RIZAL'S EXILE IN DAPITAN, 1892-96

Rizal lived in exile in far-away Dapitan, a remote town in Mindanao  which was under the  missionary   jurisdiction of the Jesuits, from 1892 to 1896.  This four-year inter regnum in his life was tediously unexciting, but was abundantly fruitful with varied achievements. He practiced medicine, pursued scientific studies, continued his artistic and literary works, widened his knowledge of languages, established a school for boys, promoted community development projects, invented a wooden machine for making bricks, and engaged in farming and commerce. Despite his multifurious activities, he  kept an  extensive  correspondence  with his family,  relatives,  fellow  reformists, and eminent   scientists  and  scholars  of  Europe,  including Blumentritt,  Reinhold   Rost,  A. B.  Meyer, W.  Joest  of Berlin, S. Knuttle of Stuttgart, and N.M. Keihl of Prague.Beginning of Exile in Dapitan.                 The streamer Cebu which brought Rizal  to  Dapitan carried a letter from Father Pablo Pastells, Superior of the Jesuits  parish  priest of  Dapitan. In  this  letter,  Father Superior  Pastells informed Father Obach  that Rizal could live at the parish convent on the following conditions:   1."That Rizal publicly retract his errors concerning religion, and make statements that        were clearly  pro-Spanish and against revolution".     2."That he perform the church rites and make a general confession of his past life".    3.That henceforth he conduct himself in an exemplary manner as a Spanish subject and       a man of religion."             Rizal did not agree with these  conditions.  Conse- quently,  he   lived  in  the  house  of  the   commandant, Captain Carnicero.  The relations between Carnicero  (the warden) and Rizal (the prisoner) were warm and  friendly. Carnicero  came  to  know that  Rizal  was not a  common felon, much  less  a  filibustero. He gave good reports  on his prisoner to Governor Despujol. He gave him  complete freedom to go  anywhere, reporting only once  a  week at his  office,   and  permitted   Rizal,   who  was  a  good equestrian, to ride  his  chestnut horse. Rizal on his  part, admired  the  kind,  generous  Spanish  captain.  He then wrote  a   poem,  A  Don  Ricardo  Carnicero,  on  August  26, 1892 on the occassion of the captain's birthday.  Wins in Manila Lottery             On September 21, 1892 the  mail  boat  Butuan  was approaching the town of Dapitan carrying a Lottery ticket No. 9736 jointly owned  by  Captain Carnicero,  Dr.  Rizal and  Francisco  Equilior  (Spanish  resident of  Dipolog, a neighboring  town of Dapitan)  won  the  second prize  of P20,000 in the government-owned Manila Lottery.             Rizal's share of the winning lottery ticket was P6,200, He gave P2,000 to his father and P200 to his friend Basa in Hong Kong and the rest he invested well by purchasing agricultural lands along the coast  of  Talisay  about  one kilometer away from Dapitan.             Rizal's  winning   in  the  Manila  Lottery  reveals  an aspect of his lighter side.  He never drank hard liquor and never smoked but he was a lottery addict. "This  was  his only vice,"  commented  Wenceslao  E. Retana,  his  first Spanish biographer and former enemy.   Rizal-Pastells Debate on Religion             During his exile  in  Dapitan,  Rizal  had  a  long  and scholarly debate with  Father  Pastells  on  religion  which revealed Rizal's  anti-Catholic  ideas acquired  in  Europe and the embitterment at his persecution by bad friars.  It is understandable why he  was  bitter  against  the  friars who committed certain abuses under the cloak of religion. As  he  wrote  to  Blumentritt  from  Paris  on  January 20, 1890: "I want to hit the friars, but only friars who utilized religion not only  as  a  shield,   but  also  as  a  weapon, castle, fortress, armor, etc.; I was forced to  attack  their false  and  superstitious  religion  in  order  to  fight  the enemy who hid himself behind it."             According to Rizal, individual judgment is a gift  from God and everybody should use  it like a  lantern  to  show the way and that self-esteem, if moderated by judgment, saves man from  unworthy acts.  He also  argued that the pursuit  of   truth  may  lie  in  different  paths, and  thus "religions may vary, but they all lead to the light."             Father Pastells tried his best to win back Rizal to the fold of Catholicism. Divine faith, he told Rizal, supersedes everything, including  reason, self esteem, and  individual judgment. No matter how  wise  a man is, he argued, his intelligence  is  limited, hence  he  needs the guidance of God. He refuted  Rizal's  attacks  on  Catholic  dogmas as misconceptions of  rationalism  and  naturalism, errors  of misguided souls.             This   interesting debate between two  brilliant  pole- micists ended inconclusively. Rizal could not be convinced by Pastells  arguments so that he lived in Dapitan beyond the pale of his Mother Church but inspire of their religious differences   Rizal  and  Pastells  remained  good  friends. Father  Pastells  gave  Riza l a  copy of  the Imitacion de Cristo (Imitation of Christ),  a  famous  Catholic  book  by Father Thomas a Kempis. And Rizal in grateful reciprotion gave his Jesuit  opponent in  debate  a  bust  of  St. Paul which he had made.             Although Rizal did not subscribe to Pastells' religious  interpretation of Catholic  dogmas,  he  continued  to  be Catholic. He hears mass at the Catholic Church of Dapitan and celebrate Christmas and other religious fiestas in the Catholic way.  His Catholicism, however was the  Catholi- cism that  inquires  and  enlightens, the  "Catholicism  of Renan and Teilhard de Chardin".  Rizal Challenges A Frenchman to a Duel             Rizal  was   involved  in  a  quarrel  with  a  French acquaintance in Dapitan, Mr. Juan Lardet, a businessman. This man purchased many logs  from  the  lands  of  Rizal and it so happened  that  some of the logs were  of  poor  quality.             Lardet,  in  a  letter  written  to  Antonio  Miranda, a Dapitan   merchant  and  friend  of  Rizal,  expressed  his disgust with the  business  deal  and  stated  that  "if  he (Rizal - Z.) were a truthful man, he  would have  told  me that the lumber not included in the account were bad.             Miranda  indiscreetly  forwarded  Lardet's  letter  to Rizal. When he read Lardet's letter, he flared up in anger, regarding  the  Frenchman's  unsavory  comment  as  an affront to his integrity. Immediately, he confronted Lardet and  challenged  him  to  a  duel .   When  commandant Carcinero heard  the incident, he told  the  frenchman  to apologize rather than accept the  challenge,  " My  Friend, you have not a Chinaman's chance in  a  fight  with  Rizal on  a  field  of  honor.  Rizal  is  an expert in martial arts particularly in fencing and pistol shooting.             Heeding the commandant's advice,  Lardet  wrote  to Rizal in French, dated Dapitan, March 30,1893 apologizing for the insulting comment. Rizal, as  a  gentleman  and a well-versed  in  pun  donor   (Hispanic  Chivalric  Code) accepted the apology, and  good  relations  between  him and the Frenchman were restored.          It is interesting to know  that one of the hero's weak- nesses is his sensitivity.  Rizal and Father Sanchez             Father Pastells, aside from his personal efforts to persuade  Rizal  to  discard   his   "errors  of   religion'', instructed two Jesuits in Mindanao - Father Obach, cura of Dapitan and Father Jose Vilaclara, cura of Dipolog  to  try their best to bring back Rizal within the Catholic fold.  He assigned Fr. Francisco  de Paua Sanchez, Rizal's  favorite teacher at the Ateneo  de Manila, to Dapitan. He was the only Spanish  priest  to defend Rizal's Noli Me Tangere in public.             Upon his arrival, Fr. Sanchez lost no time  in meeting his former favorite student. Of all the Jesuits, he was the most  beloved  and  esteemed  by  Rizal.  They  argued theologically  in  a  friendly  manner but all the efforts  of Sanchez were in vain.                 Despite his failures to  persuade Rizal to discard his unorthodox views  on  the  Catholic  religion, Fr. Sanchez enjoyed the latters company and he even  assisted Rizal in beautifying the town plaza. On his birthday, Rizal gave him  a  precious   birthday  gift -  a  manuscript  entitled Estudios sobre la lengua tagala  (Studies on the Tagalog Language).

Dr. Jose Rizal Native House

Idyllic Life in Dapitan             Since August 1893, members of his family  took turns in visiting him in order to assuage  his  loneliness  in  the isolated outpost of the  Spanish  power in  the  Moroland. Among them  were  his  mother,  Sisters Trinidad,  Maria, Narcisa; and nephews Teodosio, Estanislao, Mauricio, and Prudencio. He built  his house by the seashore of Talisay, surrounded by fruit trees and another house for his school boys and a hospital for his patients.       Describing his life in Dapitan, Rizal wrote to Blumentritt on Dec. 19, 1893:             I  shall  tell  you  how  we  live  here.  I  have  three houses;  one  square,  another  hexagonal,  and  a  third octagonal, all of bamboo, wood and nipa.  In  the  square house we live, my mother , sister Trinidad, a nephew and I; in the octagonal live my boys or some good youngsters whom I teach  arithmetic, Spanish and English; and in the hexagonal live my chickens. From  my  house  I  hear  the murmur  of  a  crystal  clear  brook  which comes from the high  rocks ; I  see the seashore , the  sea  where I have small boats,  two  canoes or barotos, as they say  here. I have many fruit trees,  mangoes, lanzones,  guayabanos, baluno, nangka, etc. I have rabbits, dogs, cats,etc. I rise early - at five - visit my plants, feed the chickens, awaken my people and put them in movement. At half-past seven we breakfast with tea, pastries, cheese, sweetmeats, etc. Later I  treat  my  poor patients who come to my  land;  I dress, I go to the town  in  my  baroto, treat  the  people there, and  return  at  12  when  my  luncheon awaits me. Then I teach the boys until 4 P.M. and devote  the  after- noon to agriculture. I spend the night reading and studying.    Rizal's  Encounter with the Friar's Spy             During the early days  of  November  1893  Rizal was living peacefully and happily at his house in Talisay when suddenly jolted by  a  strange incident involving a  spy of the  friars.  The  spy  with the  assumed name of  "Pablo Mercado" and posing as a relative, secretly  visited  Rizal at his  house  on  the  night  of  November  3,  1893.  He introduced himself as a friend  and a relative,  showing a photo  o f Rizal  and  a  pair  of buttons with the  initials "P.M."(Pablo Mercado) as evidence of his kinship with the Rizal family.             In the course of their conversation the strange visitor offered his services  as  a  confidential  courier of  Rizal's letter and writings for the patriots in Manila. Rizal, being a   man  of  prudence  and  keen  perception  became suspicious. Irked by  the  mpostor's  lies,  he  wanted  to throw him out of the house, but  mindful of his duty as  a host and considering the late  hour of  the night  and the heavy rainfall, he  hospitably invited the unwanted visitor to stay at his house for the night. And early the next day, he sent him a way.             Later, he learned that the rascal was still in Dapitan, telling people that he was a beloved relative of Dr. Rizal. Losing   his   cool,   he  went  to  the  comandancia  and denounced the impostor  to  Captain  Juan  Sitges   (who succeeded   Captain   Carnacio  on   May  4,  1893  as commandant  of  Dapitan).   Without  much  ado,  Sitges ordered  the  arrest  of  "Pablo Mercado"  and  instructed Anasticio Adriatico, to investigate him immediately.             The truth came out during  this investigation and the real name of "Pablo Mercado" was Florencio Namanan. He was a native of Cagayan de Misamis, single and about 30 years old. He was hired by the Recollect friars to a secret mission in Dapitan to  filch  the  letters  and  writings  of Rizal which might  incriminate  him  in  the  revolutionary movement. Commandant  Sitges  quashed  the investiga- tion and  released  the spy.   He promptly  forwarded  the transcripts of the investigation together  with  his  official report  to   Governor   General  Blanco  who  kept  the documents highly confidential. Rizal requested for a copy of the proceedings of the investigation but Sitges denied his request.  As  now  declassified  and preserved at  the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid,  these  documents  contain certain mysterious deletions.             These documents have been quoted by three Rizalist biographers - Retana(1907), Palma(1949), and Jose Baron Fernandez(1982). But none of these  biographers  quoted the text of another document which is more  reliable  and valuable in  clarifying  the  whole  incident.  It  is  Rizal's letter to his brother-in-law, Manuel T. Hidalgo  written  in Dapitan, December 20, 1893, as follows:    My Dear Brother-in-Law Maneng,        I was unable to write you by the previous mail for lack of time, for the boat left unexpectedly.        With regards to Pablo Mercado, I  tell you  that  he came here  presenting  himself as a  courteous  friend  in order to get from me my letters, writings, etc; but I found him out soon, and if I did not throw him out of the  house brusquely, it was because  I  always want to be nice  and polite to everyone. Nevertheless, as it  was  raining, I let him sleep  here,  sending  him  away  very  early the next day. I was going  to let  him  alone  in contempt  but  the rascal went around saying secretly that he was my cousin or brother-in-law, reported him to  the  commandant  who had him arrested. It was revealed in  his declaration  that he was sent by  the  Recollects who  gave  him  P72  and promised him more if  he succeeded in wrestling from  me my letter for certain persons in Manila. The rascal told me that  he  was  the  cousin  of  Mr.  Litonjua, son  of  Luis Chiquita, according to him and brother-in-law of Marcia no Ramirez. He  wanted  me  to  write these  gentlemen. He brought along besides  a  picture of mine,  saying  that it was given to him by  one  Mr.  Legaspi  of  Tondo  or  San Nicolas. I don't remember  him  exactly. It seems that he belongs  to  a  good  family  of  Cagayan  de Misamis. Be careful  of  him,  he  is  a  tall  boy,  somewhat  thickset, slightly squint-eyed, dark, slender, broad  shoulders, and of impudent manners. He  smokes much, spits  more  and has thin lips.       Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.                                  Your brother-in-Law who loves you,           (Signed) Jose Rizal                          Based upon all these available  documentary  sources the incident of the secret  mission  of  "Pablo Mercado" in Dapitan was not an "Assassination  Attempt on Rizal".  It was merely an espionage plot concocted by the friars.     As Physician in Dapitan             Rizal practiced  medicine  in  Dapitan.  He  had  many patients  but  most  of them  were poor so that  he  even gave them free medicine.  To his  friend in Hong Kong, Dr. Marquez, he wrote:  "Here  the  people  are so poor that I even have  to  give  medicine  gratis." He  had,  however, some rich  patients  who  paid  him  handsomely  for  his surgical skill.             In August 1893 his mother and sister (Maria) arrived in Dapitan and lived with him for one year and a half. He operated on his  mother's  right eye.  The operation  was successful but Dona Teodora  ignored  her  son's  instruc- tions by removing the bandages from  her  eyes, t hereby causing the wound to be infected.Thus  Rizal told Hidalgo his brother-in-law; "Now I  understand  very  well  why  a physician should  not  treat  the  members  of  his family. Fortunately,   the  infection  was   arrested  and   Dona Teodora's sight was restored.             Rizals fame as  a  physician  particularly  as  an  eye specialist pave way to patients from different parts of the Philippines from Luzon,  Bohol, Cebu, Panay, Negros, and Mindanao and  even  from  Hong Kong.   Because  of  his ophthalmic skill he was paid P3000 by Don Ignacio Tuma- rongin  for the  restoration  of  his  sight,  P500  from  an Englishman and a cargo of sugar given as payment  by  a rich hacendero in Aklan,  Don  Florencio  Azacarraga  who was cured of eye ailment.             Rizal became interested in local medicine and the use of medicinal plants. He studied  their  curative values  for the poor patients who could not  afford  to  buy  imported medicine, he prescribed the local medicinal plants.

Water System for Dapitan             Rizal  held   the   title   of   expert   surveyor  (perito agrimensor),   which   he   obtained  from   Ateneo.  He supplemented   his   training  as  a  surveyor  by  reading engineering books. In Dapitan, he applied his knowledge in engineering by constructing a system of waterworks in order to furnish clean water to the townspeople.             Without any aid from the government, he  succeeded in giving good water system to Dapitan.             An American  engineer,   Mr.  H. F. Cameron,  praised Rizal's engineering feat in the following words:             Another famous and well-known water supply is  that of Dapitan, Mindanao, designed  and  constructed  by  Dr. Rizal during his banishment in  that  municipality  by  the Spanish  authorities...  this  supply  comes  from  a  little mountain  stream  across  the  river  from  Dapitan  and follows the contour of the  country for the whole distance. When one considers that Doctor Rizal had no explosives with which to block the hard rocks and no resources save his own ingenuity, one cannot help but honor a man, who against adverse conditions, had the courage and tenacity to construct the aqueduct  which had  for its  bottom  the fluted tiles from  the  house roofs, and was covered with concrete made from limed burned from the sea coral. The length of this aqueduct is several kilometers, and it winds in and out among the rocks and is carried across gullies in bamboo pipes upheld by rocks or brick piers to the distribution reservoir.     Community Projects for Dapitan                        When Rizal arrived in Dapitan, he decided to improve it, to the best of his God-given talents,  and  to  awaken the civic consciousness  of  its  people.  He  wrote  to  Fr. Pastells: " I want to do all I can do for this town."      Aside from constructing  the towns first water system, he spent many months in draining the marshes in order to get rid of malaria that infested Dapitan.             The P500 which an English patient paid him was used by him to equip the town with  its  lighting  system which consist of coconut  oil  lamps  placed  in  dark  streets  of Dapitan.  Electric   lighting   was  unknown  then  in  the Philippines  not  until  1894  when  Manila saw  the  first electric lights.                 The beautification and  remodeling of the town plaza with the help of Father Sanchez enhances the beauty  as jokingly remarked that it  could "rival the best in Europe". In front of the church, Rizal and Fr. Sanchez made a huge relief map of Mindanao out of earth, stones, and grass. This map still adorns the town plaza of Dapitan.

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Our last stop for the afternoon was the Rizal Shrine, a National Shrine, where replicas of Rizal's house, classroom, clinic and other structures can be found. Also at the shrine is the rock where Jose Rizal and Josephine Bracken got married and the water system which Rizal constructed. There is also a museum which contains several personal items of Rizal including his clothes.Our last stop for the afternoon was the Rizal Shrine, a National Shrine, where replicas of Rizal's house, classroom, clinic and other structures can be found. Also at the shrine is the rock where Jose Rizal and Josephine Bracken got married and the water system which Rizal constructed. There is also a museum w

Dapitan is 1st heritage zone

DAPITAN CITY, Philippines  – The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) has designated this Shrine City in Zamboanga del Norte as the country’s first heritage zone, it was learned here recently.

The declaration, issued in appropriate rites here during the culmination of the recent National Historical Month, was timed for the commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of Dr. Jose P. Rizal on June 19, City Vice Mayor Patri Chan said.

Chan said the occasion was participated in by NHCP Deputy Executive Director Emelita Almosara, National Museum Director Jeremy Robert Barns, National Library Director Antonio Santos, and National Committee on Monuments and Sites Executive Rose Angeles.

According to Chan, who represented City Mayor Dominador G. Jalosjos Jr. to the historical event, the declaration of this city as the Philippines’ initial heritage zone “will strongly boost the community’s tourism industry even as it will help the Shrine City gain wider international exposure.”

Alcantara recognized Dapitan as one of the oldest settlements in Mindanao originally inhabited by Subanen tribesmen, “which many Filipinos have unfortunately failed to visit.”

Among the landmarks here, the NHCP official said, include: Casa Real, the national hero’s official residence in the then coastal village; the Old Town Plaza; the relief map of Mindanao made of elevated soil by Rizal himself; the Punto del Desembarco de Rizal (where boat-riding Spanish soldiers disembarked Rizal); the Saint James Church; the centuries-old Dapitan municipio; and the Rizal monument. (Tony Pe. Rimando)