Retraction of Jose Rizal: The Argument
Note: I wrote this paper in 2020 during my first year of college. It has remained untouched and unedited since then, and it will likely stay that way. As such, you may encounter some mistakes or inconsistencies. Please use this as you see fit, but take it with a grain of salt.
The controversy about Jose Rizal’s retraction a few hours before his death is being hotly debated, whether the national hero did retract or not. It was said that he had signed it moments before his death, and as there were witnesses when he did the document only surfaced on May 13, 1935. But what’s the truth? Did Jose Rizal retract? And if he did, what does it say about his works?
Despite the various claims and evidence on whether Rizal did or did not retract, I believe that Jose Rizal, our national hero, did not retract moments before his death, contrary to the controversy. Until now, there isn’t a shred of solid evidence to justify his retraction and end this debate. The following attestations give rise to testimonies that Rizal did not retract before his execution.
First was the copy of the retraction paper that was reputedly signed by Dr. Jose Rizal and was kept secret and was only published in newspapers. When Rizal’s family requested the original copy, it was said that it was lost. After 39 years, the original copy was found in the Archdiocesan archives. Ricardo Pascual, Ph.D., was permitted by Archbishop Nozaleda to examine the document. In his book “Rizal Beyond the Grave,” Chapter V, By Way of Disproofs, he later concluded that the documents presented were a forgery.
“..... Couple with it the fact that when the doctor was already dead and the supposed retraction must have already been consummated, and also the fact that they had promised to show it to the unfortunate family of the deceased, but they did not show anything then-till almost thirty-nine years thereafter, on the pretext of "providential" misplacement, ·the strangeness becomes miraculous and hence unbelievable. Unbelievable, because the miracle is man-made, superstitiously attributed to Providence.”
“Again, we have here another fact. In a footnote of "El Renacimiento", December 29, 1908, the editorial staff wrote:
"Reliable persons inform us that they had gone to the Archive of the Archbishop's Palace to look for this document (retraction) and there they were told that it was not found. The Jesuits have failed to demonstrate it also."
And Father Pio Pi insisted in the footnote of his book that:
"In the Archbishop's Palace, it seems that, although they (documents of retraction) were looked for, they have not been found."
Therefore, the document could not be found after their search in the Archives of the Archbishop. Such a very important document, why would it be lost or even misplaced then? And yet, where did they find this newly discovered one? "In the Archive of the Archbishop's Palace of Manila on May 18, 1935," says Father Manuel Gracia, the discoverer.
Now we inquire, "What happened to that document in 1908 or 1909 when they were looking for it in the same place but could not find it there?" And in 1935, "when they were not looking for it", they found it in the same Archives of the Archbishop. What might have happened within these years, between 1909 and 1935, a span of about 26 years? Where was this document all that time lying? Or was it in existence before that time-? Or was it in the Archives before 1909?
……. These, therefore, are the facts that disprove the pretext that Dr. Jose Rizal was converted, that he retracted, that he was married canonically, and that he was buried Christianly. They must all first be explained thoroughly and satisfactorily before we can accept the hypothesis that Dr. Jose Rizal returned to the fold of the Catholic Church before he was executed.”
Another piece of evidence that is being claimed was that Rizal retracted for him to be able to marry Josephine Bracken before his execution, and yet there is no proof of a marriage certificate or any public record that will support and prove Father Balaguer’s claims. Even though the Jose Rizal National Centennial Commission published Rizal’s letters to his friends and relatives, included among these letters was one made by Josephine in 1897, which was a brief description of her life:
“... This is when I was nineteen years of age. 1895
On the 20th of July 1896, Dr. Rizal left Dapitan for Cuba as a doctor in the army. But unfortunately, they (the Spanish authorities) brought him back again and shot him on the 30th of December 1896. Before his execution, he married me at 5 o’clock in the morning.
This is when I was twenty years of age. 1896
Josephine Bracken de Rizal. A widow.
Goodbye Father, I am dead.”
Hongkong. Despite this claim and letter, there is no real proof that she did marry Rizal before his execution at 5 in the morning.
Rizal knows that even if he signs the retraction paper, he still would be executed. The Archbishops and Jesuits couldn't do anything to mitigate his penalty nor interfere with his execution because the judicial process was a military tribunal where neither the church nor any civilian had the power to interfere. He was accused of participating in filibusterous propaganda on which the penalty given by the Spanish Code is death itself.
Moreover, according to Pascual’s book under the same chapter, Chapter V By Way of Disproofs from “Rizal Beyond the Grave”, Rizal never mentioned anything about the retraction nor about the marriage with Josephine to his sister, Trinidad Rizal. Exact words taken from the book are the following to support this statement;
“It seems very strange that Rizal, since the early morning of the 29th of December, would express to anyone his desire to be married to Josephine and yet, in the evening of the same day, he did not even mention such intention, and desire to his very sister to whom he could confide his secrets.”
“..... because all those people, who claimed that Rizal desired to be married, belonged to the Catholic Church, that all of them, thereafter, claimed that Dr. Rizal was married, hence he retracted, that all of them had some interest to serve, then we could easily see our way through such strangeness.”
“Again, the fact that the friars did not even mention the retraction to Rizal’s sister while the doctor was yet alive, that is, between seven and eight o'clock in the evening, although they had been endeavoring to make the prisoner retract since six o'clock of that morning, is again strange. Couple with it the fact that when the doctor was already dead the supposed retraction must have already been consummated, and also the fact that they had promised to show it to the unfortunate family of the deceased, but they did not show anything then-till almost thirty-nine years thereafter, on the pretext of "providential" misplacement, ·the strangeness becomes miraculous and hence unbelievable.
Unbelievable, because the miracle is man-made, superstitiously attributed to Providence.”
Furthermore, why would Rizal sign the retraction papers before his execution when Father Sanchez, Rizal’s favorite teacher from Ateneo, was ordered by the Jesuit superior to convince him to retract Rizal’s allegations towards the Catholic religion and the Spanish religious in the Philippines when he was exiled in Dapitan? Father Sanchez even offered him a professorship, a hundred thousand pesos, and an estate, and yet, he still rejected it?
“….But who was Father Balaguer? He was a missionary to Dapitan, where he knew Rizal. So it is made very apparent that Rizal was converted not by his professors but by a missionary, whom he knew while he was exiled to Dapitan.”
"If the former professors, for whom Dr. Rizal had much regard and respect, as Father Balaguer himself admits, and who were the mentors of the unfortunate prisoner while he was still a student in the Ateneo, could not convince and convert Rizal, how could the missionary convince and even defeat (as Father Balaguer proudly brags) Rizal?”
“It was claimed that: "The record of the marriage has been stated to be in Manila Cathedral, but it is not there ... '' says Craig. Besides, "also the sister, Lucia, who was said to have been the witness of the marriage is not positive that it occurred having only seen the priest at the altar with his vestment," and that "she (Lucia) did not see any act resembling the nuptial ceremonies. Neither did she see Rizal kneel before Josephine (and she (Lucia) did not stay away from the latter as she might faint) neither did these two (her brother and Josephine) give out their hands, acts that are required in the ceremony of marriage, neither did she see any of the two sign any document."....”
Their initial motive of persuading the hero may have been out of concern when he was persuaded in his exile in Dapitan; however, the further motive is considered for in the last hours before his execution, the retraction may have been offered to prevent Rizal’s influence from growing further and even to future generations. Pascual stated in his book:
“.... Therefore, his enemies could not risk an opportunity for Dr. Rizal to get out of their trap, though a double-door trap, it was. They must have him dead, but before he dies, they must also have him sign a retraction. The priests had to go and offer spiritual assistance at a time after his condemnation to death but before his execution. What date was more fitting than the 29th of December, just the very day when and at the hour after the death sentence was communicated to Rizal, but a day before his murder.”
Rizal was so obsessed with the thought of dying for the love of his country. He has coveted death for so long, and his character speaks louder than anything that even his friends didn't believe he wrote a retraction. He was old and mature enough to be aware of the consequences of his actions before he had even opposed the Jesuits. He surely had been anticipating this to happen, and it would be unlikely for him to have a behavior showing fear of death. This was true to anyone who had been studying his biography, to those who knew him personally, that even the priests had admitted that Rizal showed consistent behavior of what he showed throughout his years.
The authors of the various articles and the book that support this believe that Rizal did not retract before his death. Their claims are all as well backed up with references and sources that are credible enough to be used in the making of the said articles. Furthermore, the book of Pascual which was the main source of reference for this argumentative essay can be considered a reliable source. The author even examined the document, which was claimed to be a copy of the said signed retraction of Rizal, which was found after 39 years, and even asked personally the persons that Rizal met before his execution, like his sister, who was included in his published book in 1935.
I firmly believe that Dr. Jose Rizal did not retract before his execution and that the various pieces of evidence presented, such as the copy of the alleged signed retraction of him, or the marriage before his execution, have a lot of holes that have remained unexplained until now. This debate has yet to come to an end.
However, whether Rizal did retract or not, this detracts nothing from his greatness as a Filipino, nor does his work shall be deemed irrelevant and futile because of the alleged retraction. Rizal awakened our knowledge of Patriotism and Nationalism and that’s enough. The controversy will not invalidate his works in any way.
I now rest my case.
Citations
- Pascual, R. (1935). Dr. Jose Rizal Beyond The Grave: A Vindication of the Martyr of Bagumbayan. Manlapit Press. http://www.xeniaeditrice.it/rpascualocrpdf.pdf
- “The Rizal Retraction and other cases”, Uckung, PJ, V., https://nhcp.gov.ph/the-rizal-retraction-and-other-cases/#:~:text=The%20document%20of%20the%20retraction,viewing%20on%20May%2013%2C%201935.
- “Rizal’s Last Hours”, Filipinas Heritage Library, https://www.filipinaslibrary.org.ph/articles/rizals-last-hours/
- A Glimpse into the Life of Josephine Bracken, https://nhcp.gov.ph/a-glimpse-into-the-life-of-josephine-bracken/#:~:text=Just%20before%20he%20left%20for,before%20Rizal's%20execution%20at%20Bagumbayan.