DID RIZAL RETRACT?

1. The Retraction of
Jose Rizal
BY GROUP 3

2. What exactly is the source of the
controversy?
Did Dr. Jose Rizal retract his
writings against the catholic
church on the last day of his
life
or
Was it just forged?

3. Jose Rizal
Jose Rizal is identified as a hero of the
revolution for his writings that center on
ending colonialism and liberating Filipino
minds to contribute to creating the Filipino
nation.

4. The great volume of Rizal's lifework was
committed -to this end, particularly the more
influential ones, Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo.
His essays vilify not the Catholic religion, but
the friars, the main agents of injustice in the
Philippine society.

5. Did Rizal Retract?
• It is understandable, therefore, that any piece of writing from Rizal that
recants everything he wrote against the friars and the Catholic Church
in the Philippines could deal heavy damage to his image as a prominent
Filipino revolutionary.
• Such document purportedly exists, allegedly signed by Rizal a few hours
before his execution. This document, referred to as The Retraction,"
declares Rizal's belief in the Catholic faith, and retracts everything he
wrote against the Church.

6. • 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 1 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 may have caused and so that God
and people may pardon me.”
Manila 29 of December of 1896
Jose Rizal

8. Did Rizal Retract?
• There are 4 iterations of the texts of the retractions:
• 1. 1st was published in La Vaz Española and Diario de Manila on the day
of the execution (December 30, 1896).
• 2. Second text appeared in Barcelona, Spain in the magazine La
Juventud a few months after the execution (February 14, 1897) from an
anonymous who later on revealed as Fr. Vicente Balaguer. However, the
original text was only found in the archdiocesan archives on 18 May
1935, after almost four decades of disappearance.

9. Did Rizal Retract?
• 3. The Balaguer Testimony (Doubts on the retraction occured because
only one eyewitness account of the writing of the document exists - by
Jesuit Friar Fr. Vicente Balaguer)
• According to his testimony Rizal woke up several times, confessed 4
times, attended a mass, received communion, prayed the rosary” all of
which seemed out of character. But since it is the only testimony of
allegedly a primary account that Rizal every wrote a retraction
document, it has been used to argue the authenticity of the document.

10. Did Rizal Retract?
• 4. The testimony of Cuerpo de Vigilancia
• Another eyewitness account surfaced in 2016 through the research of
Prof. Rene Escalante. In his research, documents of the Cuerpo de
Vigilancia included a report on the last hours of Rizal, written by
Federico Moreno. The report details the statement of the Cuerpo de
Vigilancia to Moreno.

11. Did Rizal Retract?
• Primary source: Eyewitness account on the last hour of Rizal
• Source: Michael Chua “Retraction ni Jose Rizal: Mga Bagong Dokumento
at pananaw” GMA News Online, published Dec. 29, 2016.
• This account corroborates the existence of the retraction document,
giving it credence. However, nowhere in the acct. was Fr. Balaguer
mentioned. Which makes the friar a mere secondary source to the
writing of the document.

12. Did Rizal Retract?
• Source: Peter Jaynul V. Uckung, “The Rizal Retraction and other cases”,
National Historical Commision of the Philippines website,
https://nhcp.gov.ph/the-rizal-retraction-and-other-cases/
• In 1901, the Americans managed to capture a Filipino messenger,
Cecilio Segismundo who carried with him documents from Aguinaldo.
The American then faked some documents complete with forged
signature, telling Aguinaldo that some Filipino officers were sending him
guerrillas with American prisoners. With the help of a Spanish traitor,
Lazaro Segovia, the Americans assembled a company of pro-American
Filipino soldiers, the Macabebe scouts. These were the soldiers who
penetrated the camp of Aguinaldo, disguised as soldiers of the
Philippine Republic. They managed to capture Aguinaldo. With the
president captured, his generals began to surrender, and the Republic
began to fall.

13. Did Rizal Retract?
• The document of the retraction of Jose Rizal, too, is being hotly
debated as to its authenticity.
• It was supposed to have been signed by Jose Rizal moments before his
death. There were many witnesses, most of them Jesuits. The document
only surfaced for public viewing on May 13, 1935. It was found by Fr.
Manuel A. Gracia at the Catholic hierarchy’s archive in Manila. But the
original document was never shown to the public, only reproductions of
it.
• However, Fr. Pio Pi, a Spanish Jesuit, reported that as early as 1907,
the retraction of Rizal was copied verbatim and published in Spain, and
reprinted in Manila. Fr. Gracia, who found the original document, also
copied it verbatim.

14. Did Rizal Retract?
• In both reproductions, there were conflicting versions of the text. Add to
this the date of the signing was very clear in the original Spanish
document which Rizal supposedly signed. The date was “December 29,
1890.”
• Later, another supposedly original document surfaced, it bears the date
“December 29, 189C”. The number “0” was evidently altered to make it
look like a letter C. Then still later, another supposedly original version
came up. It has the date “December 29, 1896”. This time, the “0”
became a “6”.

15. Did Rizal Retract?
• Those who strongly believed the faking of the Rizal retraction document,
reported that the forger of Rizal’s signature was Roman Roque, the man
who also forged the signature of Urbano Lacuna, which was used to
capture Aguinaldo.
• The mastermind, they say, in both Lacuna’s and Rizal’s signature
forging was Lazaro Segovia. They were approached by Spanish friars
during the final day of the Filipino-American war to forge Rizal’s
signature.

16. Did Rizal Retract?
• To this day, the retraction issue is still raging like a wild fire in the
forest of the night.
• Others would like to believe that the purported retraction of Rizal was
invented by the friars to deflect the heroism of Rizal which was centered
on the friar abuses.
• Incidentally, Fr. Pio Pi, who copied verbatim Rizal’s retraction, also
figured prominently during the revolution. It was him, Andres Bonifacio
reported, who had intimated to Aguinaldo the cessation of agitation in
exchange of pardon

17. Did Rizal Retract?
• There are also not a few people who believe that the autobiography of
Josephine Bracken, written on February 22, 1897 is also forged and
forged badly.
• The document supposedly written by Josephine herself supported the
fact that they were married under the Catholic rites.
• But upon closer look, there is a glaring difference between the
penmanship of the document, and other letters written by Josephine to
Rizal.

18. Did Rizal Retract?
• Surely, we must put the question of retraction to rest, though Rizal is a
hero, whether he retracted or not, we must investigate if he really did a
turn-around. If he did not, and the documents were forgeries, then
somebody has to pay for trying to deceive a nation.
• 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 in independence in
1898.