CHAPTER 5 THE GRAND BETRAYAL Jose Rizal was so happy with his ended exile and granted ffeedom. Never he had thought that it was an orchestrated grand betrayal. Leaving Dapitan at midnight on boarded Espana Steamer. At dawn the next day, they anchored in Dumaguete, Capital of Negros Oriental. He paid a brief visit to some of his friends residing in the place. In the afternoon, his trip resumed and anived Cebu on the following day. The entrance to Cebu, which he considered “beautiful”, impressed him, He met an old couple that he had known in Madrid, Attorney Mateos, In the morning of August 3, Rizal left Cebu bound for Iloilo. In Iloilo, he went shopping and visited the Molo Church. Then the steamer proceeded to Capiz, after a brief stopover, it went to Manila, . The Espana arrived in Manila Bay early in the morning of Thursday, August 6, 1896. Unfortunately, he missed the ship, Isla dé Luzon, for Spain It had departed the previous day at 5 in the aftemoon. He took the Spanish Cruiser Castila instead as ordered by Governor-General Blanco, He was given a good accommodation and treated asa guest on board, not a prisoner, Rizal stayed on the cruiser for about a month, waiting for the availability of a Spain-bound steamer. While on stay, he learned from the newspaper that Fat fari: il discovered the Katipunan, There were already encounters and battles around Manila. He was worried for two reasons: 1. He believed that the Violent revolution was premature and would only cause much suffering and terrible loss of | human lives and properties; 2. it would arouse Spanish vengeance against all Filipino patriots. On August 30, 1896, eleven days after the outbreak of the revolution, Rizal received two identical letters of introduction, for the Minister of War and for the Minister of Colonies recommending him as a volunteer physician to the Army-of Cuba. That letter and its invocation of his word of honor made him decline various offers of rescue and escape pians, . Boarding the steamer, Isla de Panay, Rizal started his trip for Barcelona, Spain. During their stopover in Singapore, a rich industrialist and his son, whom he gét acquainted with, advised him to stay in Singapore and iake advantage of the British protection but Jose Rizal refused because of the word he had given to Governor- General Blanco, Unknown to Rizal, there was an-orchestrated grand betrayal set by man who had given his word of honor. Just after the steamer departed Port Said, Rizal heard of his impending arrest from a fellow passenger. He woul General Blanco ai uuld be sent toa prison in Ceuta, Morroco, He was dumbfounded at the news and too late to realize that he was fallen to a trap. He immediately wrote a letter to his best friend, Blumentritt, to inform him of his Present situation so that anything that would happen to him his friend was forewarned. 51‘The Arrest in September 30, 1 q ay A A if aaa aie tino PM. the ship's captain, Captain Alemany, notific Ree abin as ordered by the authorities from Manila, ; Jose Rizal arrived in ao under heavy guard. He was transferred to the custody of the military commander of Barcelona, who incidentally was General Eulogio jot the same Person who signed his exile to Dapitan. , On his second day in Barcelona, he was brought to an infamous prison-fortress of Monjuich. In the early aftemoon of the same day, he was brought to the headquarters of General Despujol who informed him that he would be shipped back to Manila via ship Colon to face tral — Jose Rizal departed Barcelona of Octobe to face trial in the Philippines. While on board, the Officers confiscated the they were curious what contained in it and trying to find entries that would imcrimimate him in the revolution but they were disappointed, It was retumed after nineteen days. He was placed behind bars and was not taken out until they reached the Red Sea. In Singapore, he- was placed in handoufls. They were taking extreme measures of possible rescue and escape. Probably, there was a valid reason for the authorities to exercise extreme measures because friends of Rizal in Singapore and Europe attempted to rescue him. Dr. Antonio Ma. Regidor and Sixto Lopez sent telegrams to an English lawyer, Hugh Fort, to rescue him from the Spanish steamer when it arrives Singapore using the legal strategy. The use of the Writ of Habeas Corpus, alleging that Jose Rizal was illegally detained but Chief Justice Lionel Cox denied it, on the ground that it was beyond the jurisdiction of the civil courts for it was a warship of foreign power and that would be against the International Law. To successfully convict Rizal, his. enemies gathered evidences against him by arresting his ffiends and tortured them to implicate him. His brother, Paciano, suffered most for ‘he was tortured but like the hero, “his spirit never gave in and remained unmoved. Preliminary Investigation The preliminary investigation lasted for five days. He was being informed of the charges and questioned by the Judge Advocate but deprived of his right to confront those who testified against him. . There were testimonies and documentary evidences being presented. The following documents serve as the basis for the charges by the prosecution: . A letter of Antonio Luna to Mariano Ponce, showing Rizal’s connection with the Filipino reform Campaign in Spain. Xa Rizal’s letter to his family, stating that the deportations are good for they will encourage’ the people to hate the tyranny. 3. A letter from Marcelo H. del Pilar, implicating Rizal in the Propaganda Campaign in Spain. 52AC A Masonic documents honoring 1 15. A poem entitled Kundi contained the lines: zySheis the slave oppressed oaning i °s ari Lack Sl Bebe ‘Who can give her liberty! ‘A letter of Carlos Oliveros to an identified person, describing Jose Rizal as the man to free the Phili fi ish oppression. hilippines from Spanis iman, allegedly written by Rizal in Manila, which : Jose Rizal for his patriotic services. A letter signed Dimasalang (Rizal pseudonym) to Tenluz (Juan Zuleta), stating that he was preparing a safe tefuge for Filipino people who may be persecuted by the Spanish authorities, A letter of Dimasalang to an identified committee, soliciting the aid of the committee in the patriotic work. 7 An anonymous and undated letter to the editor of the Hong Kong Telegraph, censuring the banishment of Rizal to Dapitan. A letter of Ildefonso Laurel to Rizal, saying that the Filipino people look up to him as their savior, A letter. of Ildefonso Laure! to Rizal, informing him of an unidentified correspondent of the arrest and banishment of Doroteo Cortes and Ambrosio Salvador. A letter of Marcelo H. del Pilar to Juan Tenluz, recommending the establishment of a special organization, independent of Masonry, 10 help the cause of the Filipino people. Transcript of a speech of Pingkian (Emilio Jacinto), in reunion of the Katipunan, in which the following cry was uttered, “Long live the Philippines! Long lives liberty! Long lives Dr. Rizal! Unify!”. Transcript of a speech of Ti-Tik (Jose Turiano Santiago) in the same Katipunan reunion, wherein the Katipuneros shouted: “Long live the eminent Dr. Rizal! Death to the oppressor nation!”. A poem by Laong Laan (Rizal) entitled ‘A Talisay’ in which the author makes the Dapitan schoolboys sing, that they know how to fight for their “rights. “On November 26, 1896, the preliminary investigation was finished and Colonel Olive transmitted the records to Governor-General Ramon Blanco, together with the appointment of Captain .Rafael Dominguez as a special judge advocate. The recommendations of the judge advocate were the following: 1, 2. 3, 4, That Jose Rizal be immediately brought to trial; That he should be kept in prison; That an order-of attachment be issued against his property to the amount of one million pesos as indemnity; (conpensation /curily “ogaunct” hurt (sts gp damage That he should be defended in court by an army officer not by a civilian “lawyer. On December 8, Jose Rizal was given a list of 100 first and second lieutenants ftom which he would select his defense lawyer. Rizal chose the officer Don Luis Taviel de Andrade, it was a familiar name for Rizal a 53On December 11, he was fo. pot guilty to the charge of rebellio ofthe La Liga Filipina, mally informed of the charges. Jose Rizal pleaded n, although he admitted that he wrote the constitution The Trial The trial of Jose Rizal was an evidence of inj ice and misrule -it was a kangaroo court. His case was prejudged by a military ae spite of being a ivan Te evidences of the prosecution were accepted while the evidences of the defense were rjc ae ae of hs right to conftont the witnesses against him. At 8: M., December 26, 1896, the court martial of Rizal began. He was seated in a bench guarded by two solders; his arms were tied behind like a common criminal. _ There were many spectators, including Josephine Bracken, some newspapermen and Spaniards. (There is no record to establish the presence of Filipinos in the courtroom. . The defense shiowed a fair performance, arguing in details the accusations against Rizal. Rizal scribbled a supplementary defense, which runs as follows:2¢ 1, He could not be guilty of rebellion, for he advised Dr. Pio Valenzuela in Dapitan not to rise in revolution. 2. He did not correspond with the radical, revolutionary elements. 3. The tevolutionists used his name without his knowledge. If he-were guilty he could have escaped in Singapore. . If he had a hand in the revolution, he could have escaped in Moro vinta and ‘would not have built a home, a hospital, and bought lands in Dapitan. 5. If he were the chief of the revolution, why the revolutionists did not consult him? : 6. It was true he wrote the by-laws of the Liga Filipina, but this is only a civic association, not a revolutionary society. oa 7. The Liga Filipina did not live long, for after the first meeting he was banished to Dapitan and it died out. . Ifthe Liga was reorganized nine months later, he did not know about it. 9, The Liga did not serve the purpose of the revolutionists, otherwise they would not have supplanted it with the Katipunan. 10. If it were true that there were some bitter comments in Rizal’s letter, it was because they were written in 1890 when his family was being persecuted, being dispossessed of houses, warehouses, lands, etc. and his brother and all his brothers-in-law were deported. 11. His life in Dapitan had been exemplary as the politico-military and missionary priests could attest. © 12. It was not true that the revolution was inspired by his one speech at the house of Doroteo Ongjunco, as alleged by witnesses whom he would like to nfront. His friends knew. his opposition to armed rebellion. Why did the Katipunan send ermaceat Dapitan who ‘is unknown to him? Because those who knew him were aware that he could never sanction any violent movement. 9° 54pinion of the judge advocate, the latter confirme dict: to be shot at the back on the . ivocate, Col d the t wets), The verdict of death runs as aa of December 30 at Bagumbayan Field Conf a Manila, December 28, 1896 Martial ae see reins opinion. 1 approve the sentence dicated by the Court Rizal Mercado, which shall be exenmsnt the death penalty is imposed onthe accused Jose this month in the field of Bagumbayan, by shooting him at 7 0° clock in the morning of the 30° of For compliance and th : Advocate, Captain Don Rafael Domingue may correspond, let this be returned to the Judge Camilo G. de Polavieja — Gey. Cencrag Governor-General Polaviej; “ rn : roaGovens”. olavieja, known in the Philippine History as the “blood and 55