Footnote to Rizal's Execution
By Rudy Arizala
Before Rizal was executed on 30 December 1896, according to Leon Ma. Guerrero in his book The First Filipino, A Biography of Jose Rizal, (p. 485): "He spent his time on these acts of piety until half past five o´clock in the morning, when he took his breakfast together with some officers. He was waiting for Josephine, and in the meantime scribbled last messages to his family on holy pictures he begged from Balaguer." He wrote one letter to all in common, in said letter Rizal expressed what should be done with his remains.
To my family:
Bury me in the earth, put a stone on top, and a cross. My name, the date of my birth, and that of my death. Nothing more. If you want to fence in my grave afterwards, you can do so. But no anniversary celebrations! I prefer Paang Bundok.
What happened after Rizal was shot at Bagumbayan field?
Hereunder is what biographer Dr. Jose Baron Fernandez wrote in his book Jose Rizal Filipino Doctor and Patriot (pp. 370-371): "The body of Rizal was placed in a van and with the greatest secrecy buried in the old and unused Paco cemetery. Teodora wanted to comply with the last wish of her son, i.e., that the family should take charge of his cadaver. After several objections on the part of some officials, Civil Governor Manuel Luengo acceded to the petition, but when the funeral coach left, they had already secretly taken the body away and Narcisa went to all the cemeteries of Manila in search of the body in vain. On the way back, she saw, through the open gate of the Paco cemetery, some guardias civiles. This gave her a clue. She entered the cemetery and after much searching found a grave with freshly-turned earth. She gave the gravedigger´s tip and placed a plaque with the initials of her brother in reverse, R.P.J., that is, Rizal, Protacio Jose."
But Rizal's remains did not find final resting place at Paco Cemetery. According to Elizabeth Medina in her book Rizal According to Retana Portrait of a hero and a revolution, (p.217): "Paang Bundok (foot of a mountain or hill) is a place north of Manila where the Catholic and Municipal Cemeteries are found. Rizal was buried, not in a humble site in Paang Bundok, as he desired, but in a plot inside the Paco Cemetery. On December 30, 1912, the Commission for the Rizal Monument, created by Law No. 243, gathered his mortal remains and deposited them in the base and pedestal of his monument, raised in the Luneta, very near the place where he was shot."
As footnotes to Rizal´s execution on 30 December 1896, his remains were not buried according to his wish at Paang Bundok , but first at Paco Cemetery and then transferred to the Luneta. There is no cross with his name, date of birth and death but a stone monument. And every year we celebrate his death anniversary contrary to his wish "No anniversaries."
Perhaps we could be forgiven by Rizal for not having complied with his wish. According to Leon Ma. Guerrero: "heroes are born but they are also made. Not only must a great man die at a great historical moment, and die greatly, so that the nation feels that it dies with him, but after his death it is equally important that the veneration of his memory be encouraged, preached, and accepted by a grateful people. . ."
The transfer of Rizal'´s remains to the Luneta, the construction of a monument and commemoration of his death every year, is a form of the "veneration of his memory" which should be "encouraged, preached, and accepted by a grateful people."