Jose Rizal Trial and Execution

Last Homecoming and Trial by the Spanish Military Court After being held prisoner in Barcelona, Rizal was ordered by General Eulogio Despujol that he would be shipped back to Manila via the transport ship Colon. On board the vessel, Rizal was told that the Madrid newspapers were full of stories about the revolution in the Philippines and were blaming him for it. News of Rizal's predicament reached his friends in Europe and Singapore. They dispatched …

…Philippines itself, the death of the man, who for millions ot people had been the embodiment of uprightness, of tolerance, of kindness and helpfulness, but above all of liberalism, of freedom and independence, had the effect of a beacon. Thousands of those who hesitated, who were undecided, who were afraid perceived the death of Rizal as a mute call to join up with the revolutionaries whose ranks swelled in the weeks and months that followed.