Rizal’s Life, Works and Writing

Chapter 10 – Rizal’s First Homecoming (1887-1888)

 The following are some of the
reasons as to why:

Prior to 1. Financial difficulties in

Homecoming
As early as 1884, Rizal already
had the notions to return back to
the Philippines.
Calamba;
2. Dissatisfaction with his studies
in Madrid;
3. Desire to prove that there is no
reason to fear going home;
4. His belief that the Spanish
regime will not punish the
innocent.
Prior to Homecoming...
However, because of the
publication of the Noli Me
Tangere and the uproar it
caused among the friars, Rizal
was warned by his family and
friends.
1. Paciano Mercado – his only
brother and adviser;
2. Silvestre Ubaldo – his
brother-in-law; Olympia’s
husband;
3. Jose M. Cecilio (Chengoy) –
one of his closest friend.
Decision to Return Home.

1. To operate on his mother’s eyes;

2. To serve his people who had long been oppressed by Spanish tyrants;

3. To find out for himself how Noli and his other writings were affecting Filipinos

and Spaniards in the Philippines and;

4. To inquire why Leonor Rivera remained silent.


A Letter to
Blumentritt...
A letter written by Rizal to
Blumentritt. It was written in
Geneva on June 19, 1887.
“Your advice that I live in Madrid
and continue to write from there is
very benevolent but I cannot accept
it. I cannot endure the life in Madrid
where everything is a voice in the
wilderness. My parents want to see
me and I want to see them also. All
my life I desire to live in my country
by the side of my family. Until now I
am not Europeanized like the
Filipinos of Madrid. I always like to
return to the country of my birth.”
A Letter to His
"On the 15th of July, at the latest, I
Father... shall embark for our country, so that
from the 15th to the 30th of August,
On June 29, 1887, Rizal wrote we shall see each other."
to his father while he was in
Rome to announce his
homecoming.
Delightful Trip to Manila
● Rizal left Rome by train to Marseilles, a
French port and boarded Djemnah, the
same steamer that brought him to Europe
five years ago.
● There were 50 passengers: 4 Englishmen,
2 Germans, 3 Chinese, 2 Japanese, 40
Frenchmen, and 1 Filipino (Rizal)
● In Saigon (Ho Chi Minh), Vietnam – he
transferred to another steamer, Haiphong,
that brought him to Manila.
Trivia:
● Rizal rode the Djemnah again on July 3,
1887
● Rizal saw Suez Canal again on his ride back
to Manila.
● During the his ride back on the Djemnah,
Rizal acted as the interpreter as he was the
only one who can speak multiple languages.
● After leaving Aden, Rizal’s books got wet
due to the rough weather.
● It was on July 30 that Rizal transferred over
to the Haiphong. However, the steamer only
left for Manila on August 2.

Arrival in Manila
Rizal had a pleasant journey on
board the Haiphong. In fact,
on August 3rd, he slept
soundly the whole night
while the moon was full.
● On August 5, Rizal arrived at
Manila onboard the Haiphong.
● He stayed on the city for some
time to visit some friends.
● Rizal found the city the same
as when he left.
 “I had a pleasant voyage. I found
A Letter to my family enjoying good health and
Blumentritt... our happiness was great in seeing
each other again. They shed tears
of joy and I had to answer ten
A letter written by Rizal to thousand questions at the same
Blumentritt about his time.”
homecoming.
 Happy
Homecoming
It was on August 8th when Rizal
returned to Calamba,
Laguna and was welcomed
affectionately and was
greeted with tears of joy.
Most worthy of note during his stay
in Calamba were:
● Established a clinic;
● Opened a gymnasium and
introduced European sports;
● Failed to see Leonor Rivera.
Happy Homecoming: Trivia I
● During his first few days in Calamba,
Paciano stayed with Rizal lest the
enemies attack him.
● Don Francisco Mercado did not allow
Rizal to leave alone whenever he goes out
in fear that something might happen to
him.
● Rizal’s first patient upon opening the Clinic
was his mother. However, while he did
treat her eyes, he could not perform any
surgeries as the cataracts were not yet
ripe.
● Rizal acquired the moniker ‘Doctor Uliman’
from his patients as he came from
Germany.
● Rizal charged reasonable fees from his
treatments and even waived the fee for the
poor.
● For the first few months, he earned 900
pesos and by February 1888, the sum was
5,000 pesos.
● The money he earned from being a
physician was used to build the
gymnasium.
Happy Homecoming: Trivia II
● In the gymnasium for young folks, Rizal
tried to interest his fellow townsmen with
fencing and shooting to discourage them
from cockfighting and gambling.
● Rizal painted several landscape paintings
and translated the German poems of Von
Wildernath into Tagalog.

● Leonora Rivera’s mother did not like him

as a son-in-law and as a result, Rizal’s
parents forbade him from going to
Dagupan to see Leonora Rivera.

● With a heavy heart, Rizal acquiesed to his

parent’s wish and the failure to see
Leonora Rivera became the one failure
during his six month sojourn in Calamba.

Storm over the
Noli
While Rizal was staying in
Calamba, his enemies were
busy plotting to bring him
down.
Governor General Emilio Terrero – wrote
to Rizal requesting to come to Malacañang
Palace.
– Somebody had whispered to his ear
that the Noli contains subversive ideas.
– Rizal explained to him that he merely
exposed the truth, but did not advocate
subversive ideas.
– He was pleased by Rizal’s
explanation and curious about the
book, he asked for a copy of the novel.
Storm over the Noli: Visit to the Jesuits
Rizal visited the Jesuit fathers to ask for a Don Jose Taviel de Andrade – a young
copy of the novel and he was gladly welcomed Spanish lieutenant who came from a noble
by the friars especially his for professors: family.

– Fr. Francisco de Paula Sanchez ○ He was cultured and knew painting

– Fr. Jose Bech ○ Hee could speak French, English

and Spanish.
– Fr. Federico Faura – told Rizal that
everything in the novel was the truth and ○ Assigned to guard Rizal
warned him that he may lose his head
because of it.
Storm over the Noli: Enemies of the Noli
Msgr. Pedro Payo – a Dominican Manila
Archbishop
Father Rector Gregorio Echavarria – had the
committee examine the Noli and sent a report to
the governor general:
“Heretical, impious, and scandalous in the
religious order and anti-patriotic, subversive of
public order, injurious to the government of
Spain and its function in the Philippine Island
and in the political order”
Permanent Commission of Censorship –
headed by Father Salvador Font an Agustinian
cura of Tondo. In the report he sent to the
governor general, he stated the following:
“that the importation, reproduction and
circulation of this pernicious book in the
islands be absolutely prohibited”
Effect of the banning of Noli:
1. Only served to make it popular
2. Read the Noli behind closed doors despite
of the prohibition.
Attackers of the
Noli “The battle over the Noli took
the form of virulent war of
words.”
Rizal’s enemies are mainly friars
which are powerful and have
high positions in various sectors
of the government and
community.
Attackers of the Noli
Father Salvador Font – printed his report and
distributed copies to discredit the controversial
novel.
Father Jose Rodriguez – published a series of
eight pamphlets under Cuestiones de Sumo
Interest (Questions of Supreme Interest) to blast
the Noli and other anti-Spanish writings.
1. Porques no los he de leer? (Why Should I not
Read Them?)
2. Guardaos de ellos. Porque? (Beware of
Them. Why?)
3. Y_que me dice usted de la peste? (And What
Can You Tell Me of Plague?)
4. Porque triunfan los impios? (Why Do the
Impious Triumph?)
5. Cree usted que de veras no hay purgatorio?
(Do You Think There Is Really No Purgatory?)
6. Hay o no hay infierno? (Is There or Is There
No Hell?)
7. Confesion o condenacion? (Confession or
Damnation?)
Fray Rodriguez – wrote the anti-Rizal
pamphletes that were sold after the mass.
Attackers of the Noli: Noli Me Tangere in Spain
The storm over the Noli in the Philippines
eventually reached Spain. The novel was
fiercely attacked in the session hall of the
Senate of the Spanish Cortes.
● Senators who attacked the Noli
➢ Gen. Jose Salmanca on April 1,
1888
➢ Gen. Luis M. Pando on April 12
➢ Sr. Fernando Vida on June 11
Vicente Barrantes – a spanish academician
of Madrid.
● Bitterly criticized the Noli in an article
published in La Espana Moderna on
January 1890.
● Previously occupied high
government positions in the
Philippines.
 Defenders of The much-maligned Noli had its

the Noli gallant defenders who fearlessly

came out to prove the merits of the
novel or to refute the arguments of
The Noli Me Tangere did not the unkind attackers.
remain undefended for long as
many friends of Rizal came to
his and his novel’sdefense.
Defenders of the Noli
There were many Filipino reformists from foreign Professor Miguel Morayta – historian and
lands that rushed to uphold the truths of Noli. statesman
Among them were:
● Marcelo H. del Pilar Professor Ferdinand Blumentritt – Rizal’s
● Dr. Antonio Ma. Regidor, best friend; a scholar and educator; read and
● Graciano Lopez Jaena liked the novel.
● Mariano Ponce
Reverend Vicente Garcia – a Filipino Catholic
Father Francisco de Paula Sanchez – Rizal’s priest-scholar, a theologian of the Manila
favorite teacher in Ateneo defended and praised Cathedral. Tagalog translator of the famous
the novel in public. Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis.

Don Segismundo Moret – former Minister of

the Crown
Defenders of the Noli
Rev. Garcia, under the penname Justo
Desiderio Magalang blasted the arguments of
Fr. Rodriguez in a published pamphlet as an
appendix in Singapore dated July 18, 1888.
It stated:
1. Rizal cannot be an “ignorant man”.
2. Rizal did not attack the Church and Spain.
3. Fr. Rodriguez said that those who read the
Noli commit a mortal sin; since he had read the
novel, therefore he also commits a mortal sin.
Trivia:
● Rizal cried because of his gratitude to his
defenders especially to Father Garcia who
defended him unexpectedly.
● Rizal defended himself against Barantes’
attack, in a letter written in Brussels,
Belgium, in February 1880. In this letter,
he exposed Barantes’ ignorance of
Philippine affairs and mental dishonesty
which is unworthy of an academician.
● According to Rizal, in a letter to Fernando
Canon from Geneva, June 13, 1887, the
price he set per copy was five pesetas (=
1 peso) but the price rose to 50 pesos per
copy.

Rizal and
Taviel de Andrade
While the storm over noli was
raging in fury, Rizal remained
safe at Calamba
“Rizal was refined, educated, and
gentlemanly. The hobbies that most
interested him were hunting, fencing,
shooting, painting, and hiking… I will
remember our excursions to Mt. Makiling,
not so much for the beautiful view… as for
the rumors and the pernicious effects that
results from it. There was one who
believed and reported to Manila that Rizal
and I, at the top of the mountain, hoisted
yhe German flag and proclaimed
sovereignty over the Philippines. I
imagined such nonsense emanated from
the friars of Calamba, but did not take the
trouble to make inquiries of the matter.”
Rizal and Taviel de Andrade
During his days in Calamba, Rizal and Lt. Jose However, Rizal’s happy days in Calamba did not
Taviel de Andrade’s friendship bloomed. remain unmarred:

The two enjoyed: 1. The death of Olimpia Mercado-Ubaldo

1. Walking tours of the verdant countrysides; 2. The groundless tales circulated by his
2. Discussed topics of common interests; enemies that he was:
3. Fencing; ○ A German spy
4. Shooting; ○ An agent of Otto von Bismarck – the
liberator of Germany
5. Hunting;
○ A Protestant
6. Painting. ○ A Mason
○ A witch
○ A soul beyond salvation
○ End of Thinking Capacity.
 Calamba’s
Agrarian
Troubles
Rizal and his family's troubles
due to the friars and officials
against him only began to grow
as the storm over the Noli raged
on.
Influenced by the issues raised in
Noli Me Tangere, Governor General
Terrero ordered a government
investigation on the friar owned
lands to remedy whatever inequities
might have been present in
connection with land taxes and with
tenant relations.
Calamba’s Agrarian Troubles
● One of the friar estates affected was the
Calamba Hacienda which the Dominican
Order owned since 1883;
● In compliance with the governor general’s
orders, dated December 30, 1887, the
Civil Governor of Laguna Province
directed the municipal authorities of
Calamba to investigate the agrarian
conditions of their locality.
● The people of Calamba asked Rizal for
helpto gather facts and list their
greivances.
Findings of Rizal which the tenants and three
officials signed January 8, 1888:
1. The Dominicans owned the town of Calamba;
2. Arbitrary increase of land rentals;
3. Owners never contributed for the celebration
of the town fiests, education of the children, and
improvement of agriculture;
4. Tenants were dispossessed of lands for
flimsy grounds;
5. High rates were collected.
 Farewell to
Calamba
Despite his courage and
fearlessnes in the face of death,
this time Rizal had to go.
The Friars reaction were varied,
ranging from death threats and
deportation due to the anger they
felt from Rizal’s exposure of the
deplorable condition of the tenancy.
Farewell to Calamba
While Governor General Terrero refused to do
any action against Rizal because of the lack of
valid charge in court, the former still “advised”
Rizal to leave the Philippines for his own good.
Governor General Terrero was not alone in this
sentiment. In fact many had advised him to
leave. They were:
● Rizal’s parents
● Friends (including Lt. Taviel de Andrade)
● Siblings
However, while Rizal was not in fear for his life,
he still felt compelled to leave Calamba for two
reasons:
1. His presence in Calamba was jeopardizing
the safety and happiness of his family and
friends;
2. He could fight better and serve his
country’s cause by writing in foreign
countries.
On, February 3, 1888, Rizal left the country with
a heavy heart. But this was for his own good
and the safety of his family and friends.

A Poem for Lipa
Shortly before Rizal left in 1888, a
friend asked him to write a poem in
commemoration of the town’s
evelation to a villa (city) by the
virtue of Becerra Law of 1888.

A hymn for the industrious Rizal gladly wrote a poem in

people of Lipa dedication to the industrious folks of
Lipa. It was entitled “Himno Al
Trabajo” (Hymn to Labor).
 Fin.
Thank You and Have a Nice Evening!