Did Rizal consider Retracting while in Dapitan?

Posted on September 19, 2012

DID RIZAL CONSIDER RETRACTING WHILE IN DAPITAN?

by Bryan Anthony C. Paraiso
  

      Akin to walking on a mine field, the issue of José Rizal’s alleged retraction of his
religious errors stirs up the emotions of historians, flaring up into fiery debates between
the pros and cons, without any resolution in sight.
 
      The thought of a disavowal of his beliefs is almost sacrilegious and improbable to
Rizal’s character and vehemence against oppression, as evidenced by a letter to Mariano
Ponce on April 18, 1889: “…At the sight of those injustices and cruelties…I swore to
devote myself to avenge one day so many victims, and with this idea in mind I have
been studying and this can be read in all my works and writings.  God will someday
give me an opportunity to carry out my promise.”

      Of the religious orders, he writes: “…the friars are not what they pretend to be nor
are they ministers to Christ, the protector of the people, nor the support of the Spanish
government…Don’t they show cruelty?  Don’t they instigate the government against
the people?  Don’t they manifest terror?  Where are sanctity, protection, and force?”
 
      Rizal knew that his crusade might end in death, but revealed that he was unsure of
his reaction: “…no one knows how one should behave at that supreme instant, and
perhaps I myself who preach and brag so much might manifest more fear and less
energy than (Fr. Jose) Burgos at that critical moment.” 

      Arguments on the retraction revolve around the veracity of the confession Rizal
purportedly signed prior to his execution and testimonies of several witnesses who had
seen the act carried out.

      However, if Rizal did retract, when did he come to this decision? Was he weary of the
struggle that he decided to give in to the continuous urgings of the Jesuit fathers who
were present at his death cell? Or is it possible that Rizal had ruminated on retracting
while still on exile in Dapitan?
 
      Noted historian Fr. Jose Arcilla’s monumental multi-volume Jesuit Missionary
Letters from Mindanao contains several letters of the Jesuit Antonio Obach to his
Mission Superior, which may shed light on this matter. Obach wrote on July 28,
1895: “Rizal has just seen me and said (what has been jumping from mouth to mouth
of some who heard it from him), ‘Father Antonio, I no longer want further battles with
the friars, but live and work in peace.’

      ‘What you ought to do is retract all your errors and you will be at peace.’
      ‘I am ready to do what Your Reverence says, but under certain conditions.’
      I gave him a pen and paper for him to write these conditions. In his own hand and
style, he wrote: ‘Conditions I ask to retract references to the matter of the friars, and
no longer meddle with them.’
      —José Rizal

1. His freedom
2. Return to his family what has been confiscated or give its equivalent.
3. P50,000 to start a business to support himself

      On fulfillment of these conditions, Rizal will write to the bishop.”

      Does this letter provide irrefutable proof that Rizal had decided on retracting
beforehand? What is intriguing is that he had arrived at this decision, evidently, to spare
his family from further suffering and maltreatment.
 
      Fr. Obach continues: “…Rizal says his family owned two houses of heavy materials,
and he asks that they be returned or their equivalent…I answered that the only thing I
could do was to look into the situation and if there is no difficulty, for I do not know
how things are…As for the third, I said that I do not think they would give him such a
big amount. His plan…is to raise a huge cement plant which, on a small scale…has
been quite successful. But this third condition is not important, for without it, he is
ready to make a retraction provided his family is provided for. Besides, if they grant
him this amount, it would be on condition that he repays it.” 

      Obach’s letter also details Rizal’s initiative of opening a wholesale store in Dapitan to
compete with the Chinese traders, “who do nothing but cheat the Indios.” In fact, Rizal
had prepared the statutes and regulations of the Society of Dapitan Agriculturists,
aiming to facilitate the easy buying, selling, and storage of products for export, and
curtailing the trade monopoly of the Chinese.
 
      Obach believed that they had successfully persuaded Rizal to turn away from his
errors: “I am convinced that Rizal is now tired and wants to retract, but his pride
strongly holds him back…I think he will immediately break away from everything and
he would be an excellent Christian.”

      In a letter on the following day, Obach reports: “Regarding the letter I sent to Your
Reverence which contains Rizal’s retraction. I would ask you to send me a model
retraction…In demanding that Rizal indicate what has been taken from his family,
perhaps it will be humiliating for the Dominican Fathers. Rizal refuses, because in this
way they will (have) him bound more tightly under obligation. On the other hand,
retracting is acknowledging his errors, and so it is his turn to humble himself…I await
your letter which  I can read to Rizal to convince him what is better to do for God’s
greater glory.”
 
      By August 28, 1895, Obach recounted that Rizal requested for a detailed account of
his errors:  “…Rizal came and asked me if I could draw up a list of his errors. ‘You can
tell Fr. Ricart, I am ready to write, and tell him that I myself will retract all errors I
may have committed against the Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church in my
writings, and that he can make this same retraction public in the manner he wants.’
But with this he stands to lose everything…”
 
      Obach wrote that Rizal insisted that he and his family should receive some form of
compensation for all the troubles they endured: “But on condition that they give me
P50,000 since I have no means to support myself in decency, and with that amount I
could bring my parents with me anywhere.” He no longer talks of machines and
cement, and so on, and he thinks that this amount is owed him because of the harm
inflicted on him.”

      Are Father Antonio Obach’s letters a reliable source about Rizal’s situation? Will
these revelations provide new clues to his frame of mind during the few hours before his
death? The mystery of Rizal’s retraction deepens.