized with Rizal and assured him of possible support from Carnicero’s friends in Madrid. Nonetheless, he told Rizal the possibility of friars’ obstruction to the granting of these reforms.

Aware that Rizal had come to love Dapitan, and that Rizal and Carnicero became good friends, Despujol directed Carnicero to convince Rizal, to put into writing his intention of staying in Dapitan.

On October 25, 1892, Rizal sent Despujol his correspondence. In the letter, Rizal stated his intention of staying in Dapitan to devote himself in agriculture provided he would be given full freedom, with the assurance that he would not abuse the same.

Despujol, however, turned down Rizal’s appeal for the lifting of his banishment order.

Rizal threatened the governor-general that he would be writing his friends in Madrid of the banishment order, should it not be lifted.

Despujol then ordered Carnicero to ensure that no letters coming from Rizal would reach their destination.

Federico Ochando then replaced Despujol as governor-general on May 24, 1893. Juan Sitges then replaced Carnicero as the politico-military commander of Dapitan.

The relationship between Rizal and Sitges was entirely different from what the latter had with Carnicero.

Later on, the relationship between the two changed from bad to good.

The control of the national government by Ochando was short-lived. Ramon Blanco soon took over as the new governor-general.

At this point, Rizal reiterated his appeal for the lifting of his deportation order to Blanco.

Rizal sent his letter of reconsideration of his situation to Blanco on February 13, 1894. Owing to Blanco’s involvement in the Moro campaign, he did not reply to Rizal’s correspondence.

Blanco then visited Dapitan in November of the same year. He called for Rizal to board his vessel. In the course of their conversation, Blanco promised Rizal that he would be relocated either at Vigan or La Union.

Rizal was quite happy with outcome of his audience with Blanco. In February 1895, Rizal sought the permission of Blanco in opening an agricultural settlement at Sindangan Bay in Zamboanga. He did not receive any reply for this.

Attempts to Win Back Rizal to Catholicism

While in Dapitan, attempts were made by the Catholic Church through the Jesuits to win back Rizal to the fold of the Church.

Efforts were exerted by Fr. Antonio Obach, Fr. Villaclara, and Fr. Francisco Sanchez. They all failed.

Fr. Pablo Pastells, the Superior of the Jesuit Order, continued the work of his predecessors. He sent Rizal a series of letters convincing Rizal of the flaws of his religious views which led to them having a debate.

In the end, Rizal was not persuaded. Fr. Juan Ricart attributed the failure of the Jesuits could be attributed to Carnicero, who entertained Rizal’s political and religious views.

The arrival of Josephine Bracken in Dapitan aggravated the situation. In his love for Josephine, Rizal requested Fr. Obach to officiate their wedding.

Two conditions were given by Fr. Obach to Rizal before they proceed with the wedding: retraction of Rizal’s religious errors and a general confession. Rizal did not concur with these requirements so no church wedding took place.

The friars were closely monitoring what the Jesuits were doing. Having known the failure of the Jesuits, the friars then attempted to win Rizal back to Catholicism.

One strategy they did was bribery. Maria, Rizal’s sister, urged Rizal to accept the offer. Rizal refused by saying, “What my right hand did, my left hand will not undo.”

A second strategy was applied by the friars through the use of a spy to trap Rizal. Pablo Mercado, whose real name was Florencio Namanan, was sent by the friars to Dapitan to spy on Rizal.

Namanan agreed to work for the friars due to the promise of the Recollects that he shall be conferred the title friar curator of the Recollects if he succeeds.

Since Rizal was an intelligent man and could not recall any relative with the surname of “Mercado”, he was able to detect that Pablo Mercado was an impostor and had him arrested by Juan Sitges.

Attempts to Rescue Rizal from Dapitan

Rizal’s friends in Manila and Europe learned about Blanco’s suggestion for Rizal to leave the country. The Grand Regional Council of the Philippine Masonry reacted to this by generating funds for Rizal’s trip to Spain.

While the masons wanted Rizal to leave the country for good, his friends in Europe had another purpose in mind.

They had to rescue Rizal at all cost. Paez, for instance, was commissioned by the propagandists to find a suitable vessel in Hong Kong or Singapore to rescue Rizal but failed in chartering one.

Basa and Regidor worked out a more rational scheme. Based on Basa’s plan, he would be working for Rizal’s release through his friends among the ministers in Madrid. But for Regidor, it would be wise to work out Rizal’s freedom in Manila. The problem was no one would intercede with Blanco on this matter.

Regidor finally arrived at a solution: ESCAPE FROM DAPITAN. If Rizal would not escape, the alternative was to work for his election as a deputy in Spanish Cortes. If this would not be acceptable to Rizal, the other option was to ensure the election of Marcelo del Pilar to the Cortes and let him work for Rizal’s liberation.

The last attempt to rescue Rizal came from the Katipunan. Based on the Katipunan’s plan, Rizal had to be kept in the Philippines for him to freely lead the revolution.

Bonifacio, the Supremo of the Katipunan, commissioned Pio Valenzuela to be his emissary to Rizal.

On July 21, 1896, he arrived at Dapitan posing as a companion of Raymundo Mata, a blind man who shall be seeking Rizal’s medical assistance. Valenzuela informed Rizal of the plan and the need for his support to the revolution.

During their conversation, Rizal expressed his rejection of the plan for a bloody revolution of the Katipunan.

His disapproval of the scheme rested on two grounds: the unpreparedness of the people and the lack of funds and weapons.

Rizal was then not persuaded by Valenzuela to escape Dapitan as he had given his word to the Spanish authorities.

Meanwhile, Blanco approved Rizal’s letter requesting the opening of a settlement along Sindangan Bay. Rizal already dropped the idea since he was considering the possibility of leaving for Spain, as suggested by the governor-general.

Regidor took one last option to free Rizal from Dapitan. He requested Blumentritt to persuade Rizal to volunteer as a doctor for the Spanish army in Cuba.

Rizal then applied as a volunteer doctor to Cuba through Blanco on December 17, 1895. No reply from Blanco came so he was no loner expecting that application would be approved.

Six months after, however, Blanco suddenly acted favorably to his letter. The said correspondence reached Rizal on July 30, 1896.

The letter stated that a safe conduct pass shall be given to Rizal to come to Manila and upon reaching Spain, shall be given assignment to the army operations in Cuba.

At first Rizal thought of no longer accepting the appointment. Later, he backed down. This change of decision stemmed from his thinking that if he rejects the appointment and the revolution breaks out, he would be suspected of wanting to stay in the country to lead the revolution.

In the words of Guerrero (1998), Rizal opted to run a race with Bonifacio’s revolution.

Adios Dapitan

Rizal left Dapitan on July 31, 1896 on board the España. He arrived in Manila on August 6, 1896. He transferred to the cruiser Castilla where he stayed for almost a month.

Although he was no longer an exile, Rizal was detached from the rest of the world. His frequent visitor aside from his family was Josephine Bracken, the lady with whom Rizal gave his name and heart to.

The Revolution Breaks Out

Mass arrests of Katipuneros and non-Katipuneros were conducted in Manila due to Teodoro Patiño’s disclosure of the organization’s secrets to Fr. Mariano Gil on August 19, 1896.

Bonifacio summoned all the leaders for a meeting to cope with the crisis.

On August 23, the historic Cry of Pugadlawin took place wherein Bonifacio asked the Katipuneros of they were ready to fight the Spaniards whatever the cost. All of those who attended expressed their willingness to fight to the last.

After hearing their response, Bonifacio ordered them to take out their cedulas and tore them to pieces, shouting “Mabuhay and Pilipinas!”. The event marked the beginning of the Philippine Revolution against Spain.

Rizal eventually learned of the outbreak of the revolution through the newspapers he was able to read.

On August 30, 1896, Blanco issued a gubernatorial decree declaring a state of war in Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Manila, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, and Tarlac, placing them under martial rule.

On the same date, Rizal received letters of recommendation to Marcelo Azcaraga, the Prime Minister of Spain, and the colonial minister, which absolved him from the insurrection that was then raging on.

Rizal Sails to Spain for Cuba

On September 3, 1896, Rizal boarded the Isla de Panay, which shall ferry him to Barcelona, Spain.

Before leaving the country, Rizal wrote his sisters a letter saying:

“I urge you to take care of, to serve, and to

love our parents, as you would your children

later to take care of, serve, and love you in

your old age. May you live united and forgive

one another’s asperities and slight faults-the

natural thorns of life-because it is a

displeasure for parents to see their children are

not living in harmony. Afterwards, when our

parents are dead, we shall miss them greatly

and we shall be sorry for not having served

them while they lived.”

While the ship was passing through the Suez Canal, a telegram reached the ship ordering that Rizal should be arrested and detained at the captain’s cabin. This shocked Rizal so much.

By October 3, 1896, Rizal reached Barcelona. He was heavily guarded and detained as a prisoner at the Isla de Panay.

On October 6, Rizal was informed that he would be taken to Fort Monjuich, the prison citadel of the city. Upon arriving at the fort, General Despujol told Rizal that he would be shipped back to the Philippines on board the Colon. On the same date, he left Barcelona for Spain.

At this point, Rizal had realized that he had lost the race against the revolution in the Philippines.

Rizal could have not suffered this fate if only he listened to the suggestion of Don Pedro Roxas, a fellow passenger on the Isla de Panay. Don Pedro advised him to take advantage of the protection of the British law while their ship was temporarily docked at Singapore.

Rizal did not heed to the advice since he believed Blanco was a friend, considering that he allowed him to go as a free man to Spain to become a medical surgeon of the Spanish Army in Cuba.

Rizal’s friends in Europe learned of what happened to him and decided to come to his rescue. Regidor and Lopez transmitted telegrams to an English lawyer in Singapore, Hugh Fort to rescue Rizal by means of a writ of habeas corpus.

This failed since Chief Justice Lionel Cox did not grant the writ. It was not under the jurisdiction of the British authorities in Singapore based on the existing international law.

The steamer arrived in Manila on November 3, 1896. Under tight security, Rizal was brought and incarcerated at Fort Santiago.

Meanwhile, the Spanish authorities commenced their expedition of fishing all evidences that can be used against Rizal. Those who sympathized with Rizal were harassed and tortured.

THE END