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 Captain Ricardo Carnicero in his home did Rizal was good to Rizal; he gave ride his chestnut horse.) A Don Ricardo Carnicero poem which Rizal wrote for Captain Carnicero on his birthday stay; he

good reports about Rizal and

gave him complete freedom (proved by his permission for Rizal to

Wins in Manila Lottery

Butuan mail boat which brought the news about Rizals winning in the lottery Lottery Ticket No. 9736 second-prize winning ticket jointly owned by Rizal, Capt. Carnicero & Francisco Equilior (Spaniard from Dipolog) 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 Three (3) pesetas amount Rizal allotted for lottery tickets every month

Rizal Pastells Debate on 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 Rizal continued to hear mass and celebrate religious events.

Rizal Challenges a Frenchman to a Duel

Mr. Juan Lardet a French businessman whom Rizal had a conflict Lardet purchased logs from Rizals 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. Lardet wrote an apology letter to Rizal which Rizal accepted.

Rizal and Father Sanchez

In his aspiration to reconcile Rizal with the Church, Father Pastells sent to Dapitan: 1. Father Obach, Cura of Dapitan 2. Fr. Jose Vilaclara, Cura of Dipolog 3. Fr. Francisco Paula de Sanchez, Rizals favorite teacher at Ateneo de Manila Though Sanchez failed to persuade Rizal to discard unorthodox views, he helped Rizal in beautifying the town plaza. Estudios sobre la lengua tagala manuscript which Rizal gave to Sanchez on his birthday

Idyllic Life in Dapitan

Among his family members who visited Rizal were: 1. His mother 2. His sisters Trinidad, Maria and Narcisa 3. Nephews Teodosio, Estanislao, Mauricio and Prudencio Rizal built a house by the seashore of Talisay surrounded by fruit trees, a school for boys, and a hospital for his patients.

Rizals Encounter with the Friars Spy

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. The spy offered to be Rizals courier of letters for the patriots in Manila. Rizal became suspicious and wanted to throw the spy outside but considering his values and late hour of the night, he offered the spy to spend the night at his house. The next day, he sent the spy away. The spy stayed in Dapitan and spread talks among the people that he was a relative to Rizal. Rizal went to the comandancia and reported the impostor to Captain Juan Sitges (successor of Carnicero) Sitges ordered Pablo Mercados arrest and told Anastacio Adriatico to investigate him immediately. Florencio Namanan a.k.a Pablo Mercado, single and about 30 years old who was hired by the Recollect friars to spy on Rizals activities However, Sitges stopped the investigation and forwarded it to Governor General Blanco who, in turn, kept the issue as highly confidential. The secret mission of Pablo Mercado was not an assassination attempt but espionage only.

As Physician in Dapitan
Rizal continued practicing medicine in Dapitan. Most of his patients were poor so he gave them free medicine as well. Dona Teodora and Maria lived with Rizal for a year and a half. It is here when Rizal operated his mothers right eye. Though the operation was successful, his mother had a wound infection after ignoring Rizals instruction of not removing the bandages. However, the infection was immediately treated. Don Ignacio Tumarong Rizals 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

ailment, in turn he gave Rizal a cargo of sugar.Rizal prescribed medicinal plants to his poor patients.

Water System for Dapitan

As a perito agrimensor (expert surveyor), Rizal applied his engineering knowledge by constructing a system of waterworks to furnish clean water to the townspeople. Mr. H.F. Cameron American engineer who praised Rizal for his engineering ingenuity.

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

Rizal as Teacher
Rizal established in Dapitan a school. It began with 3 pupils who increased to 16 and eventually 21. 16 of his pupils did not pay tuition. Instead of charging them fees, Rizal made them work in his gardens and construction projects. Rizal taught them reading, writing, languages (Spanish and English), geography, history, mathematics (arithmetic and geometry), industrial work, nature study, morals and gymnastics. Formal classes were between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. He also applied the emperor system like that of Ateneo During recess, pupils built fires to drive away insects, pruned fruit trees and manured the soil. Outside class hours, students had gymnastics, boxing, wrestling, stonethrowing, swimming, arnis and boating.

Hymn to Talisay
A poem Rizal wrote in honor of Talisay which he made his pupils sing

Contributions to Science
Rizal sent specimens he found to the museum of Europe especially the Dresden Museum. In turn, he received scientific books and surgical instruments. 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
Continuing his study of languages, Rizal learned in Dapitan: 1. Bisayan 2. Subanum 3. Malay languages He knew by that time 1. Tagalog 12. 2. Ilokano 13. 3. Bisayan 14. 4. Subanum 15. 5. Spanish 16. 6. Latin 17. 7. Greek 18. 8. English 19. 9. French 10. German 11. Arabic 22 languages as follows Malay Hebrew Sanskrit Dutch Catalan Italian Chinese Japanese 20. Portuguese 21. Swedish 22. Russian

Artistic Works in Dapitan

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 Mothers 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 (Rizals 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.

Rizal as Businessman
Ramon Carreon Rizals business partner in Dapitan Rizal made profitable business ventures in fishing, copra and hemp industries. Hemp industry Rizals 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.

Rizals Inventive Ability

Among Rizals inventions were: 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 Rizals heart. In his loneliness, he met Josephine. Josephine Bracken Irish girl of sweet eighteen who was born on Hong Kong. James Bracken and Elizabeth Jane MacBride Josephines parents who are both Irish in citizenship Mr. George Taufer man who adopted Josephine after her mother died of childbirth Mr. Taufer became blind so he sought for an ophthalmic specialist. This is how Josephine and Rizal met. 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.

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. Having no priests to marry them, Rizal and Josephine married themselves before the eyes of God. The two were happy for they were expecting for a baby. However, Rizal played a prank on Josephine making her give birth to an eight-month baby boy. The baby lived for only three hours. He was named Francisco in honor of Rizals father.

Rizal and the Katipunan

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 Bonifacios 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 patients suffering yellow fever, he wrote a poem El Canto del Viajero

Adios, Dapitan
Espaa steamer which brought Rizal to Manila from Dapitan Rizal was accompanied by Josephine, Narcisa, Angelica (Narcisas daughter), his three nephews and six pupils. As farewell, the town brass of Dapitan played the dolorous Funeral March of Chopin. He stayed in Dapitan for four years, thirteen days and a few hours.