TODAY is a special day in the Philippines, where ceremonies will mark the centenary of the execution by the Spanish of the scholar, writer and patriot, Dr Jose Rizal, whose work led to the first national revolt by Asian people against colonial power.
Rizal had a romantic association with Ireland, as his sweetheart Josephine Bracken was the daughter of James Bracken, an Irish soldier in the 28th Foot Regiment stationed in Hong Kong. In his last poem written in the hours before his execution, the Filipino patriot reiterated his special affection for "La Dulce Estranjera", the sweet foreigner.
In many ways the Parnell of the Philippines, Jose Rizal awakened the Filipino people to national and political consciousness. He was not only persecuted by the Spanish authorities, but also severely censured by the Catholic Church both for his criticism of church corruption, and for living in sin with Josephine Bracken. After his execution, the church falsely declared that Rizal had recanted and as late as 1950, it fiercely opposed the introduction of his writings to the university curriculum.
Born into a middle class family, at Calamba, Luzon on June 19th, 1861, Jose Rizal first displayed his literary talent by writing a comedy for the local fiesta in 1868. As a child, he witnessed his elders being beaten and humiliated by the Spanish, and the course of his life was decided in 1871 with the public garroting of a family friend, the nationalist priest, Father Burges.
Rizal graduated from Manila University in 1877 and then started medical studies. The opening of the Suez canal played a role in the Philipinne revolution as it greatly facilitated travel between Asia and Europe. Together with other ambitious students, Rizal went to Madrid where he graduated in medicine, specialising in ophthalmics. In Madrid, he also gained a degree in philosophy.
The indefatigable Filipino continued his studies in Paris and Heidelberg, where he received a special award. In London, he researched modern languages, with the long terms ambition of remedying the neglect of the Philippine language and compiling a dictionary and, grammar. He founded a club for poor Filipino workers in London where his best friend Antonio Regidor was married to an Irishwoman.
Rizal found Europe a ferment of political ideas and movements. He contributed articles to periodicals critical of Spanish colonial policy and embarked on his most famous book Noli Me Tangere. A realistic study of all strata of Filipino society, it highlighted Spanish misrule and Dominican financial corruption, and gave Filipino people the courage to speak out for the first time against colonialism.
The book was declared irreligious and banned by the government, though Rizal postulated independence from Spain only as an alternative to reform. The author's subsequent writings and his historical novel El Filibusterismo led to his exile in Dapitan on remote Mindanaue in 1892. On the night of his deportation, the nationalist Andre Bonifacio founded the Katipunan secret society dedicated to the overthrow of the Spanish by armed revolt.
Highly popular
Rizal was highly popular in Dapitan, where he founded a hospital and a school for boys. It was here in may 1895 that he first met Josephine Bracken, (who had accompanied a blind patient to his clinic. It was love at first sight between the lonely 34 year old doctor and the 19 year old girl whom Rizal described as "slender, chestnut blonde, with blue eyes, dressed with elegant simplicity, with an atmosphere of lively gaiety".
As Rizal refused to recant his church criticism and freemasonry, the Archbishop refused to marry the couple who were unofficially in a brief ceremony in which they held hands and pledged loyalty to each other. The local priest promptly denounced them for living in sin and unsuccessfully urged his parishioners to boycott Rizal's school. Josephine gave birth to a premature baby boy who died shortly afterwards. In a letter to his favourite sister, Rizal wrote "Josephine has a kind heart. Until now, we have not quarrelled we are always happy and joking. The people may say it's a scandal. It certainly is. It is very scandalous to live better than most married people."
Armed revolt
Andre Bonifacio sent an emissary to Rizal in July 1896, asking his support for the armed revolt. Despite his refusal on the grounds that the Filipinos' were insufficiently prepared, Rizal was taken to a Manila prison in November 1896. His brother was arrested and tortured in an effort to fabricate evidence. After a farcical trial, Rizal was found guilty of forming secret societies and starting revolution. He was condemned to death by shooting. Before his execution, the patriot gave his only prison book, The Confessions of Thomas a Kempis, to Josephine, inscribing it "to my dear unhappy wife, Josephine. December 30, 1896."
Rizal's public execution in Lunetta Park ignited public opinion and the nationwide uprising which led to the end of Spanish rule two years later. In the poem Ultima Adios written the night before his death, Rizal gave Josephine a special place in Filipino romantic history with a final tribute: "Farewell, sweet foreigner my companion, my happiness.
Josephine Bracken always claimed to be Irish, but she was in fact the illegitimate daughter of James Bracken and a Hong Kong servant. After Rizal's execution, she briefly joined the rebels before being deported to her native Hong Kong, where, she died of throat cancer in 1902. She was buried in the city's Catholic cemetery. "The Sweet Foreigner" is commemorated in Manila by Josefina Street, which crosses Espana Street near the Quezon city boundary.