The death cell: letters, a hidden poem, and a calm resolve
On 29 December 1896, in his cell at Fort Santiago, Rizal received his family, wrote farewell letters (including a last note to his closest friend Ferdinand Blumentritt), and prepared for the morning of his execution. In that Blumentritt letter, dated “Fort Santiago, 29 December 1896,” he wrote: “Tomorrow at seven I shall be shot; but I am innocent of the crime of rebellion.”
Before dusk he finished an untitled, unsigned 14-stanza poem—later known as “Mi Último Adiós.” He concealed it in a small alcohol stove (long misremembered as a lamp) and told his sister Trinidad where to find it after he was gone. The family retrieved it that night; copies circulated soon after, and by 1898 it appeared in print with the now-familiar title.
Accounts and museum notes also link his final hours to quiet reading and prayer; a personal copy of Thomas à Kempis’s Imitation of Christ — which he dedicated and gave to Josephine Bracken that morning — survives in Philippine collections and has been exhibited publicly.
Retraction and marriage: what the records say
Whether Rizal signed a religious retraction remains a matter of debate among historians; an NHCP overview sums it up plainly as a controversy, with a document surfacing in 1935 and contested ever since.
Separate NHCP material on Josephine Bracken states the couple were married in Catholic rites by Fr. Vicente Balaguer in the hours before the execution, though this, too, has been disputed by some contemporaries and later writers.
What he wore, and the march to Bagumbayan
At daybreak 30 December 1896, a trumpet sounded in Fort Santiago and the death march began. Contemporary summaries and later press accounts describe Rizal as elegantly dressed in a black suit with a white vest (or shirt), black tie, and a derby hat, walking between his military escort and Jesuit confessors.
How the execution proceeded
At Bagumbayan Field (today’s Rizal Park), a firing party of eight Filipino soldiers formed the front rank, with a backup line of Spanish troops behind them under orders to ensure the sentence was carried out. A Spanish army doctor took Rizal’s pulse—it was normal. Ordered to face away (as befit a traitor), he asked to face the firing squad but was refused; at the instant of the volley he twisted as he fell so that he landed facing upward. Multiple accounts record his last words as “Consummatum est.”
Most timelines place the moment just after 7:00 a.m. Some specify 7:03 a.m.
Immediately after: secret burial and the road to the monument
Authorities buried Rizal in secret that same day in Paco Cemetery (Paco Park), without a name on the grave. Two days later his sister Narcisa found the spot and marked it discreetly with the reversed initials “R.P.J.”
His remains were exhumed in 1898, kept by the family in Manila, and on 30 December 1912 were borne in solemn procession to Luneta, interred beneath the base of the Rizal Monument, where they rest today.
What his death set in motion
Rizal had disowned the 1896 uprising, but his public execution ignited broad outrage and unity among Filipinos. As Britannica’s overview puts it, his martyrdom made “permanent retention of power by Spain clearly impossible,” stiffening the will of the revolutionary movement already in the field.
The commemorative culture around him took shape quickly: on 20 December 1898 the revolutionary government under Emilio Aguinaldo decreed 30 December a national day of mourning for Rizal and other victims of Spanish rule; under the American colonial government, Act No. 345 (1 February 1902) made Rizal Day a public holiday each year on December 30.
Summary timeline (29–30 December 1896)
Dec 29 (Fort Santiago): Family visits; farewell letters (incl. to Blumentritt); completion and concealment of the poem later called Mi Último Adiós.
Dawn, Dec 30: Dressed in black suit/white vest, escorted from Fort Santiago to Bagumbayan.
~7:00 a.m.: Firing squad consists of Filipino riflemen, Spanish backup; pulse normal; refused his request to face the rifles; “Consummatum est”; falls face-up.
Later that morning: secret burial at Paco Cemetery; Narcisa locates and marks the grave “R.P.J.” two days later.
1898–1912: exhumation; transfer; interment under the Rizal Monument (Dec 30, 1912).
Commemoration: Aguinaldo’s 1898 decree; Act No. 345 (1902) — Rizal Day.
Why these details matter
The particulars — the hidden poem, the measured walk in a black suit, the insistence on dignity at the last second, the anonymous grave and eventual tomb under the monument — explain why Rizal’s death is both history and ritual in the Philippines.
That morning at Bagumbayan did not launch the Revolution (it was already underway), but it hardened its resolve, furnished it with a martyr, and left the nation an enduring reminder of the impact a single, dedicated life of one man can have on his people and their history.
