Romero, John Terrence M.
P20,000 – lottery prize; P6,200 of it was given to
CHAPTER 22: EXILE IN DAPITAN, 1892-96
Dapitan (Mindanao) – place managed by Jesuits
where Rizal was exiled
Rizal kept communication with:
1. His family
2. Fellow reformists
3. Eminent scientists and scholars of Europe
Beginning of Exile in Dapitan
Cebu – steamer which brought Rizal to Dapitan
- Carried a letter from Fr. Pablo Pastells
(Superior of the Jesuit Society of the
Philippines) to Fr. Antonio Obach which
states that Rizal could live at the parish
convent if he will
a. Retract his errors regarding religion
b. Perform church rites & make a
general confession
c. Conduct himself in an exemplary
manner as a Spanish subject and man
of religion
Captain Ricardo Carnicero – in his home did Rizal
stay; he was good to Rizal; he gave
good reports about Rizal and
gave him complete freedom (proved
by his permission for Rizal to ride
his chestnut horse.)
A Don Ricardo Carnicero – poem which Rizal
wrote for Captain Carnicero on his Rizal Challenges a Frenchman to a Duel
birthday
Wins in Manila Lottery
Butuan – mail boat which brought the news about
Rizal’s winning in the lottery
Lottery Ticket No. 9736 – second-prize winning
ticket jointly owned by Rizal, Capt.
Carnicero & Francisco Equilior
(Spaniard from Dipolog)
Rizal; P2,000 of his share he gave to his father and
P200 to Basa, the rest he invested thru purchasing
agricultural lands from the coast of Talisay
Three (3) pesetas – amount Rizal allotted for
lottery tickets every month
Rizal – Pastells Debate on Religion
The debate started when Pastells sent Rizal a book
by Sarda along with an advice that Rizal should
desist from his majaderas (foolishness) in viewing
religion from the perspective of individual
judgement and self-esteem
The debate can be read in four (4) letters.
Rizal was bitter against the friars because they
commit abuses under the cloak of religion.
Father Pastells tried to bring back to Catholicism
Rizal by telling him that human intelligence is
limited, thus he needs the guidance of God.
Behind the debate, Pastells and Rizal were friends
as evidently pictured when:
1. Pastells gave Rizal a copy of Imitacion de
Cristo by Fr. Thomas a Kempis
2. Rizal gave Pastells a bust of St. Paul which
he had made
Rizal continued to hear mass and celebrate
religious events.
Mr. Juan Lardet – a French businessman whom
Rizal had a conflict
Lardet purchased logs from Rizal’s lands of which
some are of poor quality. Lardet was disgusted of
the business deal and expressed this in a letter to
Antonio Miranda. Miranda showed Rizal the letter
which made Rizal angry, eventually challenging
Lardet into a duel.
Captain Carnicero heard of this and advised Lardet
to apologize for he would not win against Rizal
because he was expert in fencing and pistol
shooting.
Lardet wrote an apology letter to Rizal which Rizal Rizal went to the comandancia and reported the
accepted.
Rizal and Father Sanchez
In his aspiration to reconcile Rizal with the
Church, Father Pastells sent to Dapitan:
1. Father Obach, Cura of Dapitan
2. Fr. Jose Vilaclara, Cura of Dipolog
3. Fr. Francisco Paula de Sanchez, Rizal’s
favorite teacher at Ateneo de Manila
Though Sanchez failed to persuade Rizal to discard
unorthodox views, he helped Rizal in beautifying
the town plaza.
Estudios sobre la lengua tagala – manuscript
which Rizal gave to Sanchez on his birthday
Idyllic Life in Dapitan
Among his family members who visited Rizal
were:
1. His mother
2. His sisters Trinidad, Maria and Narcisa
3. Nephews Teodosio, Estanislao, Mauricio
and Prudencio
Rizal built a house by the seashore of Talisay
surrounded by fruit trees, a school for boys, and a successful, his mother had a wound infection after
hospital for his patients.
Rizal’s Encounter with the Friar’s Spy
Pablo Mercado – assumed name of the spy who
visited Rizal at his house and pretended to be a
relative by showing a photo of Rizal and a pair of
buttons with the initials P.M. as evidence of
kinship.
The spy offered to be Rizal’s courier of letters for
the patriots in Manila. Rizal became suspicious and
wanted to throw the spy outside but considering his
values and late hour of the night, he offered the spy Rizal prescribed medicinal plants to his poor
to spend the night at his house. The next day, he
sent the spy away.
The spy stayed in Dapitan and spread talks among
the people that he was a relative to Rizal.
impostor to Captain Juan Sitges (successor of
Carnicero)
Sitges ordered Pablo Mercado’s arrest and told
Anastacio Adriatico to investigate him
immediately.
Florencio Namanan – a.k.a Pablo Mercado, single
and about 30 years old who was
hired by the Recollect friars to spy
on Rizal’s activities
However, Sitges stopped the investigation and
forwarded it to Governor General Blanco who, in
turn, kept the issue as highly confidential.
The secret mission of Pablo Mercado was not an
assassination attempt but espionage only.
As Physician in Dapitan
Rizal continued practicing medicine in Dapitan.
Most of his patients were poor so he gave them
free medicine as well.
Dona Teodora and Maria lived with Rizal for a
year and a half. It is here when Rizal operated his
mother’s right eye. Though the operation was
ignoring Rizal’s instruction of not removing the
bandages. However, the infection was immediately
treated.
Don Ignacio Tumarong – Rizal’s patient who was
able to see again after his operation;
he paid Rizal P3,000
Don Florencio Azcarraga – rich hacendero of
Aklan who was cured of eye
ailment, in turn he gave Rizal a
cargo of sugar.
patients.
Water System for Dapitan Hymn to Talisay

As a perito agrimensor (expert surveyor), Rizal - A poem Rizal wrote in honor of Talisay
applied his engineering knowledge by constructing which he made his pupils sing
a system of waterworks to furnish clean water to
the townspeople. Contributions to Science

Mr. H.F. Cameron – American engineer who
praised Rizal for his engineering ingenuity.
Community Projects for Dapitan
Rizal had
1. Drained the marshes to get rid of malaria
that was infesting Dapitan
2. Equipped the town with lighting system
using P500 one of his patients paid him.
The lighting system consisted of:
a. Coconut oil lamps
3. Beautified the town of Dapitan by
remodeling the town plaza and making a
huge relief map of Mindanao out of earth,
stones and grass
Rizal sent specimens he found to the museum of
Europe especially the Dresden Museum. In turn, he
received scientific books and surgical instruments.
He had
1. Built up a rich collection of concology
(consisting of 346 shells of 203 species)
2. Discovered rare specimens like:
a. Draco rizali (a flying dragon)
b. Apogonia rizali (a small beetle)
c. Rhacophorus rizali (a rare frog)
3. Conducted anthropological, ethnographical,
archaeological, geological and geographical
studies.
Linguistic Studies

Rizal as Teacher Continuing his study of languages, Rizal learned in

Dapitan:
Rizal established in Dapitan a school. It began with 1. Bisayan
3 pupils who increased to 16 and eventually 21. 2. Subanum
3. Malay languages
16 of his pupils did not pay tuition. Instead of
charging them fees, Rizal made them work in his He knew by that time 22 languages as follows
gardens and construction projects. 1. Tagalog 12. Malay
2. Ilokano 13. Hebrew
Rizal taught them reading, writing, languages 3. Bisayan 14. Sanskrit
(Spanish and English), geography, history, 4. Subanum 15. Dutch
mathematics (arithmetic and geometry), industrial 5. Spanish 16. Catalan
work, nature study, morals and gymnastics. 6. Latin 17. Italian
7. Greek 18. Chinese
Formal classes were between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 8. English 19. Japanese
p.m. He also applied the “emperor” system like 9. French 20. Portuguese
that of Ateneo 10. German 21. Swedish
11. Arabic 22. Russian
During recess, pupils built fires to drive away
insects, pruned fruit trees and manured the soil. Artistic Works in Dapitan

Outside class hours, students had gymnastics, To pursue his artistic activities, Rizal
boxing, wrestling, stone-throwing, swimming, 1. Contributed paintings to the Sisters of
arnis and boating. Charity who were preparing the sanctuary
of the Holy Virgin
 2. Made sketches of persons and things that
attracted him in Dapitan
3. Modeled a statuette called “The Mother’s
Revenge” to stress the moral of the incident
where a puppy of his dog, Syria, was eaten
by a crocodile
4. Constructed a statue of a girl called “The
Dapitan Girl”, a woodcarving of Josephine
Bracken (Rizal’s wife)
5. Made a bust of St. Paul for Father Pastells
Rizal as Farmer
Rizal acquired total land holdings of 70 hectares
where 6,000 hemp plants, 1,000 coconut trees and
numerous fruit trees, sugarcane, corn, coffee and
cacao were planted.
He planned to establish an agricultural colony in
Sitio Ponot because it was ideal for raising cacao,
coffee, coconuts and cattle. However, this did not
materialize due to lack of support from the
government.
Rizal as Businessman
Ramon Carreon – Rizal’s business partner in
Dapitan
Rizal made profitable business ventures in fishing,
copra and hemp industries.
Hemp industry – Rizal’s most profitable business.
Once he shipped 150 bales of hemp to Manila. He
purchased hemp in Dapitan at P7 and 4 reales per
picul and he sold it to Manila at P10 and 4 reales.
Rizal also engaged in lime manufacturing. Their
limeburner had a monthly capacity of more than
400 bags of lime.
He organized the Cooperative Association of
Dapitan Farmers to break Chinese monopoly.
Rizal’s Inventive Ability
Among Rizal’s inventions were:
1. Cigarette lighter which he sent as a gift to
Blumentritt called “sulpukan”
2. A wooden machine for making bricks
“My Retreat”
Upon restoring her eyesight, Dona Teodora
returned to Manila. Seeing how busy Rizal is, she
regretted neglecting her muses. She requested
Rizal to write poetry.
As a response, Rizal wrote “Mi Retiro” relating his
serene life as an exile in Dapitan.
Rizal and Josephine Bracken
The death of Leonor Rivera left a poignant void in
Rizal’s heart. In his loneliness, he met Josephine.
Josephine Bracken – Irish girl of sweet eighteen
who was born on Hong Kong.
James Bracken and Elizabeth Jane MacBride –
Josephine’s parents who are both
Irish in citizenship
Mr. George Taufer – man who adopted Josephine
after her mother died of childbirth
Mr. Taufer became blind so he sought for an
ophthalmic specialist. This is how Josephine and
Rizal met.
Manuela Orlac – Filipina companion who
accompanied Josephine Bracken to
Dapitan.
Rizal and Josephine Bracken decided to get
married but Father Obach refused to marry them
without the permission of Bishop of Cebu.
Hearing of the planned marriage and unable to
endure the thought of losing Josephine, Mr. Taufer
tried to commit suicide by cutting off his throat
with a razor but Rizal was able to prevent this.
To avoid a tragedy, Josephine accompanied Mr.
Taufer back to Manila. Mr. Taufer returned to
Hong Kong alone while Josephine stayed with the patients suffering yellow fever, he wrote a poem
Rizals in Manila. “El Canto del Viajero”

Having no priests to marry them, Rizal and Adios, Dapitan

Josephine married themselves before the eyes of
God. España – steamer which brought Rizal to Manila
from Dapitan
The two were happy for they were expecting for a
baby. However, Rizal played a prank on Josephine Rizal was accompanied by Josephine, Narcisa,
making her give birth to an eight-month baby boy. Angelica (Narcisa’s daughter), his three nephews
The baby lived for only three hours. He was named and six pupils.
“Francisco” in honor of Rizal’s father.
As farewell, the town brass of Dapitan played the
Rizal and the Katipunan dolorous Funeral March of Chopin.

Pio Valenzuela – emissary to Dapitan in order to He stayed in Dapitan for four years, thirteen days
inform Rizal of the plan of and a few hours.
Katipunan during the meeting at a
little river called Bitukang Manok.

Venus – steamer Valenzuela boarded to reach

Dapitan

Raymundo Mata – blind man who came with

Valenzuela to camouflage his
mission

Rizal objected Bonifacio’s project because:

1. The people are not ready for a revolution
2. Arms and funds must first be collected
before raising the cry of revolution.

Volunteers as Military Doctor in Cuba

When Cuba was under revolution and raging

yellow fever epidemic, Rizal wrote to Governor
General Ramon Blanco offering his services as
military doctor.

Governor Blanco later notified Rizal of the

acceptance of the offer. The notification came
along with an instruction of acquiring first a pass
for Manila from the politico-military commander
of Dapitan.

“The Song of the Traveler”

Upon receiving the acceptance of his offer to go to

Europe then to Cuba to help in the curing of