TORCULAS, Francis O.

17th of November 2021

2nd Year – Philosophy Life and Works of Jose Rizal – Mr. Millard Zabayle

Third Part
(Book Report)

The third part of the book starts with the Rizal family’s reunion in Hong Kong. Pepe
arrived on 20th of November 1891 and it was soon followed by the arrival of his family members.
He then remembered his hometown Calamba and conceived the idea of acquiring an island for
the Filipino people. He went to Sandakan to negotiate with the British authorities on the 7 th of
March 1892 to acquire 100,000 acres of land (North Borneo) to colonize by the Filipino people,
free of charge for 999 years. He thought that it would be a good idea because the new Governor–
General was a sincere person, but it was the opposite.

Governor-General Despujol was believed by Rizal as a different and tolerable statesman

Leaflets containing incriminatory contents against the friars were found in the baggage of
Rizal’s company. Without the due process of law, he was arrested and escorted to Fort Santiago
waiting for his fate. On the following day, the authorities decided Rizal to be deported to
Dapitan, on which Rizal was heavily guarded on 15 th of July for his travel to the south. As what
the Spanish authorities predicted as a way for Rizal to be miserable, Jose experienced the best
years in his life during his exile. He didn’t expect to meet his soon to be wife, Josephine
Bracken.

It all started when Josephine, accompanying his adopted father, went to Dapitan to cure
his blindness. Rizal fell in-love with this 18-year-old slender, chestnut blond lady which
eventually led her adopted father to become furious. Fortunately, Rizal and Josephine’s adopted
father became okay and Jose wanted to retract in order for Josephine and him to get married.
Throughout his journey in Dapitan, Rizal contributed to a multitude of discoveries or theories in
the world of academe and science. He had been collecting specimens from the rich virgin soil of
Mindanao, sending it to some of his scientist friends and eventually finding a new species to the
field of science, named in his honor.

As expected, Rizal did not retract (for the meantime) hence, they professed their vows in
front of the altar of God without the Church’s formula. Their love bore fruit and Josephine got
pregnant with their unico hijo. They gave the name Francisco to the infant unfortunately;
Josephine bore their son prematurely, which made the baby live for only 3 hours. Rizal blamed
himself for the loss of their child because he played a prank with Josephine that led her to extract
the baby earlier than expected. While mourning the loss of his son, the revolutionists soon took
its place and wanted Jose Rizal to be taken out from Dapitan.

Some of them wanted Rizal to be taken out by force but Rizal did not permit such an
absurd way of cheating the country’s system of justice. There are educated revolutionists who
wanted Rizal to be represented to the Cortes so that he may have the immunity of being arrested.
There are other legal plans that they wanted to try but it did not come into fruition. One of the
possible reasons could be his wife, Josephine Bracken when he did not want her to be left alone
in his place of exile. Their letters to one another show the greatest affection they had, an ideal
affair for many yet Rizal awaits his death.

When Rizal had finished his exilic years in Dapitan, he once again joined his family
shortly due to the succeeding events. His freedom resulted in the revolution to ignite (although
unrelated) that made the authorities much more suspicious about him. Andres Bonifacio led the
cry that signaled the start of the bloody uprising, some say that he used the name of Rizal to
ignite the heart of the Filipinos yet Jose was ignorant about it. Rizal was on the steamer while the
uprising broke out, on his way to Manila. Yet, his freedom was an opener to his trial and death in
Bagumbayan.

He once again went abroad for the final time to at least repel himself from the
revolution’s outbreak. The minister of war was convinced that Rizal had nothing to do with the
uprising, so they were in favor of him going to the Peninsula. It was all changed when he arrived
in Barcelona, he arrived with charges of subversion and being an accomplice to the revolution.
His trip abroad was so short that eventually he left together with heavily armed guards for the
Philippines. Even in Singapore, his belongings were confiscated and had been subject to search
and investigation.

Upon his arrival in Manila on 3rd of November 1896, it was just after 17 days that he had
his preliminary investigation. There are two kinds of evidences presented against Rizal:
documentary and testimonial. He chose his longtime friend, Lt. Taviel de Andrade to be his
counsel and once again, friendship were nurtured. It was already prejudged that Rizal is guilty
during hid “trial” as the body were composed of alien military officials who did not even know
how the justice system works. As expected, he was found guilty and on 28 th of December 1896,
his execution was signed by the Governor-General.

It all narrowed down to Rizal’s escape in the afterlife, his Catholic faith. He reminisced
about his moments with Father Pastells back in Dapitan, and some of his Jesuit friends
encouraged him to retract. On 29th of December, Father Balaguer visited Rizal to discuss the
matter which eventually led the hero to write his retraction. There are historians and
lithographers who questioned the authenticity of Rizal’s retraction; it might be idle or does not
conform to his heart. I believe that Rizal retracted by heart as he was going to confession and
hearing mass in constant succession during his final hours.

Due to the scarcity of time, Rizal abruptly wrote letters for his friends and loved ones.
From his parents to each of his siblings, friends abroad whether native or foreigner, Rizal spent
his last days writing letters of thanksgiving and apologies. He also had gifts given to his sisters
and nephew, an alcohol cooking stove containing his letter “Mi Ultimo Adios”. His handkerchief
was given to his favorite nephew that made him worry about its value to the child. He was not
afraid to die as writers would say, but I believe that he was frightened when he was about to
leave his beloved wife, Josephine.

Father Balaguer decided to marry Jose and Josephine with the Church’s formula on the
day that Rizal was about to get executed. Josephine carried a much more loaded burden of being
a married woman and a widow on the same day. After that, the guards ushered Rizal to the site
of the execution, Bagumbayan where he reminisced his memories back in the days of him being
a student. At 7:03 in the morning of 30 th December 1896, Rizal was shot about-face but twisted
his body facing the sky with pride in his heart. Rizal suffered a martyr’s death for his country
from the hands of his persecutors, a twist of fate that led to a much more bloody revolution of the
early Rizalists.

The final pages of the book of Leon Ma. Guerrero showcased the voice of the Spanish
government as the victorious one. If it isn’t a success of the Crown that a filibuster has finally
been put to an end, a sad and unfortunate death. What could be the heart of a true Filipino, isn’t it
the heart such as our national hero? Going back to Magellan, we are already divided by the set of
our own government and beliefs that we sometimes conquer our fellow natives. Up until now,
we are in a dilemma of attaining rational unity as we face the problem of regionalism. Who could
be among us, the next true by heart and mind Filipino?