Rizal's Exile in 

Dapitan

1892-1896
Rizal lived in exile in far-away Dapitan, a remote town in Mindanao  which was under the 
missionary   jurisdiction of the Jesuits, from 1892 to 1896.  This four-year inter regnum in his
life was tediously unexciting, but was abundantly fruitful with varied achievements. He practiced
medicine, pursued scientific studies, continued his artistic and literary works, widened his
knowledge of languages, established a school for boys, promoted community development
projects, invented a wooden machine for making bricks, and engaged in farming and commerce.
Despite his multifurious activities, he  kept an  extensive  correspondence  with his family, 
relatives,  fellow  reformists, and eminent   scientists  and  scholars  of  Europe,  including
Blumentritt,  Reinhold   Rost,  A. B.  Meyer, W.  Joest  of Berlin, S. Knuttle of Stuttgart, and
N.M. Keihl of Prague.

Beginning of Exile in Dapitan

The streamer Cebu which brought Rizal  to  Dapitan carried a letter from Father Pablo Pastells,
Superior of the Jesuits  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.”

Beginning of exile in Dapitan

Cebu – steamer which brought Rizal in Dapitan
Father Pablo Pastells

Father Antonio Obach

Rizal could live at the parish convent on the following conditions

• “That Rizal publically retract his errors concerning religion and make statements that were
clearly pro-Spanish against revolution.”
• “That he perform the church rites and make a general confession of his past life.”
• “That henceforth he conduct himself in an exemplary manner as a Spanish Subject and a man
of religion.”
A Don Ricardo Carnicero

poem which Rizal wrote for Catain Carnicero on the

occasion of catain’s birthday August 26,1892.

Lottery ticket no. 9736

• P20,000 -  lottery prize
• P6,200 was given to Rizal
• P2,000 of his share he gave to his father
• P200 to Basa in Hongkong
• the rest he invested through purchasing agricultural lands from the coast of Talisay about
kilometer away from Dapitan.
• Three esatas – amount Rizal allotted for lottery tickets every month
 • “This was his first Vice” –commented Wenceslao E. Retana, his first Sanish biographer and
former enemy.

Rizal – Pastells Debate on Religion

• The debate started when Pastells sent Rizal a book  by Sarda along with an advice that Rizal
should desist    from his majaderas (foolishness) in viewing religion from the perspective of
individual judgement and self-    esteem. 

• The debate can be read in four (4) letters. 

•—  Rizal was bitter against the friars because they commit abuses under the cloak of religion. 

• Father Pastells tried to bring back to Catholicism Rizal by telling him that human intelligence is
limited, thus     he needs the guidance of God.

• Behind the debate, Pastells and Rizal were friends as evidently pictured when:

—  1. Pastells gave Rizal a copy of Imitacion deCristo by Fr. Thomas a Kempis 

2. Rizal gave Pastells a bust of St. Paul which he had made Rizal continued to hear mass and
celebrate religious events
       

        Rizal Challenges a Frenchman to a Duel

—                Mr. Juan Lardet – a French businessman whom Rizal had a conflict

Rizal and Father Sanchez

—  In his aspiration to reconcile Rizal with theChurch, Father Pastells sent to Dapitan:
—  1.Father Obach, Cura of Dapitan
—  2.Fr. Jose Vilaclara, Cura of Dipolog
—  3.Fr. Francisco Paula de Sanchez, Rizal’s favorite teacher at Ateneo de Manila

Estudios sobre la lengua tagala

     – manuscript which Rizal gave to Sanchez on his birthday
      (study of the tagalog language)

Idyllic Life in Dapitan

—  Among his family members who visited Rizal were:
—  1.His mother 
—  2.His sisters Trinidad, Maria and Narcisa
—  3.Nephews Teodosio, Estanislao, Mauricio and Prudencio
—  Rizal built a house by the seashore of Talisay surrounded by fruit trees, a school for boys, and a
hospital for his patients.

Rizal’s Encounter with the Friar’s Spy

•—  Pablo Mercado – assumed name of the spy who visited Rizal at his house and pretended to be a
relative by showing a photo of Rizal and a pair of  buttons with the initials P.M. as evidence
of kinship.
•—  The spy offered to be Rizal’s courier of letters for the patriots in Manila. Rizal became
suspicious and wanted to throw the spy outside but considering his values and late hour of the
night, he offered the spy to spend the night at his house. The next day, he sent the spy away

•—  The spy stayed in Dapitan and spread talks among the people that he was a relative to Rizal.

—•  Rizal went to the comandancia and reported thei mpostor to Captain Juan Sitges (successor
of Carnicero)

—•  Sitges ordered Pablo Mercado’s arrest and told Anastacio Adriatico to investigate him
immediately.

•—  Florencio Namanan

•—  a.k.a Pablo Mercado, singleand about 30 years old who washired by the Recollect friars to
spyon Rizal’s activities

•—  The secret mission of Pablo Mercado was not an assassination attempt but espionage only.

As Physician in Dapitan

•—  Dona Teodora and Maria lived with Rizal for a year and a half. It is here when Rizal operated
his mother’s right eye. Though the operation was successful, his mother had a wound infection
after ignoring Rizal’s instruction of not removing the bandages. However, the infection was
immediatelytreated

•—  Don Ignacio Tumarong

         Rizal’s patient who was able to see again after his operation;
        -he paid Rizal P3,000

•—  Don Florencio Azcarraga

   Rich hacendero of Aklan who was cured of eye ailment, in turn he gave Rizal a cargo of sugar.

•—  Rizal prescribed medicinal plants to his poor  patients.

 Water System for Dapitan

•—  As a perito agrimensor (expert surveyor), Rizalapplied his engineering knowledge by

constructinga system of waterworks to furnish clean water tothe townspeople
•—  Mr. H.F. Cameron –American engineer who praised Rizal for his engineering ingenuity.

Community Projects for Dapitan

—  Rizal had
—  1.Drained the marshes to get rid of malaria that was infesting Dapitan
—  2.Equipped the town with lighting system using P500 one of his patients paid him. The lighting
system consisted of: a.Coconut oil lamps
—  3.Beautified the town of Dapitan by remodeling the town plaza and making a huge relief map of
Mindanao out of earth, stones and grass

Rizal as Teacher
•—  Rizal established in Dapitan a school. It began with 3 pupils who increased to 16 and eventually
21.
•—  16 of his pupils did not pay tuition. Instead of charging them fees, Rizal made them work in his
gardens and construction projects.
•—  Formal classes were between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. He also applied the “emperor” system
like that of Ateneo
•—  During recess, pupils built fires to drive awayinsects, pruned fruit trees and manured the soil.
•—  Outside class hours, students had gymnastics, boxing, wrestling, stone-throwing,
swimming,arnis and boating

•—  Hymn to Talisay
—  -A poem Rizal wrote in honor of Talisay which he made his pupils sing

Contributions to Science
Rizal sent specimens he found to the museum of Europe especially the Dresden Museum. In turn, he
received scientific books and surgical instruments

—  He had
—  1.Built up a rich collection of concology (consisting of 346 shells of 203 species)
—  2.Discovered rare specimens like:
—  a.Draco rizali(a flying dragon)
—  b. Apogonia rizali(a small beetle)
—  c.Rhacophorus rizali(a rare frog)
—  3.Conducted anthropological,  ethnographical, archaeological, geological and geographical
studies.

Linguistic Studies
—  Continuing his study of languages, Rizal learned in Dapitan:
—  1.Bisayan
—  2.Subanum
—  3.Malay languages
—  He knew by that time 22 languages as follows
Tagalog,  Malay, Ilokano, Hebrew, Bisayan, Sanskrit, Subanum, Dutch, Spanish, Catalan
Latin, Italian Greek, Chinese, English, Japanese, French, Portuguese, German, Swedish, Arabic, 
Russian

Artistic Works in Dapitan

—  To pursue his artistic activities, Rizal
—  1.Contributed paintings to the Sisters of Charity who were preparing the sanctuary of the Holy
Virgin
—  2.Made sketches of persons and things that attracted him in Dapitan
—  3.Modeled a statuette called “The Mother’s Revenge” to stress the moral of the incident where a
puppy of his dog, Syria, was eaten by a crocodile
—  4.Constructed a statue of a girl called “The Dapitan Girl”, a woodcarving of Josephine Bracken
(Rizal’s wife)
—  5.Made a bust of St. Paul for Father Pastells

Rizal as Farmer
•—  Rizal acquired total land holdings of 70 hectares where 6,000 hemp plants, 1,000 coconut trees
and numerous fruit trees, sugarcane, corn, coffee and cacao were planted.
•—  He planned to establish an agricultural colony in Sitio Ponot because it was ideal for raising
cacao, coffee, coconuts and cattle. However, this did not materialize due to lack of support from
the government

Rizal as Businessman
—•  Ramon Carreon – Rizal’s business partner in Dapitan Rizal made profitable business ventures in
fishing,copra and hemp industries.
•—  Hemp industry – Rizal’s most profitable business
•—  Once he shipped 150 bales of hemp to Manila. He purchased hemp in Dapitan at P7 and 4 reales
per  picul and he sold it to Manila at P10 and 4 reales.
•—  Rizal also engaged in lime manufacturing. Their lime burner had a monthly capacity of more
than400 bags of lime
•—  He organized the Cooperative Association of Dapitan Farmers to break Chinese monopoly

Rizal’s Inventive Ability

Among Rizal’s inventions were:
1.Cigarette lighter which he sent as a gift to Blumentritt called “sulpukan”
2.A wooden machine for making bricks

“My Retreat”
•—  Upon restoring her eyesight, Dona Teodora returned to Manila. Seeing how busy Rizal is, she
regretted neglecting her muses. She requested Rizal to write poetry. As a response, Rizal wrote
“Mi Retiro” relating his serene life as an exile in Dapitan

Rizal and Josephine Bracken

—
 •  the death of Leonor Rivera left a poignant void in Rizal’s heart. In his loneliness, he met
Josephine
—•  Josephine Bracken – Irish girl of sweet eighteen who was born on Hong Kong.
—•James Bracken and Elizabeth Jane MacBride – Josephine’s parents who are both Irish in
citizenship
•—  Mr. George Taufer – man who adopted Josephine after her mother died of childbirth
•—  Mr. Taufer became blind so he sought for an ophthalmic specialist. This is how Josephine and
Rizal met.
— •Manuela Orlac – Filipina companion who accompanied Josephine Bracken to Dapitan.
— •Rizal and Josephine Bracken decided to get married but Father Obach refused to marry them
without the permission of Bishop of Cebu.
— •Hearing of the planned marriage and unable to endure the thought of losing Josephine, Mr.
Taufer tried to commit suicide by cutting off his throat with a razor but Rizal was able to prevent
this.
— •To avoid a tragedy, Josephine accompanied Mr. Taufer back to Manila. Mr. Taufer returned to
Hong Kong alone while Josephine stayed with the Rizals in Manila.
•—  Having no priests to marry them, Rizal and Josephine married themselves before the eyes
of God
•—  The two were happy for they were expecting for a baby. However, Rizal played a prank on
Josephine making her give birth to an eight-month baby boy. The baby lived for only three
hours. He was named “Francisco” in honor of Rizal’s father.

Rizal and the Katipunan

•—  Pio Valenzuela – emissary to Dapitan in order to inform Rizal of the plan of Katipunan during
the meeting at a little river called Bitukang Manok.
•—  Venus – steamer Valenzuela boarded to reach Dapitan
•—  Raymundo Mata – blind man who came withValenzuela to camouflage his mission
•—  Rizal objected Bonifacio’s project because:
—  1.The people are not ready for a revolution
—  2.Arms and funds must first be collected before raising the cry of revolution.

Volunteers as Military Doctor in Cuba

•—  When Cuba was under revolution and raging yellow fever epidemic, Rizal wrote to
Governor General Ramon Blanco offering his services as military doctor.
•—  Governor Blanco later notified Rizal of the acceptance of the offer. The notification came along
with an instruction of acquiring first a pass for Manila from the politico-military commander of
Dapitan.

“The Song of the Traveler”

•—  Upon receiving the acceptance of his offer to go to Europe then to Cuba to help in the curing
of patients suffering yellow fever, he wrote a poem “El Canto del Viajero”

Adios, Dapitan
•—  España – steamer which brought Rizal to Manila from Dapitan
•—   Rizal was accompanied by Josephine, Narcisa, Angelica (Narcisa’s daughter), his three
nephews and six pupils.
•—   As farewell, the town brass of Dapitan played the dolorous  Funeral March of Chopin.
•—  He stayed in Dapitan for four years, thirteen days and a few hours.