IN HIS SHOES
JimLodge
Decemeber 26, 1986.
Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonzo Realonda was found guilty of sedition. As the trial closes, Jose was seen whispering instructions to a young man present in the trial.
December 27, 1896.
Jose wrote a letter to his family, which included a short phrase that says ‘Have pity on poor Josephine.’
December 28, 1896.
Teodora Alonzo, the mother of Jose, wrote a letter to Governor-General Camilo de Polavieja, pleading for the clemency for her son. Although reluctant, she then sent a letter to Josephine Bracken – Jose’s girlfriend.
After receiving Jose’s message from a lad named Juan, Paciano, Jose’s brother, went to Cavite to fetch a young katipunero named Jesus. Paciano noticed the man’s semblance with his brother but paid no attention to it. Eventually, he learned that Andres Bonifacio – the supreme leader of the Katipunan – is plotting to bring a troop with him to Manila to seize Jose from captivity. Paciano put a stop to the operation, telling Andres that his brother will not approve of the plan.
December 29, 1896.
8:36 AM.
After hearing his sentence, Jose was escorted to his prison cell. Jose then shared his breakfast with Fr. Rosell, Lt. Andrade, and the artillery chief. During the short, casual chat, Jose asked the lieutenant about the name of one of the guards of his cell.
9:10 AM.
Fr. Saderra and Fr. Viza visited Jose in his cell. The latter handed a small object to Jose – a nine-inch tall Sacred Heart of Jesus statuette that Jose himself had carved during his youth. Upon receiving the sculpture, Jose knelt down and kissed it. Fr. Viza asked Jose why he had insisted that the object be brought to him. Jose’s reply briefly translates to “It shall be the key to my salvation.”
10:31 AM.
Fr. Faura visited Jose. After a heated argument, Jose surreptitiously handed a small, rectangular object to the priest before giving him a short instruction that includes the name ‘Alfonso.’
3:28 PM.
After finishing his letter for one of his closest confidants, Ferdinand Blumentritt, Jose took his copy of Thomas Kempis’s Imitation of Christ and then encircled several letters on the text of a certain page inside the book. He then tucked the letter for Ferdinand between the book’s pages.
5:09 PM.
Teodora came to see her son for the last time, along with Jose’s sisters, a nephew, and a niece. Trinidad handed Jose an alcohol burner before whispering to his ear that they have brought everything that was listed in the letter that he had sent during that morning – a letter that did not go through the guards. Aside from the burner, Jose also received a wicker chair, a pair of shoes, a handkerchief, a belt, a watch and a chain. Jose then told Trinidad that he will hide a piece of paper in that burner later on. He then handed his Imitation of Christ to her, saying that inside the book is a letter for his friend, Ferdinand, and that she, Trinidad, should ‘play a little word game.’
