 The National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated stations present the Pacific story. In the midst of a fury of world conflict, events in the Pacific are taking on even greater importance. Here is the story of the Pacific and its people whose destiny is at stake in the Pacific War. Here is the tale of the war in the Pacific and its meaning to us and to the generations to come. Jose Rizal, Patriot martyr of the Philippines. To the memory of Jose Rizal, Patriot and martyr executed on Bagumbayan Field, December 30th, 1896. This monument is dedicated by the people of the Philippine Islands. I spent that last night with Jose Rizal in his cell. With another priest, we gave him the holy sacrament. He was calm and sweet. There was no trouble look in his eyes. There was no quaver in his voice. His mother and sister, Tinedad, came to see him here at Port Santiago. During his trial, he had written a poem, a last farewell to his people in the Filipinos, whom he loved so much. This he had placed inside a small alcohol lamp, the only thing he had in his cell. He said goodbye to his mother and sister, and then gave Tinedad the lamp, saying quickly an English so the gods could not understand. There is something inside. Yes, Jose. Goodbye, Jose. Goodbye. Jose settled himself to wait for the dawn, and in his last hours on earth drifted away. Within my soul, I reflected on the steps that had brought this extraordinary young man to this past. In his early 20s, while he was a student in Madrid, he came upon the idea of writing. Where is Jose Rizal? He's probably studying. Perhaps he's playing the lottery or chess. He never can get enough of these. Well, if he's to be a member of the club, he should come to meet him. Oh, yes. Have you seen him these recent days, Maximo? I saw him in his room. He was reading The Wandering Jew. The Wandering Jew? When I saw him last week, he was reading Uncle Tom's Cabin. He said he was very much impressed by it. He should leave off reading when we have meetings. There are so few of us Filipinos here in Madrid. Yes, I say that she's... Jose! I'm glad you could come. Hello. We were just talking about kicking you out of the club. I have been very remiss. Sit down, sit down. Did you bring Uncle Tom's Cabin with you, Jose? He would do all of us well to read that book again and again. Everyone has read it. We could do well to profit by what it has achieved. In what sense, Jose? What Uncle Tom's Cabin achieved in America? What The Wandering Jew achieved in France? Perhaps another book could achieve in the Philippines. Oh, no, I... No, it is true. Both of these books have had a powerful effect on human progress. Yes, Maximo. And a book telling of conditions in the Philippines could show our Filipinos at home that they are slowly being crushed. And you would write this masterpiece over there? No, I don't. I think I could write it, but perhaps we could. You mean all of us? Yes. We know the Philippines. We've spent our childhood there. We could tell the truth about the Philippines. And some of us here, you de Marso and you Juan, could illustrate it. I don't think such an effort would be worthwhile. I think it would be excellent. Do you think you're self-capable of writing, Maximo? I'm not much of a writer. But I can tell what I've seen with my own eyes. Oh, I could write about the Philippine women? Yes, you could write about that, de Marso. I believe such a book should be written. No, no such a book would do no good here in Spain or in any part of Europe. And certainly no publisher would touch it in the Philippines. To show the people of Spain the sufferings of the people of the Philippines. You can never get it published, either here or in the Philippines. And if you did, it would certainly be barred in the Philippines. If the world knew what we know of the Philippines, what just we members of this club know, a great good would be done. You're right, Jose. It would not work. No. Something more than that is necessary. Something better. At least I can tell what is in my heart. And yes, I shall do. Jose Resard studied medicine in Madrid. But he excelled in philosophy and literature and languages. He learned Latin and Greek. He studied French and Italian and English all at once. Then he mastered Catalan, Arabic and German, and Sanskrit and Hebrew. He had a remarkable talent for sketching and sculptures. When he finished his work in medicine, he went to Paris. And there he became an assistant to a great European eye doctor, Dr. El de Wecke. And it was here in Paris that he wrote the first few chapters of Noly Maitrengere, the social cancer. Then his work took him to Heidelberg and to Leipzig and to Berlin. It was in Berlin that he was found by a young Philippine. Or is it? It is Maximo. Maximo Viola. Open your door, Jose. Jose Resard, I'm glad to see you. Maximo. I've had such a time finding you. What are you doing in this horrible writing? You look starved. And what brings you here to Berlin, Maximo? You had enough to eat. Oh, enough. Sit down. When did you eat last? I shall eat later today. What brings you here, Maximo? And you've not eaten today. Did you eat yesterday? I ate once each day at his ample. Jose, this is not the thing for you to do. Stuck away up here in this cheap back room. I must finish my book. You also pursuing your studies? Yes. Jose, you'll never find a publisher for your book. That is why I'm bringing it out myself. Yourself? If you do not have enough to pay for a respectable room. Or not to eat more than one meal a day. How can you ever hope to pay? The type is being set in a small printing shop just down the street. Jose, I want you to go with me on a walking tour through Germany and Switzerland. No, Maximo, no. You know I have plenty of money as I've always had. No, I must stay here and finish my book. Jose, what sort of a book can this be that holds you in such poverty as this? It is the story of a young Filipino, Juan Crisoste Moribara, who goes away to Europe to be educated and what he finds when he comes back home. What does he find? He finds all that we know. That every Filipino knows Maximo. The tyranny that has chained the Filipinos these centuries. What Spain has imposed upon the Filipinos. The scheming, arrogant, lawless fires. The Spanish government officer who is brutal to the Filipinos but a mixbiddle to his Spanish and superiors. I am writing of the worthless educational system, the travesty of the courts, the cruelties of the government to the helpless Filipinos. You are right. You must finish the book Jose. Yes. I must finish it. Then you may go on a walking tour with me. I'll advance all the money. You will help me bring out the book? Yes. You must finish it Jose. Then leave me. Get out. I must get down on paper. All of it is surging up in me to be told. The result wrote with an inspired pen. Thousands upon thousands of words. Five hundred pages of bitterness. When Noli Mechandre was finished, Results Friends helped him distribute. They disguised the boxes containing the books as innocent crates and sent them to Manila. In Manila, two of Results Friends choose their wishes. And these boxes. What are they? They contain dry goods. They are confined to what? You are Ramon Aquaran? Yes. We have our wagons here. We will take them with us. And not so fast. We are in need of this shipment at once. It seems very heavy to be dry good. Yes, it is heavy. It is very special. You seem to be very scared. You may open the cases and inspect them if you wish. Well, in all my years here as custom inspector, I have known of you too as proprietors of substance and good repute. Thank you. If you delay us more, we may suffer a loss. Take the cases. Move them out of here at once. They hardly have space for the merchandise that is coming in. The books quickly found circulation in Manila and that made their way into the outlying districts. And soon also copies of Noli Metandre fell into the hands of spies and censors. It is very general here. Withering sarcasm. And not only does he ridicule the government, but he reproaches his own people for their ignorance and their failure to do something for themselves He is inciting the Filipinos to revamp. That is what he is doing. He is inviting of all that more and more books came into the Philippines. And then the government issued a decree to put this order up in every public place. By order of the crown, the book known as Noli Metandre is hereby excluded from the Philippine Islands. All copies are to be burned by the public executioner. And any person found in possession of a copy of this book ten days from this date was of a punishment or imprisonment or deportation. It's proper to be confiscated for the benefit of whomsoever shall inform against them. It is the order of the government. Agents of the government search diligently and the fire of the public executioner blaze high. They burn the book. The tale they tell is on everyone's lips. The more books they burn, the more coming to the country. These books are starting a fire that will sweep all through the island. The Spaniards can never slay this claim. During this time, Jose Rizal was far away in Europe. He'd been away five years now. His sister Trinidad wrote him... And now, Mother, is in great need of you, Jose. Her eyesight is failing. And unless something is done, soon she may be completely blind. Mother asks for you to stay, Jose. So Rizal returned to the Philippines while the government was still carrying out its decree against this book. At Calamba, his birthplace, he performed a delicate eye operation, the first of its kind ever done in the Philippines. His mother's eyesight was restored. Word of its spread and people came from far and near. Some even came from China. And finally was helping them. He was summoned to Manila before Governor-General Cerero. Jose Rizal, while you were in the Philippines, I am signing a Spanish lieutenant to accompany you wherever you go. As a spy? No, as a bodyguard. Rizal and the lieutenant became friends. They say that great pressure was put upon Governor-General Cerero to take some action against this man who had written a scandalous snobly mate Tandre. And so once more resolve was summoned before the Governor-General. Is therefore my advice, Jose Rizal, that you leave the Philippines at once. Jose Rizal then went to London. While he was there, he received word from his sister, Synodon. Our brother Paciano has been banished to Mindoro. Manuel has been deported for what they say is sacrilege. And now I am being charged with the same thing. And with tradition, Rizal wrote a scouting account for these events. This account titled An Outrage was printed in the magazine in Madrid. Then he went against in Belgium and there he received word from Trinidad that was still more touching attack upon his family. Then yesterday, a battery of artillery and a company of soldiers came to our place at Colombo. They ordered Father to move all our buildings and property from the land in 24 hours. You can imagine how fun-destruct we were. We did what we could, but it was not enough. Today, they set fire to all the houses, all of them burned down, including the house in which you were born. So we are without any time. Rizal was hot-sticked. He settled down to write the Reign of Greed, a burning sequel to a no-day Métanger. Then he came back to the far east and set up offices as a doctor in Hong Kong. After some time there, he wrote to the Governor-General of the Philippines, to Orozia de Spuhoz and asked permission to return. Then he went to see his friend Dr. Marcia and Hong Kong. You have been my friend a long time, Dr. Marcia. I am going back to the Philippines. I wish to leave this document. Do you wish me to read it now, Jose? Yes, read it. To the Filipinos, the step I am about to take is undoubtedly attended with peril. I need not say to you that I take it after long deliberation. I have obligations to the families that suffer to my aged parents whose size strike me to the heart. If with my death I can secure for them happiness and a peaceful home in their native land, I am ready. Always I have loved our unhappy land. Life, career, happiness, I am ready to sacrifice for it. Whatever my fate, I shall die blessing it and longing for the dawn of its redemption. Jose, do you have intuition of trouble? Keep this document. And if I be put to death in the Philippines, make it public and then see that my family... Reserv went back to the Philippines. His sister Lucia returned with him. For a time it seemed that he would be as safe as Governor General Despo Hall had assured him. He called together his friends and formed the Philippine League to better the conditions of the Philippines. Then one day he was summoned before Despo Hall. Have you ever heard of a leaflet called The Poor Thrive? Yes, I have heard of it. This leaflet was found in the luggage of your sister Lucia. In my sister's effects? Inside some pillow cases in a trunk. You know, of course, that it is treason to bring these leaflets into the Philippines. But Governor Despo Hall, neither my sister nor I have ever had any of these leaflets. God, take this man to the prison at Fort Santiago with my orders that he be held in Communicada. For three days, Fort Sarisal was held in Christmas. Then, at night, he was hustled to board a steam and exile to Dapitang, a fallen town on the northeast coast of Mindanao. He only studied nature, wrote about the animals and plants or the children, and ministered to the fix. Patients from Manila and Hong Kong sought him out in his exile. He devised a lighting system for Dapitang and designed and constructed and superintendent of waterworks. Then, one day, a man named Valenzuela came to Dapitang to recall this new organization, the Catapunan, Dr. Rizal, and the head of it is Andres Bonifacio. And what is his purpose, Mr. Valenzuela? To overthrow by force the Spanish power and establish a Philippine nation free and independent. That cannot be done by violence. It is the only way. We, and all Filipinos, rebel at the thought of your exile here. Dr. Rizal, you are the champion of the common people. Bonifacio has organized the Catapunan, but you are a real leader. That I cannot be. For this change must come by education. It must come from above, not from below. But you are the honorary head of our society, Dr. Rizal. You are using my name without my authority? The Catapunan depends on you. No, no, it is wrong. Enlightenment is the road to progress. Go back to Bonifacio and tell him I will never... That Bonifacio went on spreading the doctrine of revolution in the Philippines. And in his exile, Rizal gave his attention to improving the lot of the people of Dapitan. And now, through his correspondence, he learned that yellow fever was raging in Cuba and that there were not enough doctors. He offered his services in the government hospitals of Cuba. The government accepted. And Rizal sailed from Dapitan for Manila. While he was there, the Catapunan uprising broke out, but Rizal sailed on a male steamer, Isla de Panay, for Spain on route to Cuba. When the steamer reached Suez, Rizal was arrested. You were the founder of the Filipino League. Were you not, Dr. Rizal? Yes, but that was formed four years ago. To undermine the Spanish government in the Philippines? To bring about unity among the Filipinos. To defend them against violence and injustice and to encourage education. What did you write, Noli Metangere? To equate the world with conditions in the Philippines. To arouse the Filipinos against the crown? To bring about reform. Dr. Rizal, you know that revolution is broken out in the Philippines? I knew there was an outbreak before we left Manila. And you knew that the secret revolutionary society, the Catapunan, has been active for several years. I am not a member of the Catapunan. In Dapitan, I was so far away. There is a reign of terror in Luzans, open warfare. The jails and prisons are filled with rebels. Members of the Catapunan. The government is executing all those found guilty of rebellion. Dr. Rizal, you are going back to Manila to face trial. I remember when Rizal was brought to the dark doorway of Santiago prison. First, he was put into a dungeon. Later, he was put under a cell on the ground floor. His meals were brought in by his family. Trinidad came to sit with him. Oh, Jose, what they have done to Paciano. My poor brother. They have just carried him home. Jose, they took Paciano to the police office in the walled city. They sat him down at a table in place to confession before him. A confession? Oh, Paciano has done nothing? No, Jose. It was that you were the one responsible for the Catapunan uprising. Poor Paciano. They put a pet in one hand, a thumb screw on the other. Until they tightened the thumb screws until... until Paciano would not fight it. What he has suffered for me. They hung him up by the elbows until he was insensible. And then they cut him down so that the fall would revive him. For three days, they did this, Jose. And today they cut him home. He signed nothing. In his trial, Rizal was not allowed an attorney. But a young army officer, who happened to be the brother of the bodyguard, appointed for him several years ago, was appointed to defend him. Rizal was brought into the courtroom with his elbows tied behind him. And he set this way, tied to each session. That sketched the life of Jose Rizal for you, that you may be better able to understand the crime with which he here stands charged. He is charged with organizing the Philippine League, an illegal society for him to commit the crime of rebellion. Secondly, Jose Rizal is charged with responsibility for the outbreak of the Catapunan. Or even though he may say that he had no connection with it, yet the Catapunan was formed as a result of his teachings. It is the charge of the crown that Jose Rizal is responsible for the rebellion, having brought it about by his years of agitation. Judge Advocate, proceed with the prosecution. Jose Rizal is a traitor and an enemy of Spain. I read for the court from the treasonable writings of Jose Rizal. To undermine the government, Jose Rizal smuggled. Nearly me turned Jarei into the Philippines. Jose Rizal volunteered to go to Cuba as an army doctor to throw the government off his trail. The trial went on day after day. Back in his cell, he wrote a proclamation to the people of the Philippines, my countrymen. I have given proof that I am most anxious for liberties for our country, and I am still desirous of them. But I place as a prior condition the education of the people. I have recommended that reforms to be beneficial must come from above, that those that come from below are irregularly gained and uncertain. Holding these ideas, I cannot do less than condemn this Catipunan uprising, which dishonors us Filipinos. Return then to your homes and make God pardon those that have wrought in bad faith. San Jose Rizal. I saw him off from during those days. He was calm. At last, on December 29, 1896, the trial was ended. Jose Rizal, you will stand. Stand up, Dr. Rizal. Jose Rizal, you have been tried by this military court and found guilty of fomenting and bringing about the rebellion of the Filipinos against the Spanish crown. Do you have anything to say? Nothing. It is the order of this court that you'll be given 24 hours to prepare for death. You will be shot to death at Bargumbayan Field tomorrow. Calmly, with tenderness and tolerance in his eyes, he heard his sentence. Calmly, he came back to the prison at Port Santiago to prepare for death. We administered the holy sacrament to him, and I watched him as he talked to his mother and sister. He gave the alcohol lamp with his last farewell hidden inside to his sister, Synodas, and at whom she found the poem in the lamp. Farewell, dear fatherland. Climb of the sun. Caress pearl of the Orient seas. Our Eden lost. Gladly now, I go to give thee this faded life's best. And were it brighter, fresher or more blessed, still would I give it thee. Nor count the cost. On the field of battle, with the frenzy of fight, others have given their lives without doubt or heed. The place matters not. Cyprus or Laurel or Lily White. Scaffold or open plain. Combat or martyr's plight. It is ever the same. To save our home. And our country's need. When dawn came at last, the iron doors of Hosebius ourselves creaked open. And outside, the troopers gathered to take him to Bagumbayan Sea. The troopers bound his elbows behind him. I walked beside him. We are going to Calvary, father. My suffering is a little. The saviour's up at much. In an instant, the bullets will end all my pain. Yes, doctor Risac. How beautiful is the morning, father. How clear is the view of Caligador. I walked here with my sweetheart, Leonora. On mornings like this. We walked nearly a mile. At last, we were at Bagumbayan Sea. Captain, will you shoot me in the front please? No. I have orders to shoot you in the back. But I have never been a traitor. Orders? Very well. Shoot me as you please. Don't dare with his eyes open. Can't talk the sky. Symbol of courage and strength. Just then, an army doctor ran after him. Colleague, your coolness amazes me. May I feel your pulse? But of course. Captain, his pulse rate is normal. Interesting. Step over to the side now, doctor. Normal. Absolutely normal. Risac. And looking up into the sky. Died. But the tears of the Spaniards who watched him die were drowned in the wondrous voice of the rising Filipino people. Guns of the revolutionaries came out of huts and thickets armed, ragged and hungry and untrained. The Filipinos crushed the Spanish regular for they've been fired with a vision of freedom by this man whom the Spanish bullets had made immortal. You have been listening to the Pacific story presented by the national broadcasting company and its affiliated independent stations as a public service to clarify events in the Pacific and to make understandable in the Pacific Basin. A reprint of this Pacific story program is available at the cost of ten cents. Send ten cents in stamps or coins to University of California Press, Berkeley, California. The story is written and directed by Arnold Marquess. The original musical score was composed and conducted by Thomas Paluso. This program came to you from Hollywood. This is the national broadcasting company.