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| Rizal's companion, Don Jose Taviel de Andrade. It was rumoured that Rizal and Andrade made speeches against Spain and planted a German flag at Calamba. |
On 25 August
1885, a German warship, the Ilties, entered the harbor
of Yap , one of the islands of the Caroline Islands . These Pacific islands were under the control
of Spain since in 1686 when
it was rediscovered by the Manila galleon
captain Francisco Lazeano. The Germans
seized the archipelagoes of Caroline and Palau , hoisted the German flag and
proclaimed them German protectorate.[1]
When the
news of these German incursions reached the Spanish imperial capital, the overbearing
Madrileños rose in violent riots and demanded war against Germany . To avert an impending war,
both countries submitted the question to Pope Leo XIII for arbitration. The
Pope proposed a compromise which was accepted by both nations. The compromise
recognized Spain ’s
sovereignty over the archipelagoes but allowed concessions to Germany .[2]
The
proximity of the Philippines
to the Caroline Islands threatened the Spanish
colonial administrators and drove them almost to a point of paranoia. The German
incursions reminded Spaniards of the fragility of their position in this far
side of the world. So much so that when the Calamba tenants defaulted in their
annual rents due to the commercial and agricultural crisis generally
experienced by the colony, the Spanish colonial administrators panicked. They
thought that the default was instigated by a Germanophile and was a prelude to
a German invasion.
The
Dominicans were well aware that talks about Jose Rizal and his triumphs in Europe were circulating in Calamba. Because of his close
friendship with Prof. Ferdinand Blumentritt, Rizal was rumored to have wide
influence on the German nation. He was said to lead a German squadron,
distribute the lands of the hacienda to his countrymen, and establish in it a model
republic. These rumors disturbed the townsfolk and caused divisiveness. Those
who sided with Rizal were labeled as the German party while those who remained
loyal to the Dominican fathers were called friar’s party.[3]
Fray Felipe
Dominguez, O.P., the lay administrator of the hacienda, reported to his
superiors that during the Yuletide of 1887, Rizal was in Calamba. And at the
monte de lecheria,[4] Rizal and his companion, a
lieutenant of the Guardia Civil, made speeches against Spain and planted the German flag.[5]
Certainly, Rizal was then accompanied by Don Jose Taviel de Andrade, the Spanish
lieutenant assigned to him as his bodyguard by Governor-general Emilio Terrero.
Andrade, years later, declared that no such incident (i.e. hoisting of a German
flag) occurred. He believed “that such nonsense emanated from the friars of
Calamba.” However, he did not bother to find out if his belief was correct.[6]
Even among
members of the Rizal family, the Spanish paranoia on the Rizal’s German
connections had been a subject of chatter.[7] It
was said that in June 1888, the uproar caused Rizal’s censorious novel Noli
Me Tangere reached the Spanish Senate. In the chamber, a certain Senator
Vila (sic) was said to have reported that the novel introduced anti-Catholic
teachings in the Philippines .
It also espoused the anarchist thoughts of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, a French
libertarian socialist. The novel’s author, whom Senator Vila identified as an indio Madrid and because of his
intelligence, he was elected as a professor at a university in Germany .[10]
Suspicion of
German intrusions became intensified when the Calamba townsfolk refused to pay
the annual cannon for as long as the Dominicans do not prove their title to the
property. On 6 August 1890 ,
Juan Mompeon, the provincial governor of Laguna, rushed to Calamba as if the
feared German squadron had arrived. At 9:00
o’clock in the evening, he arrived and immediately summoned 19 or
20 townsfolk to the house of Eusebio Elefaño, the gobernadorcillo of
Calamba. Among those summoned were Silvestre Ubaldo, Antonino Lopez, Leandro
Lopez, Lucia Rizal, Matias Belarmino, Luis Habaña, Marcos Elasegui, Mateo
Elejorde and Luis Elasegui. They were, according to the governor, the suspected
heads of the rebellion or at least the instigators who were deceiving the
innocent. Governor Mompeon proposed that they should settle their accounts with
the Dominicans, or he would strictly fulfill his duty as governor.[11]
At 8:00
o’clock in the morning, the following day, the townsfolk met at the town hall.
After deliberation, they agreed to wait for the outcome of the appeals made by
their fellow citizens, Francisco Mercado and Nicasio Eigasani, before the
Supreme Court. They will submit to whatever decision the Supreme Court may
decree. They informed the governor of this stand.
Expecting
his intervention would speedily resolve the case, the decision of the townsfolk
angered the governor. He remarked that the townsfolk were indeed counting on
the aid of France or Germany .
He concluded that indeed there many rascals in Calamba and that filibusterism
really existed. Later that day, at around 7:00
o’clock , the townsfolk were again summoned at the town hall and
were asked if they knew when the Germans would come to defend them. They denied
having any knowledge about the Germans and their supposed coming.
Realizing he
can’t extract any information from the townsfolk, Governor Mompeon left Calamba
frustrated. Later in the evening, he sent a telegram to the gobernadorcillo
ordering the appearance before the government, and in case of defiance, the
detention of Silvestre Ubaldo, Antonino Lopez, Leandro Lopez, Paciano Rizal and
Mateo Elejorde.[12] They were suspected of
heading the Calamba rebellion. A month later, on 6 September 1890 , all of them were shipped to Mindoro as exiles.[13]
The social mind-set of many citizens of
Calamba can be gleaned from the letter of one of the evictees, Luis Habaña, to
Jose Rizal and Marcelo H. del Pilar in Madrid :
“The people here are not in the least afraid of this
case. They are going to fight to the end...In addition to all this, we are very
much satisfied and encourage whenever we receive a letter from you especially
when we read the name of Mr. Fernando Blumentritt….Please greet on our behalf
Mr. Fernando Blumentritt and regards and thanks to all the Filipinos. We shall
let you know about the outcome of this case.”[14]
So prevalent was this belief that acting curate, Fr. Domingo,
went around the town trying to convince everyone that Mr. Fernando Borromeo (sic) is already on the side of the
friars and that Don Jose have already been denied the right of appeal by the
Supreme Court.[15]
Unfounded
rumors of the German participation not only in local disturbances in the
countryside but also in the Philippine revolutionary movement were circulated
as far as Europe . These rumors were mere
conjectures gathered from unrelated circumstances such as: (1) That German
traders were doing good business in Manila; (2) That a considerable number of
Germans lived in archipelago and in Manila, they formed Club Nactajau; (3) That
Club Nactajau, offered a banquet in honor of Jose Rizal, a known rebel; (4)
That Rizal was from Berlin, where he published all his separatist works under
the tutelage of Prof. Ferdinand Blumentritt and many others.[16]
Soon Jose
Rizal was not only rumored to be a Germanophile, but was himself a naturalized
German subject. On 21 June
1892 , while Rizal was on his way to Manila
from Hong Kong , Governor General Eulogio
Despujol secretly filed a case against him “for anti-religious and
anti-patriotic agitation.” [17] On
the same day, the Governor inquired from his executive secretary, Don Luis de
la Torre, if indeed Rizal was a naturalized German subject. He also consulted
about the possible consequences of deporting a person who had the protection of
a strong nation without due process just like what they did with Filipinos.[18]
The imagined
German incursions and support in the colony had been a convenient reason for
getting rid of unwanted Calamba residents. On 6 October 1888 , Manuel T. Hidalgo, by decree
of the Superior Government, was banished to the town of Tagbilaran . He was accused of being a brave filibustero
being supported by France
and Germany .[19] On 6 September 1890 , five (5)
Calambeños were shipped to Calapan, Mindoro as
exiles on the same accusation. On 13 November 1891 , twenty five (25) Calambeños were decreed
to be deported to the island
of Jolo Dapitan
in Mindanao .
[14]Luis Habaña to Jose Rizal
and Marcelo H. del Pilar, Calamba, 11 January 1891, Rizal’s Correspondence
with Fellow Reformists, (Manila: National Historical Institute, 1992), 516
– 517.
[15]Nicasio Eigasani to Jose
Rizal and Marcelo H. del Pilar, Calamba, 14 January 1891, Rizal’s
Correspondence with Fellow Reformists, (Manila: National Historical
Institute, 1992), 518 – 520.
[16]Ventura F. Lopez, “Los
Alemanes En Filipinas,” Correo Español, 5 September 18_ _ in Karl-Heinz
Wionzek and Alexander Ma. Mushake, Some Selected Files from the German
Political Archives about the Propaganda Activities of Ferdinand Blumentritt
(1853-1913): Evidence of his Participation in the Building of a New
Nation – the Philippines ,
(Germany :
2007).
[17]Secretaria
del Gobierno
General de Filipinas, Promovido a Consecuencia de Propagandas
Anti-Religiosas y Anti-Patrioticas por Jose Rizal y sus Adeptos (Reservado),
21 June 1892 ,
facsimile in Austin Craig, Lineage, Life and Labors of Jose Rizal:
Philippine Patriot, (Manila: Philippine Education Company, 1913), 183.
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