SECOND HOMECOMING AND THE LIGA FILIPINA

-Rizal’s bold return to Manila in June, 1892 was his second homecoming
-Rizal firmly believed that the fight for Filipino liberties had assumed a new phase: it must be fought in the Philippines not in Spain. “The battlefield is in the Philippines,” he told countrymen in Europe, “There is where we should meet… There we will help one another, there together we will suffer or triumph perhaps.”

ARRIVAL IN MANILA WITH SISTER
· June 26, 1892- Sunday at 12:00 noon, Rizal and his widowed sister Lucia (wife of late Mariano Herbosa)
arrived in Manila
· In the afternoon, at 4:00 o’clock, he went to Malacañang Palace to seek audience with the Spanish
governor general, General Eulogio Despujol, Conde de Caspe
· June 27, 1892- at 6:00pm, Rizal boarded a train in Tutuban Station and visited his friends in Malolos
(Bulacan), San Fernando (Pampanga), Tarlac (Tarlac), and Bacolor (Pampanga)
· Rizal returned by train to Manila on the next day, June 28, at 5 o’clock in the afternoon

FOUNDLING OF THE LIGA FILIPINA
· July 3, 1892- on the evening of Sunday, following his morning interview with Governor General Despujol,
Rizal attended a meeting with patriots at the home of the Chinese-Filipino mestizo, Doroteo Ongjunco, on
Ylaya Street, Tondo, Manila
· Rizal explained the objectives of the Liga Filipina, a civic league of Filipinos, which he desired to establish
and its role in the socio-economic life of the people.
· The officers of the new league were elected, as follows: Ambrosio Salvador (President); Deodato Arellano
(Secretary); Bonifacio Arevalo (Treasurer); and Agustin de la Rosa (Fiscal)
· Unus Instar Omnium (One Like All)- the motto of the Liga Filipina
The governing body of the league was the Supreme Council which had jurisdiction over the whole country. It was composed of a president, a secretary, a treasurer, and a fiscal. There was a Provincial Council in every province and a Popular Council in every town
· The duties of the Liga members are as follows (1) obey the orders of the Supreme Council (2) to help in
recruiting new members (3) to keep in strictest secrecy the decisions of the Liga authorities (4) to have symbolic name which he cannot change until he becomes president of his council (5) to report to the fiscal anything that he may hear which affect the Liga (6) to behave well as befits a good Filipino (7) to help fellow members in all ways

RIZAL ARRESTED AND JAILED IN FORT SANTIAGO
· July 6, 1892- Wednesday, Rizal went to Malacañang Palace to resume his series of interviews with
governor general
· Pobres Frailles (Poor Friars)- incriminatory leaflets which allegedly found in Lucia’s pillow cases; it is
under the authorship of Fr. Jacinto and printed by the Imprenta de los Amigos del Pais, Manila
· Rizal was placed under arrest and escorted to Fort Santiago by Ramon Despujol, nephew and aide of
Governor General Despujol
· July 7, 1892- the Gaceta de Manila published the story of Rizal’s arrest which produced indignant
commotion among the Filipino people, particlarly the members of the newly organized Liga Filipina
· The same issue of the Gaceta (july 7, 1892) contained Governor General Despujol’s decree deporting
Rizal to “one of the islands in the South”
· July 14, 1892, shortly after midnight (that is 12:30 am of July 15, 1892) – Rizal was brought under heavy guard to the steamer Cebu which was sailing for Dapitan. This steamer under Captain Delgras departed at 1:00 AM, July 15, sailing south, passing Mindoro and Panay and reaching Dapitan on Sunday, the 17 th of July at 7:00 in the evening
· Captain Ricardo Carnicero- Spanish commandant of Dapitan whom Captain Delgras handed Rizal
· July 17, 1892- July 31, 2896- Rizal began his exile in lonely Dapitan, a period of four years

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DECISION TO RETURN TO MANILA

· May, 1892- Rizal made up his mind to return to Manila.
· This decision was spurred by the following: (1) to confer with Governor Despujol regarding his Borneo
colonization project (2) to establish the La Liga Filipina in Manila (3) to prove that Eduardo de Lete was
wrong in attacking him in Madrid that he (Rizal), being comfortable and safe in Hong Kong, had abandoned the country’s cause
· Lete’s attack, which was printed in La Solidaridad on April 15, 1892, portrayed Rizal as cowardly, egoistic, opportunistic—a patriot in words only
· June 20, 1892- Rizal wrote two letters which he sealed, inscribed on each envelope “to be opened after my death” and gave them to his friend Dr. Marques for safekeeping
· The first letter, addressed TO MY PARENTS, BRETHREN, AND FRIENDS. The second letter, addressed TO THE FILIPINOS
· June 21, 1892- Rizal penned another letter in Hong Kong for Governor Despujol, incidentally his third
letter to that discourteous Spanish chief executive
· Immediately after Rizal’s departure from Hong Kong, the Spanish consul general who issued the government guarantee of safety, sent a cablegram to Governor Despujol that the victim “is in the trap”. On the same day (June 21, 1892), a secret case was filed in Manila against Rizal and his followers “for anti-religious and anti-patriotic agitation”
· Luis de la Torre- secretary of Despujol, ordered to find out if Rizal was naturalized as a German citizen

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WRITINGS IN HONG KONG

· “Ang Mga Karapatan Nang Tao- which is a Tagalog translation of “The Rights of Man” proclaimed by
the French Revolution in 1789
· “A la Nacion Española” (To the Spanish Nation)- Rizal wrote in 1891, which is an appeal to Spain to
right the wrongs done to the Calamba tenants
· “Sa Mga Kababayan” (To my Countrymen)- another proclamation written in December, 1891
explaining the Calamba agrarian situation
· The Hong Kong Telegraph- a British daily newspaper whose editor is Mr. Frazier Smith, a friend of
Rizal
-Rizal contributed articles to this newspaper
· “Una Visita a la Victoria Gaol” (A Visit to Victoria Gaol)- Rizal wrote on March 2, 1892, an account of
his visit to the colonial prison of Hong Kong
-in this article, Rizal contrasted the cruel Spanish prison system with the modern and more humane British prison system
· “Colonisation du British North Borneo, par de Familles de Iles Philippines” (Colonization of British North Borneo by Families from the Philippine Islands)- an article in French which Rizal elaborated on the same idea in aonther article in Spanish, “Proyecto de Colonizacion del British North Borneo por los Filipinos” (Project of the Colonization of British North Borneo by the Filipinos)
· “La Mano Roja” (The Red Hand)- Rizal wrote in June, 1892, which was printed in sheet form in Hong
Kong
-it denounces the frequent outbreaks of intentional fires in Manila
· Constitution of La Liga Filipina- the most important writing made by Rizal during his Hong Kong sojourn, which was printed in Hong Kong, 1892
-to deceive the Spanish authorities, the printed copies carried the false information that the printing was done by the LONDON PRINTING PRESS
· Domingo Franco-a friend of Rizal in Manila whom the copies of the printed Liga constitution were sent

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BORNEO COLONIZATION PROJECT

· Rizal planned to move the landless Filipino families Filipino families to North Borneo (Sabah), rich British owned island and carve out of its virgin wildness a “New Calamba”
· March 7, 1892- Rizal went to Sandakan on board the ship Menon to negotiate with the British authorities
for the establishment of a Filipino colony
· Rizal looked over the land up the Bengkoka River in Maradu Bay which was offered by the British North
Borneo Company
· April 20, 1892- Rizal was back in Hong Kong
· Hidalgo- Rizal’s brother-in-law, objected to the colonization project
· Governor Valeriano Weyler- Cubans odiously called “The Butcher”
· Governor Eulogio Despujol- the Count of Caspe, a new governor general after Weyler
· December 23, 1891- first letter of Rizal to Governor Despujol
· March 21, 1892- Rizal’s second letter and gave it to a ship captain to be sure it would reach Governor
Despujol’s hand
-in this second letter, he requested the governor general to permit the landless Filipinos to establish themselves in Borneo
· Despujol could not approve the Filipino immigration to Borneo, alleging that “the Philippines lacked
laborers” and “it was not very patriotic to go off and cultivate foreign soil.”

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OPHTHALMIC SURGEON IN HONG KONG (1891-1892)

-Rizal left Europe for Hong Kong, where he lived from November, 1891 to June, 1892. His reasons for leaving Europe were (1) life was unbearable in Europe because of his political differences with M.H. del Pilar and other Filipinos in Spain (2) to be near his idolized Philippines and family
· October 3, 1891-two weeks after the publication of Fili, Rizal left Ghent for Paris, where he stayed a few days to say goodbye to the Lunas, the Pardo de Taveras, the Venturas and other friends; Rizal
proceeded by train to Marseilles
· October 18, 1891- Rizal boarded the steamer Melbourne bound for Hong Kong
· Father Fuchs- a Tyrolese, Rizal enjoyed playing chess. Rizal describe him to Blumentritt as “He is a fine fellow, A Father Damaso without pride and malice”
· November 20, 1891-Rizal arrived in Hong Kong
· Rizal established his residence at No. 5 D’ Aguilar Street No. 2 Rednaxola Terrace, where he also
opened his medical clinic
· December 1, 1891- Rizal wrote his parents asking their permission to return home.
-On the same date, his brother-in-law, Manuel T. Hidalgo, sent him a letter relating the sad news of the
“deportation of twenty-five persons from Calamba, including father, Neneng, Sisa, Lucia, Paciano and the rest of us.”
· The Christmas of 1891 in Hong Kong was one of the happiest Yuletide celebrations in Rizal’s life: For he had a happy family reunion
· January 31, 1892- Rizal wrote to Blumentritt, recounting pleasant life in Hong Kong
· To earn a living for himself and for his family, Rizal practiced medicine
· Dr. Lorenzo P. Marques- a Portuguese physician, who became Rizal’s friend and admirer, who helped him to build up a wide clientele. In recognition of Rizal’s skill as an ophthalmic surgeon, he turned over to him many of his eye cases
· Rizal successfully operated on his mother’s left eye so that she was able to read and write again.

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COMPARISON BETWEEN NOLI ME TANGERE and EL FILIBUSTERISMO

· The original intention of Rizal was to make the Fili longer than the Noli
· The friends of Rizal and our Rizalistas today differ in opinion as to which is the superior novel—the Noli or the Fili. Rizal himself considered the Noli as superior to the Fili as a novel, thereby agreeing with M.H. del Pilar who had the same opinion
· September 22, 1891-four days after the Fili came off the press, Rizal wrote to Blumentritt: “I am thinking of writing a third novel, a novel in the modern sense of the word, but this time politics will not find much space in it, but ethics will play the principal role.”
· October 18, 1891- Rizal boarded the steamer Melbourne in Marseilles bound for Hong Kong
-during the voyage, Rizal began writing the third novel in Tagalog, which he intended for Tagalog readers
· The unfinished novel has no title. It consists of 44 pages (33cm x 21 cm) in Rizal’s handwriting, still in manuscript form, it is preserved in the National Library, Manila
-The story of this unfinished novel begins with the solemn burial of Prince Tagulima. The hero of the novel was Kamandagan, a descendant of Lakan-Dula, last king of Tondo
-It is said that Rizal was fortunate not to have finsihed this novel, because it would have caused greater scandal and more Spanish vengeance on him
· Makamisa- other unfinished novel of Rizal in Tagalog written in a light sarcastic style and is incomplete for only two chapters are finished. The manuscript consists of 20 pages, 34.2cm x 22cm
· Dapitan-another novel which Rizal started to write but it is unfinished, written in ironic Spanish. He wrote it during his exile in Dapitan to depict the town life and customs. The manuscript consists of 8 pages, 23cm x 16cm
· A novel in Spanish about the life in Pili, a town in Laguna, is also unfinished. The manuscript consists of 147 pages, 8” x 6.5”, without title
· Another unfinished novel of Rizal, also without title is about Cristobal, a youthful Filipino student who has returned from Europe. The manuscript consist of 34 pages, 8 ½” x 6 ¼”
· The beginnings of another novel are contained in two notebooks—the first notebook contains 31 written pages, 35.5 cm x 22 cm and second 12 written pages, 22cm x 17cm. this unfinished novel is written in Spanish and style is ironic

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EL FILIBUSTERISMO PUBLISHED IN GHENT (1891)

-Rizal was busy revising and polishing the manuscript of El Filibusterismo so that it could be ready for the press
-Rizal had begun writing it in October, 1887, while practicing medicine in Calamba, the following year (1888), in London; he made some changes in the plot and corrected some chapters already written. He wrote more chapters in Paris and Madrid, and finished the manuscript in Biarritz on March 29, 1891. It took him, therefore, three years to write his second novel
· July 5, 1891- Rizal left Brussels for Ghent, a famous university city in Belgium
· Rizal reasons for moving to Ghent were (1) the cost of printing in Ghent was cheaper than in Brussels (2) to escape from the enticing attraction of Petite Suzanne Rizal met two compatriots while in Ghent, Jose Alejandro (from Pampanga) and Edilberto Evangelista (from Manila), both studying engineering in the world-famed University of Ghent
· F. Meyer-Van Loo Press (No. 66 Viaanderen Street)-a printing shop that give Rizal the lowest quotation for the publication of his novel, who was willing to print his book on installment basis
· August 6, 1891-the printing of his book had to be suspended because Rizal could no longer give the
necessary funds to the printer
· Valentin Ventura- the savior of the Fili
-When Ventura learned of Rizal’s predicament and immediately sent him the necessary funds
· September 18, 1891- El Filibusterismo came off the press
-Rizal immediately sent on this date two printed copies to Hong Kong—one for Basa and other for Sixto Lopez
· Rizal gratefully donated the original manuscript and an autographed printed copy to Valentin Ventura
· La Publicidad- a Barcelona newspaper, wherein it published a tribute eulogizing the novel’s original style which “is comparable only to the sublime Alexander Dumas” and may well be offered as
“a model and a precious jewel in the now decadent literature of Spain”
· El Nuevo Regimen- the liberal Madrid newspaper that serialized the novel in its issues of October, 1891
· Rizal dedicated El Filibusterismo to Gom-Bur-Za (Don Mariano Gomez, 73 years old; Don Jose Burgos, 35 years old; Jacinto Zamora, 37 years old)
· The original manuscript of El Filibusterismo in Rizal’s own handwriting in now preserved in the Filipiana Division of the Bureau of Public Libraries, Manila. It consists of 270 pages of long sheets of paper
· Two features in the manuscript do not appear in the printed book, namely: the FOREWORD and the
WARNING. These were not put into print to save printing cost
· The title page of El Filibusterismo contains an inscription written by Ferdinand Blumentritt
· El Filibusterismo is a sequel to the Noli. It has little humor, less idealism and less romance than the Noli Me Tangere. It is more revolutionary, more tragic than the first novel
· The characters in El Filibusterismo were drawn by Rizal from real life. Padre Florentino was Father
Leoncio Lopez, Rizal’s friend and priest of Calamba; Isagani, the poet was Vicente Ilustre, Batangueño
friend of Rizal in Madrid and Paulita Gomez, the girl who loved Isagani but married Juanito Pelaez, was
Leonor Rivera

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