Republic of the Philippines

Capiz State University

Burias Campus

Burias, Mambusao, Capiz

CHAPTER 25:

Martyrdom at Bagumbayan

Submitted by:

Emilio Fer G. Villa

BEED IV

Submitted to:

Prof. Cynthia Dela Torre

Instructress

After being court-martialed, Rizal returned to his cell in Fort Santiago to prepare his rendezvous with destiny.

Dec. 30, 1896 – he was busy meeting visitors which includes his family and friends.

He was also able to write his last poem –

his final contribution for the emancipation of

the Filipino people.

Rizal’s Last Hours

December 29, 1896

6:00 A.M. – Captain Rafael Rodriguez read Rizal’s death sentence – he will be shot at the back by firing squad at 7:00 A.M. in Bagumbayan.

7:00 A.M. – Rizal was moved to the prison

chapel where he spent his last moments. His first

visitors were Jesuit priests.

7:15 A.M. – Rizal reminded Fr. Luis Viza the statuette of the Sacred Heart of Jesus whom he carved as a student in Ateneo.

8:00 A.M. – Rizal had a breakfast with

Fr. Antonio Rosell. After breakfast, his attorney,

Lt. Luis Taviel de Andrade came.

9:00 A.M. – Fr. Frederico Faura arrived. Rizal reminded the priest of his earlier ‘prophecy’ about Rizal.

10:00 A.M. – More Jesuit priests had visited him.

After then, he was interviewed by Santiago

Mataix for the newspaper El Heraldo de Madrid.

6:00 A.M. – Captain Rafael Rodriguez read Rizal’s death sentence – he will be shot at the back by firing squad at 7:00 A.M. in Bagumbayan.

7:00 A.M. – Rizal was moved to the prison chapel where he spent his last moments. His first visitors were Jesuit priests.

7:15 A.M. – Rizal reminded Fr. Luis Viza the statuette of the Sacred Heart of Jesus whom he carved as a student in Ateneo.

12:00 – 3:30 P.M. – Rizal was left alone in his cell.

He took his lunch and continued writing his farewell

poem which he hid in an alcohol cooking stove.

He also wrote his last letter to Professor Blumentritt.

3:30 P.M. – Father Vicente Balaguer returned to his cell and discussed with Rizal his retraction letter.

Father Antonio Rosell

Fr. Frederico Faura

4:00 P.M. – Teodora Alonzo visited him. They

had a very emotional encounter. Rizal gave the alcohol

cooking stove to Trinidad which contains his farewell

poem. Several priests have visited him afterwards.

6:00 P.M. – Don Silvino Lopez, dean of the Manila Cathedral visited him.

8:00 P.M. – Rizal had his last supper. He told Captain Dominguez that he forgave his enemies including the military judges.

9:30 P.M. – Rizal was visited by Don Gaspar Cestano, fiscal of the Royal Audience de Manila.

10:00 P.M. – The draft of the retraction letter sent by the anti-Filipino Archbishop Bernardino Nozaleda was given by Fr. Balaguer to Rizal for his signature. He had rejected it.

Upon Rizal’s death, his supposedly ‘retraction

letter’ became of one of the most controversial docu-

ments in our history.

This ‘retraction letter’ allegedly contains his

renunciation of the Masonry and his ‘anti-Catholic

religious ideas.’

Depending on whose side you are on, some Rizalists claims that it is fake while some believe it to be genuine.

There had been some evidences but so far these had only heated up the debate between the two factions.

“Now I am about to die, and it is to you I dedicate

my last lines, to tell you how sad I am to leave you

alone in life, burdened with the weight of the family

Teodora Alonzo

and our old parents.”

December 30, 1896

5:30 A.M. – Josephine Bracken arrived together with Rizal’s sister, Josefa, with tears in her eyes, bade him farewell. Rizal embraced her for the last time, and before she left, Rizal gave her a last gift – a religious book, Imitation of Christ by Father Thomas Kempis.

6:00 A.M. – As the soldiers were getting ready for the death march to Bagumbayan, Rizal wrote his last letter to his beloved parents.

“My beloved Father, pardon me for the pain with which I repay you, for sorrows and sacrifices for my education. I did not want it nor did I prefer it. Goodbye Father, goodbye.”

“To my very dear Mother, Sra. Dona Teodora Alonso 6 o’oclock in the morning, December 30, 1896.”

At about 6:30 A.M., a trumpet sounded at Fort Santiago, a signal to begin the death march to Bagumbayan.

Rizal walked calmly with his defense counsel and two Jesuit priests at his sides.

He was dressed elegantly in a black suit, black

derby h at, black shoes, white shirt and black tie. His

arms were tied behind from elbow to elbow.

There a lot of spectators lining the street from Fort Santiago to Bagumbayan.

As he was going through the narrow Postigo Gate, Rizal looked at the sky and said to one of the priests: “How beautiful it is today, Father. What morning could be more serene! How clear is Corregidor and the mountains of Cavite! On mornings like this, I used to take a walk with my sweetheart.”

While he was passing in front of the Ateneo, he saw the college towers above the walls. He asked: “Is that the Ateneo, Father?” “Yes”, replied the priest.

A Spanish military physician, Dr. Felipe Ruiz Castillo, asked his permission to feel his pulse. He was amazed to find it normal, showing that Jose Rizal was not afraid to die.

The death ruffles of the drums filled the air. Above the drum beats, the sharp command “Fire” was heard, and the guns of the firing squad barked. Rizal, with supreme effort, turned his bullet-riddled body to the right, and fell on the ground dead – with face upward facing the morning sun. It was exactly 7:03 in the morning – aged 35 years, 5 months and 11 days.

References:

https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=RIZAL+IN+FORT+SANTIAGO%5C&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiju-uW_PPKAhVEJJQKHZXjD34QsAQIKg&biw=1280&bih=890#imgrc=wq62DO6ejM4X8M%3A

http://www.slideshare.net/cecille1228/rizals-martyrdom-at-bagumbayan?qid=3a2becc8-e881-4c58-9e20-1f54803e3338&v=&b=&from_search=2

https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=prison+chapel+OF+RIZAL&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjSkufUgPTKAhWEoZQKHac0APMQsAQIGg&biw=1280&bih=890#imgrc=ddtphLu84JlGeM%3A

https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=Luis+Taviel+de+Andrade&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-5MuGgvTKAhUJopQKHblAASkQsAQIKQ&biw=1280&bih=890#imgrc=ATJpwbODZCK-UM%3A

https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=Luis+Taviel+de+Andrade&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-5MuGgvTKAhUJopQKHblAASkQsAQIKQ&biw=1280&bih=890#tbm=isch&q=Fr.+Frederico+Faura&imgrc=Y0LCPk53gKtuoM%3A

https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=Luis+Taviel+de+Andrade&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-5MuGgvTKAhUJopQKHblAASkQsAQIKQ&biw=1280&bih=890#tbm=isch&q=Santiago+Mataix+&imgrc=JSlsi8Xsl_0asM%3A

https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=Luis+Taviel+de+Andrade&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-5MuGgvTKAhUJopQKHblAASkQsAQIKQ&biw=1280&bih=890#tbm=isch&q=farewell+poem+which+he+hid+in+an+alcohol+cooking+stove&imgrc=5fe6gk_jUZZAAM%3A

https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=Luis+Taviel+de+Andrade&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-5MuGgvTKAhUJopQKHblAASkQsAQIKQ&biw=1280&bih=890#tbm=isch&q=Teodora+Alonzo+visited+him&imgrc=EQ-ioI-P-M7F7M%3A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysGOw1bS79A