'Where Rizal was buried?

'
By Renato Perdon, Sydney, Australia

Early in the morning of 30 December 1896, more than a hundred years ago, Jose Rizal was led from
Fort Santiago to the execution site in the Luneta, now Rizal Park.

A witness of that historic event, Eduardo Gutierrez Repide, was at the Luneta at that time: the
morning was beautiful but the air was cool. Describing the proceedings, he said: The guard,
composed of four soldiers with drawn bayonets, advanced towards us. About three meters behind
them came Dr. Rizal with his counsel on his right and a Jesuit father on his left. Rizal was elegantly
dressed in black. He wore a white vest, a black necktie and a derby hat. His arms were tied together,
elbow to elbow, but the cord was sufficiently loose to give his arms freedom of movement. I
remember perfectly well that from his right arm was hanging a small black rosary.

When Rizal reached the execution site, the company of Regiment No. 73, a battalion of Manila
volunteers, and two companies of an Artillery Regiment were all ready. Unexpectedly, Rizal was
calm, impassive, and serene as the green peaceful Manila bay. When the military doctor felt his
pulse, the pulse of the patriot who has seconds to live was normal. The guns fired, Rizal, with
supreme effort turned around so that when he fell he was looking at the blue, calm cloudless sky.

After the firing squad composed of Filipinos had fired the shot, the Brothers of Peace and Charity
removed the body of the fallen man. His body disappeared without a trace. Doa Teodoro Alonso
went to many authorities begging that her sons body be given to her for burial. She was refused.
The authorities feared that if Rizals grave was known, it would become a place for pilgrimage and a
symbol of martyrdom.

Narcisa Rizal checked all cemeteries looking for the burial place of her brother. It was at the Paco
Cemetery that she discovered an unmarked freshly dug grave guarded by Civil Guards. The Spanish
authorities secretly buried her brothers remains. After the secret burial, the burial site was heavily
guarded by the Civil Guards for fifteen days, by order of the authorities.

Located at the outer wall portion of the circular cemetery, this pit is now marked with a big marble
white cross and fenced by iron. It was an unusual burial at the Paco Cemetery, for the place had
never been a ground burial site. Coffins were inserted into niches on the inner sides of the two
surrounding walls.

Two years after Rizals secret burial, sometime in August 1898, his remains were exhumed and
placed in an urn made by Romualdo T. de Jesus. The urn was deposited at the house of the heros
mother, Teodora Alonso, located at Estraude Street in Binondo, Manila, for several years. In 1912, in
December, the remains were placed beneath the monument of the hero at the Rizal Park, after a
solemn parade from Binondo to the hallowed site.

The old Paco Cemetery, centrally located at the intersection of San Marcelino, Padre Faura and
Perez Streets in Paco, is rich in history. Its symmetry shows the ingenuity of the Filipino artisans
during the Spanish colonization. Its own history started in 1807 when a royal decree was issued by
the Spanish monarchy, providing for the construction of a cemetery in Bagungbayan at the town of
San Francisco Dilaw, which is now the Paco district of Manila. However, the decree was not
implemented until several years later when an Asiatic cholera epidemic plagued the country.

Don Nicolas Ruiz was commissioned to prepare the architectural plan of the cemetery. During the
height of the dreadful disease, when many persons had died and corpses were lined up in the
streets awaiting burial, the Spaniards decided to use the cemetery, although it was unfinished. The
construction of the cemetery was completed on 11 April 1822 under the able supervision of Don
Jose Coll. In 1859, Fernando de Norzagaray, incumbent Spanish governor-general of the
Philippines, proposed the enlargement of the cemetery to 4,500 square yards and the construction of
a big circular wall around it. A Chinese builder won the contract for P19,000. The cemetery consisted
of two circular walls 14 feet high; the outer wall was 10 feet away from the inner wall. Each wall was
covered throughout with a balustrade. These walls were embedded with many oven-like niches, each
about nine feet long.

According to one of the officers in-charge of its maintenance, the cemetery had at least 1,779
niches. There were 558 niches in the inner portion, 720 niches in the outer portion, and 501 located
inside the Angelorio, a place where remains of infants and children were interred.

The gate is formed by an arch that showed signs of Greek influence. Like other parts of the
graveyard, the original gate is still completely intact, except for the small plaque atop, which is hardly
visible to visitors.

The oval chapel, adjacent to the inner wall of the cemetery, had a cupola roof, and an altar that was
originally made of gold. Outside the chapel, located on both sides, were two passages that led
towards a small gate, also of Greek influence, which was the Angelorio. Opposite the gate was the
Ossario, a portion of the cemetery used as a repository of bones taken from the various niches in the
cemetery to give way for the new occupants.

The cemetery is now a park and completely restored and given a few renovations and additions like
the dancing fountain at the middle of the inner circle of the cemetery. It is beautifully viewed from
atop the inner wall. All the ugly old trees have been pruned. Conglomerations of ornamental plants
as well as medicinal plants abound in the area.
Creeping fig covers the walls, while plants such as San Francisco, Asparagus Kulot, and white
flowered tradescanta are arranged beautifully. Trees such as Narra, Acacia (rain tree), Rimas (bread
fruit tree), Octupos tree, Lettuce tree are planted all over the area. Flower pots with wandering jew
are tied up at the branches of trees that surround the pit. Ornamental plants include the Cawayan
Quiling, San Augustine grass, Calathia (tapis Baliwag) and varieties of palm trees and giant ferns.

The park opens at six oclock in the morning and closes at 10 in the evening. In spite of these
improvements, the Paco Memorial Park, its official name, is not popular among local Filipino tourists,
unlike Rizal Park which attracts thousands of promenaders every day. Because the place is still
unknown to many, the Rizal Park Development Authority which has jurisdiction over the area, in
cooperation with other cultural groups, are trying their best to project the place as one of Manilas
cultural attractions for foreign and local visitors to the city. To instill in the minds of the people the
significance of Paco Cemetery, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines placed a
historical marker at the site where Rizals body was buried.

From 'Understanding Jose Rizal' by Renato Perdon, published by Minor Prints, Cubao, Quezon City,
2011.
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