Malacaan Palace in the time of Rizal Posted on Jun 19, 2011

(From Malacaan Palace: The Official Illustrated History)

Rizal and the Palace

Things now moved a little slower and more true to form that was seen with [General Joaqun] Jovellar under whom

papers and funds had moved with admirable dispatch, but the new azotea may well have been completed when

Rizal, the most celebrated and notorious proponent of liberal reform of his generation, was ordered to visit [Lieutenant

General Emilio] Terrero at Malacaan in late August or early September 1887. Ordered to give an explanation for his

novel Noli Me Tangere a scathing portrayal of the Spanish administration and the religious orders branded

immediately as subversive and subsequently banned Terrero confronted Rizal in his office at the Palace and

actually asked for a copy of the book that he may know what all the fuss was about. Rizal returned a second time to

bring one to Terrero who received me with more friendliness.[i]

Terrero was to suffer for his relative leniency in matters such as this behavior that was anathema to the

conservatives. Probably due to their influence in Madrid, he was relieved from office in March 1888 after an alarming

and sizeable public demonstration, which was held against the Archbishop and the religious orders. His replacement

was the more intimidating Marqus of Tenerife, General Valeriano Wyler

Malacaan as the stage for the display of Spanish prestige would find its most exquisite expression in Wylers

successor. Lieutenant General Eulogio Despujol, the Count of Caspe, arrived on the last day of November 1891.

From a noble Catalan family, and with a wife, Vicenta Vasquez Queipo de Despujol, of equal stature, both Count and

Countess would set a new standard for entertainment and display at the Palace as well as usher in an Indian summer

of relative tolerance and many reforms before things would change forever after the handful of years to follow

Despujols reputation as the fairest, most honorable and most liberal Viceroy the Philippines have ever known had

reached Hong Kong, where the leading Filipino reformer Jos Rizal had settled the previous year.[ii] Inspired by the

possibilities of the new regime, he returned to Manila in June 1892, informing the Governor and Captain General of

his intention to call at Malacaan upon his arrival. In his diary, Rizal records five visits to Despujol at the palace, the

last of which, on Wednesday, July 13, ended with being led to Fort Santiago and exile to Dapitan in Mindanao. What

had turned the initially receptive Governor, who was a devout Catholic, against Rizal was the discovery of literature,

supposedly within Rizals luggage denouncing the church and papacy as well as the colonial regime

The conservatives could never have allowed the liberal Despujol to serve a complete term in office and indeed he

was suddenly relieved in February 1893 and replaced by Lieutenant General Ramon Blanco y Erenas, Marqus of

Pea Plata.

The Palace and the Revolution

By this time, being all too aware of the forces behind Despujols recall, a climate of unrest had gathered in Manila

among the Filipinos, and security for the Governor became a renewed concern.

February 1896 saw a proposal, based on security concerns, timely in view of the events which would take place six

months later to build a stone perimeter wall on Malacaans northeast side. The residence of the highest authority

of these islands must be surrounded with all due conditions of security.[iii] Apparently, such a wall had still not been

built. The project was approved and the contractor, Moises Salvador, hired.[iv]

Ironically, Salvador himself was a member of the Katipunan, a secret society founded to overthrow Spanish rule, and

with its discovery and the consequent outbreak of the revolution on led by Andrs Bonifacio at the end of August, the

last days of Spanish Malacaan began. Gone certainly were the Despujol days of ceremony and society and the

symbol of a benevolent motherland.

Blanco removed himself from Malacaan during Bonifacios campaign in the hinterland behind San Juan del Monte.

But while the Generals political enemies would accuse him of running off to the safety of Intramuros in an act of

cowardice, Blanco would later, back in Madrid, tell the Senate that he had moved to the city (most likely the Palace of

Santa Potenciana once again), because it is well known that at the distance which Malacaang is from Manila, it is

not possible to direct any [military] operation with precision and skill. His family, however, remained, attended by the

major domo, who was a peninsular Spaniard, and the 54 native servants who for all functions are at Malacaang

and none of which deserted to join the rebels.[v]

The Palace was actually not far from defensive perimeter established by Blanco against Bonifacios forces and later

against the fighting led by Emilio Aguinaldo to the south of Manila in Cavite. Advanced posts were established at

nearby Sampaloc, Nagtajan, Santa Mesa and Pandacan across the river. The honor guard at Malacaan was

included as support for the soldiers along this reach as well as responsible for policing the river.[vi]

Despite his relocation, Blanco seems to have maintained his general presence at Malacaan which was therefore

to play its part in the ending of Rizals life. For after Rizal, shortly after leaving Dapitan for Cuba, had been arrested

for alleged complicity in the Katipunan uprising, the results of the preliminary investigation and the approval of the

charges prepared against the Filipino were referred to the Palace. For instance, on December 13, 1896, the papers

concerning the charges, testimonies, evidence, and refutations were sent back to Malacaan for a final decision.[vii]

On this very day, however, Blanco whose policy of regarding the uprising as a localized incident did not please

those who believed sterner measures were called for was replaced by a general who had just arrived in Manila.

This man, Camilo Garca de Polavieja, Marqus of Pidal, must also likewise have kept a presence at Malacaan,

because after the court martial had found Rizal guilty and passed a death sentence on him, the judgment was

endorsed to Malacaan which passed it on to the Judge Advocate General who agreed with it and recommended

execution by firing squad at a place and time of the Governors choosing. Thus it was that within the walls of

Malacaan, on 28 December 1896, Polavieja gave the order for Rizal to be shot at seven in the morning of the 30th

in the field of Bagumbayan. [viii]

The Palace would see one final and famous drama in this affair that became a defining moment for a nation yet

unborn, when that very evening Rizals sisters waited at the Palace gates to appeal to the Governor, who declined.[ix]

[i] Letter to Ferdinand Blumentritt, Calamba, September 5, 1887. (Original in German), translated from the Spanish

translation as given in the Epistolario Rizalino, V, Letter No. 35, pp 201-2

[ii] Priestly Persecution in the Philippines, The Hong Kong Telegraph, July 30, 1892, p.2

[iii] Jefe Ingeniero Francisco de Castro a la Inspeccin de Obras Pblicas, Documento No. 611, Manila, 7 de Febrero

de 1896

[iv] Director General de Administracin Civil de las Islas Filipinas al Ilustrisimo Sr. Gobernador Civil de la Provincia de

Manila, Manila, 14 de Febrero de 1896

[v] Memorial directed to the Senate by General Blanco about the last events that happened in the island of Luzn,

Madrid, 1897, pp.44-52

[vi] Ibid., pp. 81-85

[vii] Guerrero, op.cit, p.377.

[viii] Guerrero, op.cit, p.378-379.

[ix] Wenceslao Emilio Retana, Vida y Escritos del Dr. Jos Rizal, 1907, citing a telegram by correspondent Santiago

Mataix to the Heraldo de Madrid which was published in the evening edition of December 29, 1896