CHAPTER 10

RIZAL DEPORTED TO DAPITAN

 On June 26, 1892, accompanied by his elder
sister Lucia, Rizal arrived in Manila. After lodging
himself and his sister at the Oriente Hotel in
Binondo, he went to Malacañang to pay a courtesy
call and to interview the Governor-General
Despujol, who agreed to pardon his father and
sisters, but not of his brother-in-law. Despujol tried
to dissuade him from going to Borneo, and instead
promised to give him lands in any island two
leagues from Calamba.
Filipino League Founded
Rizal was enthusiastically received by his friends
and admirers, e.g., Andres Bonifacio, Apolinario Mabini,
Ambrosio Salvador, Timotio Paez and Deodato Arellano
and told them the objectives of the La Liga Filipina which
he planned to establish. The day following his arrival, he
was taken by them on a visit to Malolos, San Fernando, and
Tarlac, in which places he urged his countrymen to join the
La Liga Filipina.
• Encouraged by the favourable reception and
response extended to him by his friends and
supporters, Rizal formally organized the League
in Ilaya Str. Tonto, Manila on July 3, 1892. A big
gathering of Filipino patriots attended and
witnessed this historic event.
The Aims if the La Liga Filipina:

1. Unification on the whole archipelago into

one compact and homogenous body;
2. Mutual Protection in every want and
necessity;
3. Defense against all violence and injustice;
4. Encouragement of instruction, agriculture
and commerce; and
5. Study and application of reforms
 The Arrest and
Deportation of Rizal
Four days after the founding of the La Liga
Filipina, Rizal was ordered arrested by Governor-
General Despujol allegedly for having found in his
baggage, a few hours after his arrival from Hongkong a
bundle of leaflets entitled :Poor Friars”. The leaflets
were against the rich Dominicans who amassed fabulous
wealth contrary to their :vow of poverty.” He was in
carcerated temporary in Fort Santiago for about a week,
after which time he was deported to Dapitan in Northern
Mindanao.
Life in Dapitan
At first he lived in the residence of Don
Ricardo Carnicero, Captain of the Infantry and
Polico-military governor of Dapitan.
Carnicero was charmed by Rizal’s refined
manners. On several occasions, they had friendly
conversations and sometimes ate together on the
same table. Later, Carnicero learned that Rizal was
not a person who had committed a felony; so he gave
good reports on Rizal to Governor-General Despujol.
Because of his good impression about the exiled
Rizal, he have him considerable freedom to move
around and report only once a week.
 Rizal was very much pleased and admired
the Spanish Captain for his generosity, as a sign of
gratitude and appreciation, he wrote a poem on the
occasion of Don Ricardo Carnicero’s birthday.
When Captain Carnicero left Dapitan, he
was succeeded by Captain Juan Sitges, amore
demanding officer, but weeks later, he changed his
attitude and gradually grew to like the deportee.
Rizal lived an exemplary life in exile. He
built his own house, planted many fruit-bearing
trees and practiced his medical profession. Many
people in all walks of life from far and near places
came to his medical clinic for treatment.
 Some members of his family took turns in visiting
him and staying with him for some time so as to appease his
feeling of loneliness. Among those who visited him were
Doña Teodora, his mother, sister Trinidad, Maria, and
Narcisa, and his nephews Teodosio, Estanislao and
Prudencio.
In Dapitan, Rizal continued his interest in scientific
artistic, literacy, linguistic and other intellectual pursuits.
All his free time were devoted to agricultural, business and
civic development activities. He studied also the Bisayan
and Malayan languages and he even wrote an original
Tagalog grammar. He maintained correspondence with his
European friends, notably Professor Blumentritt, Doctor
Ras, Joesty, and Meyer
Rizal as a Physician
Dr. Rizal continued his medical practice in
Dapitan. Many patients from different parts of the
Philippines far away places came for consultation
either for eye diseases or for any kind of clinical
ailment. Sometime in August 1893, Doña Teodora and
sister Maria arrived in Dapitan and lived with hi for a
year. For the third time, he operated on his mother’s
eyes successfully. In this particular instance, Rizal
realized that sometimes is was not advisable to be the
doctor of the member of the immediate family. Her
mother, disregarded her son’s clinical instructions, by
moving the bandages from her eyes, causing the wound
to infected.
 Rizal’s good reputation as a physician and
surgeon became widely known. Don Ignacio Tumarong,
a wealthy patient whose eye were operated successfully
by him restored his sight. As a sign of gratitude he paid
Rizal P3,000 for his ophthalmic skills. Don Florencio
Azcarrage, another wealthy patient who owned a big
hacienda of sugarcane in Aklan, paid Rizal a cargo for
curing his eye ailment. A rich patient, an Englishmen
paid him P500.
Rizal became interested in local medicine by way
of applying various medicinal plants in the community.
He studied local medicinal plants and their potential
curative values. For indigent patients, who could not
afford to buy imported medicines for common ailments,
he prescribed the local medicinal plants
Rizal as an Educator
In building the foundation of a nation, education is
very essential. It is the very foundation from which one can
train and nurture the vital instruments of progress – the
citizens especially the youth. For him, the youth is one of
the most essential ingredients in any transformation
endeavour – the young people with commensurate skills
and the necessary values who are willing to subordinate
their interest for the common good. These are the youth
who are guided by a common vision and who are inspired
by a sense of mission. “Without education and liberty – the
soil and the sun of mankind – no reform is possible.
 Rizal established a modest school which was
attended by a group of selected students whose ages
were thirteen and fourteen prominent families in
Dapitan. These students did not pay their tuition fees,
but they were made to work in his garden, in the
fields, and other civic projects in the community.
Rizal taught these young boys the value of hard
work, character building, respect of human worth and
dignity, the sprit of cooperation and family solidarity.
He also taught them various cultural values of
the Filipino “Kaayusan”, “Delicadeza”, “Palabra de
Honor”.
 Rizal taught these young boys reading,
writing in Spanish and English, history and
geography, mathematics, industrial arts activities,
the study of nature, ethics and gymnastics. He
trained them to collect various specimens of plants
and animals for scientific study. He also
emphasized the value of good manners and right
conduct.
In line with his pedagogical philosophy of
Sound Mind in a Sound Body, the students happily
engaged in boxing, wrestling, swimming, fencing,
arnis and boating.
Rizal as an Engineer
Rizal is a full fledge surveyor which he
obtained from ateneo and passed the prescribed
examination. In his desire to know more about
engineering as a field of learning, he read a lot of
books about the subject to have a better
knowledge about construction works.
Rizal endowed with superior intelligence was
able to apply his knowledge of engineering by
constructing a system of waterworks in order to
provide the people in Dapitan clean water.
Rizal as Scientist
Rizal found Dapitan and other in Zamboanga
an ideal place for collecting specimens for
scientific study. Accompanied by students the
explored the forest and seacoast looking for
specimen of insects, plants, seashells and other
aquatic lives. He examined carefully every
specimen to find out its potential value.
He Discovered Nami, a root plant to be
edible when cooked properly, but it was
poisonous because it contained hydrocyanic acid.
 In one point, his middle finger was bitten by
a centipede and the pain was so intense so he
applied the natural fluid extracted from the said
root plant and the pain disappeared. In another
occasion, he applied the “hydro alcoholic
solution” extracted from the Nami to a cat so that
he could dissect its gonad. In a few minutes, the
cat fell asleep and he was able to perform his
scientific experiment. As a result, he discovered
that the fluid extracted from the Nami was an
effective medicine and capable of producing
anesthetic results.
 Rizal as a Farmer
In Dapitan, instead of wasting his time doing nothing
and thinking of this exile, he thought of how he could spent
his time profitably. He bought 16 hectares of agricultural
land where he planted fruit-bearing trees, mangoes, guavas,
lansones, santol, and durian, aside from cacao, coffee,
sugarcane, corn and coconuts. He also raise livestock, horses,
cattle, sheep, and other useful animals aside from chicken ,
ducks and turkeys in his farm. Later, he acquired adjacent
lands of his farm until his total land area expanded near a
river where it became a source of irrigation that consequently
doubled his rice production.