• Despite surprise rains and cold mornings, spring in Paris has marked a major turning point for the Knights of Rizal and the Damas de Rizal in France.
• The Dimasalang île de France Chapter celebrates its second anniversary.
• The Damas de Rizal, kababaihang Rizalista, marks its first year of successful operation.
• The Côte d’Azur Chapter, under the command of Sir Ely Panganiban has reorganized itself with the help of the Paris Chapter, and is preparing for council elections and formal swearing in of officers in September.

It’s like coming out of hibernation!

On 20 March Sir Bernard Pot, KCR opened the ceremonies at the Fontaine Celeste Restaurant in Paris for the induction of new knights into the Dimasalang île de France Chapter: Sir Justin Adrien Ordoyo KR, Sir Edgar Allan Sumbillo KR and Sir Arsenio Furio KR. This brings Dimasalang membership to 19. Sir Justin, the youngest knight of the chapter, speaking on behalf of the three knights, promised that they will strive to make better known the history and culture of the Philippines, and particularly the teachings and ideals of the national hero, Dr José Rizal.

In his address, Sir Bernard stressed that the Order of the Knights of Rizal was not just another association. It was a civic and patriotic order, whose statutes are an act of law; in many ways, it is similar to the Order of the French Legion d’Honneur. And hence, its mandate is not merely humanitarian work or public service, but ethical standards and quality contribution to the understanding of Philippine history and culture and the place of Dr José Rizal in the nation.

Addressing the knights and ladies, Sir Choy Arnaldo, KGOR, Deputy Area Commander for France recapped briefly the background of the Dimasalang Chapter, saying that it has a special role in France, to be an intellectual leader and continue its work of Rizal lectures and the publications of works on Rizal. The opportunity for action is rapidly approaching, as the Philippine Historical Institute has written the Philippine Embassy in Paris that the bas-relief of Rizal is ready for shipment. This is to be placed eventually on a stele at the Place José Rizal in Paris 9th. It would be most fitting if this could be finalized in time for the birth anniversary of Rizal on June 19.

Consul General Rose Prospero, representing Her Excellency, Ambassador Rora Navarro Tolentino, expressed her appreciation of the support of the Knights for the activities and work of the Embassy in France. While in Manila recently, she herself had discussed the Rizal bas-relief with the Historical Institute in order to accelerate its fabrication and shipment to Paris. During her first term ten years ago as Ambassador to France, Madame Navarro Tolentino had already negotiated the naming of Place José Rizal on Rue Maubeuge Paris 9th.

As a special request M Cory de Jesus, one of the dynamic organizers of the Fête de la Musique last year, offered a few songs in the bossa nova beat. The evening was completed with a full Chinese meal.

The next day, the first day of spring, las Damas de Rizal celebrated their first year anniversary, all wearing their special elegant gowns designed by Sir Noubbiko Ulanday, KCR Deputy Area Commander of the Czech Republic, and sewn by Lady Jane Souterre. Two new members were inducted, Lady Roshayda Malugayak and Lady Milagros Balangue.

Aside from the sumptuous lunch, the Damas also prepared a programme emceed by President of the Damas, Lady Nenette Brosas. The presentations featured the parasol dance by the Las Damas Dancers, a hilarious impromptu ‘hagibis’ song and dance by the knights, a comedy skit of migrant workers in Paris acted to the lyrics of the song, Work hard for the money, and a short pageantry of the people in the life of José Rizal close to the hour of his execution. During the pageantry, Sir Jess Sunga, KOR recited the Ultimo Adios.

HE Ambassador Rora Navarro Tolentino, even though ailing, came nonetheless to the anniversary fête, together with Consul General Rose Prospero. She spoke of her deep appreciation of the contribution of the Damas to the Embassy’s cultural activities and noted optimistically, that the Damas were also key leaders of most of the Philippine Associations in Paris.

Sir Jess Umali, KCR, Commander of the Paris Chapter arrived late, having driven up directly from Cannes with his daughter for the Damas’ anniversary. He spent several days with the Côte d’Azur knights, coaching them in organization and helping them to prepare their documentation. They intend to reorganize and elect their Council in September when all their members are together. As most of their members are seamen, they are frequently traveling and cannot meet regularly.

Before ending the fête, Lady Nenette informed the Knights and the Damas that the Deputy Area Commander, Sir Choy Arnaldo, KGOR was preparing to leave France in a few months and that both the Knights and the Damas shall be missing his friendship and leadership.

“During these past six years,” said Sir Choy, “we have built strong organizations and strong leaders. Las Damas de Rizal, for example, is a totally Euro-based organization with legal statutes in France. I am confident our Knights Commanders will continue into the next mandate, particularly as the office of Area Commander and Deputy open. Furthermore, we have a third Chapter in Côte d’Azur. But now I know how a migrant worker feels when he is separated possibly for years from his life partner and family. So I am going to join my wife who has undertaken a one year MBA course at the University of Shanghai and will likely seek work in Shanghai afterwards.”

The fête continued on with several birthday cakes for Lady Jane Souterre, impromptu singing and dancing. This celebration showe eloquently how many people’s talents and meagure resources can be brought together quickly and generously to make a super duper celebration. Congratulations to Lady Nenette and the Damas de Rizal!

Mabuhay and Damas de Rizal!

Click the link below to see the photos
www.flickr.com/photos/simplymyx

The Knights of Rizal observance of the martyrdom of Dr. Jose Rizal was held in the evening at the Little Quiapo Restaurant, Chicago. A floral offering was held indoors and a simple program of the commemoration followed. Insights regarding the Mi Ultimo Adios were delivered by Sir Raul Fermin, KOR of the Chicago Chapter and by Sir John Claridad, KOR of the Malaya Chapter respectively. Consul Roberto T. Bernardo was the keynote speaker who also emphasized on the role of Dr. Jose Rizal’s martyrdom and the Mi Ultimo Adios.

Sir Franciso Pisaro, KR was initiated to 1st Degree Knight of Rizal, Malaya Chapter. He underwent two weeks of intensive training/seminar of the Order of the Knights of Rizal. The Malaya Chapter new set of officers was also installed into office by the Central USA Area Commander, Sir Bonifacio Cenir, KGOR.

The program climaxed with the report on the progress of the Central USA delivered by Area Commander, Sir Bonifacio Cenir, KGOR.

Over late morning coffee, we started talking about whether Rizal was a mason or not, and whether he recanted as it is still hotly debated today. Even our tempered discussion fell into a quiet hush amidst puzzled faces. It must be recalled that in the actual days of Rizal, fealty to the church and the friars was expressed in outward devotions, like mass, sacraments, baptisms, generous contributions. To be a free mason or propound any of their beliefs would immediately be taken as an act of disloyalty with the risk of all the punishments and stigma attached. To admit even a hint of masonry at that time, could be perilous. Silence today was a gesture of loyalty to their Lolo José.

In her book, Lolo José: an illustrated portrait of José Rizal (Quezon City: Vibal Foundation, Inc. and the Intramuros Administration, 2008), author Asuncion Lopez Rizal Bantug is less silent. She discusses both sides of the question, “One faction insists that he did [retract], having been won back by two Jesuits who visited him on his last night, bringing with him an old school medallion of his and a statue of the Sacred Heart he had carved as a boy. According to this claim, he wrote down his retraction, confessed, heard Mass in the morning and received communion, and was then married to Josephine Bracken.”

And yet this explanation does not fit in well with other historical events following the execution, like the ‘disappearance’ of his body and its being found unidentified in a burial place in Santa Ana. If he retracted, he should have been buried with discrete honor in a Catholic cemetery and the friars should have been celebrating the triumph of his defeat.

And so “Another faction ,” writes Siony, “argues that it’s not only what we know of Rizal’s character that militates against this claim of retraction, but also what we know of his activities on his last night, which leaves no room for the various religious functions he is said to have joined. Or so avers this group—which therefore brands as a forgery the document of retraction allegedly found in the church archives in 1935.”

I would tend to believe, with Siony and her daughter, Mrs Belen Lopez Rizal Bantug, that through his Jesuit education, Rizal had reached a higher level of intelligence that could assimilate seemingly contrary beliefs and philosophies which when seen at a lower, more fundamental level, seem irresolvable; but when looked at through a higher logic and more profound understanding, can be reconciled.

Also recall at that time that Rizal’s antagonist was not the credo of the Catholic church, but the lavish lifestyle of the friars and their frivolous, contemptuous treatment of the peasants. And hence, Rizal could have expressed his stance for social justice in terms of the socialistic philosophies of the time without at all putting into question any Catholic doctrine. But such declarations of social justice, however inherent in catholic dogma itself, would have a direct accusatory bearing on the life style of the friars and the guardia civil who supported them, and who in effect ignored the basics of Catholic dogma and hardly ever lived it. In effect, Rizal was not so much a threat to Christianity or to Spain, as a threat to the religio-political connivance of friars and the local governor lords.

And so “A third is that there was no retraction, because Rizal never apostatized and thus didn’t consider himself outside the Church. He refused to retract ‘religious errors’ because he did not feel he had committed any.”

In this way, Siony in her book fills in the many gaps of other works on Rizal, she fills them in from the memory of the stories her father, Dr Leoncio Lopez Rizal, had told her. She started this book, by noting down his stories, and over the years comparing these with other sources she read. These then became a pile of anecdotes that she meticulously reorganized into coherent chapters, thus filling in, through the memory of her father, the many gaps, that are found in the other accounts of the national hero. The first edition was published in 1988 through the support of Dr Jaime Laya, then the Action Officer of the Intramuros Administration. The second edition was published in 2008 with a preface by Nick Joaquin who aptly writes that Siony is writing not research from documents and archives, but “reportage: the words of witnesses, the testimony of primary sources, the gospel of disciples. But even more exciting is the unfamiliar material, the private details known only to and lovingly cherished by the family.” The book is also rich with images and illustrations of the period.

I was therefore most pleased when Siony took the pen and signed my copy of her book!

“You are leaving already,” asked Naty with a tone of sadness. “We are enjoying your company, you must stay this afternoon and dance with us.” And Carmen began waving her hands to the beat of a cotillon. Several times a week, the three ladies dress up in dancing gowns and have an hour of dance class. “We all dance very well,” she said invitingly.

And on that happy note, we left, passing by their burnt house, symbolic of the real threat to paper-based history, documentation and archives. If it weren’t for the equally fragile living memory of Siony and her sisters, and how they transmit this to their children, and their children’s children, how could we ever know all we know of Lolo José today?

Carmen concluded this intimate and rich family visit with a smile full of a lifetime of memories: “Ako, apo ni Rizal, I’m proud to be the apo ni José Rizal.”

Footsteps had already been traced on the cement and macadam paths leading from Fort Santiago to the fields of Bagumbayan where Rizal was to be executed by firing squad. Slowly as the rising sun began to light up the grey skies, the monument of José Rizal loomed large before us, the Marine Corps in full honor guard, hefting rifles into a royal salute as we took our places at the flagpole.

A special detachment raised the flag solemnly to half mast in honor of the national hero. Sir Alfredo S. Lim, KGCR, Mayor of Manila graced the occasion alongside Sir Virgilio Esguerra, KGCR, Supreme Commander.

A salvo of arms fire gave the final salute and honor as Sir Alfred S. Lim and Sir Esguerra brought their bouquets of flowers to the podium of the José Rizal statue.

Highlighting the occasion was the exaltation of Sir Carlos Arnaldo, KCR to the further degree, KGOR. The citation was read by the Supreme Chancellor and the official sword and sash were rendered to Sir Carlos. Sir Carlos then addressed the audience, focusing on the younger knights, urging them that it is not promotion which is important, it is solid work and contribution to the ideals of the Order. Higher rank means more work, more service, more demands.

A highlight of the cultural presentation that followed was the dance of a group of the Rizal Youth Leadership Institute.

This December 28 and 29, the Order of the Knights of Rizal will be represented by its highest official, Sir Virgilio Esguerra, KGCR, Supreme Commander, to participate in the celebrations and the inauguration of the bronze sculpture, the Landing of Rizal in Dapitan. Ceremonies will be conducted by the Knights of Rizal Dapitan Chapter.

He was sent to Dapitan by the Spanish guardia civil, as a traitor for whom they found insufficient evidence to condemn. He arrived as a free man and was escorted by the Commanding General himself to be lodged at his office and residence in town.

He was sent to exile on this forsaken island? He arrived as a doctor ready to set up practice.

He was persecuted for his beliefs in social equality, and justice. He landed as an educated renaissance man, ready to open a school and educate the talented young citizens of Dapitan.

The landing scene in life-size bronze shows Rizal leading his ‘captors’ from the skiff to the shore, he is dressed, as usual, in his Spanish styled overcoat. Commanding General Ricardo Carnicero accompanies him, but walking slightly behind.

Yes, Rizal leads the way. Ironically, Rizal appears triumphant, not dazed or daunted. He is strong, not weakened by the inane questioning of his ignorant captors and their friar consorts. Rizal is the dominant figure here, not the guardia civil nor the church. He is more triumphant descending this skiff, than MacArthur landing in Lingayen from a battleship.

In Dapitan, Rizal is the hero, not the prisoner in exile.

A rather complete and anecdotal account of Dapitan, based on letters and documents of the time can be found in the chapter, ‘Rizal in Dapitan,’ in the Great Island (Studies in the exploration and evangelization of Mindanao; Manila: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2004) by the late Fr Miguel Bernad, S.J. Fr Bernad was a prolific talker, a highly organized speaker, and an elegant writer. He lends his gentle plume to this work making use of, but refusing enslavement to the discipline of sources. Mme Elisabteh Enerio, Professor of History at Xavier University, in Cagayan de Oro, led me to this significant work of our dear late friend, and to other writings, as well as the letters of Rizal. She herself is an avid reader of Philippine history and literature and finds great comfort in the writings of José Rizal. In this short article I can capture only small but vivid snapshots, all showing that exile was hardly the term for Rizal’s life in Dapitan.

Upon arriving in Dapitan, he was originally offered the choice to set up lodging with the Commanding General, or stay with the Jesuits, then assigned to the island. Again, a nemesis situation, as his favourite mentor, Fr Francisco de Paula Sanchez, S.J., was on hand to welcome him, the very same Jesuit, now ordained, who as a scholastic at the Municipal de Ateneo in Intramuros had been his teacher in religion, Spanish, Latin and Greek. He would naturally have chosen the Jesuits, but the Manila Jesuit Superior had already sent ahead a letter to the local parish priest to welcome Rizal provided he recanted his being a mason and returned to the fold to receive the sacraments. According to Fr Bernad in his book, Rizal opted to stay with the general, and against all expectation, they became very good friends, the general even supporting many of Rizal’s projects. Other historians, among whom, Fr John Schumacher, S.J., as Elisabeth pointed out, believe that there is no documentary evidence to show that Rizal ever formally became a mason, though he did hold several beliefs common to the masons.

During his four year sojourn in Dapitan, aside from a paradise romance with Josephine Bracken, Rizal made a number of significant contributions to Philippine society at that time. His earliest was the creation of a large relief map of Mindanao, eventually to be followed by similar maps of all the other island regions of the country. This he did with the help of Fr Francisco’s scientific knowledge of measuring heights and distances and his measuring instruments. The relief maps were originally built in stone and shell and constructed to reflect the exact topography of the island of Mindano, as it was then known and charted. The other islands, however, were never completed. And that of Mindanao has now been flattened by yearly rains and poor maintenance. Today, exhibiting little relief, it is a somewhat flat grassy plain showing only the outline of the ‘great island.’

A second major work was his description of the structure and process of the Tagalog language. This was particularly in preparation for similar studies of the languages spoken in Mindanao.

A third, though short-lived project, was his establishment of a school for young talented boys to learn the humanities, in very much the same way he did as a student at the Municipal de Ateneo. For this he was helped by Fr Francisco de Paula Sanchez. And under his influence, and in response to his scientific bent, Rizal adjusted the usual curricula or ratio studiorum, adding algebra, geometry and geography. The students also practised farming and fencing, as they sing in their academy hymn:

Los problemas de ciencias exactas,
De la patria la historia estudiamos
Tres y quatro lenguas hablamos
Acordando la fé y la razon.

Nuestos brazos manejan a turno
El chuchillo, la pluma , la azada
La piqueta, el fusil y la espada
Companeros de fuerte varon.

We study the problems of the exact sciences,
And the history of our country.
We speak three or four languagegs,
Reconciling Faith and Reason.

With our hands we handle in turn
The knife, the pen, the spade,
The pick axe, the gun, the sword—
Companions of the brave man.

Fourth, he set up a clinic in a sawali and bamboo house on a part of the long sandbar of Dapitan called Talisay. Here he treated patients principally as an ophthalmologist, as that was his training in Manila, Madrid, Paris and Heidelberg. He had many patients from all over the nearby provinces and islands, and even as far as Hong Kong. Most of the time, however, he had to work as a general practitioner and tend to more common ailments, but all these services he often provided without fees.

In 1885, several years before Rizal left for Dapitan, the Dominican friars had claimed the whole of the Calamba territories; including the residence and farm of the Rizal family, their neighbors and tenants. Though this was disputed in court, the land was finally ceded to the Dominicans, who then started the process of evicting the farmers and tenants. With all the opposition they had, the Dominicans then decided to evict only five families as an ‘example.’ This had hurt Rizal very much and he wanted to do something to restore this unjust situation. So he bought another plot of land near Dapitan, and called it Nueva Kalamba, preferring the ‘k’ spelling to the hispanicized ‘c’ spelling. Here (his fifth project), he resettled the old Calamba farmers gradually and slowly, so as not to attract attention of the friars nor of the guardia civil.

The life of Rizal in Dapitan is epitomized in his Retiro, a plot of 16 hectares where he built a clinic for his medical practice, his own residence, and a workshop and school. Here, Rizal also did a little farming. Mi Retiro, Rizal’s own poem, describes it.

Su techo es fragil nipa, su suelo debil cana
Sus vigas y columnas madero sin labrar
Nada vale por cierto mi rustica cabana
Mas duerme en el regazo de la eterna montana
Y la canta y arulla noche y dia la mar.

Or in Nick Joaquin’s elegant hand –

Its roof is fragile nipa , its floor is brittle bamboo
Its beams and posts are rough as rough-hewn wood can be
Of no worth, it is certain, is my rustic cabin
But on the lap of the eternal mount it slumbers
And night and day is lulled by the crooning of the sea.

Let us hear the story of Rizal’s life here, in his own words, his letter to Ferdinand Blumentritt on 19 December 1893 (Epistolario Rizalino, V. Part II,No. 110, pp. 657)658)

I am going to tell you how we live here. I have a square house, another hexagonal, and another octagonal –all made of bamboo, wood and nipa. In the square one, my mother, my sister Trinidad, a nephew and I live. In the octagonal, my boys live—some boys whom I teach arithmetic, Spanish and English –and now and then a patient who has been operated on. In the hexagonal, are my chickens. From my house I hear the murmur of a crystalline rivulet that comes from the high rocks. I see the beach, the sea where I have two small crafts—two canoes or barotos as they call them here. I have many fruit trees—mangoes, lanzones, guayabanos, baluno, nanka, etc. I have rabbits, dogs and cats, etc. I get up early—at 5:00. I visit my fields, I feed the chickens, I wake up my folks, and start them moving. At 7:30 we take breakfast –tea, pastry, cheese, sweets, etc. Afterwards I treat my poor patients who come to my land. I dress and go to the town in my baroto, I treat the people there and I return at 12:00 and take lunch. Afterwards, I teach the boys until 4:00 and I spend the afternoon farming. I spend the evening reading and studying.

I say this retiro de Talisay sums up Rizal’s life in Dapitan, because it was here where he lived in peace and walked the gardens in meditation and reflection, often with Fr Francisco, his lifetime partner and soul brother. You can still visit this retiro in Dapitan, pretty much as it was in Rizal’s time. It is also instructive to sit on the grass near the sawali clinic in front of the bay and read the whole poem in Spanish or in English. Read again too his letter to Blumentritt.
He held his medical practice here and operated on his own mother in the sawali clinic. He ran the little academy behind and planted his garden.

But in all, his was a life of service to the community– hardly the makings of a life in exile.

His principal threat to the Spanish judiciary system was his campaign to move the evicted farmers from the lands in Calamba (Laguna) to Nueva Kalamba near Dapitan, not because this was wrong to do, but because it pointed to the wrongness of their being evicted and their lands being grabbed by he Dominican Friars. Similarly, had the colonial authorities been more intelligent, they would quickly discover that his very educational efforts were ‘subversive,’ in the sense that he was teaching his students how to learn their environment and understand their political situation of indebtedness and slavery to the whims of business, the church and the guardia civil, and how to speak to the world at large. Rizal believed deeply that education was the first step to liberty.

In every way, José Rizal the humanist, was still in many ways, Rizal the brash student putting into practice the teachings of his Jesuit scholastics about equality, social justice, equality, and peace.

Hence even his bronzed statue today depicts Rizal as landing, not in defeat, but in triumph.

All photos by Carlos Arnaldo