LaWoR exile, trial and death

• Exile


  The state of being barred from one's native country, typically for political or punitive reasons
• Trial


  A formal examination of evidence before a judge, and typically before a jury, in order to decide guilt in a case of criminal or civil proceedings
• Death


  The permanent end of the life of a person or organism
• Rizal


  A Filipino polymath, nationalist and the most prominent advocate for reforms in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era
• Exile of Rizal


  1. Beginning of exile

  2. Roles of Rizal (1893-1896)

  3. Wins lottery

  4. Debate on religion

  5. Idylic life

  6. Community projects in Dapitan

  7. Artistic works, writings, and inventions

  8. Contribution to science

  9. Rizal and the Katipunan
• Last trip abroad and homecoming


  1. Last trip abroad

  2. Last homecoming
• The steamer 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
• Pastells wanted Rizal to publicly retract his errors concerning religion, make statements that were clearly pro-Spanish and against revolution, perform the church rites and make a general confession of his past life, and conduct himself in an exemplary manner as a Spanish subject and a man of religion
• Rizal's roles in Dapitan (1893-1896)


  • Established a school for boys
  • Adapted the education system of Ateneo
  • Engaged in fishing, copra, and hemp businesses
  • Sent letters and had business partnerships
  • His mother and sister Maria arrived in Dapitan
  • Travelled to nearby islands
  • Introduced modern methods of agriculture
  • Worked as a teacher, physician, businessman, and farmer
• Rizal won the second prize of P20,000 in the government-owned Manila Lottery
• Rizal had a long and scholarly debate with Father Pastells on religion during his exile in Dapitan
• Rizal had a duel with Antonio Miranda, a merchant friend, over a dispute about lumber
• Rizal's idylic life in Dapitan

  • Built his house by the seashore of Talisay, surrounded by fruit trees
  • Had another house for his school boys and a hospital for his patients
• Rizal was spied on by Pablo Merchado (Florencio Namanan), Capitan Juan Sitges, Anastacio Adriatico, and Governor General Ramon Blanco
• Rizal undertook community projects in Dapitan such as lighting system, water system, cleaning drainage system, beautification of Dapitan, school, and hospital
• Rizal produced artistic works, writings, and inventions such as The Mother's Revenge, The Dapitan Girl, wood carving of his wife, bust of St. Paul, Himno A Talisay, Estudios Sobre La Lengua Tagala, A Don Ricardo Carnicero, Sulpukan, My Retreat, and a machine for making bricks
• Rizal contributed to science during his exile in Dapitan
• Andres Bonifacio and the Katipunan raised the cry of revolution in the hills of Balintawak on August 26, 1896
• Rizal was worried about the raging hostilities and left for Spain on September 3, 1896
• Rizal's last trip abroad and homecoming

  1. Anchored at Dumaguete, Cebu, Iloilo, Capiz

  2. Missed the ship going to Spain (Isla de Luzon)

  3. Transferred to the Spanish cruiser Castilla

  4. Met Enrique Santalo

  5. Fray Mariano Gil discovered the plan to overthrow Spanish rule

  6. Attacked San Juan

  7. Proclamation of war in Manila and nearby provinces

  8. Left Singapore

  9. Arrived in Barcelona as a prisoner

  10. Transferred to the prison-fortress of Monjuich
• Rizal's homecoming in 1896 was his saddest return to his beloved native land as he knew he was facing the supreme test, which might mean the sacrifice of his life
• Two kinds of evidence were presented against Rizal: documentary and testimonial
• Documentary evidence presented 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 7, 1889, implicating Rizal in the Propaganda campaign in Spain
  • 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
  • A letter signed Dimasalang (Rizal's pseudonym) to Tenluz (Juan Zulueta's pseudonym), dated Hong Kong, May 24, 1892, stating Rizal's involvement in the revolution
• Rizal was transferred to Fort Santiago


  1896
• Preliminary investigation begun


  11/03
• Studying of papers by Pena

  11/20
• Two kinds of evidence were presented against Rizal, namely documentary and testimonial


  11/26
• Documentary evidence


  • 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 7, 1889, implicating Rizal in the Propaganda campaign in Spain
  • 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
  • A letter signed Dimasalang (Rizal's pseudonym) to Tenluz (Juan Zulueta's pseudonym), dated Hong Kong, May 24, 1892, stating that he was preparing a safe refuge for Filipinos who may be persecuted by the Spanish authorities
  • A letter of Dimasalang to an unidentified committee, dated Hong Kong, June 1, 1892, soliciting the aid of the committee in the "patriotic work"
  • An anonymous and undated letter to the Editor of the Hong Kong Telegraph, censuring the banishment of Rizal to Dapitan
  • A letter of Ildefonso Laurel to Rizal, dated Manila, September 3, 1892, saying that the Filipino people look up to him (Rizal) as their savior
  • A letter of Ildefonso Laurel to Rizal, dated Manila, 17, 1893, informing an unidentified correspondent of the arrest and banishment of Doroteo Cortes and Ambrosio Salvador
  • A letter of Marcelo H. del Pilar to Don Juan A. Tenluz (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
  • Transcript of a speech of Pingkian (Emilio Jacinto), in a reunion of the Katipunan only 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, where in 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
• Dr. Pio Valenzuela, Antonioz Salazar, Francisco Quison, and Timoteo Paez were the accused
• Rizal chose his defender Don Luis Taviel de Andrade, brother of Lt. Jose Taviel de Andrade


  1896
• Reading of Information of Charges to the Accused

  12/08
• Dominguez forwarded the papers of the Rizal case to Malacanan Palace


  12/11
• General de Polavieja became successor of General Blanco


  12/13
• Rizal's Manifesto to His People

  12/15
• Rizal's Saddest Christmas


  12/25
• Trial and Verdict


  12/26
• Trial


  1. Judge Advocate Dominguez explained the case against Rizal

  2. Prosecuting Attorney Alcocer delivered a long speech summarizing the charges against Rizal and urged the court to give the verdict of death

  3. Defense Counsel Taviel de Andrade read his eloquent defense to Rizal
• The Spanish spectators applauded noisily Alcocer's petition for the sentence of death
• Taviel de Andrade ended his defense with a noble, but futile, admonition to the members of the military: 'The judges cannot be vindictive; the judges can only be just'
• 12 points presented by Rizal

  • 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 revolutionist 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 built a home, a hospital, and bought lands in Dapitan
  • If he were the chief of the revolution, why was he not consulted by the revolutionist?
  • It was true he wrote the by-laws of the Liga Filipina, but this is only civic association –not a revolutionary society
  • The 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 nine months later, he did not know about it
  • The Liga did not serve the purpose of the revolutionist, 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, warehouse, lands, etc. and his brother and all his brothers-in-law deported
  • His life in Dapitan had been exemplary as the politico-military commanders and missionary priest 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 would never sanction any violent movement