Chapter 22

Exile
in
Dapitan
(1892-1896)

Introduction
The biographical drama depicting the life of the Philippine national hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal was his
exile in Dapitan. They say that swords and bolos are the sharpest weapons for battle but Jose Rizal
sharpened his pencil and inked his quill for Filipinos to have equal rights. Every Filipinos know him as the
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Philippine National Hero. The novelist who died because of nationalism. But there are things that most
Filipinos dont know about him especially his exile in Dapitan.
During in Dapitan, Rizal proved to his people that farming is a good profession as medicine, Rizal
became a farmer in Dapitan. In a letter to his sister Lucia, on February 12, 1896, he said: We cannot all
be doctors; it is necessary that there would be some to cultivate the soil, During the first year of his exile
(1893), Rizal bought an abandoned farm in Talisay, a barrio near Dapitan. This farm had an area of
sixteen hectares and was rather rocky. On this land in Talisay, Rizal actually built a permanent home. With
the help of his pupils and some laborers, he cleared it and planted cacao, coffee, coconuts and fruit trees.
Later, he bought more lands in other barrios of Dapitan. In due time, his total land holdings reached 70
hectares. They contained 6000 abaca plants, 100 coconut palms, many coffe and cacao plants and
numerous kinds of fruit trees. On his lands, Rizal introduced modern methods of agriculture which he had
observed during his travels in Europe and America. He encouraged the Dapitan farmers to replace their
primitive system of cultivation with these modern methods. These modern methods of farming consisted
of the use of fertilizers, the rotation of crops, and the use of farm machines. Rizal actually imported some
farm machines from the United States. Rizal dreamed of establishing an agricultural colony in Sitio of
Ponot near Sindangan Bay. This region contained plenty of water and good port facilities. He believed that
it was an ideal place for the cultivation of coffee, cacao and sugar cane because of its fertile soil and
favorable climate. Unfortunately, his plan of founding an agricultural colony in Sindagan Bay did not
materialize. He did not get the support of the Spanish government.
On the other hand, before Rizal was exiled in Dapitan, he already knew many languages. These
languages were: Tagalog, Ilokano, Spanish, Latin, Greek, English, French, German, Arabic, Hebrew,
Sanskrit, Catalan, Dutch, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Swedish, and Russian 19 in all. His
knowledge of many languages was one aspect of Rizals amazing genius. Few men in History were gifted
with such ability to learn any language easily. And one of these rare men was Rizal. To learn new
language, Rizal memorized five foot words every night before going to bed. At the end of the year, he
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learned 1825 new words. He never forgets these foreign words because of his retentive memory. Rizal
made a good use of his knowledge of many languages in his travels in Europe and America, in
communicating with foreign scholars and scientists, and his writings. Many times during his travels
abroad, he acted as interpreter for his fellow travelers. During his exile in Dapitan, Rizal increased his
knowledge of languages. He studied more languages Malay, Bisayan and Subanun. By the end of his
exile in Dapitan on July 31, 1896, Rizal had become one of the worlds great linguists. He knew 22
languages, namely, Tagalog, Ilokano, Spanish, Latin, Greek, English, French, German, Arabic, Hebrew,
Sanskrit, Catalan, Dutch, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Swedish, and Russian, Malay, Bisayan
and Subanun.

Water System for Dapitan

Dr.Jose Rizal- held the title of expert surveyor (perito agrimensor), which he obtained from the
Ateneo de Manila, applied his knowledge of engineering by constructing a system of waterworks in
order to furnish clean water to the townspeople without any aid from the government, thus he
succeeded in giving a good water system to Dapitan.
Mr. H.F. Cameron an American Engineer, who praised Rizals engineering feat in the following
words:
Another famous and well-known water supply is that of Dapitan, Mindanao, designed and
constructed by Dr. Rizal during his banishment in that municipality by the Spanish
authorities this supply comes from a little mountain stream across the river from
Dapitan and follows the contour of the country for the whole distance. When one
considers that Doctor Rizal had no explosives with which to block the hard rocks and no
resources save his own ingenuity, one cannot help but honor a man, who against adverse
conditions, had the courage and tenacity to construct the aqueduct which had for its
bottom the fluted tiles from the house roofs, and was covered with concrete made from

limed burned from the sea coral. The length of this aqueduct is several kilometers, and it
winds in and out among the rocks and is carried across gullies in bamboo pipes upheld by
rocks or brick piers to the distribution reservoir.

Community Projects for Dapitan

Aside from constructing the towns first water system, he spent many months draining the marshes
in order to get rid of malaria that infested Dapitan.
The five hundred pesos which an English patient paid him was used by him to equip the town with
its lightning system. This lighting system consisted of coconut oil lamps that placed in the dark
streets of Dapitan.
Beautification of Dapitan is the community project of Rizal with the help of his Former Jesuit
teacher and friend, Father Sanchez, in which they remodeled the town plaza in order to enhance its
beauty.

Rizal as Teacher
It was 1893 wherein Rizal established a school in Dapitan. It began with three pupils increased to
sixteen and later to twenty-one. In his letter to Blumentritt on March 13, Rizal said that he had 16
pupils in his school and that these pupils did not pay any tuition. Instead, 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.
Formal classes were conducted between 2:00 to 4:00 P.M. Like in Ateneo, the best student in the
class was called as an emperor.

 Outside the class hours, Rizal encouraged them to play games in order to strengthen their bodies.
They had gymnastics, boxing, wrestling, stone-throwing, swimming, arnis (native fencing), and
boating.

Hymn to Talisay
Rizal conducted his school at his home in Talisay near Dapitan. In honor of this place, Rizal wrote a
poem entitled Himno A Talisay for his pupils to sing:
HYMN

TO

TALISAY

At
Dapitan,
the
sandy
shore
And rocks aloft on mountain crest
Form thy throne, O refuge blest,
That we from childhood days have
known.
In your vales that flowers adorn
And
your
fruitful
leafy
shade,
Our thinking powers are being made,
And soul with body being grown.
We are youth not long on earth
But our souls are free from sorrow;
Calm, strong men well be tomorrow,
Who can guard our families rights?
Lads are we, whom naught can frighten,
Whether thunder, waves, or rain
Swift of arm, serene of mien
In peril, shall we wage our fights?
With our fames we churn the sand,
Through the caves and crags we roam,
On the rocks we make our home,
Everywhere our arms can reach.
Neither
dark
nor
night
obscure
Cause us fear, nor fierce torment
That
even
Satan
can
invent
Life or death? We must face each!
Talisayans,
people
call
Mighty
souls
in
bodies
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us!
small

Oer
Dapitans
district
all
No
Talisay
like
these
towers.
None
can
match
our
reservoir.
Our diving pools the sea profound!
No rowing boat the world around
For a moment can pass ours.
We
study
sciences
exact;
The
history
of
our
motherland;
Three languages or four commands;
Bring faith and reason in accord.
Our hands can manage at one time
The sail and working spade and pen,
The masons maul for virile men
Companions and gun and sword.
Live, live, O leafy green Talisay!
Our voices sing thy praise in chorus
Clear star, and precious treasure for us.
Our childhoods wisdom and its balm.
In fights that wait for every man,
In
sorrow
and
adversity,
Thy memory a charm will be,
And in the tomb, thy name, thy calm.
Chorus
Hail,
O
Firm
and
Ever
Stately
thy
Things,
In
sea,
land
Shalt thou dominate?

Contributions to Science

Talisay!
untiring
aspiring,
gait.
everywhere
and
air

 Rizal found Mindanao a rich Virgin field for collecting specimens. He built up a rich collection of
concology which consisted of 346 shells representing 203 species.
He discovered some specimens among these were; Draco rizali (a flying dragon), Apogonia rizali
( a small beetle), and Rhacophorus rizali ( a rare frog). As we see, all the name of the specimens
was named after him.
In payment for these valuable specimens that Rizal sent to the Dresdem Museum, the European
Scientists sent him scientific books and surgical instruments.

Linguistic Studies
Rizal was born linguist, continued his studies of languages. In Dapitan he learned the Bisayan
(Cebuan), subanum, and Malay languages.
April 5, 1896, last year of exile in Dapitan, Rizal knew 22 languages such as follows;
Tagalog, Ilokano, Spanish, Latin, Greek, English, French, German, Arabic, Hebrew, Sanskrit,
Catalan, Dutch, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Swedish, and Russian, Malay, Bisayan
and Subanun.

Artistic Works in Dapitan

Rizal continued his artistic pursuits in Dapitan. He contributed his painting skill to the Sisters of Charity
who were preparing the sanctuary of the Holy Virgin in their private chapel.
He made sketches of persons and thing that attracted in Dapitan such as follows; the dragon, the frog,
the beetle and numerous fishes he caught in Dapitan waters.
In Dapitan, Rizal continued doing some artistic works one of this is the, The Mothers Revenge. This
modeled statuette representing the mother-dog killing the crocodile, by way avenging her lost puppy.
Rizal just stress out the moral incident happen to his dog named a puppy of Syria, who was happen
devoured by a crocodile.
Other sculptural works of Rizal in Dapitan were:
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A bust of Father Guerrico (one of his Ateneo professors)

A statue of a girl called The Dapitan Girl, a woodcarving of Josephine Bracken (his wife), and
A bust of St. Paul which he gave to Father Pastells.

Rizal as Farmer
In Dapitan Rizal devoted much of his time to agriculture. He bought 16 hectares of land in Talisay,
where he built his home, school, and hospital, and planted cacao, coffee, sugarcane, coconuts and
fruit trees.
Rizal acquired more lands until his total holdings reached 70 hectares, containing 6000 hemp
plants, 1000 coconut trees and numerous fruit trees, sugarcane, corn, coffee and cacao.
On his farms, Rizal introduced modern methods of agriculture which he had observed in Europe
and America. He imported agricultural machinery from the United States.
Rizal dreamed of establishing an agricultural colony in the Sitio of Ponot near Sindagan Bay, where
there was plenty of water and good port facilities and in which he believed that this place would be
ideal to raise agricultural plants. Unfortunately this colony did not materialize, like his previous
Borneo colonization; he could not get the support of the government.

Conclusion
Jose Rizal is a remarkable genius who lived in a constant interplay of experience
(observations, seeks more), reflection and action (application). Rizal is a great example of Malay who
used his talents for the benefit of an entire people. He inspires us to be hardworking and diligent. I am
amazed that even though Rizal was in exile, he didnt mind the fact that he was sent to Dapitan to live like
a prisoner and yet he still manages to accomplish many things. He has taught the people of Mindanao folk
to unite for trading so that they may become independent and free themselves from the Spanish tyrants
and thus become less exploited, in the sense that he organized a cooperative even in exile. While many
people would be in panic, despair or lose hope for any success in their lives because of being exiled Jose
Rizal continued to serve his country. As what Hon. Agolong said, one could somehow conclude that the
passion and love for his family were being extended to the people of his city whom he is served well.
In sum, I have long held profound admiration for Dr. Jose Rizal's struggles against injustice and
persecution through which he was able to lead the Philippines to freedom and independence. Dr. Rizal
expressed the same spiritual outlook with these words: He who wants to help himself should help others,
because if he neglects others, he too will be neglected by them. Rizal made many improvements in
Dapitan, one of this is the application of the modern way in agriculture, teaching those unfortunate people
who was not able to sent in school due to the financial problem and racial prejudice of the government,
and Rizal made Dapitan as a rival of the best Europe with the help of his great mentor, Father Paula
Sanchez.

References:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Rizal_as_a_teacher#ixzz1V3OTU7aC
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Zaide, Gregorio F. & Zaide, Sonia M., Jose Rizal: Life, Works and Writings, Scientist and National Hero;
2nd edition, All- Nations Publishing Com., Inc., Quezon City

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