1.

Isalaysay ang paglalakbay ni Rizal mula Pilipinas noong 1888 papuntang Europa:

HONGKONG

- Pursued by powerful enemies, Rizal was forced to leave his country for a second time in February 1888. He was a 27
years old man and a practicing physician.

- February 3, 1888: After six months in Calamba, he left Manila to go to Hong Kong through the ship Zafiro. Feeling ghastly,
sick and seasick in crossing the China sea, he was unable to get off in their brief stopover at Amoy on February 7 for 3
reasons: 1. He does not feel well 2. It was raining hard, 3. He heard that the city was dirty

- February 8, 1888: He reached Hong Kong and stayed in Hotel Victoria. General Terrero, aware of the route Rizal was
proposing to take to Europe, made arrangements on the lines of those carried out by Taviel de Andrade to have his
movements surveyed. In Hong Kong, he was welcomed by Filipino residents: Jose Maria Basa, Balbino Mauricio, Manuel
Yriarte (son of Francisco Yriarte, alcalde mayor of Laguna. Shortly after his arrival, a Spaniard who apparently had once
been a secretary of Terrero presented himself and in a friendly way, accompanied him through most of his stay. It was
Jose Sainz de Varanda who also shadowed Rizal's movements and was believed to be commissioned by the Spanish
authorities as a spy.

 "Hong Kong is a very small but clean commercial city." He reported that there are many Portugese, Indians,
Englishmen, Chinese and Jews. There was a small Filipino community, most of them exiled in Marianas in 1872,
and who narrowly escaped. "They are poor, harmless, timid people. Once, they were rich shopkeepers,
industrialists, mechanics and financers. One of them is progressive. Something of a R4epublican but rather
suspicious." He was referring to Jose Maria Basa, formerly a lawyer. The only exile to escape to Hong Kong and
made good in business. Basa was deeply interested with in Rizal's work, thus devoted himself for Filipino cause
and it marked the beginning of another close and important friendship.
 Before leaving Hong Kong, he met another 1872 exile, an older man, Balbino Mauricio whose story illustrates with
special clarity the way Filipinos at home treated a filibustero in their own family. Mauricio escaped from the
Marianas disguised as a monk aided by a small boy. On arrival in Hong Kong, sick and with no money, he sent for
his young son Evaristo to join him from the Philippines. Living in poverty in a Chinese slum area, he wrote again
and again imploring his family to send him some money due to the fact that they could easily help him. But they
did not respond to his plea. So with the little money he has, he sent his son back to Manila to personally beg. But
the boy was received with cold and dread. The boy was given enough money to send him back to Hong Kong. The
meeting with Balbino Mauricio moved Rizal and he described him as an unfortunate man worthy of a better fate.

- February 18, 1888: Visit to Macao. Rizal was accompanied by Basa, they boarded the ferry steamer: Kiu Kiang and of
course he saw de Varanda there. Macao is a Portugese colony near Hong Kong. According to Rizal, it is a small, low, gloomy,
and there are many junks , sampans, but few steamers. It looks sad and almost dead. In Macao, Rizal and Basa stayed at
the home of Don Juan Francisco Lecaros. ( a Filipino gentleman married to a Portugese lady) During the two days that he
was there, he visited the theatre, casino, cathedral and churches, He also saw the Famous Grotto of Camoens, Portugal's
national poet. In the evening of February 19, he witnessed a Catholic procession, in which the devotees were dressed in
blue and purple dresses. On Feb 20, he returned to Hong Kong with the same ferry steamer.

- Experiences in Hong Kong: 1.) Noisy celebration of the Chinese New Year which lasted from feb. 11- feb 13. Continuous
explosions of firecrackers. The richer the Chinese, the more firecrackers he has. Rizal also lit firecrackers in the window of
his hotel. 2.) Boisterous Chinese theatre with noisy music and noisy audience. 3.) the marathon lauriat party wherein the
guests were served numerous dishes. The longest meal in the world. 4.) The Dominican Order was the richest religious
order in Hong Kong. It engaged actively in business, it owned more than 700 houses for rent and many shares in foreign
banks (depositing million dollars). 5.) Hong Kong cemeteries belonging to Protestants, Catholics, Muslims, Protestants was
the most beautiful because it is well-groomed plants and clean pathways. The Catholic was pompous, with its ornate and
expensive mausoleums and extravagantly carved sepulchers. Muslim cemetery was the simplest, containing only a
mosque and tombstones with Arabic inscriptions.

- February 22, 1888: Rizal left Hong Kong on board the Oceanic ,an American steamer. His destination was Japan. He did
not like the meals on board but he liked the ship because it was clean and efficiently managed. His cabinmate was a British
Protestant missionary who had lived in China for 27 years and knew the language very well. Rizal called him "a good man"

JAPAN
- February 28, 1888: Early in the morning of Tuesday, Rizal arrives in Yokohama. He registered at the Grand Hotel. The
next day he proceeded to Tokyo in Tokyo Hotel where he stayed from March 2-7. He even wrote to Blumentritt: "Tokyo
is more expensive than Paris. The walls are built in cyclopean manner. The streets are large and wide." Shortly after his
arrival at Tokyo, he was visited at his hotel by Juan Perez Caballero, secretary of Spanish Legation. The man invited him
to live at the Spanish legation. Rizal, being the intelligent man that he is, realized that Spanish diplomatic authorities were
instructed from Manila to monitor his movements in Japan. He accepted the offer for two reasons: One, he could
economize his living expenses while staying at the legation and two, to show that he had nothing to hide from the prying
eyes of the Spanish Government. So on March 7, Rizal checked out from Hotel Tokyo and stayed at the Legation. There,
he received every assistance from them. And it ended with charge d'affaires offering him a legion appointment. It was an
offer of an easy life: a career even, but of course, he declined. He and Perez Caballero became good friends. He even
described him to Blumentritt as "a young, fine, and excellent writer, an able Spanish diplomat who traveled much."
 During his first day at Tokyo, Rizal was embarrassed because he did not know Japanese language. He looked like
a Japanese but he could not talk Japanese. He had a hard time shopping for he could not be understood and the
children laughed at him. To avoid further embarrassment, he decided to study the Japanese language and was
able to speak it within few days.
 Rizal also studied the Japanese drama (kabuki) art, music, and judo (Japanese art of self-defense). He browsed in
the museum, libraries, art galleries and shrines. He even went to some charming villages of Japan like Meguro,
Nikko, Hakone, and Miyanoshita.
 One afternoon in March, while Rizal was taking a walk in a street of Tokyo near a park, he heard the Tokyo band
playing a classical work of Strauss. He was impressed by the superb performances of the Western music. He
stopped and listened in rapt attention. And when the band stopped playing, they descended from the bandstand
and walked around for a rest. Some even began to converse and Rizal was amazed to hear that they were speaking
tagalog. He approached them and inquired in tagalog, "Paisano taga saan po kayo?" (Compatriot, where are you
from?) The musicians were equally surprised and delighted to meet him. They told him that the ones playing the
primary instruments were Japanese and they were only playing the secondary instruments.
 Rizal's impression of Japan: 1.) The beauty of the country 2.) The cleanliness, politeness and industry of the
Japanese people 3.) The picturesque dress and simple charm of the Japanese women 4.) There were very few
thieves in Japan so houses opened day and night and one could leave money safely on the table. 5.) Beggars were
rarely seen in the city streets unlike in manila and other cities.
 The only thing he did not like in Japan is their mode of transportation. It was the means of rickshaws drawn by
men. He disapproved it seeing that it was like human beings being worked like horses, pulling the carts called
rickshaws.
 His stay in Japan was enhanced by a brief love affair, "The last descendant of a noble family, true to an unfortunate
vengeance, you are beautiful…" he wrote to Usui Seiko, or O-Sei-San as he called her. O Sei- San's beauty and
affection almost tempted Rizal to settle down in Japan. At that same time, he was offered a good job at the Spanish
Legation. If he were a man of lesser heroic mould, of esser will power, he would have lived permanently in Japan
and happily at that with O-Sei-San. But then the world, in general, and the Philippines, in particular, would have
lost a Rizal.
-April 13, 1888 Rizal left Japan and boarded the Belgic, an English steamer at Yokohama, bound for the United States. On
board the ship, he met a semi-Filipino family : Mr. Reinaldo Turner, his wife Emma Jackson (daughter of an Englishman),
their children and maidservant who came from Pangasinan.
  Another passenger which Rizal befriended was Tetcho Suehiro a fighting Japanese journalist, novelist, and
champion of human rights, who was forced by the Japanese government to leave the country, just like Rizal.
At the beginning, Tetcho could not communicate with anybody so Rizal befriended him and acted as his
interpreter during their long trip from Yokohama to San Francisco, across the U.S to New York, until they
reached London, where they parted.
 Rizal and Tetcho were both kindred spirits. They were valiant patriots and foes to injustice and tyranny. They
are men of peace who uses pens as formidable weapons to fight for their people's welfare. Rizal told Tetcho
things about his life. How he dedicated his life to emancipate the oppression of his people due to bad friars
and Spanish tyranny. Tetcho came to admire admire Rizal for his patriotism and talents. He influenced him to
fortify his own crusade for human rights in his own country.
 December 1, 1888, tetcho and Rizal parted ways, neer to see each other again. Rizal stayed in London while
Tetcho remained in Japan.
UNITED STATES
- April 28, 1888: The steamer Belgic docked at San Francisco on Saturday morning.
 Ambeth Ocampo found his impressions of the U.S in a letter to Mariano Ponce dated July 27, 1888. He wrote,
"the Customs are excessively strict. For example, when we were in quarantine," The American health
authorities placed the ship under quarantine for the reason that it came from Far East where cholera epidemic
was said to be rampant. "They placed us under quarantine in spite of the clearance given by the American
consul, of having been at sea for about one month, of not having a single case of illness aboard, and of the
telegram of the governor of Hong Kong declaring that port free from epidemic." He soon discovered that the
reason for the quarantine was motivated by politics. They were quarantined because the authorities did not
want to admit the 800 Chinese migrant aboard. At that time, public opinion about was against the cheap
coolie labor because white laborers are robbed off from their jobs. So to be able to get votes from white
people in California for elections, the administration did not allow the entry of Chinese coolies.
 Rizal also noticed that contrary to their quarantine regulation, on the same day of their arrival, they unloaded
700 bales of Chinese silk without checking them; the ship's doctor went ashore, many customs employees and
an American doctor from the hospital for cholera victims ate on board.
 Thus they were quarantined for 13 days. Afterwards, all first-class passengers, including Rizal were allowed to
land. The Japanese and Chinese of the 2nd and 3rd classes remained in quarantine for an indefinite period.
- May 4, 1888: The day Rizal was permitted to go ashore, he registered at the Palace Hotel. He paid 4 dollars in his room
and he visited Market Street, Chinatown and the Golden Gate. He stayed there for two days and the Prsident at the time
was Grover Cleveland.
- May 6, 1888: Sunday at 4:30 P.M, Rizal left San Francisco for Okaland, nine miles across San Francisco bay, by a ferry
boat. In Oakland, he boarded the train for his trip across the continent. In his diary, he wrote that supper cost 76 cents in
Sacramento, the Mormons were spreading in Salt Lake City, and in Colorado, he complained that the "porter of the
Pullman car, an American is somewhat of a thief."
-May 13, 1888: On Sunday morning, Rizal reached New York where h stayed for 3 days, calling it the "big town" He was
awed and inspired by the memorial to George Washington. He wrote to Ponce, "He is a great man, who, I think, has no
equal in this country."
-Rizals impressions on U.S: 1.) The material progress of the country as shown in great cities: huge farms, flourishing
industries, and busy factories. 2.) The drive and energy of the American people. 3.) the natural beauty of the land 4.) the
high standard of the living 5.) The opportunities for better life offered to poor immigrants. His only one bad impression
of America is the lack of racial equality. He, again wrote to ponce: "They do not have true civil liberty. In some states, the
Negro cannot marry a White woman. Nor a white man a negress. Hatred against the Chinese leads to difficulty for other
Asiatics who, like the Japanese, are mistaken for being Chinese by those who are ignorant, therefore the are also being
disliked.
- From New York to Liverpool he sailed in the City of Rome, the second largest liner in the world. This, like describing the
size of Paris, required some explaining to his parents. According to his letters, it has three funnels and consumes 300 tons
of coal daily. 200 varas long, 18 varas wide, 12,000 horsepower for which it has 63 boilers.
- May 24, 1888: he reached Liverpool the Europe in which he felt at ease, a stranger no more. But as always, he missed
his fellow-passengers. The next day, he left for London, from the train window having the first view of rural England, he
noted: "The way is beautiful, the trees are covered with flowers. The beginning of the spring, and many herds."
2. Isalaysay ang mga pangyayari kaugnay sa pagsusulat ni Rizal ng El filibusterismo.

- Rizal lived in London from May 1888 to March 1889. He chose this English city for three reasons: 1.) to improve his
knowledge of the English language 2.) to study and annotate Morga's Sucesos de las Islas filipinas, a rare copy of which he
heard to be available at the British Museum. 3.) London was a safe place for him to carry on his fight against Spanish
tyranny.
- May 25, 1888: a day after docking at the Liverpool, Rizal went to London. For a short time, he stayed at the guest home
of Don Antonio Ma. Regidor, an exile of 1872 and a practicing lawyer in London. By the end of May he found a modest
boarding place at no. 37 Chalcot Crescent, Primrose Hill. He was a boarder of the Beckett family. Mr. Beckett, Mrs. Beckett,
two sons and four daughters. The oldest of the Beckett sisters were Gertrude, called Gettie or Tottie by her friends.
-The first person he contacted in this respect was the librarian of the India Office, and a Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Dr.
Reinhold Rost to whom he bore a letter of introduction from Blumentritt. Rost, who for many years had resided in England,
was the greatest Sanskrit scholar in Europe, responsible for building the India Office Library into the indispensable centre
of learning which it still is in all that concerns the history, languages and customs of the countries of the Sanskritic and
Persian influence.
- Rost agreed with Blumentritt's advice that the British Museum would be Rizal's best place for his research.
- Acting on the advice of Blumentritt in the selection of books to consult, and while working on his annotations of Morga,
he set about making himself an expert on philology, a subject in which he had always been interested. Simultaneously he
started on a second novel, the sequel Noli Me Tangere.
-he frequently visited Dr. Regidor and discussed with him problems pertaining to Philippine affairs. He spent Sundays in
the house of Dr. Rost, with whom he had many pleasant discussion on linguistics
-Good and Bad news:
 Manifestation of 1888: when the gobernadorcillios of Manila presented the Civil Governor with a petition demanding
the expulsion of the friars from the Philippines. It was written by Marcelo H. Del Pilar presented by Doroteo Cortes,
prominent Mason and lawyer to Jose Centeno, Civil governor of the province of Manila. This petition was signed by
about 800 patriots. This was debated in the Senate in Madrid.
 Persecution of the Calamba tenants, including Rizal's family and relatives for their courage to petition the government
for agrarian reforms.
 Furious attack on Rizal by Senators Salamanca and Vida in the Spanish Cortes and by Desenganos
 Rizal's brother-in-law, Manuel T. Hidalgo, husband of Saturnina was exiled by Governor General Weyler to Bohol
without due process of law.
 A friend of Rizal, Laureano Viado, a medical student at the University of Santo Tomas, was arrested and jailed in Bilibid
prison because copies of Noli were found in his house.
 3. Isalaysay ang naging buhay pag-ibig ni Rizal mula 1888-1896

1888. Fifth Love: O Sei-San, Age 22, The Samurai’s Daughter

O Sei San (Photo from Pablo Trillana III, The Loves of Rizal and other Essays on Philippine History, Art, and Public Policy)

This relationship is what I would call Rizal’s Great Love, in bold letters. Rizal, age 27, an author and a doctor had returned
to the Philippines in 1887, but because of his Noli Me Tangere, he incurred the wrath of the Spanish authorities. He had
to leave in 1888 via Japan to the U. S. and then Europe. In Japan, he met a Samurai’s daughter. They went to excursions
and places together. She taught him Japanese and her culture.

Remember, Rizal had been exposed in Germany to ethnographers (Fedor Jagor, who studied the Igorots) scientists (Dr.
Rudolf Virchow, linguist, who studied the “Mangianes” or Mangyans) and anthropologists/historians (Ferdinand
Blumentritt). Rizal, now a self-confident, mature gentleman-scientist, was attracted to the Japanese culture and immersed
himself in its ancient tradition.

What if Rizal unconsciously (he never planned it) entered into a treaty-port marriage, which had existed for centuries in
Nagasaki Bay as early as 1630? One-month treaty-port marriages were common, especially in Nagasaki. They cost $4 for
a license plus $15-$25 for a house and $10 for a servant. What if Rizal and O-Sei-San, for the whole month in Yokohama,
got into this cultural arrangement? Just saying.

There is no mention of this kind of marriage in any of Rizal’s biographies. Why? Probably because the Samurai cultural
practice of “temporary marriages” was mainly hidden away from the lenses of “staid and proper” westerners. However,
this was an ancient and respectable Japanese tradition. The women were neither geishas nor prostitutes. They belonged
to the top of the social class as Samurais’ daughters!

Did Rizal and O Sei-San write sentimental haikus together? Painted Japanese art? In fact, we have several Japanese art he
made, kept at the Rizal Historical Commission. Did they admire Japanese temple architectures like Meguro amid Japanese
gardens together? Did their hearts bond over the rituals of the Tea Ceremony, “a cultural event never duplicated but
always imbibed in its peaceful and tranquil meditative aspect”?

Could the Samurai code of loyalty, love of nature’s simple beauty, and options for self-effacement and self-improvement
have made Rizal cherish his month-long relationship with O Sei-San? Could he and O Sei-San have shared a simple and
honest love without hypocritical guilt and unburdened by embarrassment? One only has to read Rizal’s journal to intuit
the answer.

“O Sei San, sayonara, sayonara! …. No woman like you has ever loved me. … Like the flower of the chodji that falls from
the stem whole and fresh without stripping leaves or withering... you have not lost your purity nor have the delicate petals
of your innocence faded--sayonara, sayonara.

… I have thought of you and that image lives in my memory. … I'll always think of you—When shall I return to that divine
afternoon … your name lives in the sighs of my lips and your image accompanies and animates my thoughts. … When will
the sweet hours I passed with you return? When will I find them sweeter, more tranquil, more pleasing … its freshness, its
elegance …? Sayonara, sayonara.”

You be the judge. But I’m treading on dangerous ground here, and I know I'll be mercilessly crucified if I’m not careful. For
me, however, the entry hints of true love and deep longing.

1886. Sixth Love: Gertrude Beckett, Age 19, A Contemporary Pastime

Gertrude Beckett (Photo from Pablo Trillana III, The Loves of Rizal and other Essays on Philippine History, Art, and Public
Policy)

The flirtation Rizal indulged in while staying in house number 37 Chalcot Crescent, London, was an innocent pastime, not
real love. Rizal, age 27, had been thrown among his landlord’s daughters–Gertrude (Tottie) and Sissie. When Tottie
showed signs of ardor, and when Rizal felt being slowly drawn to her, he left her high and dry without notice and without
answering her yearning letters. You don’t really do that to a “loved” one. No. Zero points earned here.

1889. Seventh Love: Suzanne Thill, Age 18, Clean Fun Re: The “Naughty Boy” Of Brussels
Suzanne Jacoby Thill (Photo from Pablo Trillana III, The Loves of Rizal and other Essays on Philippine History, Art, and Public
Policy)

In Brussels, Rizal lived in the house of the Jacoby sisters: Marie and Suzanne. Marie was 48 and Suzanne, 45. Both were
besotted with Rizal’s gallant and charming manners. Their 18-year-old niece named Suzanne Jacoby Thill lived with the
sisters during Rizal's time. Our historians say Aunt Suzanne Jacoby became Rizal’s girlfriend. Why would Rizal, age 27, go
for a 45- year-old, when there was a young 18-year-old (called Petite Suzanne) who was also enjoying his attention?
There’s a letter signed by a Suzanne J. Thill saying, in effect: “I wear out the soles of my shoes going to the mailbox waiting
for a letter from you. Why don't you write, you naughty boy? ”

In a recent talk at the San Francisco Public Library, I heard historian Ambeth Ocampo explain what “naughty boy” really
meant--something lustful or “naughty doings, ” while other historians make it appear like forbidden love between the
two. But I disagree.

Last summer 2012, in Brussels, I visited the apartment of the Jacoby’s where Rizal was a lodger. Rizal’s room was facing
the street on the first floor. There’s a Rizal Historical Marker on that building. Susanne Thill’s room was on the same floor
facing the street, next to Rizal’s room. The two aunts lived on the second floor above. The house was a few walking blocks
away from the famous fountain, a two-feet bronze statue of the Manneken Pis.

I could picture Petite Suzanne and Rizal enjoying each other’s company, walking down that street, sitting in bistros
enjoying the passersby, who were admiring and giving naughty judgments of that statue of the naked little urchin boy
relieving himself in front of a crowd. Then I discovered to my great amusement, that actually, the local name for that
beloved cutie is Naughty Boy. Now, let’s suppose it was Rizal and Petite Suzanne (not the elderly Tante Suzanne) who
enjoyed each other’s company and used the naughty boy line to recall strolling down the streets of Brussels, wouldn’t that
be a personal private little joke between them? Rizal, age 28, was then waiting for his novel El Filibusterismo in the printing
press in nearby Ghent.
Little Suzanne and Rizal could easily have had a healthy boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, but it was just that. Clean fun
and very tentative, spent under the watchful eyes of two elderly aunts within the same roof, while strolling by the streets,
where a naughty boy is shamelessly urinating in public. Yes, for a very short-lived, lovely experience. Not a great, shattering
love affair.

1891. Eighth Love: Nellie Boustead, Age 19, The Rich Heiress. She Antedated The Modern Pre-Nuptial Agreement
Nellie Boustead (Photo from Pablo Trillana III, The Loves of Rizal and other Essays on Philippine History, Art, and Public
Policy)

In Paris, Rizal fell in love with Nellie Boustead, a Filipina whose father (Filipino-Anglo French) Edward Boustead owned a
villa in Biarritz. Rizal was on the rebound at the time, because he received news that Leonor Rivera, his arranged fiancé,
had married Charles Kipping, a British engineer working on the Dagupan railway.

Rizal (now free from a romantic engagement) did propose marriage to Nellie. He was anxious to start his own family at
age 30. Nellie was a good candidate. Her mother was from the Genato family in Manila. She was well-educated, good at
fencing, very intelligent and good-looking.

I wouldn’t call it Rizal’s great romance, because from the very start the courtship encountered many complications. First,
Antonio Luna thought Nelly was favoring him. Luna and Rizal almost came to a sword duel, but Luna withdrew and gave
up the suit. In the end, Nellie, who was a Protestant, gave some marriage conditions that Rizal could not accept--to
renounce his Catholic faith and become a Protestant. I would hesitate to call Nellie Boustead Rizal’s great love. It was more
a Rizal licking-of-wounds-love after having been spurned by Leonor Rivera.

I see Nellie Boustead as antedating a modern pre-nup. Not a real love, more like a marriage transaction. If it had
succeeded, Rizal would have become a practicing ophthalmologist in Paris and eventfully would have become a
Frenchman. Definitely No Love Lost on this one. The possibilities are too staggering to contemplate.
1895. Ninth Love: Josephine Bracken, Age 18, The Dulce Extranjera
Josephine Bracken (Photo from Pablo Trillana III, The Loves of Rizal and other Essays on Philippine History, Art, and Public
Policy)

Rizal was already 34 when he met Josephine. She accompanied her stepfather, George Tauffer of Hong Kong, who sought
Rizal’s expertise as an eye doctor in Dapitan. This European woman brought back memories of his European sojourn. At
first, Rizal pitied the young Irish girl, but their proximity sparked their love. Remember, Rizal was an exile, deprived of
many liberties and conveniences. His future was uncertain. Josephine was there. She was kind, loving and served Rizal
hand and foot. Rizal wrote in his journal that she had fulfilled his needs more than any Filipina girl could ever give him.

Did he sound very lonely and vulnerable? Yes, and did he fall in love? Yes. They pledged themselves to each other, but not
canonically as husband and wife. They planned to marry within the church, but couldn’t. The Archbishop of Cebu
demanded that Rizal sign a retraction letter prepared by the diocese. Rizal refused. The couple conceived a (boy) who, in
its last trimester, was lost in a miscarriage. The infant was named Francisco, and Rizal buried him in Dapitan.
We read Rizal’s letters constantly praising Josephine for her character and attributes. He even begged his sisters to be nice
to her. In my view, Josephine Bracken was the dulce extranjera whom he loved dearly, of whom he made a sculpted face,
left sketches and dedicated a book before he was executed. It read: To my dear and unhappy wife, Josephine. She served
as his dulce amor. But it was a sad ending, as we know, on the morning of 30 December 1896.

Yes, I believe, Josephine Bracken was José Rizal’s great love.

4. Isalaysay ang naging buhay ni Rizal sa Dapitan

- Dapitan is a remote town in Mindanao which was under the missionary jurisdiction of the Jesuits from 1892-1896.

-The steamer Cebu which brought Rizal to dapitan carried a letter from father Pablo Pastells Superior of the Jesuit Society
in the Philippines to Father Antonio Obach, Jesuit parish priest of Dapitan. In this letter, he informed Father Obach that
Rizal could live at the parish convent on the following conditions:

1. That Rizal publicly retract his errors concerning religion, and make statements that were clearly pro-Spanish and against
rebollution.

2. That he perform church rites and make a general confession of his past life.

3. That henceforth he conduct himself in an exemplary manner as a Spanish subject and a man of religion.

Rizal did not agree with these conditions because he was living in the house of the commandant Captain Carnicero. The
relationship between them was warm and friendly. He gave him complete freedom to go anywhere, reporting only once
a week at his office and permitted Rizal to ride his chestnut horse. He wrote a poem, Don Ricardo Carnicero on August 26,
1892 for the captain's birthday.

-September 21, 1892: the mail boat Butuan brought the lottery ticket no. 9736 jointly owned by Captain Carnicero, Dr.
Rizal, and Francisco Esquilor won the second price of 20,000 pesos. Rizal's share was P6,200. He gave 2,000 to his father
and 200 to his friend basa in Hong Kong.

- Rizal became involved in a quarrel with a French acquaintance in Dapitan, Mr. Juan Lardet, a businessman. This man
purchased many logs from the lands of Rizal but some of them has poor quality. He wrote a letter to Antonio Miranda
describing that if Rizal was a truthful man, he would have told him that the lumber not included in the account were bad.
Miranda forwarded this message to Rizal. And he was so mad that he confronted Lardet and challenged him to a duel.
When the commandant Carnicero heard of the incident, he told Lardet to apologize rather than accepting his duel because
rizal is an expert of martial arts, particulary lin fencing and pistol shooting. On March 30, 1893 Lardet wrote to Rizal in
French apologizing for the insulting comment.

- Rizal and father Sanchez: father Pastells tried hard to persuade Rizal to discard his errors to religion. He instructed two
Jesuits in Mindanao: Father Obach and Father Jose Vilaclara to bring back rizal to the Catholic fold. He also assigned father
Francisco de paula Sanchez, Rizal's favorite teacher in Ateneo de Manila, to Dapitan. Since his arrival, they wasted no time
and almost daily they carried theological arguments in a friendly manner. But Rizal could not be convinced. Despite his
failure on that part, he enjoyed Rizal's company. And Rizal gave him a precious manuscript: Estudios sobre la lengua tagala
(Studies on the Tagalog language) for his birthday---a Tagalog grammar which Rizal wrote and which he dedicated to his
beloved former teacher.

- Rizal's Encounter with the Friar's Spy. During the early days of November 1893, Rizal was living with his mother and
sisters: Narcisa and Trinidad at his house in Talisay, a km away from Dapitan. It was disturbed by a disturbing incident in
which involves a spy. With the assumed name of Pablo Mercado. He posed as a relative and secretly visited Rizal on
November 3. He showed a photo of Rizal and a pair of buttons with the initials P.M as evidence of his kinship with the
family. He offered his services as a confidential courier of Rizal's letters and writings for the patriots in Manila. Early the
next day, he sent him away. But he learned that P.M was still lurking in Dapitan and spreading things like he was a relative
of Rizal. Rizal became mad and ordered him to be arrested by talking to the successor of Captain Carnicero, Captain Juan
Sitges. Sitges then instructed Anastacio Adriano to investigate this relative and so the truth came out during the
investigation. His real name was Florencio Namanan, native of Cagayan de Misamis. Single and about 30 years old. He was
hired by recollect friars to a secret mission in dapitan and that was to spy on rizal's activities and filch certain letters and
writings of rizal which may incriminate him to to the revolutionary movement.

-Rizal practiced medicine in dapitan. He had many patients and most of them are poor so he gave them free medicine.
Some were rich who was able to pay for his surgical skills. Rizal's fame as physician particularly as an eye specialist spread
far and wide. He had many patients who came from different parts of the Philippines--- Luzon, Bohol, Cebu, Panay, Negros
and Mindanao. Even in Hong Kong.

-In dapitan, he applied his knowledge of engineering by constructing a system of waterworks in order to furnish clean
water to the townspeople. He also spent many months in draining the marshes that can cause Malaria. The 500 pesos an
English patient paid him was used to equip the town with lighting system. It was coconut oil lamps placed in the dark
streets of Dapitan. He remodeled the town plaza in order to enhance its beauty.

- in 1893 he established a school and it began from 3 pupils to 21 and they did not pay any tuition. He made them work in
his garden, fields, and construction projects in the community. Rizal taught them reading, writing, languages, geography,
history, mathematics (arithmetic and geometry), industrial works, nature study, morals, and gymnastics. He trained them
how to collect specimen of plants and animals, to love work and to behave like men. Formal classes are conducted
between 2 pm to 4pm. Outside class hours he encouraged his students to play games in order to strengthen their bodies.
They had gymnastics, boxing, wrestling, stone-throwing, swimming, arnis and boating.

-Rizal continued his artistic pursuits in dapitan. He made sketches of persons and things that attracted him. (dragon, frog
and beetle)

-Rizal introduced modern agriculture which he observed inEurope and America

-Rizal also engaged in business, in partnership with Ramon Carreon, he made ventures in fishing, copra and hemp
industries.

-January 1, 1895 h organized Cooperative Association of dapitan farmers

-Rizal invented unique cigarette lighter which he called sulpukan and a machine for making bricks.
5. Isalaysay ang paglilitis hanggang pagkamartir ni Rizal

- October 6, 1896, he was arrested from Barcelona to go back to the Philippines on board a ship: Colon.

-October 8: a friendly officer told rizal about the bloody revolution in the Philippines ans was blaming him for it.

-October 11: Rizal's diary was taken away and was critically scrutinized by the authorities. Nothing dangerous was found
on its contents and on November 2, it was returned to him.

-Dr. Antonio Ma Regidor and Sixto Lopez dispatched frantic telegrams to an English Lawyer named Hugh Fort to rescue
Rizal from the Spanish steamer when it reached Singapore by means of a writ of habeas corpus. But Chief Justics Loinel
Cox denied the writ on the grounf that the Colon was carrying Spanish troops to the Philippines and it is a warship of
foreign power, which under the international law was beyond the jurisdiction of the Singapore authorities.

-November 3: the Colon reached Manila. The Spanish authorities fished for evidence againsta Rizal. Many Filipino patriots
including Deodato Arellano, Dr. Pio Valenzuela, Moises Salvador, Jose Dizon, Domingo Franco, Temoteo Perez, and Pedro
Serrano Laktaw were brutally tortured to implicate Rizal. Paciano was arrested and cruelly tortured.

-November 20: the preliminary investigation began. Rizal appeared before the judge advocate, Colonel Francisco Olive.
He was subjected to five-day investigation. Two kinds of evidence were presented against Rizal. Documentary and
testimonial. The documentary evidence consisted fifteen exhibits:

1.A letter of Antonio Luna to Mariano Ponce dated Oct. 16, 1888 showing Rizal connection with the Filipino reform
campaign in Spain

2. A letter of Rizal to his family, dated, Madrid, August 20 1890 stating that the deportatations are good for they will
encourage people hating tyranny.

3. A letter from MH Del Pilar to Deodato Arellano, dated madrid, January 7, 1889 implicating Rizal in the Propaganda
campaign in Spain

4. A poem entitled Kundiman, allegedly written by Rizal in Manila on September 12, 1891.

5. 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.

6. A Masonic document, dated Manila, February 9, 1892, honoring Rizal for his patriotic services.

7. A letter signed Dimasalang to Ten luz dated Hong Kong, may 24, 1892 stating that he was preparing a safe refuge for
Filipinos who may be persecuted by the Spanish authorities.

- Testimonial evidence 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
Quizon, and Timoteo Paez.

- November 26, Colonel Olive transferred the case to General Ramon Blanco. The letter appointed Captain Rafael
Dominguez as special Judge Advocate to institute corresponding section against Rizal. He made a brief resume on the
charges and gave them back to Blanco where he transmitted them to Judge Advocate General Don Nicola de la Pena for
an opinion. Pena has recommended:

 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 for an amount of one million pesos
 4. He should be defended in the court by an army officer not a civilian lawyer
-Rizal chooses his defender as his only right given to him by the Spanish. But it was restricted because he has to choose
from the list submitted to him. December 8, 100 list was sent to him. The first and second lieutenants in the Spanish army.
He chose Don Luis Taviel de Andrade, the brother of Lt. Jose Taviel de Andrade.
-December 11 the information of charges was formally read to Rizal in his prison cell. He was accused 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."
- December 13 General Camilo de Polavieja succeeded General Blanco as Governor General of the Philippines. Decreasing
the chance of Rizal to be freed for polavieja was ruthless than Blanco. It became one of the most "ifs" in history
-December 15, rizal wrote manifesto in his prison cell at Fort Santiago for his people to stop unnecessary shedding of
blood and achieve their liberties by means of education and industry. But Dela Pena recommended to Polavieja to
suppress the manifesto,thus Rizal was saved from shame of being misinterpreted and disobeyed by Filipinos in arms.
-December 25, Rizal had his saddest Christmas.
-The trial of Rizal was an eloquent proof of Spanish injustice and misrule. He was tried by a military court not to give him
justice but to condemn and accuse him, his case was prejudged: he was considered guilty before the actual trial. Rizal was
not given the rights to face the witnesses against him in open court.
 December 26, 8:00 am the court-martial of Rizal started in the military building called Cuartel de Espana. Seated
behing the long elevated dais were the seven members of military court: Lt. Col. Jose Togores Arjona, Capt. Ricardo
Munoz Arias, Capt. Manuel Reguera, Capt. Santiago Izquierdo Osorio, Capt. Braulio Rodriguez Nunez, Capt.
Manuel Diaz Escribano, Capt. Fermin Perez Rodriguez.
 Also present: Dr. Rizal and his defense counsel, Lt. Andrade, Capt. Rafael Dominguez (Judge Advocate) Lt. Enrique
de Alcocer (Prosecuting Attorney). Among the spectators were Josephine Bracken, some newspapermen and
many Spaniards
 Rizal sat on abench between two soldiers. His arms tied behind, elbow to elbow
 The trial as opened by Dominguez who explained the case against Rizal. After him, Alcocer arose abd delivered a
long speech summarizing the charges against Rizal. He urged the court to give the verdict of death to the accused.
 Defense Counsel Andrade read hid defense of Rizal, ending it with words "the judges cannot be vindictive, the
judges can only be just."
 Twelve points of Rizal's innocence:
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 was he not consulted by the revolutionists?
6. It was true that he wrote the laws of La Liga Filipina but only for civic-association not a revolutionary society
7. The La Liga Filipina did not live long for after the first meeting, he was banished to Dapitan
8. If the Liga was reorganized after nin months, he did not know about it
9. The Liga did not serve the purpose of the revolutionists, otherwise they would not have supplanted it with the
Katipunan
10. If it were true that there are bitter comments in Rizal's letters, it was because they were written in 1890 when
his family was persecuted , being dispossessed of houses, warehouses, lands, etc. and his brother and all his
brother-in-law were deported
11. His life in Dapitan has been exemplary as the politico-military commanders and missionary priests who could
attest
12. It was not true that 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 sent 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 court remained indifferent to Rizal's pleading. The president Arjona considered the trial over and ordered the
hall cleared. After a short deliberation, the military court anonymously voted for the sentence of death. On the
same day, the court decision was submitted to Polavieja and he sought the opinion of de la Pena. The latter
affirmed the death verdict
-December 28, Polavieja approved the decision of the court-martial and ordered Rizal to be shot at 7:00 in the morning of
December 30 at Bagumbayan Field.
-During his last 24 hours, Rizal was busy meeting visitor.
 December 29 6:00 am: Dominguez bas designated by Polavieja to take charge of all arrangement for the execution
of the prisoner and read his death sentence
 7:00 am after reading the death sentence to Rizal, he was moved to the prison chapel, where he spent his last
moments. His first visitors: Father Miguel Saderra Mata,(Rector of Ateneo Municipal) Father Luis Viza (Jesuit
teacher)
 7:15 am Father Mata left and Rizal reminded Father Viza of the statuette of the Sacred Heart of Jesus which he
had carved with his pen knife as an Ataneo student. Viza anticipated this so he gave the statuette to Rizal and the
hero placed it on his writing table.
 8:00 am Fr. Antonio Rosell arrived they joined in breakfast. After that, Lt. Luis Andrade came and Rizal thanked
him for his services
 9:00 am Father Federico Faura arrived and rizal reminded him about what he said that someday he would lose his
head for writing the Noli.
 10:00 am Father Jose Vilaclara and Vicente Balaguer visited. After them came the Spanish journalist Santiago
Mataix, who interviewed Rizal for his newspaper El Heraldo de Madrid
 12:00 am to 3:30 pm Rizal was left alone in his cell. It was probably during this time that he finished his farewell
poem and hid it inside his alcohol cooking stove which was given to him as a gift by Paz Pardo de Tavera (wife of
Juan Luna) during his visit to Paris in 1890. He also wrote his last letter to Professor Blumentritt in German
 3:30 pm Father Balaguer returned
 4:00 pm his mother arrived. Afterwards Trinidad arrived and Rizal gave her the alcohol cooking stove. After their
departure, Father Vilaclara and Estanislao March entered the cell followed by Father Rosell.
 6:00 pm Don Silvino Lopez Tunon, the Dean of Manila Cathedral arrived
 8:00 pm, Rizal ate his last supper, informing Dominguez that he forgave his enemies
 9:30 pm Rizal was visited by Don Gaspar Cestano, fiscal of Royal Audiencia of Manila
 December 30, 3:00 am Rizal heard Mass, confessed his sins and took Holy Communion
 5:30 am he took his last breakfast on Earth. He wrote two letters. One for his family anf the other one for Paciano.
Josephine arrived with Josefa. Rizal gave him a gift: a religious book, Imitation of Christ by Father Thomas a Kempis
which he autographed: To my dear unhappy wife, Josephine
 6:00 am, as the soldiers were getting ready for the death march to Bagumbayan, rizal wrote his last letter to his
beloved parents
-Deathmarch to Bagumbayan:
 6:30 am, a trumpet sounded at Fort Santiago. A few meters behind the four advanced soldiers, rizal walked calmly
with Lt. Luis Andrade and Father March and Vilaclara
 He was dressed in a black suit, black derby hat, black shoes, white shirt and black tie. His arms were tied from
elbow to elbow but quiet loose to give his arms freedom to movement.
 From Fort Santiago to Plaza del Palacio in front of Manila Cathedral. Going through the narrow Postigo Gate, the
calcavade reached the Malecon (Bonifacio Drive) which was deserted. They also passed Ateneo and they reached
Bagumbayan Field. He bade farewell to Father March and Vilaclara, one of the priests blessed him and offered
him a crucifix to kiss. Lt. Luis clasped their hands on parting. He requested the commander of the firing squad that
he be shot facing the firing squad but it was denied because the captain had orders to shoot him in the back.
 A Spanish military physician Dr. Felipe Ruiz Castillo asked permission to feel his pulse and was surprised to find it
normal.
 At the shout of "Fire" the guns barked and Rizal with supreme efforts, turned his body to the right and fell to the
ground dead with face upward facing the morning sun.
 At exactly 7:03 that morning, he died. At the age of 35, five months and 11 days.