Execution of José Rizal (1896): Martyr of the Philippines

The execution of José Rizal took place on 30 December 1896, when the Filipino writer, doctor and reformer was shot by a firing squad on Bagumbayan field in Manila. Spain’s colonial authorities blamed him for the revolt that had broken out that August, but his death turned him into the leading martyr of Philippine nationalism and strengthened the cause it was meant to crush.

Rizal’s life and work

José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda was born on 19 June 1861 in Calamba, Laguna, into a prosperous family of Chinese, Spanish and Malay ancestry. He studied in Manila and then in Madrid, where he qualified in medicine, and later trained in ophthalmology in Paris and Heidelberg. He spoke many languages and also wrote poetry, essays and history.

In Europe Rizal joined the Propaganda Movement, a group of Filipino reformers who asked Spain for equal rights and representation, not independence. His novel Noli Me Tángere (“Touch Me Not”), published in Berlin in 1887, depicted the cruelty and corruption of colonial officials and friars. Its darker sequel, El Filibusterismo (“The Subversive”), followed in Ghent in 1891. Both books were banned in the Philippines and made Rizal a marked man. In 1890 he also published an annotated edition of Antonio de Morga’s 1609 history of the islands, using it to show that Filipinos had possessed a developed society before Spanish rule.

Exile and arrest

Rizal returned to Manila in 1892 and founded La Liga Filipina, a peaceful civic association, on 3 July. Days later, after the authorities claimed to have found anti-friar leaflets in his luggage, he was arrested and deported to Dapitan, on the island of Mindanao. He spent four years there, practising medicine, teaching and running a small school. There he met Josephine Bracken, an Irish woman from Hong Kong who became his companion.

In 1896 Rizal volunteered to serve as an army doctor in Cuba and was allowed to sail for Spain. While he was at sea, the Katipunan launched the Philippine Revolution. Rizal was arrested on arrival in Barcelona, shipped back to Manila and imprisoned in Fort Santiago in November 1896.

Trial and execution

On 26 December 1896 a military court tried Rizal for rebellion, sedition and illegal association. The prosecution argued that his writings and the Liga had inspired the Katipunan, whose members used his name as a rallying cry. Rizal denied any part in the uprising; in a manifesto written in prison he had condemned the revolt as premature. The court sentenced him to death, and Governor-General Camilo de Polavieja confirmed the sentence.

On his last night Rizal wrote the farewell poem now known as “Mi último adiós” (“My Last Farewell”) and hid it in an alcohol lamp, which was handed to his family. According to several accounts he married Josephine Bracken shortly before his death, though no record of the marriage has survived and the claim is disputed.

Early on 30 December he was marched to Bagumbayan. He asked to face the firing squad but was refused and was shot in the back. The squad was made up of Filipino soldiers in Spanish service, with Spanish troops behind them to ensure they fired. Rizal was 35 years old.

Aftermath and legacy

Rizal’s body was buried secretly in Paco Cemetery. His remains were exhumed in 1898 and in 1912 placed in the base of the Rizal Monument on the Luneta, close to where he died. The monument was completed the following year.

His execution did not end the revolt; it hardened opposition to Spain. Under American rule after the Spanish-American War, Rizal was promoted as a national hero, partly because he had favoured reform over violence. Since 1956 Philippine schools and universities have been required by law to teach his life and novels. Rizal Day, 30 December, is a national holiday.

Myths and facts

• Myth: Rizal led or joined the Katipunan. He was not a member and declined to back the revolt when Katipunan envoys consulted him in Dapitan in 1896.
• Myth: he spun round to fall face up. This detail is widely told but rests on uncertain testimony; what is documented is that he asked to face the squad and was refused.

Timeline

• 1861, 19 June: José Rizal is born in Calamba, Laguna.
• 1887: Noli Me Tángere is published in Berlin.
• 1891: El Filibusterismo is published in Ghent.
• 1892, 3 July: Rizal founds La Liga Filipina in Manila.
• 1892, July: Rizal is arrested and deported to Dapitan.
• 1896, November: Rizal is brought back to Manila and held at Fort Santiago.
• 1896, 26 December: A court-martial sentences him to death.
• 1896, 30 December: Rizal is executed at Bagumbayan.
• 1912, 30 December: His remains are placed in the base of the Rizal Monument, completed in 1913.

Why it matters

Rizal’s execution turned a peaceful reformer into a national symbol. It showed the limits of Spanish willingness to compromise and helped unite Filipinos behind the struggle that led, after long detours, to Philippine independence.