By Poch Suzara
Why was Rizal’s retraction document which was supposedly signed at 11:30 p.m. December 29, not immediately relayed to the highest authorities? Why wait until he had already been shot dead in the morning of December 30th?
What happened to the financial aid for Rizal’s distressed family offered by Fr. Balaguer as authorized by Archbishop Nozaleda on Dec. 29 in exchange for the alleged retraction? Would that proffered aid have made Rizal changed his mind when, years earlier, in Dapitan, he had turned down the 100,000 pesos and a chair in UST offered to him by the friars as soon as he repudiates his Noli and Fili?
After the so-called retraction’s text was read to the press, how come the document disappeared mysteriously in 1896, and then conveniently appeared again in 1935?
How come the enlarged photo of Rizal’s execution ( displayed at Manila’s City Hall ) shows him to be without a scapular around his neck or a rosary in his hand, as Fr. Balaguer and his disciples like Catholic biographer Leon Guerrero have reported and written?
If Rizal had retracted and despite his death sentence was still carried out, why was his corpse just bundled off in a dirty old sack? Why was it just dumped into a hole in the ground outside the consecrated niches of Paco cemetery? Was this the kind of proper Catholic burial for Catholics who died repentant? Even Rizal’s mother and sisters knew not where Rizal’s corpse was either buried or located?
If there was a canonical marriage between Josephine and Rizal, how come Josephine could never produce the certificate of marriage in spite of being required to do so in her two famous lawsuits for her rightful share of inheritance of Rizal’s Estate?
If Rizal retracted because of love for Josephine, how come she was mentioned merely as “my sweet foreigner” in the Ultimo Adios? Rizal's last poetic testament he planned to leave secretly behind had no title in it. Who were the morons who titled it "The Ultimate Adios!"
The shame in Rizal’s life was not the retraction of his deeds, writings, and conduct, because that never took place. The shame lies in Catholic historians and Catholic writers who believe not in Rizal’s life, work, and writings, but believed in his enemies – the friars who concocted sacred lies about him, belittled his intellect, assassinated his character and emasculated his last poetic testament. Only for the sake of Catholic church "big business" in the Philippines. Religion is still not a spiritual, but a commercial enterprise keeping the Filipinos poor spiritually as a people and the Philippines morally bankrupt as nation!
Indeed, the friars to this today in cahoots even with those who call themselves “Rizalists” or “Knights of Rizal” still deny Rizal’s legitimate place in the world as one of mankind’s greatest thinkers. Jose Rizal was a great man indeed. He tried to put enlightenment into Filipino minds and hearts in the Philippines where the Catholic church has only put sacred putridity in this country. Rizal clearly saw in his day what is vaguely seen around us today: organized religion and ignorance flourishing hand in hand amidst filth, diseases, poverty, and public ill-health and poor sanitation as a blessing from Jesus. What irked the friars was Rizal’s refusal to continue to have faith in Christianity at the expense of fearless, free, humanistic, and independent thought.
If there’s life after death, it is great thinkers like Rizal that I should wish to meet, learn from, and be with. If I should just be thrown in the company of few members of the Searchlight Forum together with the Knights of Rizal, please Lord, take me back to God-forsaken Philippines.
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