Rizal and the Revolution of 1896

Rizal’s Plea for the Lifting of His Rustication Order

- Carnicero, the politico-military commander in Dapitan, sympathized with Rizal and
assured him that he had support from Carnicero’s friends in Madrid regarding reforms
that Rizal wanted
- These were the same reforms sought by propagandists in peninsular Spain
- The reforms would have redounded the Philippines to be the happiest country in
the world (i.e. better?)
- However Carnicero also warned Rizal of the friars’ obstruction to the reforms
- Despujol, the governor-general, became aware of the friendship between Carnicero and
Rizal and directed Carnicero to convince Rizal to write a letter stating his intention of
staying in Dapitan
- In the letter, Rizal wrote of his intention of staying in Dapitan in order to pursue
agriculture, provided he would be given full freedom (October 25, 1892)
- Despujol turned down Rizal’s appeal of lifting his banishment order and Rizal threatened
him saying that he would be writing to his friends in Madrid
- Despujol ordered that Rizal’s letters not to reach their destination
- Frederico Ochando replaced Despujol and Juan Sitges replaced Carnicero on May 24,
1893
- The relationship with Rizal and Sitges was the opposite of Rizal’s and Carnicero’s and
there were even rumors that Sitges, under orders of Ochando, was commanded to shoot
Rizal onsite the moment he tries to escape
- Rizal was closely monitored under Sitges and was ordered to report to his office thrice a
day
- Ramon Blanco soon took over
- Rizal reiterated his appeal for the lifting of his banishment, stating that he was unjustly
banished as there were no evidences to support the charges against him (February 13,
1894)
- Blanco did not respond to Rizal’s letter
- Blanco visited Rizal in November 1893. During their conversation, Blanco promised
Rizal that he would be relocated either at Vigan or La Union. He even suggested Rizal
go to Spain due to Rizal’s poor health
Attempts to Win Back Rizal to Catholicism
 - Attempts were made by the Catholic Church to win back Rizal
- Fr. Pastells, in continuing the work of his predecessors, sent Rizal a series of letters
convincing Rizal of the flaw of his religious views.
- This lead to a religious debate which ended in a stalemate
- The Jesuits attributed the failure to Carnicero, who entertained Rizal’s political
and religious views
- The arrival of Josephine Bracken aggravated the situation
- Rizal wanted to marry Bracken and asked Fr. Obach, the parish priest of Dapitan, to
officiate the wedding to legalize their union
- Two conditions were given by Fr. Oback in order to marry Rizal and Bracken: 1)
retraction of Rizal’s religious errors, and 2) a general confession
- Because Rizal did not comply with the conditions, a wedding did not take place
- Having known of the failures of the Jesuits in winning Rizal back to Catholiscism, friars
tried to employ bribery
- Rizal will be given a professional chair in a university, a landed estate, and
100,000 Php if he repudiated Noli Me Tangere, and El Filibusterismo
- Maria, Rizal’s sister, urged Rizal to accept the condition but Rizal said “what my
right hand did, my left hand will not undo”
- The friars also tried to use a spy to trap Rizal
- Pablo Mercado, whose real name Florencio Namanan, was sent to Dapitan to
spy on the activities of Rizal, to prove that Rizal was a separatist with letters and
other articles
- Mercado did so, as he was promised the conferred title, friar curator of the
Recollects

Attempts to Rescue Rizal from Dapitan

- Rizal’s friends in Manila and Europe learned about Blanco’s suggestion for Rizal to leave
the country
- However the Masons wanted to help Rizal for their own good, as his presence
was a threat to the existence of the masonry
- His friends in Europe had another purpose in mind, which was to rescue Rizal at
all cost
- One of those friends was Regidor, who finally arrived at a solution - after trying to deal
with the obstacle that no one would fight Blanco on the matter of Rizal - which was:
ESCAPE FROM DAPITAN
- If Rizal would not escape, the alternative was for his election as a deputy in the
Spanish Cortes
- If that would not work out, Marcelo del Pilar would be elected to the Cortes, and
he would work for Rizal’s liberation
- The last attempt to rescue Rizal came from the Katipunan, who wanted to keep Rizal in
the Philippines so that he could freely lead the revolution
- Pio Valenzuela, Bonifacio’s emissary, posed as a companion of Raymond Mata, a blind
man seeking Rizal’s medical attention, to inform Rizal of the plan of the Katipunan
- Rizal expressed his rejection of the plan for a bloody revolution of the Katipunan,
and expressed two reasons why: 1) unpreparedness of the people, and 2) lack of
funds and weapons
- Rizal further stressed that pursuing the revolution would lead to national suicide
- He however expressed his gratitude to the Katipunan for their concern for his
welfare but nonetheless he was not persuaded by Valenzuela to escape as he
has already given his word to Spanish authorities
- Meanwhile, Blanco had approved Rizal’s letter requesting the opening of a settlement
along Sindangan Bay, but Rizal dropped the idea as he was already considering leaving
for Spain
- Regidor then asked Blumentritt to persuade Rizal to volunteer as doctor for the Spanish
army in Cuba
- Rizal accepted as it was from his best friend
- His parents however disapproved of the idea since he will be risking his life
because of the ongoing Cuban Revolution
- Despite his parents’ disapproval, Rizal applied as a volunteer doctor for Cuba on
December 17, 1895
- Because Blanco hadn’t been replying to Rizal’s letters, Rizal was accepting the
disapproval of his application, however Blanco accepted the application six
months later

- On July 30, 1896, correspondence reached Rizal and it stated that he be given safe
passage to Spain, where he will be given assignment to the army operations in Cuba
 - Rizal thought of not accepting the appointment, but he quickly dismissed that as his
thinking was that if the revolution of the Katipunan breaks out, he would be accused of
deciding to spearhead said revolution
- “Rizal opted to run a race against Bonifacio’s revolution”

Adios Dapitan
- Rizal left Dapitan on July 31, 1896 on board the steamer Espana.
- He arrived in Manila on August 6, 1896
- From there, he was transferred to the cruiser Castilla, where he stayed for a month due
to unavailability of a vessel bound for Spain
- Although he wasn’t in exile, Rizal was detached from the world, as no one was allowed
to see him except for his family
- His frequent visitor during this was Josephine Bracken

The Revolution Breaks Out

- The discovery of the Katipunan, due to Teodoro Patino’s disclosure of the organization
to Fr. Mariano Gil on August 19, 1896, led to mass arrest of Katipuneros and non-
Katipuneros (1)
- Bonifacio summoned leaders to work out how they will deal with the crisis (2)
- On August 23, 1896, the Cry of Pugadlawin took place where Bonifacio asked the
Katipuneros of their willingness to fight the Spaniards whatever the cost (3)
- They then took out and ripped their cedulas and shouted “Mabuhay ang
Pilipinas!” (4)
- This event marked the beginning of the Philippine Revolution against Spain (5)

- Although he was on Castilla, where there was no communication, Rizal learned of the
outbreak of the revolution through newspapers he read (6)
- On August 30, Governor Blanco issued a state of war in Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite,
Laguna, Manila, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, and Tarlac and placed them under martial rule
(7)
- On the same day, Rizal received letters of recommendation to Marcelo
Azcaraga, the Prime Minister of Spain, and the colonial minister, which absolved
him from the ongoing insurrection (8)
Rizal Sails to Spain for Cuba
- On September 3, 1896, Rizal boards the steamer Isla de Panay which shall ferry him to
Barcelona (9)
- Before leaving, Rizal wrote his sisters (10)
- While passing Suez Canal, a telegram reached the ship ordering that Rizal be arrested
and detained much to Rizal’s shock (11)
- He was then heavily guarded and detained as a prisoner onboard Isla de Panay
(12)
- On October 3, 1896, Rizal reached Barcelona (13)
- On October 6, 1896, at 3 in the morning, Rizal was brought to Fort Monjuich, the prison
citadel (14)
- There, Despujol told Rizal that he would be shipped back to Philippines on the
ship Colon (15)
- Rizal’s friends in Europe learned of what happened in Europe and decided to come to
his rescue (16)
- They tried to get the help of Hugh Fort, an English lawyer, to rescue Rizal by
means of a writ of habeas corpus, however this was not granted, as Colon was a
Spanish war vessel, and therefore out of British jurisdiction (17)
- Colon arrived in Manila on November 3, 1896, and Rizal, under tight security, was
brought to Fort Santiago (18)
- The Spanish authorities then commenced their expedition of finding all evidences
to be used against Rizal (19)
- His sympathizers were then harassed and tortured (20)

* The capture of Rizal could have been avoided of Rizal had listened to the suggestion of
Don Pedro Roxas, a fellow passenger onboard Isla de Panay. Roxas suggested that Rizal take
advantage of British protection, while the ship was docked in Singapore. (21)
However Rizal did not listen as he considered Blanco to be his friend (22)