126th Anniversary of Philippine Independence Feature, June 12, 2024
Remembering Philippine National Hero Rizal
on Exile at Dapitan
1. San Vicente Botanical Garden
San Vicente Ilocos Sur - Heritage Zone of the North (RA 11645)
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Blog (avrotor.blogspot.com)
Also open Naturalism -the Eighth Sense
The restored icon is now enshrined at the San Vicente Botanical Garden
(Living with Nature Center) San Vicente, Ilocos Sur.
Rizal was exiled to the remote town of Dapitan in Mindanao. Throughout his 4-year exile, Rizal practiced ophthalmology and general medicine at no charge to the townspeople. He became a farmer and proved that farming is a good profession. He demonstrated it on an abandoned farm he bought in Talisay, a barrio near Dapitan. This farm had an area of sixteen hectares and was rather rocky.
Not only as a doctor and farmer he pursued scientific studies, continued his artistic and literary works, widened his knowledge of languages and established a school for boys.
2. Rizal as Zoologist
As a zoologist, Rizal discovered living organisms unnamed in his time, such as a flying (gliding) lizard (Draco Rizali), Harlequin Tree Frog (Racophorus Rizali), among others, named after him. (Reference: Internet)
3. Rizal as Agriculturist
Jose Rizal’s contribution to the development
of Philippine agriculture
Published December 30, 2021, 10:00 AM (From Internet)
by Patricia Bianca Taculao Manila Bulletin
The name Jose Rizal is unlikely to be forgotten in Philippine history books. He has been instrumental in the Filipino’s bid towards independence and several developments in various sectors. Rizal also made contributions to Philippine art, literature, and medicine, which continues to fascinate his countrymen today.
Rizal's shrine at Dapitan
Rizal’s love for the Philippines was evident in nearly all his actions. He was eventually named a national hero because of his efforts, especially his peaceful approach to demanding political reform from the oppressive Spanish rule. Aside from dabbling in the different fields of science, Rizal also showed an interest in agriculture.
Eufemio O. Agbayani III, historic sites development officer of the Historic Sites and Education Division for the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), shares that Rizal’s early exposure to farming played a role in this.
The national hero came from a family who rented land from the Dominicans to plant sugar, a profitable crop at the time. His family experiences allowed him a glimpse of a farmer’s life. Rizal, at some point in his life, was also encouraged to become a licensed land surveyor.
Although Rizal was attracted to medicine, he also had an early interest in agriculture. There’s even a record of how he lamented to his parents on the lack of individuals who wanted to become experts in the field. And as he ventured abroad to further his studies, Rizal would send back names of books that he thought would benefit Philippine agriculture.
One book that he recommended through a postcard was of John Walker titled “Farming to Profit in Modern Times.” This demonstrated how deeply he considered the success of Filipino farmers by offering them solutions on how growing food can be profitable.
Rizal would also express his regard for Philippine agriculture through the pages of La Solidaridad. In an article for the publication, he explained that Spanish officials burden Filipino farmers instead of supporting them, resulting in low crop production.
Aside from being vocal about his support for Philippine agriculture, Rizal also walked the talk. According to Agbayani, after Rizal’s family was ejected from the Dominican estate they were tenants of in 1891, he planned to establish a new agricultural colony in Sandakan, North Borneo.
Another key example would be during his exile in Dapitan. Just a month into his exile, Rizal began planting fruit trees off the coast. Fate would give him a chance to better experience his farming dream when he won the lottery and used the money to purchase a parcel of land in Talisay where he built his estate.
When Rizal first went to his newly acquired estate, he saw plants growing in the surroundings. He later discovered that these were abandoned by the previous owners because the wildlife kept eating their produce. But this didn’t deter him from growing plants.
Rizal would later share with his family that his Talisay estate has 50 lanzones trees, 20 mango trees, 50 langka trees, 18 mangosteen trees, 16 coconut trees, and several others of makopa and santol. He would eventually plant coffee, cacao, pineapple, and corn.
As Rizal established rapport in Dapitan, locals and indigenous Subanen also helped him establish the estate. Agbayani said that it’s most likely that Rizal’s farming initiative became successful with the help of the local’s knowledge.
Grateful for the help from the locals, Rizal proceeded to establish a water system on his estate, which provided his plants with irrigation and the community with a source of clean water.
The national hero, according to Agbayani, was a profit-minded person, but not in terms of monetary gain. His initiatives were implemented because they benefited him as they kept him independent from Spanish provisions and made the lives of those around him better.
Farming wasn’t Rizal’s sole interest while he was exiled in Dapitan. He entered a partnership with Antonio Miranda, a Spaniard, to improve the fishing industry in the region. Rizal planned to introduce the pukutan (ring net) system but delays prevented one pukutan and two expert fishermen from arriving in Dapitan.
Arrival of Rizal at Dapitan
Rizal was hailed as the Philippine national hero for his peaceful yet powerful approach in demanding government reform from the Spaniards, but his contributions to the Philippines go beyond the political scene. Although inclined towards the arts and sciences, Rizal was also exposed to the life of a farmer, which made him realize the potential of the Philippine agricultural industry if given proper support.
Years later, Rizal’s efforts in intensifying the country’s agricultural industry have been realized by many others who continue to pursue the development that he has been pushing for before.
Years later, Rizal’s efforts in intensifying the country’s agricultural industry have been realized by many others who continue to pursue the development that he has been pushing for before.
Acknowledgement: Patricia Bianca Taculao, Manila Bulletin; the Internet ~
4. Rizal at Dapitan in Exile
In July 1892, Rizal Arrived in Dapitan as a prisoner. Together with his friend Father Sanchez (PHOTO) he help remake the plaza, and place lampposts at every corner this is Dapitan’s first lighting System.
Delighted at this new life, Commandant Carnicero wrote the Governor General if possible to send for the new plaza twenty-four iron benches and twenty-six hundred meters of wire.
Rizal spent many months draining swamps to get rid of the malaria which infested the region. He directed the construction of a water system for Dapitan.
Rizal's House at Dapitan
Rizal spent many months draining swamps to get rid of the malaria which infested the region. He directed the construction of a water system for Dapitan.
Rizal's House at Dapitan
It happened that a lottery ticket which he had purchased brought him a prize of six thousand pesos, all of which he spent in Dapitan. He bought sixteen hectares of land along the bay a few hundred meters east of the town of Dapitan and here built himself a little house.
Rizal's Workshop for his students
He wrote to his brother-in-law Manuel Hidalgo, "You can come here and have a big hacienda. . . The government is going to grant three months exemption from service, and a personal loan to all who will come to our colony. All the people of Calamba, Tanawana, Lipa, and etc. can come with their implements. We will establish a new Calamba!“ Thrilled by the dream of having his family and townsmen near him, José planted many coffee and cacao plants and from 800 to 1000 coconuts.
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In 1893 Rizal established a school. It began with three pupils and in time increase to 16. his pupils didn't pay any tuition. Instead of charging them tuition fees, he made them work in his garden, fields and construction projects in the community.
Rizal taught his boys reading, writing, languages (Spanish and English), geography, history, mathematics (arithmetic and geometry), industrial work, nature study, morals and gymnastics. He trained them how to collect specimens of plants and animals, to love work, and to "behave-like men."
Rizal's Clinic
As a physician, Rizal became interested in local medicine and in the use of medicinal plants. He studied the medicinal plants of the Philippines and their curative values. To poor patients, who could not afford to buy imported medicine, he prescribed the local medicinal plants. Rizal cared for the sick of Dapitan without ever accepting a fee. People began to come to him from a distance, and these he charged according to their financial circumstances. One Englishman of wealth had cataracts removed from his eyes, and paid 500.00. This money Rizal used for lamps for the Dapitan streets. He had a hospital opposite the house where he dwelt. The adoring people of Dapitan saluted him with more reverence than they showed the Commandant. As a physician, Rizal became interested in local medicine and in the use of medicinal plants. He studied the medicinal plants of the Philippines and their curative values. To poor patients, who could not afford to buy imported medicine, he prescribed the local medicinal plants.
Rizal's mother in Dapitan
On August 26, 1893, Trinidad and José's mother left Hong Kong and proceeded to Dapitan where they spent the next eighteen months with José. He gave his mother's eyes the final treatment needed to restore their sight, so that she was able to see the rest of her life. She returned to Manila in February, 1895.
José wrote another poem, in response to a request from his mother, who had all his life, stimulated his poetry. This poem is regarded by some of his admirers as the most profound and noble poem he ever composed. All critics agree that it is second only to "My Last Farewell". This he sent to his mother on October 22, 1895.
In August Leonora Rivera Rizal’s old sweetheart died in Manila, August 28,1893, at the birth of her only son. When he heard of her death, his heart felt a great aching void.
Rizal's Patient
One of Rizal’s patient was a blind American engineer named Taufer, who for years had resided in Hong Kong. He reached Dapitan in February, 1895. With him came her young adopted daughter Miss Josephine Leopoldine Bracken.
Josephine Bracken
Josephine was eighteen, slender, a chestnut blond, with blue eyes, dressed with elegant simplicity. Rizal found this fun-loving girl extremely attractive in his melancholy and intolerably lonely state of mind. she seemed more in love with the great doctor. Within a month they were engaged to be married, and asked Father Obach, the Dapitan priest, to marry them.
But when the blind Taufer heard of the proposed marriage he went into a fearful rage and was prevented from cutting his own throat only when Rizal grabbed and held both his wrists. He and his wife had taken Josephine when her Irish mother died in childbirth, and after Mrs. Taufer died he had depended upon her help during his blind years. The thought of losing the only help he had drove him temporarily insane. To avoid a tragedy, Josephine went off to Manila with Taufer by the first boat.
Rizal's Workshop for his students
He wrote to his brother-in-law Manuel Hidalgo, "You can come here and have a big hacienda. . . The government is going to grant three months exemption from service, and a personal loan to all who will come to our colony. All the people of Calamba, Tanawana, Lipa, and etc. can come with their implements. We will establish a new Calamba!“ Thrilled by the dream of having his family and townsmen near him, José planted many coffee and cacao plants and from 800 to 1000 coconuts.
.jpg)
Rizal Cottage in Dapitan; Rizal's ancestral house in Calamba, Laguna
In 1893 Rizal established a school. It began with three pupils and in time increase to 16. his pupils didn't pay any tuition. Instead of charging them tuition fees, he made them work in his garden, fields and construction projects in the community.
Rizal taught his boys reading, writing, languages (Spanish and English), geography, history, mathematics (arithmetic and geometry), industrial work, nature study, morals and gymnastics. He trained them how to collect specimens of plants and animals, to love work, and to "behave-like men."
Rizal's Clinic
As a physician, Rizal became interested in local medicine and in the use of medicinal plants. He studied the medicinal plants of the Philippines and their curative values. To poor patients, who could not afford to buy imported medicine, he prescribed the local medicinal plants. Rizal cared for the sick of Dapitan without ever accepting a fee. People began to come to him from a distance, and these he charged according to their financial circumstances. One Englishman of wealth had cataracts removed from his eyes, and paid 500.00. This money Rizal used for lamps for the Dapitan streets. He had a hospital opposite the house where he dwelt. The adoring people of Dapitan saluted him with more reverence than they showed the Commandant. As a physician, Rizal became interested in local medicine and in the use of medicinal plants. He studied the medicinal plants of the Philippines and their curative values. To poor patients, who could not afford to buy imported medicine, he prescribed the local medicinal plants.
Rizal's mother in DapitanOn August 26, 1893, Trinidad and José's mother left Hong Kong and proceeded to Dapitan where they spent the next eighteen months with José. He gave his mother's eyes the final treatment needed to restore their sight, so that she was able to see the rest of her life. She returned to Manila in February, 1895.
José wrote another poem, in response to a request from his mother, who had all his life, stimulated his poetry. This poem is regarded by some of his admirers as the most profound and noble poem he ever composed. All critics agree that it is second only to "My Last Farewell". This he sent to his mother on October 22, 1895.
In August Leonora Rivera Rizal’s old sweetheart died in Manila, August 28,1893, at the birth of her only son. When he heard of her death, his heart felt a great aching void.
Rizal's Patient
One of Rizal’s patient was a blind American engineer named Taufer, who for years had resided in Hong Kong. He reached Dapitan in February, 1895. With him came her young adopted daughter Miss Josephine Leopoldine Bracken.
Josephine Bracken
Josephine was eighteen, slender, a chestnut blond, with blue eyes, dressed with elegant simplicity. Rizal found this fun-loving girl extremely attractive in his melancholy and intolerably lonely state of mind. she seemed more in love with the great doctor. Within a month they were engaged to be married, and asked Father Obach, the Dapitan priest, to marry them.
But when the blind Taufer heard of the proposed marriage he went into a fearful rage and was prevented from cutting his own throat only when Rizal grabbed and held both his wrists. He and his wife had taken Josephine when her Irish mother died in childbirth, and after Mrs. Taufer died he had depended upon her help during his blind years. The thought of losing the only help he had drove him temporarily insane. To avoid a tragedy, Josephine went off to Manila with Taufer by the first boat.
Acknowledgement:
Sources:
´http://dipologcity.com/AttractionsRizal'sExile.htm
´http://www.joserizal.ph/dp01.html
Sources:
´http://dipologcity.com/AttractionsRizal'sExile.htm
´http://www.joserizal.ph/dp01.html
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