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The Retraction of Rizal

Father Balaquer and the Cuerpo de Vigilancia provided conflicting testimonies about Jose Rizal's last moments and retraction before his execution. Father Balaquer claimed to have officiated Rizal's wedding to Josephine Bracken and been present for his retraction, while the Cuerpo de Vigilancia said Father Balaquer was not present. However, the Cuerpo de Vigilancia's testimony was inconsistent, lacked details, and was published much later. Father Balaquer's testimony aligned with other evidence and was supported by publications, making it more reliable about Rizal's final days.

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Maria Desiree
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592 views1 page

The Retraction of Rizal

Father Balaquer and the Cuerpo de Vigilancia provided conflicting testimonies about Jose Rizal's last moments and retraction before his execution. Father Balaquer claimed to have officiated Rizal's wedding to Josephine Bracken and been present for his retraction, while the Cuerpo de Vigilancia said Father Balaquer was not present. However, the Cuerpo de Vigilancia's testimony was inconsistent, lacked details, and was published much later. Father Balaquer's testimony aligned with other evidence and was supported by publications, making it more reliable about Rizal's final days.

Uploaded by

Maria Desiree
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The Retraction of Rizal

On December 30, 1896, at exactly 7:03 in the morning, Jose Rizal, a nationalist and
ilustrador, was executed in Dapitan. He was remembered as a National Hero of the Philippines.
He is also known not just in the Philippines but in some other parts of the world. The life of Jose
Rizal during his last moments in prison was not easy. But there are testimonies that can bring us
to what happened during those last moments. The testimonies of Father Balaquer and the
Cuerpo de Vigilancia were the most controversial. These testimonies were almost the same,
however, due to different eyewitnesses, some of the details in Vigilancia's testimony were
questionable. Both testimonies tackled the last moments of Rizal, the important persons who
visited him, and how Rizal retracted. The proretraction said that the testimonies of Balaquer are
the most accurate and reliable compared to other testimonies. Lack of information,
inconsistency, and fraud are some of the reasons why the Cuerpo de Vigilancia was found to be
not reliable.
In the testimony of the cuerpo de vigilancia, it was stated that Father Balaquer was not
present during the retraction of Jose Rizal. But according to the archbishop of Manila, Father
Pio Pi, Father Balaquer, Father Villaclara, and other Jesuit priests were assigned to persuade
Rizal to retract. The statement of Father Pio Pi was a strong evidence that the testimonies of
the Cuerpo de Vigilancia were fraud.
On February 14, 1897, in Barcelona, Spain, a newspaper called _____ ,published the
affidavit about the retraction of Rizal. Later on, it was found out that it was the affidavit
submitted by Father Balaquer to the archbishop, Father Pio Pi. If the affidavit of Father
Balaquer, tackling the last moments and retractions of Rizal were fraud, why did it take several
years for the testimony of the Cuerpo de Vigilancia to be released? It was already in year 1935
when the testimony of Cuerpo de Vigilancia was publicized, 38 years after the affidavit
submitted by Father Balaquer was published.
Father Balaquer, together with Father Villaclara, stated the 3 conditions under which
Rizal retracted. First, he wanted to marry Josephine Bracken and legallly make her his wife.
Second, he wanted to protect his family. Third, he wanted reforms from the Spanish
government. If Father Balaquer was not present during that time, who officiated the wedding of
Josephine Bracken and Jose Rizal? In some books and articles, it was described that Father
Balaquer was present during the wedding of the couple. This was also supported in the
autobiography of Josephine Bracken as it was stated that Father Balaquer was the one who
officiated their wedding in Piitan.
Father Balaquer's testimony is therefore more trustworthy because it is consistent with
previous claims. On the other hand, Cuerpo de Vigilancia's evidence is inconsistent due to its
factually unsupported details.The testimony of the cuerpo de vigilancia is also released
extremely late, which is more doubtful, and how many years does it take for this testimony to
contradict Father Balaquer's statement?Furthermore, Father Balaquer's testimony was
supported by books, articles, and even newspaper content. All things considered, the cuerpo de
vigilancia's testimony can be regarded as false due to its inconsistency, lack of information, and
supporting evidence.

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