JOSE RIZAL AND THE REVOLUTION

Posted on September 18, 2012

JOSE RIZAL AND THE REVOLUTION
Revisiting Renato Constantinos Veneration without Understanding
By Chris Antonette Piedad-Pugay
When we open the pages of history books in the Philippines, it is not surprising to
see texts about the martyrdom of our most celebrated hero Dr. Jose Rizal. In fact, it
seems that his name already occupied a permanent and prominent place in every
publication that has something to say about the Philippines.
Truthfully, there is nothing wrong about immortalizing Rizal and his heroism in books
and literatures read by several generations of Filipinos and non-Filipinos. Probably,
most writers deemed that doing such is a fitting way of paying respect and gratitude to
his contributions and sacrifices for the benefit of the Filipino people and of our nation.
Its just unfortunate that in trying to present him as an icon of heroism, he was placed in
a pedestal that became too tough for Juan dela Cruz to reach.
The national revolution that we had in our country from 1896 to 1901 is one period
when the Filipino people were most united, most involved and most spirited to fight for a
common causefreedom. While all aspects of Jose Rizals short but meaningful life
were already explored and exhausted by history writers and biographers, his direct
involvement in the Philippine Revolution that broke out in 1896 remains to be a sensitive
and unfamiliar topic.
Historians cannot deny that Rizal played a major part in the countrys struggle for
reforms and independence. His writings, particularly the Noli me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo were viewed as the guiding force for other patriots to rally for the
countrys cause. While most of us believed that Rizal dedicated his life and labor for the
cause of the revolution and venerated him to a certain extent, a brave historian rose up
and went against the tide by making known to the public his stand that Rizal was NOT
an actual leader of the Philippine Revolution. While most of his biographers avoided
this topic, it is important to note that this greatest contradiction in Rizal made him more
significant than ever.
In his Rizal Day lecture in 1969 entitled Veneration without Understanding, Prof.
Renato Constantino tried to disclose the real Rizal and the truth of his heroism stripping
off the superficial knick-knacks adorned on him by hagiographers and hero-
worshippers.
The very striking fact that Constantino forwarded was the notion that Rizal was not a
leader of the Philippine Revolution, but a leading opponent of it. Accordingly, in the
manifesto of 15 December 1896 written by Rizal himself which he addressed to the
Filipino people, he declared that when the plan of revolution came into his knowledge,
he opposed its absolute impossibility and state his utmost willingness to offer anything
he could to stifle the rebellion. Rizal thought of it as absurd, and abhorred its alleged
criminal methods.
Rizal in his manifesto put into premise the necessity of education in the
achievement of liberties. Most importantly he believed that reforms to be fruitful must
come from above and that those that come from below are shaky, irregular, and
uncertain.
 Rizals weakness for this matter was his failure to fully understand his people. He
was unsuccessful in empathizing with the true sentiments of the people from below in
launching the armed rebellion. He repudiated the revolution because he thought that
reforms to be successful should come from above. It could be understandable that the
hero thought of such because it was the belief of the prevailing class to which Rizal
belonged. It is also possible that Rizal disproved the revolution due to his belief that
violence should not prevail. In this case, Rizal unintentionally underestimated the
capacity of those from below to compel changes and reforms.
This hesitation of Rizal against the revolution was supported by Dr. Pio Valenzuelas
1896 account of the revolution after he was sent by Andres Bonifacio to Dapitan to seek
Rizals opinion and approval in launching an armed rebellion against the Spanish
administration. In September 1896, Valenzuela before a military court testified that
Rizal was resolutely opposed to the idea of a premature armed rebellion and used bad
language in reference to it, the same statement was extracted from him in October
1896, only that he overturned that it was Bonifacio, not Rizal, who made use of foul
words.
However, Valenzuela after two decades reversed his story by saying that Rizal was
not actually against the revolution but advised the Katipuneros to wait for the right
timing, secure the needed weapons and get the support of the rich and scholarly class.
Valenzuela recounted that his 1896 statements were embellished due to duress and
torture and it was made to appear that in his desire not to implicate or save Rizal,
testified that the latter was opposed to the rebellion. This turn of events put historians
into a great confusion, making Rizals stand over the Philippine Revolution,
controversial and debatable, making him both hero and anti-hero.
Constantino, in reality did not disrobe Rizal the merit he deserves, what he did was a
critical evaluation of Rizal as a product of his time. He pointed out that even without
Rizal, the nationalistic movement would still advance with another figure to take his
place because it was not Rizal who shaped the turn of events but otherwise. Historical
forces untied by social developments impelled and motivated Rizal to rose up and
articulate the peoples sentiments through his writings. In fact, the revolution ensued
even Rizal disagreed with it. Finally, Constantino argued that to better understand the
hero, we should also take note of his weaknesses and learn from them.

Adios Dapitan

On the morning of July 31, 1896, his last day in Dapitan, Rizal
busily packed his things. He was scheduled to leave the town on
board the Espaa, which was sailing back to Manila. He had sold
his lands and other things he owned to his friend, mostly natives
of Dapitan.
At 5:30 in the afternoon, he and eight other companions
embarked on the steamer. His eight companions were Josephine;
Narcisa (his sister); Angelica (daughter of Narcisa); his three
nephews, Mauricio (son of Maria Rizal ), Estanislao (son of Lucia
Rizal), and Teodosio (another son of Lucia Rizal); and Mr. And
Mrs. Sunico.

Almost all Dapitan folks, young and old, were at the shore to see
the departure of their beloved doctor. The pupils of Rizal cried,
for they could not accompany their dear teacher. Captain
Carnicero, in full regalia of a commandants uniform, was on hand
to say goodbye to his prisoner, whom he had come to admire and
respect. The town brass band played the music of the farewell
ceremony.

At midnight, Friday, July 31, 1896, the steamer departed for

Manila. The Dapitan folks shouted "Adios, Dr. Rizal!" and threw
their hats and handkerchiefs in the air. Captain Carnicero saluted
his departing friend. As the steamer left the town, the brass band
played the sad music of Chopins Farewell March.

Rizal was in the upper deck, with tears in his eyes. He raised his
hand in farewell to the kind and hospitable people of Dapitan,
saying: " Adios, Dapitan!" He gazed at the crowded shore for the
last time. His heart was filled with sorrow.

When he could no longer see the dim shoreline, he turned sadly

into his cabin. He wrote in his diary: "I have been in that district
four years, thirteen days, and a few hours."

The Philippine Revolution (Filipino: Himagsikang Pilipino), also called the Tagalog War
(Spanish: Guerra Tagalog) by the Spanish,[2] was a revolution and subsequent conflict fought
between the people of the Philippines and the Spanish colonial authorities.

The Philippine Revolution began in August 1896, when the Spanish authorities discovered
Katipunan, an anti-colonial secret organization. The Katipunan, led by Andrs Bonifacio, was a
liberationist movement whose goal was independence from Spain through armed revolt. The
organization began to influence much of the Philippines. During a mass gathering in Caloocan,
the leaders of Katipunan organized themselves into a revolutionary government, named the
newly established government "Haring Bayang Katagalugan", and openly declared a nationwide
armed revolution.[3] Bonifacio called for an attack on the capital city of Manila. This attack
failed; however, the surrounding provinces began to revolt. In particular, rebels in Cavite led by
Mariano Alvarez and Emilio Aguinaldo (who were from two different factions of Katipunan)
won early victories. A power struggle among the revolutionaries led to Bonifacio's death in
1897, with command shifting to Aguinaldo, who led his own revolutionary government. That
year, the revolutionaries and the Spanish signed the Pact of Biak-na-Bato, which temporarily
reduced hostilities. Aguinaldo and other Filipino officers exiled themselves in Hong Kong.
However, the hostilities never completely ceased.[4]

On April 21, 1898, the United States launched a naval blockade of Cuba, which was the first
military action of the SpanishAmerican War.[5] On May 1, the U.S. Navy's Asiatic Squadron,
under Commodore George Dewey, decisively defeated the Spanish Navy in the Battle of Manila
Bay, effectively seizing control of Manila. On May 19, Aguinaldo, unofficially allied with the
United States, returned to the Philippines and resumed attacks against the Spaniards. By June,
the rebels had gained control of nearly all of the Philippines, with the exception of Manila. On
June 12, Aguinaldo issued the Philippine Declaration of Independence.[6] Although this signified
the end date of the revolution, neither Spain nor the United States recognized Philippine
independence.[7]

The Spanish rule of the Philippines officially ended with the Treaty of Paris of 1898, which also
ended the SpanishAmerican War. In the treaty, Spain ceded control of the Philippines and other
territories to the United States.[4] There was an uneasy peace around Manila, with the American
forces controlling the city and the weaker Philippines forces surrounding them.

On February 4, 1899, in the Battle of Manila, fighting broke out between the Filipino and
American forces, beginning the PhilippineAmerican War Aguinaldo immediately ordered
"[t]hat peace and friendly relations with the Americans be broken and that the latter be treated as
enemies".[8] In June 1899, the nascent First Philippine Republic formally declared war against the
United States.[9][10]

The Philippines would not become an internationally recognized independent state until 1946.

RIZALS LAST POEM

MI ULTIMO ADIOS
Jose Rizal was executed on December 30 1896. He was imprisoned in
Fort Santiago Intramuros, he was a revolutionary and his writings were said to entice
insurgency. However I dont think the Spanish needed to much of an exuse.

Jose Rizal, before his execution by firing squad at Rizal or Luneta Park, wrote Rizals last
poem Mi Ultimo Adios or My Ultimate Goodbye

Interestingly enough his original writing was said to have no title, the title Mi Ultimo Adios
was given by Mariano Ponce.
Mi Ultimo Adios

Farewell, my adored Land, region of the sun caressed,

Pearl of the Orient Sea, our Eden lost,
With gladness I give you my Life, sad and repressed;
And were it more brilliant, more fresh and at its best,
I would still give it to you for your welfare at most.

On the fields of battle, in the fury of fight,

Others give you their lives without pain or hesitancy,
The place does not matter: cypress laurel, lily white,
Scaffold, open field, conflict or martyrdom's site,
It is the same if asked by home and Country.

I die as I see tints on the sky b'gin to show

And at last announce the day, after a gloomy night;
If you need a hue to dye your matutinal glow,
Pour my blood and at the right moment spread it so,
And gild it with a reflection of your nascent light!

My dreams, when scarcely a lad adolescent,

My dreams when already a youth, full of vigor to attain,
Were to see you, gem of the sea of the Orient,
Your dark eyes dry, smooth brow held to a high plane
Without frown, without wrinkles and of shame without stain.

My life's fancy, my ardent, passionate desire,

Hail! Cries out the soul to you, that will soon part from thee;
Hail! How sweet 'tis to fall that fullness you may acquire;
To die to give you life, 'neath your skies to expire,
And in your mystic land to sleep through eternity !

If over my tomb some day, you would see blow,

A simple humble flow'r amidst thick grasses,
Bring it up to your lips and kiss my soul so,
And under the cold tomb, I may feel on my brow,
Warmth of your breath, a whiff of your tenderness.

Let the moon with soft, gentle light me descry,

Let the dawn send forth its fleeting, brilliant light,
In murmurs grave allow the wind to sigh,
And should a bird descend on my cross and alight,
Let the bird intone a song of peace o'er my site.

Let the burning sun the raindrops vaporize

And with my clamor behind return pure to the sky;
Let a friend shed tears over my early demise;
And on quiet afternoons when one prays for me on high,
Pray too, oh, my Motherland, that in God may rest I.

Pray thee for all the hapless who have died,

For all those who unequalled torments have undergone;
For our poor mothers who in bitterness have cried;
For orphans, widows and captives to tortures were shied,
And pray too that you may see you own redemption.

And when the dark night wraps the cemet'ry

And only the dead to vigil there are left alone,
Don't disturb their repose, don't disturb the mystery:
If you hear the sounds of cithern or psaltery,
It is I, dear Country, who, a song t'you intone.

And when my grave by all is no more remembered,

With neither cross nor stone to mark its place,
Let it be plowed by man, with spade let it be scattered
And my ashes ere to nothingness are restored,
Let them turn to dust to cover your earthly space.

Then it doesn't matter that you should forget me:

Your atmosphere, your skies, your vales I'll sweep;
Vibrant and clear note to your ears I shall be:
Aroma, light, hues, murmur, song, moanings deep,
Constantly repeating the essence of the faith I keep.

My idolized Country, for whom I most gravely pine,

Dear Philippines, to my last goodbye, oh, harken
There I leave all: my parents, loves of mine,
I'll go where there are no slaves, tyrants or hangmen
Where faith does not kill and where God alone does reign.

Farewell, parents, brothers, beloved by me,

Friends of my childhood, in the home distressed;
Give thanks that now I rest from the wearisome day;
Farewell, sweet stranger, my friend, who brightened my way;
Farewell, to all I love. To die is to rest.