rizal's retraction Flashcards
multiperspectivity
— bias: certain preference
— nagiging problematic
— we use historical sources (esp. when the creator is wala na) (the problem with this is that historical sources are also subject of bias)
— spanish friar
— 10 pm december 29 1896 inano ung retraction letter
Fr. Balaguer
— head of jesuist during 1896
— they had multiple versions and revisions of the refraction statement presented to rizal to try and convince him to write and sign it
Fr. Peo Pi
— intelligence agency ng mga español
cuerpo de vigilancia
(separate from simbahan and guardia sibil) sila ay parang intelligence agent
pinatapon noon si rizal after mahuli ni sya nung intinatyo nya ung laliga sa dapitan for 4 years
dapitan happenings
— (nanalo sya ng lotto dun)
— surveyor din si rizal, and a scientists
— nakilala nya si josefin bracken(?) and nagka-anak sila na nabuhay lang for 3 hrs bago mamatay named francisco (they did not marry, only exchanged vows
— August 22, 1896
Andres Bonifacio created a new secret code for the Katipunan. “rizal”
Team leader sa Cuerpo de vilancia ang naka stationed sa labas ng selda ni rizal
Fr. Federico Moreno
accounts ni Fr. Federico Moreno
— poached egg at manok ang breakfast ni rizal
— 3pm daw sya kumain
— last meal of rizal is tinolang manok
— never na-mention si Fr. Balaguer sa statement
dec 30 account of Fr. Federico Moreno
— 5 am: may dumating na mga bisita (one of which was josefine and him)
— pupunta raw sila sa chapel para ikasal
Primary Source: Rizal’s Retraction
Source: Translated from the document found by Fr. Manuel Garcia
C.M. on 18 May 1935
I declare myself a catholic and in this Religion in which I was born and educated I wish to live and die.
I retract with all my heart whatever in my words, writings, publications and conduct has been contrary to my character as son of the Catholic Church. I believe and I confess whatever she teaches and I submit to whatever she demands. abominate Masonry, as the enemy which is of the Church, and as a Society prohibited by the Church. The Diocesan Prelate may, as the Superior Ecclesiastical Authority, make public this spontaneous manifestation of mine in order to repair the scandal which my acts may have caused and so that God and people may pardon me. Manila 29 of December of 1896 Jose Rizal
There are four iterations of the texts of this retraction: the first was published in La Voz Espafiola and Diario de Manila on the day of the execution, 30 December 1896. The second text appeared in Barcelona, Spain, on the magazine La Juventud, a few months after the execution, 14 February 1897, from an anonymous writer who was later on revealed to be Fr. Vicente Balaguer. However, the “original” text was only found in the archdiocesan archives on 18 May 1935, after almost four decades of disappearance.
Primary Source: Eyewitness Account of the Last Hours of Rizal Source: Michael Charleston Chua, “Retraction ni Jose Rizal: Mga bagong dokumento at pananaw,” GMA News Online, published 29
December 2016.
Most Illustrious Sir, the agent of the Cuerpo de Vigilancia stationed in Fort Santiago to report on the events during the [illegible] day in prison of the accused Jose Rizal, informs me on this date of the following:
At 7:50 yesterday morning, Jose Rizal entered death row accompanied by his counsel, Señor Taviel de Andrade, and the Jesuit priest Vilaclara.
At the urgings of the former and moments after entering, he was served a light breakfast. At approximately 9, the Assistant of the Plaza, Señor Maure, asked Rizal if he wanted anything. He replied that at the moment he only wanted a prayer book, which was brought to him shortly by Father March.
Señor Andrade left death row at 10 and Rizal spoke for a long while with the Jesuit fathers, March and Vilaclara, regarding religious matters, it seems. It appears that these two presented him with a prepared retraction on his life and deeds that he refused to sign. They argued about the matter until 12:30 when Rizal ate some poached egg and a little chicken. Afterwards he asked to leave to write and wrote for a long time by himself.
At 3 in the afternoon, Father March entered the chapel and Rizal handed him what he had written. Immediately the chief of the firing squad, Señor del Fresno and the Assistant of the Plaza, Señor Maure, were informed. They entered death row and together with Rizal signed the document that the accused had written.
At 5 this morning of the 30th, the lover of Rizal arrived at the prison … dressed in mourning. Only the former entered the chapel, followed by a military chaplain whose name I cannot ascertain. Donning his formal clothes and aided by a soldier of the artillery, the nuptials of Rizal and the woman who had been his lover were performed at the point of death (in articulo mortis). After embracing him she left, flooded with tears.
This account corroborates the existence of the retraction document, giving it credence. However, nowhere in the account was Fr. Balaguer mentioned, which makes the friar a mere secondary source to the writing of the document.]
The retraction of Rizal remains to this day, a controversy; many scholars, however, agree that the document does not tarnish the heroism of Rizal. His relevance remained solidified to Filipinos and pushed them to continue the revolution, which eventually resulted to independence in 1898.
Doubts on the retraction document abound, especially because only one eyewitness account of the writing of the document exist-that of the Jesuit friar Fr. Vicente Balaguer. According to his testimony, Rizal woke up several times, confessed four times, attended a mass, received communion, and prayed the rosary, all of which seem out of character. But since it is the only testimony of allegedly a “primary” account that Rizal ever wrote a retraction document, it has been used to argue the authenticity of the document.
The Balaguer Testimony
