LESSON 3 Retraction Controversy of Jose Rizal
Learning outcomes:
At the end of the session, you are expected to:
1. Discuss the controversy about Jose Rizal and hoe it affects the history.
2. Identify the different accounts about the controversy.
Introduction
A lot of the stuff acknowledged to be true about the country’s past may no
longer be the case for despite being taught as facts in basic education, they are not
set in stone. In spite of everything, history is a construct and as such it could be
subjected to a variety of interpretations resulting into conflicting or competing
narratives that can influence not only our view of our country’s history but also its
identity. To ensure, thus, that the current interpretation is reliable to justify its
acceptance, it is imperative to subject into historical evaluation not only the primary
source but also its interpretation.
Minute Paper Reflection
Direction: Write a short reflection about the statement below.. Write your
answer on the space provided.
“Jose Rizal's religious perspective”
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Analysis
Guide Questions:
1. How does Rizal portray the religion during his time?
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2. What common understanding did you create on the retraction issue of Rizal?
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Abstraction
Controversy 3: Was There a Retraction?
The bulk of Rizal’s lifework, principally his two influential novels, Noli Me
Tangere and El Filibusterismo were meant to end the injustices that the friars
perpetrated and to liberate the minds of the Filipinos thereby contributing in the
creation of a Filipino nation.
It is therefore reasonable that any piece of writing from Rizal himself,
recanting what he penned, may as several claim, damage his image as a renowned
Filipino revolutionary. Such document, referred to as The Retraction, supposedly
exists and allegedly signed by Rizal only hours before his execution, proclaims
Rizal’s conviction in the Catholic faith and recants what he wrote against the Church.
Rizal’s Retraction
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. I
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 have caused and so that God and people may pardon me.
Manila 29 of December of 1896
Jose Rizal
Translated from the document found by Fr. Manuel Garcia C.M. on 18 May 1935
The Balaguer Testimony
Jesuit priest, Fr. Vicente Balaguer testified that Rizal woke numerous times,
confessed four times, attended a Mass, received communion, and prayed the rosary
– all of which, some argue, were out of character. Nevertheless, despite its being
deemed as the only eyewitness account to the writing of the retraction thus
instigating scepticisms about such document, Balaguer’s testimony has been utilized
to contend with the authenticity of the retraction document.
The Cuerpo de Vigilancia Testimony
Most Illustrious Sir, the agent of the Cuuerpo de Vigilancia stationed in Foort
Santiago to report on the events during the [eligible] 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, Señior 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, Señior 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.
Señior Andrade left the death row at 10 and Rizal spoke for a long while with
the Jesuit fathers, March and Vilaclara, reharding 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, Señior del Fresno and
thizal and the woman who had been his lover were performed at the point of death.
After embracing him, she left, flooded with tears.
This account, which surfaced in 2016, substantiates the existence of the
retraction document thereby according it credence. Nonetheless, nowhere in this
account was Fr. Vicente Balaguer cited suggesting thus that his testimony was
anything but an eyewitness account.
Although Rizal’s retraction remains to this day, a controversy, numerous
scholars concur that such document does not blemish Rizal’s heroism and that his
significance continued and pushed Filipinos to carry on with the revolution resulting
into the country’s 1898 independence.
Application: Let's apply
Direction: Answer the following questions.
1. What are the implications of the conflicting views about the Rizal's
retraction?
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2. What could be the significance of the event in the Philippine history?
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3. Today I learned that
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