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