Romero, John Terrence M.
CHAPTER 22: EXILE IN DAPITAN, 1892-96
P20,000 – lottery prize; P6,200 of it was given to Rizal; P2,000 of his share he gave to his father and P200 to Basa, the rest he invested thru purchasing agricultural lands from the coast of Talisay
Dapitan (Mindanao) – place managed by Jesuits where Rizal was exiled
Three (3) pesetas – amount Rizal allotted for lottery tickets every month
Rizal kept communication with: 1. His family 2. Fellow reformists 3. Eminent scientists and scholars of Europe
Rizal – Pastells Debate on Religion
Beginning of Exile in Dapitan Cebu – steamer which brought Rizal to Dapitan - Carried a letter from Fr. Pablo Pastells (Superior of the Jesuit Society of the Philippines) to Fr. Antonio Obach which states that Rizal could live at the parish convent if he will a. Retract his errors regarding religion b. Perform church rites & make a general confession c. Conduct himself in an exemplary manner as a Spanish subject and man of religion
The debate started when Pastells sent Rizal a book by Sarda along with an advice that Rizal should desist from his majaderas (foolishness) in viewing religion from the perspective of individual judgement and self-esteem The debate can be read in four (4) letters. Rizal was bitter against the friars because they commit abuses under the cloak of religion. Father Pastells tried to bring back to Catholicism Rizal by telling him that human intelligence is limited, thus he needs the guidance of God. Behind the debate, Pastells and Rizal were friends as evidently pictured when: 1. Pastells gave Rizal a copy of Imitacion de Cristo by Fr. Thomas a Kempis 2. Rizal gave Pastells a bust of St. Paul which he had made
Captain Ricardo Carnicero – in his home did Rizal stay; he was good to Rizal; he gave good reports about Rizal and gave him complete freedom (proved Rizal continued to hear mass and celebrate by his permission for Rizal to ride religious events. his chestnut horse.) A Don Ricardo Carnicero – poem which Rizal wrote for Captain Carnicero on his birthday Wins in Manila Lottery Butuan – mail boat which brought the news about Rizal’s winning in the lottery Lottery Ticket No. 9736 – second-prize winning ticket jointly owned by Rizal, Capt. Carnicero & Francisco Equilior (Spaniard from Dipolog)
Rizal Challenges a Frenchman to a Duel Mr. Juan Lardet – a French businessman whom Rizal had a conflict Lardet purchased logs from Rizal’s lands of which some are of poor quality. Lardet was disgusted of the business deal and expressed this in a letter to Antonio Miranda. Miranda showed Rizal the letter which made Rizal angry, eventually challenging Lardet into a duel. Captain Carnicero heard of this and advised Lardet to apologize for he would not win against Rizal
because he was expert in fencing and pistol shooting.
The spy stayed in Dapitan and spread talks among the people that he was a relative to Rizal.
Lardet wrote an apology letter to Rizal which Rizal Rizal went to the comandancia and reported the accepted. impostor to Captain Juan Sitges (successor of Carnicero) Rizal and Father Sanchez Sitges ordered Pablo Mercado’s arrest and told In his aspiration to reconcile Rizal with the Anastacio Adriatico to investigate him Church, Father Pastells sent to Dapitan: immediately. 1. Father Obach, Cura of Dapitan 2. Fr. Jose Vilaclara, Cura of Dipolog Florencio Namanan – a.k.a Pablo Mercado, single 3. Fr. Francisco Paula de Sanchez, Rizal’s and about 30 years old who was favorite teacher at Ateneo de Manila hired by the Recollect friars to spy on Rizal’s activities Though Sanchez failed to persuade Rizal to discard unorthodox views, he helped Rizal in beautifying However, Sitges stopped the investigation and the town plaza. forwarded it to Governor General Blanco who, in turn, kept the issue as highly confidential. Estudios sobre la lengua tagala – manuscript which Rizal gave to Sanchez on his birthday The secret mission of Pablo Mercado was not an assassination attempt but espionage only. Idyllic Life in Dapitan As Physician in Dapitan Among his family members who visited Rizal were: Rizal continued practicing medicine in Dapitan. 1. His mother Most of his patients were poor so he gave them 2. His sisters Trinidad, Maria and Narcisa free medicine as well. 3. Nephews Teodosio, Estanislao, Mauricio and Prudencio Dona Teodora and Maria lived with Rizal for a year and a half. It is here when Rizal operated his Rizal built a house by the seashore of Talisay mother’s right eye. Though the operation was surrounded by fruit trees, a school for boys, and a successful, his mother had a wound infection after hospital for his patients. ignoring Rizal’s instruction of not removing the bandages. However, the infection was immediately Rizal’s Encounter with the Friar’s Spy treated. Pablo Mercado – assumed name of the spy who visited Rizal at his house and pretended to be a relative by showing a photo of Rizal and a pair of buttons with the initials P.M. as evidence of kinship.
Don Ignacio Tumarong – Rizal’s patient who was able to see again after his operation; he paid Rizal P3,000
Don Florencio Azcarraga – rich hacendero of Aklan who was cured of eye The spy offered to be Rizal’s courier of letters for ailment, in turn he gave Rizal a the patriots in Manila. Rizal became suspicious and cargo of sugar. wanted to throw the spy outside but considering his values and late hour of the night, he offered the spy Rizal prescribed medicinal plants to his poor to spend the night at his house. The next day, he patients. sent the spy away.
Water System for Dapitan
Hymn to Talisay
As a perito agrimensor (expert surveyor), Rizal - A poem Rizal wrote in honor of Talisay applied his engineering knowledge by constructing which he made his pupils sing a system of waterworks to furnish clean water to the townspeople. Contributions to Science Mr. H.F. Cameron – American engineer who praised Rizal for his engineering ingenuity.
Rizal sent specimens he found to the museum of Europe especially the Dresden Museum. In turn, he received scientific books and surgical instruments.
Community Projects for Dapitan Rizal had 1. Drained the marshes to get rid of malaria that was infesting Dapitan 2. Equipped the town with lighting system using P500 one of his patients paid him. The lighting system consisted of: a. Coconut oil lamps 3. Beautified the town of Dapitan by remodeling the town plaza and making a huge relief map of Mindanao out of earth, stones and grass
He had 1. Built up a rich collection of concology (consisting of 346 shells of 203 species) 2. Discovered rare specimens like: a. Draco rizali (a flying dragon) b. Apogonia rizali (a small beetle) c. Rhacophorus rizali (a rare frog) 3. Conducted anthropological, ethnographical, archaeological, geological and geographical studies. Linguistic Studies
Rizal as Teacher
Continuing his study of languages, Rizal learned in Dapitan: Rizal established in Dapitan a school. It began with 1. Bisayan 3 pupils who increased to 16 and eventually 21. 2. Subanum 3. Malay languages 16 of his pupils did not pay tuition. Instead of charging them fees, Rizal made them work in his He knew by that time 22 languages as follows gardens and construction projects. 1. Tagalog 12. Malay 2. Ilokano 13. Hebrew Rizal taught them reading, writing, languages 3. Bisayan 14. Sanskrit (Spanish and English), geography, history, 4. Subanum 15. Dutch mathematics (arithmetic and geometry), industrial 5. Spanish 16. Catalan work, nature study, morals and gymnastics. 6. Latin 17. Italian 7. Greek 18. Chinese Formal classes were between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 8. English 19. Japanese p.m. He also applied the “emperor” system like 9. French 20. Portuguese that of Ateneo 10. German 21. Swedish 11. Arabic 22. Russian During recess, pupils built fires to drive away insects, pruned fruit trees and manured the soil. Artistic Works in Dapitan Outside class hours, students had gymnastics, boxing, wrestling, stone-throwing, swimming, arnis and boating.
To pursue his artistic activities, Rizal 1. Contributed paintings to the Sisters of Charity who were preparing the sanctuary of the Holy Virgin
2. Made sketches of persons and things that attracted him in Dapitan 3. Modeled a statuette called “The Mother’s Revenge” to stress the moral of the incident where a puppy of his dog, Syria, was eaten by a crocodile 4. Constructed a statue of a girl called “The Dapitan Girl”, a woodcarving of Josephine Bracken (Rizal’s wife) 5. Made a bust of St. Paul for Father Pastells Rizal as Farmer Rizal acquired total land holdings of 70 hectares where 6,000 hemp plants, 1,000 coconut trees and numerous fruit trees, sugarcane, corn, coffee and cacao were planted. He planned to establish an agricultural colony in Sitio Ponot because it was ideal for raising cacao, coffee, coconuts and cattle. However, this did not materialize due to lack of support from the government.
1. Cigarette lighter which he sent as a gift to Blumentritt called “sulpukan” 2. A wooden machine for making bricks “My Retreat” Upon restoring her eyesight, Dona Teodora returned to Manila. Seeing how busy Rizal is, she regretted neglecting her muses. She requested Rizal to write poetry. As a response, Rizal wrote “Mi Retiro” relating his serene life as an exile in Dapitan. Rizal and Josephine Bracken The death of Leonor Rivera left a poignant void in Rizal’s heart. In his loneliness, he met Josephine. Josephine Bracken – Irish girl of sweet eighteen who was born on Hong Kong.
Rizal as Businessman
James Bracken and Elizabeth Jane MacBride – Josephine’s parents who are both Irish in citizenship
Ramon Carreon – Rizal’s business partner in Dapitan
Mr. George Taufer – man who adopted Josephine after her mother died of childbirth
Rizal made profitable business ventures in fishing, copra and hemp industries.
Mr. Taufer became blind so he sought for an ophthalmic specialist. This is how Josephine and Rizal met.
Hemp industry – Rizal’s most profitable business. Once he shipped 150 bales of hemp to Manila. He purchased hemp in Dapitan at P7 and 4 reales per picul and he sold it to Manila at P10 and 4 reales. Rizal also engaged in lime manufacturing. Their limeburner had a monthly capacity of more than 400 bags of lime. He organized the Cooperative Association of Dapitan Farmers to break Chinese monopoly.
Manuela Orlac – Filipina companion who accompanied Josephine Bracken to Dapitan. Rizal and Josephine Bracken decided to get married but Father Obach refused to marry them without the permission of Bishop of Cebu. Hearing of the planned marriage and unable to endure the thought of losing Josephine, Mr. Taufer tried to commit suicide by cutting off his throat with a razor but Rizal was able to prevent this.
Rizal’s Inventive Ability Among Rizal’s inventions were:
To avoid a tragedy, Josephine accompanied Mr. Taufer back to Manila. Mr. Taufer returned to
Hong Kong alone while Josephine stayed with the Rizals in Manila.
patients suffering yellow fever, he wrote a poem “El Canto del Viajero”
Having no priests to marry them, Rizal and Josephine married themselves before the eyes of God.
Adios, Dapitan España – steamer which brought Rizal to Manila from Dapitan
The two were happy for they were expecting for a baby. However, Rizal played a prank on Josephine Rizal was accompanied by Josephine, Narcisa, making her give birth to an eight-month baby boy. Angelica (Narcisa’s daughter), his three nephews The baby lived for only three hours. He was named and six pupils. “Francisco” in honor of Rizal’s father. As farewell, the town brass of Dapitan played the Rizal and the Katipunan dolorous Funeral March of Chopin. Pio Valenzuela – emissary to Dapitan in order to inform Rizal of the plan of Katipunan during the meeting at a little river called Bitukang Manok. Venus – steamer Valenzuela boarded to reach Dapitan Raymundo Mata – blind man who came with Valenzuela to camouflage his mission Rizal objected Bonifacio’s project because: 1. The people are not ready for a revolution 2. Arms and funds must first be collected before raising the cry of revolution. Volunteers as Military Doctor in Cuba When Cuba was under revolution and raging yellow fever epidemic, Rizal wrote to Governor General Ramon Blanco offering his services as military doctor. Governor Blanco later notified Rizal of the acceptance of the offer. The notification came along with an instruction of acquiring first a pass for Manila from the politico-military commander of Dapitan. “The Song of the Traveler” Upon receiving the acceptance of his offer to go to Europe then to Cuba to help in the curing of
He stayed in Dapitan for four years, thirteen days and a few hours.
