Did Jose Rizal Retract?
March 2009
Did Rizal retract? Dr. Jose Rizal has been a national iconic hero for over a hundred years. He has been the symbol of our country’s freedom, the epitome of nationalistic patriotism. He emanates martyrdom with every fiber of his being and everything else that he left the country to strive upon. His story has been narrated in countless books and articles. He became an extension of education where he was the main course in a classroom, an honorable feature of Rizal. His totality as a person, essentially as a Filipino has been studied a hundredfold by researchers and students alike. For years, the Filipino race glorified respect for Jose Rizal because of his sacrifices as a citizen, his beliefs as an honest propagandist, and all his talents that have been appreciated because of their effectiveness in the process of gaining equal rights as a united nation. However, his reputation as an unwavering bayani has been doubted due to lingering issues that contradict the very core reason why we Filipinos learned to gratify his efforts, his existence in our history. The issue of Jose Rizal’s so-called “retraction” has been around since both Manila and Spanish newspapers published claiming his retraction right after his execution. In some sources, they state that Rizal’s alleged retraction did not actually happen. These sources say that the friars who visited him within twenty four hours prior his execution convinced him to confess the sins they accused him of committing. [1]“The Jesuits, on the other hand, were with him practically every minute of the time, six priests going in relays, usually two at a time, in an attempt to bring about Rizal's conversion.” [2]“The main motive, of which, is to make Rizal admit his errors against religion and retract them. If the friars of the future could state with authority that Rizal’s expressed views on the friars were not what he really believed, it would cast an element of doubt over
Did Rizal retract? Dr. Jose Rizal has been a national iconic hero for over a hundred years. He has been the symbol of our country’s freedom, the epitome of nationalistic patriotism. He emanates martyrdom with every fiber of his being and everything else that he left the country to strive upon. His story has been narrated in countless books and articles. He became an extension of education where he was the main course in a classroom, an honorable feature of Rizal. His totality as a person, essentially as a Filipino has been studied a hundredfold by researchers and students alike. For years, the Filipino race glorified respect for Jose Rizal because of his sacrifices as a citizen, his beliefs as an honest propagandist, and all his talents that have been appreciated because of their effectiveness in the process of gaining equal rights as a united nation. However, his reputation as an unwavering bayani has been doubted due to lingering issues that contradict the very core reason why we Filipinos learned to gratify his efforts, his existence in our history. The issue of Jose Rizal’s so-called “retraction” has been around since both Manila and Spanish newspapers published claiming his retraction right after his execution. In some sources, they state that Rizal’s alleged retraction did not actually happen. These sources say that the friars who visited him within twenty four hours prior his execution convinced him to confess the sins they accused him of committing. [1]“The Jesuits, on the other hand, were with him practically every minute of the time, six priests going in relays, usually two at a time, in an attempt to bring about Rizal's conversion.” [2]“The main motive, of which, is to make Rizal admit his errors against religion and retract them. If the friars of the future could state with authority that Rizal’s expressed views on the friars were not what he really believed, it would cast an element of doubt over