1) Rizal lived in exile in Dapitan from 1892 to 1896, where he practiced medicine, taught school, farmed, and engaged in various community development projects. 2) Upon arriving, the Jesuits wanted Rizal to publicly renounce his views, but he refused and lived under the friendly supervision of Captain Carnicero instead. 3) Rizal won a lottery prize and invested the money in land, revealing his lighter side as a lottery enthusiast, though he neither drank nor smoked. 4) Rizal debated religion with Father Pastells but was not convinced by his arguments and remained outside the Catholic fold, though he maintained friendly relations with Pastells and continued Catholic traditions.

1. ASSIGNMENT NO. 8 RODRIGUEZ, Luzille, A.
May 5, 2016 2nd
year BS Accountancy
“Volveran Rizal a Filipinas” (1812)
Return of Rizal in the Philippines
La Vida Rizal en Dapitan (1892-1896)
Life of Rizal in Dapitan
Rizal lived in exile in far-away Dapitan, a remote town in Mindanao, which was under the
missionary jurisdiction of the Jesuits. This four-year interregnum in his life was tediously
unexciting, but was abundantly fruitful with varied achievements. He practices medicine,
pursued scientific studies, continued his artistic and literary works, widened his knowledge of
languages, established a school of boys, promoted community development projects, invented a
wooden machine for making bricks, and engaged in farming and commerce. Despite his
multifarious activities, he kept an extensive correspondence with his family, relatives, fellow
reformists, and eminent scientists and scholars of Europe.
Beginning of Exile in Dapitan
The steamer Cebu which brought Rizal to Dapitan carried a letter from Father Pablo Pastells,
Superior of the Jesuit Society in the Philippines, to Father Antonio Obach, Jesuit parish priest of
Dapitan. In this letter, Father Superior Pastells informed Father Obach that Rizal could live at
the parish convent on the following conditions:
1. "That Rizal publicly retract his errors concerning religion, and make statements that were
clearly pro-Spanish and against revolution.
2. "That he perform the church rites and make a general confession of his past life.
3. "That henceforth he conduct himself in an exemplary manner as a Spanish subject and a man
of religion."
Rizal did not agree with these conditions. Consequently, he lived in the house of the
commandant, Captain Carnicero. The relations between Carnicero (the warden) and Rizal (the
prisoner) were warm and friendly. He gave rizal complete freedom to go anywhere, reporting
only once a week at his office. Rizal on his part admired the kind, generous Spanish captain.
He then wrote a poem, A Don Ricardo Carnicero, on August 26, 1892 on the occassion of the
captain's birthday.
Wins in Manila Lottery
On September 21, 1892 the mail boat Butuan was approaching the town of Dapitan
carrying a Lottery ticket No. 9736 jointly owned by Captain Carnicero, Dr. Rizal
and Francisco Equilior (Spanish resident of Dipolog, a neighboring town of
Dapitan) won the second prize of P20,000 in the government-owned Manila Lottery.
Rizal's share of the winning lottery ticket was P6,200, He gave P2,000 to his father and
P200 to his friend Basa in Hong Kong and the rest he invested well by purchasing agricultural
lands along the coast of Talisay about one kilometer away from Dapitan.
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2. Rizal's winning in the Manila Lottery reveals an aspect of his lighter side. He never
drank hard liquor and never smoked but he was a lottery addict. "This was his only
vice," commented Wenceslao E. Retana, his first Spanish biographer and former enemy.
Rizal-Pastells Debate on Religion
During his exile in Dapitan, Rizal had a long and scholarly debate
with Father Pastells on religion which revealed Rizal's anti-Catholic ideas
acquired in Europe and the embitterment at his persecution by bad friars. It is understandable
why he was bitter against the friars who committed certain abuses under the cloak of religion.
As he wrote to Blumentritt from Paris on January 20, 1890: "I want to hit the friars, but only
friars who utilized religion not only as a shield, but also as a weapon, castle, fortress,
armor, etc.; I was forced to attack their false and superstitious religion in order to fight the
enemy who hid himself behind it."
According to Rizal, individual judgment is a gift from God and everybody should use it
like a lantern to show the way and that self-esteem, if moderated by judgment, saves man
from unworthy acts. He also argued that the pursuit of truth may lie in different paths,
and thus "religions may vary, but they all lead to the light."
Father Pastells tried his best to win back Rizal to the fold of Catholicism. Divine faith, he
told Rizal, supersedes everything, including reason, self esteem, and individual judgment. No
matter how wise a man is, he argued, his intelligence is limited, hence he needs the guidance
of God. He refuted Rizal's attacks on Catholic dogmas as misconceptions
of rationalism and naturalism, errors of misguided souls.
This interesting debate between two brilliant pole- micists ended inconclusively. Rizal
could not be convinced by Pastells arguments so that he lived in Dapitan beyond the pale of his
Mother Church but inspire of their religious
differences Rizal and Pastells remained good friends. Father Pastells gave Riza l a copy
of the Imitacion de Cristo (Imitation of Christ), a famous Catholic book by Father Thomas a
Kempis. And Rizal in grateful reciprotion gave his Jesuit opponent in debate a bust of St.
Paul which he had made.
Although Rizal did not subscribe to Pastells' religious interpretation of
Catholic dogmas, he continued to be Catholic. He hears mass at the Catholic Church of
Dapitan and celebrate Christmas and other religious fiestas in the Catholic way. His
Catholicism, however was the Catholi- cism that inquires and enlightens, the "Catholicism of
Renan and Teilhard de Chardin".
Rizal Challenges A Frenchman to a Duel
Rizal was involved in a quarrel with a French acquaintance in Dapitan, Mr. Juan
Lardet, a businessman. This man purchased many logs from the lands of Rizal and it so
happened that some of the logs were of poor quality.

3. Lardet, in a letter written to Antonio Miranda, a
Dapitan merchant and friend of Rizal, expressed his disgust with
the business deal and stated that "if he (Rizal - Z.) were a truthful man, he would
have told me that the lumber not included in the account were bad.
Miranda indiscreetly forwarded Lardet's letter to Rizal. When he read Lardet's letter,
he flared up in anger, regarding the Frenchman's unsavory comment as an affront to his
integrity. Immediately, he confronted Lardet and challenged him to a duel
. When commandant Carcinero heard the incident, he told the frenchman to apologize rather
than accept the challenge, " My Friend, you have not a Chinaman's chance
in a fight with Rizal on a field of honor. Rizal is an expert in martial arts particularly in
fencing and pistol shooting.
Dapitan City Mayor Joseph Cerick O. Ruiz
at Rizal House
Heeding the commandant's advice, Lardet wrote to Rizal in French, dated Dapitan,
March 30,1893 apologizing for the insulting comment. Rizal, as a gentleman and a well-
versed in pun donor (Hispanic Chivalric Code) accepted the apology,
and good relations between him and the Frenchman were restored.
It is interesting to know that one of the hero's weak- nesses is his sensitivity.
Rizal and Father Sanchez
Father Pastells, aside from his personal efforts to
persuade Rizal to discard his "errors of religion'', instructed two Jesuits in Mindanao -
Father Obach, cura of Dapitan and Father Jose Vilaclara, cura of Dipolog to try their best to
bring back Rizal within the Catholic fold. He assigned Fr. Francisco de Paua Sanchez,
Rizal's favorite teacher at the Ateneo de Manila, to Dapitan. He was the only Spanish priest to
defend Rizal's Noli Me Tangere in public.

4. Upon his arrival, Fr. Sanchez lost no time in meeting his former favorite student. Of all
the Jesuits, he was the most beloved and esteemed by Rizal. They argued
theologically in a friendly manner but all the efforts of Sanchez were in vain.
Despite his failures to persuade Rizal to discard his unorthodox
views on the Catholic religion, Fr. Sanchez enjoyed the latters company and he even assisted
Rizal in beautifying the town plaza. On his birthday, Rizal gave him a precious birthday gift -
a manuscript entitled Estudios sobre la lengua tagala (Studies on the Tagalog Language).
Idyllic Life in Dapitan
Since August 1893, members of his family took turns in visiting him in order to
assuage his loneliness in the isolated outpost of the Spanish power in the Moroland. Among
them were his mother, Sisters Trinidad, Maria, Narcisa; and nephews Teodosio, Estanislao,
Mauricio, and Prudencio. He built his house by the seashore of Talisay, surrounded by fruit trees
and another house for his school boys and a hospital for his patients.
Describing his life in Dapitan, Rizal wrote to Blumentritt on Dec. 19, 1893:
I shall tell you how we live here. I have three
houses; one square, another hexagonal, and a third octagonal, all of bamboo, wood and
nipa. In the square house we live, my mother , sister Trinidad, a nephew and I; in the octagonal
live my boys or some good youngsters whom I teach arithmetic, Spanish and English; and in the
hexagonal live my chickens. From my house I hear the
murmur of a crystal clear brook which comes from the high rocks ; I see the seashore ,
the sea where I have small boats, two canoes or barotos, as they say here. I have many fruit
trees, mangoes, lanzones, guayabanos, baluno, nangka, etc. I have rabbits, dogs, cats,etc. I rise
early - at five - visit my plants, feed the chickens, awaken my people and put them in movement.
At half-past seven we breakfast with tea, pastries, cheese, sweetmeats, etc. Later
I treat my poor patients who come to my land; I dress, I go to the town in my baroto,
treat the people there, and return at 12 when my luncheon awaits me. Then I teach the boys
until 4 P.M. and devote the after- noon to agriculture. I spend the night reading and studying.
Rizal's Encounter with the Friar's Spy
During the early days of November 1893 Rizal was living peacefully and happily at his
house in Talisay when suddenly jolted by a strange incident involving a spy of
the friars. The spy with the assumed name of "Pablo Mercado" and posing as a relative,
secretly visited Rizal at his house on the night of November 3, 1893. He introduced
himself as a friend and a relative, showing a photo o f Rizal and a pair of buttons with
the initials "P.M."(Pablo Mercado) as evidence of his kinship with the Rizal family.
In the course of their conversation the strange visitor offered his
services as a confidential courier of Rizal's letter and writings for the patriots in Manila.
Rizal, being a man of prudence and keen perception became suspicious. Irked

5. by the mpostor's lies, he wanted to throw him out of the house, but mindful of his duty as a
host and considering the late hour of the night and the heavy rainfall, he hospitably invited the
unwanted visitor to stay at his house for the night. And early the next day, he sent him a way.
Later, he learned that the rascal was still in Dapitan, telling people that he was a beloved
relative of Dr. Rizal. Losing his cool, he went to the comandancia and denounced the
impostor to Captain Juan Sitges (who succeeded Captain Carnacio on May 4, 1893 as
commandant of Dapitan). Without much ado, Sitges ordered the arrest of "Pablo
Mercado" and instructed Anasticio Adriatico, to investigate him immediately.
The truth came out during this investigation and the real name of "Pablo Mercado" was
Florencio Namanan. He was a native of Cagayan de Misamis, single and about 30 years old. He
was hired by the Recollect friars to a secret mission in Dapitan
to filch the letters and writings of Rizal which might incriminate him in the revolutionary
movement. Commandant Sitges quashed the investiga- tion and released the spy. He
promptly forwarded the transcripts of the investigation together with his official
report to Governor General Blanco who kept the documents highly confidential. Rizal
requested for a copy of the proceedings of the investigation but Sitges denied his
request. As now declassified and preserved at the Biblioteca Nacional in
Madrid, these documents contain certain mysterious deletions.
These documents have been quoted by three Rizalist biographers - Retana(1907),
Palma(1949), and Jose Baron Fernandez(1982). But none of these biographers quoted the text
of another document which is more reliable and valuable
in clarifying the whole incident. It is Rizal's letter to his brother-in-law, Manuel T.
Hidalgo written in Dapitan, December 20, 1893, as follows:
My Dear Brother-in-Law Maneng,
I was unable to write you by the previous mail for lack of time, for the boat left
unexpectedly.
With regards to Pablo Mercado, I tell you that he came here presenting himself as
a courteous friend in order to get from me my letters, writings, etc; but I found him out soon,
and if I did not throw him out of the house brusquely, it was because I always want to be
nice and polite to everyone. Nevertheless, as it was raining, I let him
sleep here, sending him away very early the next day. I was going to let him alone in
contempt but the rascal went around saying secretly that he was my cousin or brother-in-law,
reported him to the commandant who had him arrested. It was revealed in his declaration that
he was sent by the Recollects who gave him P72 and promised him more if he succeeded in
wrestling from me my letter for certain persons in Manila. The rascal told me
that he was the cousin of Mr. Litonjua, son of Luis Chiquita, according to him and brother-
in-law of Marcia no Ramirez. He wanted me to write these gentlemen. He brought along
besides a picture of mine, saying that it was given to him
by one Mr. Legaspi of Tondo or San Nicolas. I don't remember him exactly. It seems that
he belongs to a good family of Cagayan de Misamis. Be

6. careful of him, he is a tall boy, somewhat thickset, slightly squint-eyed, dark, slender,
broad shoulders, and of impudent manners. He smokes much, spits more and has thin lips.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Your brother-in-Law who loves you,
(Signed) Jose Rizal
Based upon all these available documentary sources the incident of the
secret mission of "Pablo Mercado" in Dapitan was not an "Assassination Attempt on Rizal". It
was merely an espionage plot concocted by the friars.
As Physician in Dapitan
Rizal practiced medicine in Dapitan. He had many patients but most of them were
poor so that he even gave them free medicine. To his friend in Hong Kong, Dr. Marquez, he
wrote: "Here the people are so poor that I even have to give medicine gratis."
He had, however, some rich patients who paid him handsomely for his surgical skill.
In August 1893 his mother and sister (Maria) arrived in Dapitan and lived with him for
one year and a half. He operated on his mother's right eye. The operation was successful but
Dona Teodora ignored her son's instruc- tions by removing the bandages from her eyes, t
hereby causing the wound to be infected.Thus Rizal told Hidalgo his brother-in-law; "Now
I understand very well why a physician should not treat the members of his family.
Fortunately, the infection was arrested and Dona Teodora's sight was restored.
Rizals fame as a physician particularly as an eye specialist pave way to patients from
different parts of the Philippines from Luzon, Bohol, Cebu, Panay, Negros, and Mindanao
and even from Hong Kong. Because of his ophthalmic skill he was paid P3000 by Don
Ignacio Tuma- rongin for the restoration of his sight, P500 from an Englishman and a cargo
of sugar given as payment by a rich hacendero in Aklan, Don Florencio Azacarraga who was
cured of eye ailment.
Rizal became interested in local medicine and the use of medicinal plants. He
studied their curative values for the poor patients who could not afford to buy imported
medicine, he prescribed the local medicinal plants.
Water System for Dapitan
Rizal held the title of expert surveyor (perito
agrimensor), which he obtained from Ateneo. He
supplemented his training as a surveyor by reading engineering books. In Dapitan, he
applied his knowledge in engineering by constructing a system of waterworks in order to furnish
clean water to the townspeople.

7. Without any aid from the government, he succeeded in giving good water system to
Dapitan.
An American engineer, Mr. H. F. Cameron, praised Rizal's engineering feat in the
following words:
Another famous and well-known water supply is that of Dapitan, Mindanao,
designed and constructed by Dr. Rizal during his banishment in that municipality by the
Spanish authorities... this supply comes from a little
mountain stream across the river from Dapitan and follows the contour of the country for
the whole distance. When one considers that Doctor Rizal had no explosives with which to
block the hard rocks and no resources save his own ingenuity, one cannot help but honor a man,
who against adverse conditions, had the courage and tenacity to construct the aqueduct which
had for its bottom the fluted tiles from the house roofs, and was covered with concrete made
from limed burned from the sea coral. The length of this aqueduct is several kilometers, and it
winds in and out among the rocks and is carried across gullies in bamboo pipes upheld by rocks
or brick piers to the distribution reservoir.
Community Projects for Dapitan
When Rizal arrived in Dapitan, he decided to improve it, to the best of his God-given
talents, and to awaken the civic consciousness of its people. He wrote to Fr. Pastells: " I
want to do all I can do for this town."
Aside from constructing the towns first water system, he spent many months in draining the
marshes in order to get rid of malaria that infested Dapitan.
The P500 which an English patient paid him was used by him to equip the town
with its lighting system which consist of coconut oil lamps placed in dark streets of
Dapitan. Electric lighting was unknown then in the
Philippines not until 1894 when Manila saw the first electric lights.
The beautification and remodeling of the town plaza with the help of Father Sanchez
enhances the beauty as jokingly remarked that it could "rival the best in Europe". In front of the
church, Rizal and Fr. Sanchez made a huge relief map of Mindanao out of earth, stones, and
grass. This map still adorns the town plaza of Dapitan.