Constitution of the Liga Filipina

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The aims of the Liga Filipina, as embodied in its Constitution, were the following: To unite the whole archipelago into one compact and homogenous body. Mutual protection in every want and necessity. Defense against all violence and injustice. Encouragement of education, agriculture, and commerce. Study and application of reforms.

The motto of the Liga Filipina was: Unus Instar Omnium (One Like All). The governing body of the league was the Supreme Council which had jurisdiction over the whole country.

It was composed of a:

President

Secretary

Treasurer

Fiscal

Qualifications

All Filipinos who have a heart for the welfare of their fatherland are qualified for membership. Every member pays an entrance fee of two pesos and a monthly due of 10 centavos.

Duties of the Liga members

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Obey the orders of the Supreme Council; To help in recruiting new members; To keep in strictest secrecy the decisions of the Liga authorities; To have a symbolic name which he cannot change until he becomes the president of his council; To report to the fiscal anything that he may hear which affects the Liga; To behave well as befits a good Filipino; and To help fellow members in all ways.

Rizal Arrested and Jailed in Fort Santiago

On Wednesday, July 6, Rizal went to Malacaan Palace to resume his series of interviews with the governor general. During this interview Gov. General Despujol suddenly showed him some printed leaflets which were allegedly found in Lucias pillow cases. These incriminatory leaflets were entitled Pobres Frailes (Poor Friars) under the authorship of Fr. Jacinto and printed by the Imprenta de los Amigos del Pais, Manila.

They were a satire against the rich Dominican friars who amassed fabulous riches contrary to their monastic vow of poverty. Rizal vigorously denied having those leaflets in either his or Lucias baggage, which had been thoroughly searched upon the arrival from Hong Kong by the custom authorities who found nothing. Despite his denial and insistent demand for investigation in accordance with the due process of law, he was placed under arrest and escorted to Fort Santiago by Ramon Despujol, nephew and aide of Gov. General Despujol.

In Fort Santiago, he was kept incomunicado, as he related in his diary:

They assigned me a fairly furnished room with a bed, a dozen chairs, one table, a wash basin, and a mirror. The room had three windows; one without grill which opens on a patio, another with grills which looks out on the city walls and the beach and another which was the door closed with a padlock. Two artillery men as sentinels guarded it. They had orders to fire on anyone who might signal from the beach. I could not write nor speak with any one except the officer on duty.

The following day, July 7, the Gaceta de Manila published the story of Rizals arrest which produced indignant commotion among the Filipino people, particularly the members of the newly organized Liga Filipina.

Arbitrary Deportation to Dapitan

The same issue of the Gaceta (July 7, 1892) contained Governor General Despujols decree deporting Rizal to one of the islands in the South. The gubernatorial decree gave the reasons for Rizals deportation, as follows:

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Rizal had published books and articles abroad which showed disloyalty to Spain and which were frankly anti-Catholic and imprudently antifriar. A few hours after his arrival in Manila there was found in one of the packages, a bundle of handbills entitled Pobres Frailes in which the patient and humble generosity of Filipinos is satirized, and which accusation is published against the customs of the religious orders.

3. His novel El Filibusterismo was dedicated to the memory of three traitors (Burgos, Gomez, and Zamora), and on the title page he wrote that in view of the vices and errors of the Spanish administration, the only salvation for the Philippines was separation from the mother country. 4. The end which he pursues in his efforts and writings is to tear from the loyal Filipino breasts the treasures of our holy Catholic faith.

Shortly after midnight of July 14 (that is 12:30 a.m. of July 15, 1892), Rizal was brought under heavy guard to the steamer Cebu which was sailing for Dapitan. This steamer under Captain Delgras departed at 1:00 A.M., July 15, sailing south, passing Mindoro and Panay, and reaching Dapitan on Sunday, the 17th of July, at 7:00 in the evening.

Captain Delgras went ashore and handed Rizal over to Captain Ricardo Carcinero, Spanish commandant of Dapitan. That same night, July 17, 1892, Rizal began his exile in lonely Dapitan which would last until July 31, 1896, a period of four years.

THANK YOU!