Whilst in exile his opinion and advice were sought concerning the
advisability of immediate armed rebellion. But he, crafty, more or
less far seeing and, above all, jealous of Bonifacio's increasing
ascendancy over the people, refused to countenance the idea. Granting
the unselfish desire he professed of seeking merely the independence
of his country, Rizal's jealousy was justified. Bonifacio's one
great idea was the presidency; Rizal's: the honor and glory of having
prepared the way for, and eventually, by his labors accomplishing his
country's deliverance from what he was pleased to call the oppression
of the Spanish Government. Had such oppression existed, Rizal's idea
would have been worthy of classifying as noble. George Washington well
deserved the name of the "Father of his Country," for he, laying aside
all selfish aims and desires, led a handful of men against a horde of
mercenaries sent by a cruel monarch who oppressed his people, not only
in the colonies but in the mother-country also. Washington was a man
who deserved and received the respect of those against whom he fought,
for he fought for a principle. Such an honor never has, and never
can be received by Rizal from his own countrymen. The campaign Rizal
fought was inspired by and worked out in the freemason lodges which
used our "hero" as a willing tool. Rizal was a Filipino Garibaldi,
never a Filipino Washington, and hence the honors paid to his memory
as a "patriot" must emanate from the lodge rooms which made him what
he was, and not from the people of his country.
In Dapitan the Filipino agitator was not inactive. On one occasion
he directed a letter (which never reached its destination on account
of its having fallen into the hands of Spanish authorities) to the
Capitan Municipal of the province of Batangas, giving him information
of the work of filibusterism which was at that time being carried on.
Rizal, tiring of his position in Dapitan, eventually asked permission
of the Governor General, Gen. Blanco, to be sent to Cuba as physician
to the Spanish forces there. Blanco agreed to the proposition and
ordered his return to Manila in preparation for the voyage to Spain,
where he was to be sent and placed at the disposition of the Minister
of War.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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