Chapter 22: Exile in Dapitan 1892-1896

Beginning of Exile in Dapitan:

 The streamer Cebu which brought Rizal to Dapitan carried a letter from Father Pablo
Pastells, Superior of the Jesuits parish priest of Dapitan.
 Father Superior Pastells informed Father Obach that Rizal could live at the parish convent on
the following conditions:

1.”That Rizal publicly retract his errors concerning religion, and make statements that were
clearly pro-Spanish and against revolution”.

2.”That he perform the church rites and make a general confession of his past life”.

3. That henceforth he conduct himself in an exemplary manner as a Spanish subject and a

man of religion.”

 Rizal did not agree with these conditions

 He lived in the house of the commandant, Captain Carnicero. The relationship between the
warder and the prisoner were warm and friendly.
 He gave good reports about Rizal to Governor Despujol.
 He gave him complete freedom to go anywhere and report only once a week.
 Rizal then made a poem as a sign of esteem entitled, “A Don Ricardo Carnicero” on August
26,1892 on the Captain’s birthday.

When in Manila Lottery:

 September 21, 1892, the mail boat Butuan was approaching town.
 The boat carried not high Spanish officials but rather happy tidings that the Lottery Ticket
No. 9736 won the second prize of P20,000.
 This ticket was jointly owned by Captain Carnicero, Rizal, and Francisco Equilior
(Spanish resident of Dipolog, a neighbouring town of Dapitan)
 Upon dividing Rizal got a share of P6,200. Rizal then spent the money on the following:
  P2,000 – gave to his Father
 P200 – gave to his friend Basa in Hong Kong
 The rest was he bought an agricultural land along the coasts of Talisay (1km away
from Dapitan)
 Rizal’s winning in lottery reveals an aspect of his lighter side. He never drank hard liquor and
never smoked, but he was a lottery addict. During his first sojourn in Madrid from 1882 to
1885,
 He always invested at least three (3) pesetas every month for lottery tickets.

“This was his only vice” – Wenceslao E. Retana (first Spanish biographer and former enemy)

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 written by Rizal.
 In all the letters Rizal revealed his anti-Catholic ideas which he got from Europe and bitterness
at his persecution by the bad friars.
 Rizal was bitter against the friars because they commit abuses under the cloak of religion.
 As he wrote to Blumentritt from Paris on January 20,1890

“I want to hit the friars, but only friars who utilized religion not only as a shield, but also as a
weapon, castle, fortress, armor, etc.;I was forced to attack their false and superstitious religion
in order to fight the enemy who hid himself behind it.

The debate: (Inconclusive)

Rizal: Individual judgement is a gift from God and everybody should use it like a lantern to show
the way; self-esteem, if moderated by judgement, saves man from unworthy acts.
 Pursuit of truth may lie in different paths and thus “religions may vary, but they all lead to
the light”.

Pastell: Divine faith, supercedes everything, including reason, self-esteem, and individual
judgement. Human intelligence is limited, thus he needs the guidance of God.

 In spite of religious differences, both remained friends.

 This is shown by Father Pastells giving Rizal a copy of Imitacion de Cristo. (Imitation of
Christ) by Fr. Thomas a Kempis.
 In reciprocation, Rizal gave a bust of St. Paul which he made.

Rizal Challenges a Frenchman to a Duel:

 During the exchange of letters debate, Rizal become involved, in a quarrel with a French
acquaintance in Dapitan, Mr. Juan Lardet, a businessman.
 It’s about a buying logs from the lands of Rizal however some of which were of poor quality.
 Lardet wrote a letter of disgust to Antonio Miranda (Rizal’s friend and merchant).
 Which he then secretly passed on to Rizal. Thus, one of Rizal weaknesses was shown which
was his sensitivity.
 Rizal flared up in anger and challenged the French to a duel.
 Carcinero then told the Frenchman to apologize rather than to accept the challenge for Rizal
was well versed in martial arts, fencing and pistol shooting.
 Lardet heeding the advice, wrote a letter of apology. Rizal, as a gentleman and well-versed
with pundonor (Hispanic chivalric code) accepted the apology.

** Rizal’s sensitivity has lead him to challenge Antonio Luna in 1890 and W.E. Retana in
the same year.

Rizal and Father Sanchez:

  Father Pastells, tried to bring Rizal back in the Christian fold sent the ff:
 Father Obach – cura of Dapitan
 Father Jose Vilaclara – cura of Dipolog
 Father Francisco de Paula Sanchez – Rizal’s teacher in Ateneo.
 Father Sanchez was the only Spanish priest to defend Noli Me Tangere in public.
 Rizal gave him a gift on his birthday – “Estudios sobre la lengua tagala” (Studies on the
Tagalog Language)

Idyllic Life in Dapitan:

 In Dapitan, Rizal had an exemplary life, idyllic in serenity.

 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.
 In a letter to his friend, Ferdinand Blumentritt, on December 19, 1893, Rizal described his
peaceful life in Dapitan.

"I shall tell you how we lived here. I have three houses-one square, another hexagonal,
and the third octagonal. All these houses are made of bamboo, wood, and nipa. I live in the
square house, together with my mother, my sister, Trinidad, and my nephew. In the octagonal
house live some young boys who are my pupils. The hexagonal house is my barn where I keep my
chickens.

"From my house, I hear the murmur of a clear brook which comes from the high rocks. I
see the seashore where I keep two boats, which are called barotos here.
 "I have many fruit trees, such as mangoes, lanzones, guayabanos, baluno, nangka, etc. I
have rabbits, dogs, cats, and other animals.

"I rise early in the morning-at five-visit my plants, feed the chickens, awaken my people,
and prepare our breakfast. At half-past seven, we eat our breakfast, which consists of tea, bread,
cheese, sweets, and other things.

"After breakfast, I treat the poor patients who come to my house. Then I dress and go to
Dapitan in my baroto. I am busy the whole morning, attending to my patients in town.

"At noon, I return home to Talisay for lunch. Then, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., I am busy as
a teacher. I teach the young boys.

"I spend the rest of the afternoon in farming. My pupils help me in watering the plants,
pruning the fruits, and planting many kinds of trees. We stop at 6:00 p.m. for the Angelus

"I spend the night reading and writing."

Rizal’s Encounter with the Friar’s 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 Rizal’s courier of letters for the patriots in Manila.
 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 Mercado’s 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 Rizal’s activities. And to filch certain letters and writing of Rizal
which might incriminate him in the revolutionary movement.
  Strangely, Sitges suddenly stopped the investigation and freed the spy. He forwarded all
details and documents of the investigation to Governor General Blanco who kept it highly
confidential. Rizal asked for a copy but Sitges denied.

**As now preserved at Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid, the documents contains mysterious
deletions.

 The secret mission of Pablo Mercado was not an assassination attempt but espionage only.

As Physician in Dapitan:

 Dona Teodora and Maria lived with Rizal for a year and a half.
 It is here when Rizal operated his mother’s right eye.
 Though the operation was successful, his mother had a wound infection after ignoring Rizal’s
instruction of not removing the bandages. However, the infection was immediately treated
 Don Ignacio Tumarong - Rizal’s 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. He was interested in local medicine and
studied medicinal plants in the Philippines and their curative values.

Water System for Dapitan:

 Rizal held the title of expert surveyor (perito agrimensor) which he obtained from Ateneo.
 Rizal applied his engineering knowledge by constructing a system of waterworks to furnish
clean water to the townspeople
 Modern engineers marvelled at how Rizal could have built such a system, for he had
inadequate tools and meagre materials, and limited finances, and no aid from the government.
 Mr. H.F. Cameron –American engineer who praised Rizal for his engineering ingenuity.
Community Projects for Dapitan:

 When Rizal arrived at the town, he decided to improve it.

“I want to do all that I can for this town” – Rizal to Father Pastells

 Aside from contructing the town’s first water system 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 in 1893 until the end of his exile in July, 1896.
 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.
 He taught them reading, writing, languages (Spanish and English), geography, history,
mathematics, industrial work, nature study and etc.
 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, stone-throwing, swimming,
arnis and boating
 Himno A Talisay (Hymn to Talisay) - A poem Rizal wrote in honor of Talisay which he made
his pupils sing

Contributions to Science:
  Rizal found Mindanao to be rich virgin for collecting specimens. Using his baroto (sailboat)
explored jungles and coasts.
 Sent the specimen to museum of Europe – Dresden Museum
 Built up a rich collection of concology which consisted of 346 shells representing 203
species
 Discovered several species that was named after him:
 Draco rizali (flying dragon)
 Apogonia rizali (small beatle)
 Rhacophorus (rare frog)
 Conducted anthropological, ethnographical, archaeological, geological and geographical
studies.

Linguistics Studies:

 Continuing his study of languages, Rizal learned in Dapitan:

1.Bisayan

2.Subanum

3.Malay languages

 Wrote a tagalog grammar

 Made a comparative study of the Bisayan and Malay languages
 He knew by that time 22 languages as follows:

Tagalog, Malay, Ilokano, Hebrew, Bisayan, Sanskrit, Subanum, Dutch, Spanish, Catalan
Latin, Italian Greek, Chinese, English, Japanese, French, Portuguese, German, Swedish,
Arabic, 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, the three rare
species he discovered

3. Modeled a statuette called “The Mother’s 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 (Rizal’s 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: the same with
the Borneo colonization
 On his farms, Rizal introduced modern methods of agriculture from Europe and America

Rizal as Businessman:

 Ramon Carreon – Rizal’s business partner in Dapitan Rizal made profitable business
ventures in fishing, copra and hemp industries.
 Hemp industry – Rizal’s 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 lime burner had a monthly capacity of more
than 400 bags of lime
 He organized the Cooperative Association of Dapitan Farmers to break Chinese
monopoly.
 Its purpose was to – improve farm products, obtain better outlets for them, collect funds for
purchases, and help the producers and workers by establishing a store wherein they can buy
prime commodities at moderate prices