Rizal’s Life: Exile, Trial and Death

Prepared by :Maureen D. Aguisando

At the end of the lesson, the student should be able to:

1. Explain how Rizal spent the most productive years of

his life
2. Evaluate Rizal's disposition about an armed rebellion
for Philippine independence
• The life of Jose Rizal has been narrated and talked about
in countless academic works, from his early childhood up
to his life abroad.
• However, his experience as an exile in Dapitan is often
overlooked. This lesson focuses on the life of Jose Rizal
while exiled in Dapitan.
• Rizal returned to Manila on June 26, 1892, he was
already declared as an enemy of the state because of his
novels.
• His every move was monitored by the Spanish
authorities, searching all houses he frequented and
interrogating the people he knew.

• Despite this, on July 3, 1892, Rizal and his friends were

still able to establish La Liga Filipina.
• The group's safehouse was the house of Doroteo
Ongjunco located in Tondo, Manila
• The La Liga Filipina is a social reformist group advocating
social reforms through legal means

• It was considered a threat by the Spanish authorities, which

led to Rizal's arrest on July 6, 1892.

• Gov. Gen Eulogio Despujol ordered the arrest as a political

move to appease the friars.

• He publicized in Graceta de Manila that the grounds for

Rizal's arrest were his anti-Catholic and anti-friar stance
which manifested in his writings.
 
• After his arrest, Rizal was deported to Dapitan, a
province in Zamboanga, a place far from his family and
friends so that communication with them would be
difficult.
• The Spanish authorities believed that sending Rizal to
Dapitan would make his life miserable.

• However, Rizal proved them wrong. In fact, being an

exile was considered a very fruitful episode of his life.
• While in Dapitan, Rizal focused on serving the people
and society through his civic works, medical practices,
agricultural projects, and education.
• He also devoted his time to improving his artistic and
literary skills. Rizal,

• However, did not forget what he like doing most -writing

letters to his friends in Europe, especially to Ferdinand
Blumentritt and Reinhold Rost.
• Rizal also became more interested in studying the
lifestyle, values, and beliefs of the cultural minorities.

• Since he was living within their community, he realized

that they should not be excluded from the narrative of the
Philippine society.
• In the course of his exile, the Spanish authorities offered
to pardon him if would retract his proclamations against
the Church.

• Rizal did not yield. He was still very vocal in his

contempt toward the practices of the Catholic Church.
Jesuit priests put in a lot of effort so that Rizal would
perform religious rites and submit himself to confession.
• He engaged in scholarly debates about religious with
Fray Pablo Pastells, the Superior of the Jesuit mission in
the Philippines.
• This exchange of heated arguments further revealed the
anti-Church Rizal-his disdain for the abuses committed
by the friars.

• Just like the previous attempts of other friars. Fray

Pastells tried his best to make Rizal reconsider his stance
against the Church but it was all in vain.
• It was during his exile that Rizal met Josephine Bracken.
Bracken accompanied her blind foster father,

• George Taufer, who came to seek Rizal's help about his

cataract. Rizal and Bracken instantly fell in love.

• Dr. Pio Valenzuela was sent as an emissary by Andres

Bonifacio, the leader of the Katipunan, to seek Rizal's
opinion and approval of an armed rebellion against the
Spanish authorities.
• Rizal was out rightly opposed to the idea of armed
rebellion.

• For him, the Filipinos did not need to wage a bloody

revolution to gain independence. He believed that
Filipinos were not yet united and fully educated, and that
the Katipunan lacked the machinery to defeat the
Spaniards.
• TLA1: Film Viewing
Expected Output: Jose Rizal by Profession Description
Instruction: Watch the film Rizal sa Dapitan (1997). Using this
link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrwSAXpXzAM.
Afterwards, identify the five different professions that Rizal
practiced while in exile. Explain how Rizal carried out these
professions.

TLA2: The Hero Architect

Expected Output: Scale Model of any of the houses Rizal Model
built in Dapitan
Instruction: In groups of 4 members each, make a scale model of
any of the houses Rizal built in Dapitan.