Calimag, Alfonso Pio P.

2AMT

Rizals exile to Dapitan

Owing to his involvement in the propaganda movement against the regime of the Spanish Government in the Philippines, Rizal was deported to Dapitan. Dapitan, being a rural area, was a very depressed place. Lacking in water supply and as well as a lighting system. Rizal became a blessing to the place, acting as an engineer, physician, and a teacher. He established the first water and lighting supply systems in the area. He also established his clinic and school for the youth. His exile was not as much as a punishment, but an opportunity for him to use his intelligence and knowledge in order to help some of his countrymen. During his stay in Dapitan, he met Josephine Bracken, the step-daughter of one of his patients. Knowing full well that his previous love, Leonor Rivera, was had already passed away, he did not hold back his feelings for Josephine. Josephine gave Rizal a reason to stay alive and not only think of his country, but for a short while, himself. With his desire to spend the rest of his life with her, they asked for the resident parish priest to wed them, but due to Rizals excommunication, the friar refused. Nonetheless, they stayed together, as husband and wife. This refusal of his request for a sacrament of matrimony only gave Rizal much of a more reason to despise the teaching and role of the church in the situation of his country and of his own. His stay in Dapitan, was one of the most peaceful times of his life. He had settled down, built a home and a living. The people of Dapitan loved him. Contrary to what most people believed during his time, Rizal did not want a bloody revolution to give liberty to our country. He knew that the Filipinos had no chance against the guns and canons of the Spaniards. What he wanted were reforms; assimilation. He was asking for the government to give his people the rights that they deserved. I light of this, he rejected any involvement with the Katipuneros, most notably the offer of Pio Valenzuela

to join the brotherhood. But ultimately, these denials were in vain because his name was still tied up with them, which then led to his demise. He knew he was not supposed to stay put in exile. He volunteered to be a physician for the Spanish soldiers in Cuba. He was granted this request, but only for a chance to do away with him for good. The Spanish Government approved his request as a trap for his capture and execution.