HIS TRIAL AND EXECUTION

Rizal left Barcelona for his return trip to the Philippines, on October 6, 1886 to face his trial. It was
probably the saddest moments in his life, seeing the clouds of doom hovering over his head. No one can
really fathom his feelings nor describe his emotions knowing what was to come and what was to happen,
that he felt an impulse to record all the events in his diary.

He wrote that the “officer of the day seemed amiable, refined and polite, consistent with the seriousness
of his duty,” while on board the ship, fellow passengers did nothing but “slander me and invest fanciful
stories about me. I am going to become a legendary personage,” because as he was informed later by a
friendly officer, Madrid newspapers were full of publications concerning his so-called leadership in the
bloody revolution. He then felt that God was doing me a blessing, allowing to go back to the Philippines
to be able to destroy such accusations.”

Knowing that Rizal was keeping a diary, the Spanish Authorities curious about what was writing about
confiscated it. However, they could find nothing incriminating in it that it was returned after nineteen
days, the reason why Rizal’s diary does not contain entries from October 11 to November 1. In his
November 2 entry in the diary, he revealed that they did not just confiscate the diary, but also searched
his baggage’s and personal belongings. They then placed him behind bars and was not taken out until
they reached the Red Sea, and that in Singapore, they put him in handcuffs. The Spanish authorities on
board the ship were taking extreme precaution of possible rescue and escape of the prisoner.

Failed Rescue in Singapore

The Spanish Authorities on board the ship were right to exercise extreme vigilance over their prisoner.
Friends in Europe and Singapore did try to rescue him. Dr. Antonio Ma. Regidor and Sixto Lopez sent
telegrams to an English lawyer, Hugh Fort to rescue Rizal from the Spanish steamer when it arrives in
Singapore using a legal strategy, the use of the writ of habeas corpus, alleging that Rizal was illegally
detained by the Spanish Authorities. Unfortunately. The writ was denied by the Chief Justice Lionel Cox,
on the ground that it was a warship of foreign power carrying troops to the Philippines under
international law, the ship was therefore beyond the jurisdiction of the civil courts. Rizal never knew of
this contemplated rescue plan, since he was behind bars.

To successfully convict Rizal, his enemies gathered evidence against him by having his friends arrested
and tortured to implicate him, among these were Dr. Pio Valenzuela, Moises Salvador, Jose Dizon,
Timoteo Paez, Pedro Serrano Laktaw, Domingo Paez, and Rizal’s own brother, Paciano. His brother
suffered most, with his body broken over torture rack and his left hand crushed with the screw, but like a
hero, his spirit never gave in and remained unbroken.

Preliminary Investigation

The preliminary investigation that followed constituted a five-day grueling, of being informed of the
charges, questioning by the judge advocate. But he was deprived of his right to confront those who
testified against him, but was confronted with both documentary and testimonial evidences. The
following documents serve as the basis for the charges by the prosecution (71):

1. A letter of Antonio Luna to Mariano Ponce in Madrid dated October 16, 1888, showing Rizal’s
connection with the Filipino reform campaign in Spain.
 2. Rizal’s letter to his family, dated Madrid, August 20, 1890 stating that the deportations are
good for they will encourage the people to hate tyranny.
3. A letter from Marcelo H. del Pilar to Deodato Arellano, dated January 7, 1889, implicating
Rizal in the Propaganda campaign in Spain.
4. A poem entitled “Kundiman,” allegedly written by Rizal in Manila, Dated September 12,
1891, which contained the lines;

…She is a slave oppressed

5. A letter of Carlos Oliveros to an unidentified person, Barcelona, dated September 18, 1891,
describing Rizal as the man to free the Philippines from Spanish oppression,
6. A Masonic document, Manila, dated February 9, 1892, honoring Rizal for his patriotic
services.
7. A letter signed Dimasalang (Rizal’s pseudonym) to Tenluz (Juan Zulueta’s pseudonym),
Hongkong, dated May 14,1892, stating that he was preparing a safe refuge for Filipinos who
may be persecuted by the Spanish authorities.
8. A letter of Dimasalang to an unidentified committee, Hong Kong, dated June 1, 1892,
soliciting the aid of the committee in the “patriotic work.”
9. An anonymous and undated letter to the editor of the Hong Kong Telegraph, censuring the
banishment of Rizal to Dapitan.
10. A letter of Ildefonso Laurel to Rizal, Manila, dated September 3, 1892, saying that the Filipino
people look up to him (Rizal) as their savior.
11. A letter of Ildefonso Laurel to Rizal, Manila, dated March 17, 1893, informing him of an
unidentified correspondent of the arrest and banishment of Doroteo Cortes and Ambrosio
Salvador.
12. A letter of Marcelo H. Del Pilar to Don Juan Tenluz (Juan Zulueta), Madrid, dated June 1,
1893, recommending the establishment of a special organization, independent of Masonry, to
help the cause of the Filipino people.
13. Transcript of a speech of Pingkian (Emilio Jacinto), in a reunion of the Katipuan on July
23,1893, in which the following cry was uttered “Long live the Philippines! Long live liberty!
Long live Doctor Rizal! Unity
14. Transcript of a speech of Tik-tik (jose Turiano Santiago) in the same Katipuan reunion,
wherein the Katipuneros shouted: “Long live the eminent Doctor Rizal! Death to the
oppressor nation!”
15. A poem by Laong Laan (Rizal) entitled “A Talisay” in which the author makes the Dapitan
school boys sing that they know how to fight for their rights.

There were testimonial evidences presented allegediy given by Martin Constantino, Aguedo del Rosario,
Jose Reyes, Moises Salvador, Dr. Pio Valenzuela, Timoteo Paez, Antonio Salazar, Francisco Quizon,
Domingo Franco, Jose Dizon, and Deodato Arellano not made in the presence of Rizal. But it must be
recalled that some of these persons were tortured brutally to implicate him. The oral testimonies could
have been forced and therefore fabricated, or they could have deliberately been misconstrued the
testimonies of these other patriots.
On November 26, the preliminary investigation was finished and the records were transmitted to
Governor Ramon Blanco by Colonel Olive, together with the appointment of Captain Rafael Dominguez as
special Judge Advocate for the resolution of the case based on “evidences” presented for the filing of
charges, which the letter immediately did. Governor Ramon Blanco referred the matter to the Judge
Advocate General were the following:

1. That Rizal be immediately brought to trial;

On December 8, a list of 100 first and second lieutenants was given to him from which the name of his
defense lawyer would come from. After looking over the names, there was one which caught his interest,
and the officer was Don Luis Taviel De Andrade, a First Lieutenant of the Artillery who gladly accepted
the assignment. It was found out later, that the reason why such name was familiar was because, he
was the brother of Lt. Jose Taviel de Andrade, Rizal’s former “bodyguard” in Calamba in 1887. The
Lieutenant had previously heard about Rizal from his brother.

On December 11, Rizal was informed of the charges against him, particularly of rebellion in his prison
cell, in the presence of his counsel. He did not object to the Court’s jurisdiction, but pleaded not guilty to
the charge of rebellion and although he admitted that he wrote the Constitution of the Liga Filipina, the
association was a civic one. He further waived his right to amend or make further statements other than
those already made and affirmed the statements that he had made except that he had not indulged in
politics since his exile in Dapitan.

As fate would have it, Governor Blanco, the more humane person, who was not convinced of Rizal’s guilt,
was replaced by Governor Polavieja, “the blood and iron governor,” who later signed the order of his
execution.

On December 15, 1896, Rizal wrote a manifesto the Filipino people, appealing to them to stop the
unnecessary shedding of blood and to achieve their liberties by more peaceful means, through education
and industry.

The manifesto was not issued to the public by Governor General Polavieja, upon the advice of Judge
advocate General Nicolas Dela Peña for it would be contradict the evidences that they had of him.

December 25,1896 was the saddest Christmas Rizal spent in his whole life, alone in his cell, aware that
his case was a hopeless one, nevertheless, managed to write to his defender a letter (72):

Fort Santiago, December 25, 1896

My Very Distinguished Defender,

The investigating Judge has informed me that tomorrow my case will be heard before the court.
I was waiting for you this morning to tell you of an important matter but undoubtedly the
pressure of your work did not permit you to come as expected by the investigating Judge. If you
 have time, I should like to speak to you, before I appear before the court; I shall be grateful if
you come this afternoon, this evening or tomorrow.

Wishing you “Merry Christmas.” I reiterate, always your attentive and affectionate servant and
client.

Jose Rizal

There is no record that this defense counsel came to see him as he requested, but it can be surmised
that he might have been prevented from coming.

The Trial

The trial of Jose Rizal “was an eloquent proof of Spaniards injustice and misrule. More than a farce, it
was patently a mistrial.” His case was prejudged by a military court, in spite of his being a civilian, with
all evidences of the prosecution accepted, but for the defense, ignored. He was deprived of his right to
confront the witnesses against him.

At 8:00 A.M., December 26, 1896, the court martial of Rizal started in the military of Building called
Cuartel de España, with seven member namely: Lt. Col. Jose Togores Arjona (President), Capt. Ricardo
Munoz Arias, Capt. Manuel Reguerro, Izquierdo Osorio, Capt. Braulio Rodriguez Nunez, Capt. Manuel Dias
Escribano, and Capt. Fermin Perez Rodriguez, Capt. Rafael Dominguez (Judge Advocate) with Lt. Enrique
de Alcocer were for the prosecution, while Lt. Taviel de Andrade, was for the defense. The accused, was
seated in a bench guarded by two soldiers, arms tied behind, elbow to elbow, like a common criminal.
There were many spectators, including Josephine Bracken, some newspapermen and many Spaniards.
There is no record to establish the presence of Filipinos in the courtroom.

The defense showed a brilliant performance, arguing point by point the charges against Rizal who wrote
a supplementary defense which runs as follows (74):

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 he wrote the by-laws of the Liga Filipina, but this is only a civic association –not a
revolutionary society.
7. The Liga Filipina did not live long, for after the first meeting he was banished to Dapitan and it
died out.
8. If the Liga was reorganized nine months later, 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 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,
warehouses, land, etc. and his brother and all his brothers –in-law were deported.
 11. His life in Dapitan had been exemplary as the politico-military commanders and missionary
priests could attest.
12. 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 is
unknown to him? Because those who knew him were aware that he could never sanction any
violent movement.

After a short deliberation, the military court voted unanimously for a death sentence. On the very same
day, the court decision was forwarded to Governor-General, Polavieja and after seeking the opinion of
the judge advocate, the latter confirmed the verdict: to be shot at the back on the morning of December
30 at Bagumbayan Field (now the Luneta). The verdict of death runs as follows (75):

Manila, December 28, 1896

Conformably to the forgoing opinion. I approve the sentence dictated by the Court Martial in the
present case, by virtue of which the death penalty is imposed on the accused Jose Rizal
Mercado, which shall be executed by shooting him at 7 o’clock in the morning of the 30 th of this
month in the field of Bagumbayan.

For compliance and the rest that may correspond, let this be returned to the judge Advocate,
Captain Don Rafael Dominguez.

Camilo G. de Polavieja

Governor-General Polavieja, known in Philippine History as the “blood and iron governor” acted true to
his name. And all those who participated in the trial of Dr. Jose P. Rizal shall forever be condemned by
those who believe in justice, freedom and due process of law.