RIZAL’S RETRACTION CONTROVERSY
A Reaction Paper
Presented to the Faculty of the College of Education
Saint Joseph Institute of Technology
Butuan City, Philippines
In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirement for the Course
GE 102 - Readings on Philippine History
SAIMA P. IMAM
OCTOBER 2022
RIZAL’S RETRACTION CONTROVERSY
I. Introduction
Rizal is regarded as a national hero of the Philippines. He was
able to help the Filipinos declare their independence from the Spanish
by working with them. Informing the Filipino people about the cancer
that afflicted their nation during the Spanish rule, Rizal uses a
distinctive method. His first book, Noli Me Tangere, was about the
cruel things the Spaniards did to the Filipinos, and his second book,
El Filibusterismo, was a sign of the realization Rizal wants the
Filipino people to have. It was illegal to act against them during the
Spanish era, which is why Rizal was tried and found guilty and given
the death penalty. When we study Philippine history in high school, we
are taught that Rizal died for the Philippines out of loyalty and
compassion, but there was a controversy that was discovered in the
early 1930s that contradicted the information that we were all taught.
II. Body
The Roman Catholic Church believe that Jose Rizal Retract
everything he wrote in his book against the Catholic Church, and
Spanish Government. There are some evidences presented by the Roman
Catholic church. The Roman Catholic Church is a great believer that
Rizal died as a catholic and he absorbed his Masonic views . There are
some evidences presented by the Roman Catholic church. So the first
evidence is the Retraction document or a Retraction paper is the Chief
eyewitness of the retraction itself in 1935. Second evidence is that
Jose Rizal Recited and signed the prayer book title ‘Acts of Faith
hope and Charity’’ also the testimony of the people who was witness
the Retraction. The third evidence presented by the Catholic Church
is that Rizal performed acts of piety during his last 24 hrs. before
he was executed on December 30, 1896. Lastly is that the church
solemnized results marriage with Josephine Bracken. There are some
people believe that Jose Rizal did not Retract and there are some
evidences. The first evidence is that the retraction document is
forgery and the Retraction document wasn’t made in public until 1935.
Second is that no effort was made to save resolve from penalty even
after saying his execution. The third evidence is that Rizal Burial
was kept secret after his execution he was buried outside of the Paco
Cemetary. Lastly there is no marriage certificate or public record of
results marriage with Josephine Bracken.
As a fellow Filipino student, I held the opinion that Dr. Jose
P. Rizal had not withdrawn his own writings and publications. I firmly
believe that our National Hero infused his writings with convictions
during the lengthy process of authoring the works that helped to bring
about our independence and why would Rizal retract when he knows for a
fact that even if he signs the retraction paper he would still be
executed. Rizal fought for his own beliefs for many years and went
through a lot of hardship just to finish his writings and
publications, not to mention the financial struggle he experienced.
Since that Rizal is a known intelligent man, it is difficult for him
to withdraw because he would benefit nothing from doing so.
III. Summary and Conclusion
The flow of history is just like a wind that you cannot
predict where it will going and when it will be get stronger. We
might never know for sure if a historical event truly happened or
not. Just like the controversy about the retraction of Dr. Jose
Rizal, Our National Hero. While Dr.Jose Rizal is in Dapitan, many
historian around the Philippines said that he did not retract his
words against the Catholic Church and they were historian saying
that Dr. Jose Rizal retract all of his words and deeds. Furthermore,
there is no clear indication or evidence that Dr.Jose Rizal has
retracted or not retracted as of yet. Both sides in this controversy
had evidences that could support their side but the National
Commission of the Philippines also could not identify which is true
and up to now, the mystery of Rizal’s retraction deepens.
IV. Reference
Totanes, V. (2012). History of the Filipino history book (Doctoral
dissertation).
Cabahug, M. M. (2022). Readings in Philippine History. ourSOUL
Teaching-Learning Resources.
de Achutegui, P. S. (1970). Protestants and Catholics on Philippine
Church History.
Valdez, M. S. S. (2007). Dr. Jose Rizal and the Writing of His
Story. Rex Bookstore, Inc..
https://www.academia.edu/25298819/RIZALS_RETRACTION
