CHAPTER 10
THE FIRST HOMECOMING
• All the alluring beauties of foreign countries and all
the beautiful memories of his sojourn in alien lands
could neither make Rizal forget his fatherland nor turn
his back to his own nationality.
• True that his studied abroad, acquired the lore and
languages of foreign nations, and enjoyed the
friendship of many great men of Western world; but he
remained at heart a true Filipino with an
unquenchable determination to die in the land of his
birth
•Thus, after five years of memorable sojourn
in Europe, he returned to the Philippines in
August 1887 and practiced medicine in
Calamba.
•He lived the quiet life of a country doctor.
•But his enemies, who resented his Noli,
persecuted him, even threatening to kill
him
DECIDED TO RETURN HOME
Reported by Julius Cesar Lutero
•Because of the publication of the Noli
Me Tangere and the uproar it caused
among the friars, Rizal was warned by
Paciano (his brother) , Silvestre
Ubaldo (his brother in law), Chengoy(
Jose M. Cecilio and other friends not
to return home
HE WAS DETERMINED TO THE PHILIPPINES FOR THE
FOLLOWING REASON
•To operate his mother’s eyes
•To serve his people who had been long been
oppressed by Spanish Tyrants
•To find out for himself how the Noli and his
other writings were affecting Filipinos and
Spaniards in the Philippines
•To inquire why Leonor Rivera remained silent
• In a letter to Blumentritt, written in Geneva on
June 19,1887, Rizal said: ”Your advice that I lived in
Madrid and continue to write from there is very
benevolent but I cannot accept it. I cannot endure
the life in Madrid where everything is a voice in a
wilderness. My parents wants to see me, and I
want to see them also. All my life I desire to live in
my country by the side of my family. Until now I am
not Europanized like the Filipinos of Madrid; I
always like to return to the country of my birth”
•In Rome, on June 29, 1887, Rizal wrote
to his father, announcing his
homecoming. “On the 15th of July, at the
latest” he wrote, “ I shall embark for
our country, so that from the 15 to the
th
30th of August, we shall see each
other”.
DELIGHTFUL TRIP TO MANILA
Reported by Julius Cesar Lutero
•Rizal left Rome by train for
Merseilles, a French port, which he
reached without mishap.
•On July 3, 1887, he boarded the
steamer Djemnah, the same steamer
which brought him to Europe five
years ago.
•There were 50 passengers, including 4
Englishmen, 2 Germans, 3 Chinese, 2
Japanese, many Frenchmen and 1
Filipino(Rizal)
•Rizal was the only one among the
passengers who could speak many
languages, so that he acted as intrepeter
for his companions.
• The steamer was enroute to the Orient via the Suez
Canal.
• Rizal thus saw this historic canal for the second time, the
first time was when he sailed to Europe from Manila
in1882.
• On board, he played chess with fellow passengers and
engaged I lively conversation in many languages.
• Some passengers sang, others played on the piano and
accordion.
• After leaving Aden, the weather became rough and
some of Rizal’s books got wet.
•On July 30 he transferred to
another steamer Haiphong which
was Manila-bound.
•On August 2 this steamer left
Saigon for Manila
ARRIVAL IN MANILA
Reported by Julius Cesar Lutero
•Rizal voyage from Saigon to Manila was
pleasant
•On August 3rd the moon was full, and
he slept soundly the whole night. The
clam sea, illumined by the silvery
moonlight, was magnificent sight to him.
•Near August 5, the Haiphong arrived in
Manila.
•Rizal went ashore with a happy heart for he
once more trod his beloved native soil.
•He stayed in the city for a short time to visit
his friends.
•He found Manila the same as when he left it
five years ago.
•There were the same holes in the roads, the
same boats on the Pasig River, and the same
heary walls surrounding the city.
HAPPY HOMECOMING
Reported by: Ella Doydora
•On August 8 , he
th returned to
Calamba
•Writing to Blumentritt of his
homecoming, he said:
• “I had a pleasant voyage. I found my family
enjoying good health and our happiness
was great in seeing each other again. They
shed tears of joy and I had to answer ten
thousand questions at the same time
•In Calamba, Rizal established a
medical clinic
•His first patient was his mother,who
was almost blind.
•He treated her eyes, but could not
perform any surgical operations
because her eyes were not yet ripe
•News of the arrival of a great doctor
from Germany spread far and wide .
•Patients from Manila and the provinces
flocked to Calamba.
•Rizal, who came to be called “Doctor
Uliman” because came from Germany,
treated their ailments and soon he
acquired lucrative medical practice.
•His professional fees were
reasonable, even gratis to the poor.
•Within a few months, he was able
to earn ₱900 as a physician.
•By February, 1888, he earned a
total of ₱5,000 as medical fees
STORM OVER THE NOLI
Reported by: Ella Doydora
•Meanwhile, as Rizal was peacefully
living in Calamba, his enemies
plotted his doom.
• He painted several beautiful
landscapes and translated the
German poems of Von Wildernath
into Tagalog
•A few weeks after his arrival, a storm broke
over his novel
•Rizal received a letter from Governor
General Emilio Terrero (1885-1888)
requesting him to come to Malacañan
Palace.
•Somebody had whispered to the governor’s
ear that the Noli contained subersive ideas.
ATTACKERS OF THE NOLI
Reported by: Jacqueline Jane Inderio
• The battle over the Noli took the form of a virulent
war of words
• Father Font printed his report and distributed
copies of it in order to discredit the controversial
novel
• Another Augustinian, Fr. Jose Rodriguez, prior of
Guadalupe, published a series of eight Pamphlets
under the general heading Cuestiones de Sumo
Interes (Questions of supreme Interests)
THE EIGHT PAMPHLETS
1. Porque no los he de leer? (Why Should I not Read Them?)
2. Guardaos de ellos. Porque? (Beware of Them. Why?)
3. Y_que me dice usted de la peste? (And What Can You Tell
Me of Plague?)
4. Porque triunfan los impios? (What Do the Impious
Triumph?)
5. Cree usted que de veras no hay purgatorio? (Do You Think
There Is Really No Purgatory?)
6. Hay o no hay infierno? (Is There or There No Hell?)
7. Que le parece a usted de esos libelos?( What Do You Think
of These Libels?)
8. Confesion o condemnacion? (Confession or Damnation?)
• Copies of these anti-Rizal pamphlets written by Fray
Rodriguez were sold daily in the churches after
mass
• Repercussions of the storm over the Noli reached
Spain
• It was fiercely attacked on the session hall of the
Senate of the Spanish Cortes by various senators,
particularly General Jose de Salamanca on April
1,1888, General Luis M. de Pando on April 12, and Sr.
Fernando Vida on June 11
• The Spanish academician of Madrid, Vicente
Barrantes, who formerly occupied high
government positions in the Philippines, bitterly
criticized the Noli in an article published in La
España Moderno (a newspaper of Madrid) in
January 1890.
DEFENDERS OF THE NOLI
Reported by: Jacqueline Jane Inderio
•The much-maligned Noli had its gallant
defenders who fearlessly came out to prove
the merits of the novel to refute the
arguments of the unkind attackers.
•Marcelo H. Del Pilar, Dr. Antonio Ma.
Regidor, Graciano Lopez Jaena and other
Filipino reformists in foreign lands, of
course, rushed to uphold the truths of the
Noli.
•Father Sanchez, Rizal’s favorite teacher at the Ateneo,
defended and praised it in public.
•Don Segismundo Moret, former Minister of the crown;
Dr. Miguel Morayta, historian and statesman; and
Professor Blumentritt, scholar and educator, read and
liked the novel.
•A brilliant defense of the Noli came from unexpected
source.
•It was by Rev. Vicente Garcia, a filipino Catholic priest
scholar, a theologian of the Manila Cathedral, and a
Tagalog translator of the famous Imitation of Christ by
Thomas a Kempis
•Father Garcia, writing under the penname
Justo Desiderio Magalang, wrote a defense
of the Noli which was published in
Singapore as an appendix to a pamphlet
dated July 18, 1888.
HE BLASTED THE ARGUMENTS OF FR. RODRIGUEZ
AS FOLLOWS
• Rizal cannot be an “ignorant man”, as Fr. Rodriguez alleged,
because he was graduate of Spanish universities and was
recipient of scholastic honors.
• Rizal does not attack the Church and Spain, as Fr. Rodriguez
claimed, because what Rizal attacked in the Noli were the
bad Spanish officials and not Spain, and the bad and corrupt
friars and not the Church.
• Father Rodriguez said that those who read the Noli commit a
mortal sin; since he (Rodriguez) had read the novel, therefore
he also commits a mortal sin.
• Later, when Rizal learned of the brilliant defense of
Father Garcia of his novel, he cried because his
gratitude was over whelming.
• Rizal, himself defended his novel against Barrantes
attack, in a letter written in Brussels, Belgium, in
February 1880
• In this letter, he exposed Barrantes ignorance of
Philippine affairs and mental dishonesty which is
unworthy of an academician.
• Barrantes met in Rizal his master in satire and
polemics.
• During the days when the Noli was the target of a
heated controversy between the friars ( and their
minions) and the friends of Rizal, all copies of it were
sold out and the price per copy soared to
unprecedented level.
• Both friends and enemies of the Noli found it
extremely difficult to secure a copy.
• According to Rizal, in a letter to Fernando Canon
from Geneva, June 13, 1887, the price he set per copy
was five pesetas (equivalent one peso), but the price
later rose to fifty pesos per copy.
RIZAL AND TAVIEL DE ANDRADE
Reported by: Jade Mariel Quirante
• While the storm over the Noli was raging in fury, Rizal
was not molested in Calamba.
• This is due to Governor General Terrero’s generosity
in assigning a bodyguard to him.
• Between this Spanish bodyguard, Lt. Jose Taviel de
Andrade, and Rizal, a beautiful friendship bloomed.
• Together, Rizal and Andrade, both young, educated
and cultured, made walking tours of the verdant
countryside's, discussed topics of common interest,
and enjoyed fencing, shooting, hunting and painting.
•Lt. Andrade became a great admirer of the man he was
ordered to watch and protect.
•Years, later he wrote of Rizal: “Rizal was refined, educated
and gentlemanly. The hobbies that most interested him were
hunting, fencing, shooting, painting and hiking… I well
remember our excursion to Mount Makiling, not so much for
the beautiful view… as for the rumors and pernicious effects
that result from it. There was one who believed and reported
to Manila that Rizal and I, at the top of the mountain, hoisted
the German flag and proclaimed its sovereignty over the
Philippines. I imagined that such nonsense emanated from
the friars of Calamba, but did not take the trouble to make
inquiries about the matter”
WHAT MARRED RIZAL’S HAPPY DAYS IN CALAMBA
WITH LT. ANDRADE WERE:
• The death of his old sister, Olimpia
• The groundless tales circulated by his enemies
that he was “a German spy, an agent of
Bismarck, a Protestant, a Mason, a witch, a soul
beyond salvation, etc.”
CALAMBA’S AGRARIAN TROUBLE
Reported by: Jade Mariel Quirante
• Governor General Terrero, influenced by certain facts in
Noli Me Tangere, ordered a government investigation of
the friar estates to remedy whatever inquities might have
been present in connection with land taxes and with
tenant relations.
• One of the friars estates affected was the Calamba
Hacienda which the Dominican Order owned since 1883.
• In compliance with the governor general’s orders, dated
December 30, 1887, the Civil Governor of Laguna
Province directed the municipal authorities of Calamba to
investigate the agrarian conditions of their locality
• Upon hearing of the investigation, the Calamba
folks solicited Rizal’s help in gathering the facts
and listing their grievances against the hacienda
management, so that the central government
might institute certain agrarian reforms.
• After a thorough study of the conditions of the
conditions in Calamba, Rizal wrote down his
findings which the tenants and three of the officials
of the hacienda signed on January 8,1888.
THESE FINDINGS, WHICH WERE FORMALLY
SUBMITTED TO THE GOVERNMENT FOR ACTION,
WERE THE FOLLOWING:
[Link] hacienda of the Dominican Order comprised not only the
lands around Calamba, but also the town of Calamba.
[Link] profits of the Dominican Order cotinually increased
because of the arbitrary increase of the rentals paid by the
tenants.
[Link] hacienda owner never contributed a single centavo for
the celebration of the town fiesta, for the education of the
children, and for the improvement of agriculture.
[Link] who had spent much labor in clearing the lands were
dispossessed of said lands for flimsy reasons.
[Link] rates of interest were charged the tenants for delayed
payment of rentals, and when the rentals could not be paid, the
hacienda management confiscated their carabaos, tools, and
homes
FAREWELL TO CALAMBA
Reported by: Joy Ceriaca
• Rizal’s exposure of the deplorable conditions of tenancy
in Calamba infuriated further his enemies.
• The friars exerted pressure on Malacañan Palace to
eliminate him. They asked Governor General Terrero to
deport him, but the latter refused because there was no
valid charge against in Rizal in court.
• Anonymous threats against Rizal’s life were received by
his parents.
• The alarmed parents, relatives and friends (including Lt.
Taviel de Andrade) advused him to go away, for his life
was in danger.
•One day Governor General Terrero
summoned Rizal and “advised” him to
leave the Philippines for his own good.
•He was giving Rizal a chance to escape
the fury of the friars wrath.
•This time Rizal had to go
•He could not very well disobey the governor
general’s veiled orders.
•But he was not running like a coward from a
fight.
•He was courageous, a fact which his worst
enemies could not deny.
•A valiant hero that he was, he was not afraid of
any man and neither was he afraid to die
HE WAS COMPELLED TO LEAVE CALAMBA FOR TWO
REASONS:
• His presence in Calamba was jeopardizing the
safety and happiness of his family and friends.
• He could fight better his enemies and serve his
country’s cause with greater efficacy by writing
in foreign countries
A POEM FOR LIPA
Reported by: Joy Ceriaca
• Shortly before Rizal left Calamba in 1888 his friend
from Lipa requested him to write a poem in
commemoration of the town’s elevation to a villa
(city) by virtue of the Beccerra Law of 1888.
• Gladly, he wrote a poem dedicated to the
industrious folks of Lipa.
• This was the ” Himno Al Trabaho” (Hymn To Labor).
• He finished it and sent it to Lipa before his
departure from Calamba.
