A FEW years ago, I was invited by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines to speak on the trials of Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio at the Museo ni Jose Rizal in Fort Santiago, Intramuros, Manila. Due to the space constraints, I shall only talk about Rizal's trial here.Rizal's dramatic execution on the Bagumbayan grounds on Dec. 30, 1896 is familiar to us, but everything else has been glossed over. I shall try to fill in some of the murky parts here.
This fact is crucial because when the revolution broke out and the culprits identified, together with other pertinent details, it was obvious that Rizal — an exile in Dapitan and later a military doctor bound for Cuba under guard — could not have been involved in any of these activities. Thus, the case against Rizal primarily centered around the charge of illegal association. Rizal was accused of establishing or founding the association that initiated the revolution.