At 6:30 a.m. on 30 December 1896, Jose Rizal, bound elbow-to-elbow, left Fort Santiago by foot for Bagumbayan field, accompanied by a bugler, a drummer and two Jesuit priests, Fr. Estanislao March and Fr. Jose Villaclara. They took the Paseo de Maria Cristina, now called Bonifacio Drive. Behind Rizal was his defense counsel Lt. Luis Taviel de Andrade. A squad of soldiers surrounded them as they walked slowly. Upon reaching Bagumbayan field, Rizal placed himself in the middle of the square, filled with 400 men, with a band playing.
Eight native soldiers composed the firing squad. Behind them were eight Spanish soldiers with Mauser rifles, ready to shoot the native soldiers if they refused to shoot Rizal.
Rizal refused to be shot in the back, saying he had not been a traitor to the country or to Spain. But the Spanish captain in charge of the execution told him that he had orders to shoot him in the back. Rizal reluctantly agreed, but he firmly refused to kneel or be blindfolded. One last request of Rizal was that the soldiers spare his head and instead shoot him in the back near the heart. The captain agreed. Rizal then shook hands with his defense counsel, Lt. Taviel de Andrade and thanked him for his efforts in defending him. A military doctor came to take his pulse; it was normal. The Jesuits raised a crucifix for him to kiss, but Rizal had already turned away silently and prepared himself for death.
The order to fire was given. Before the shots rang out, Rizal shouted,“Consumatum est!” (It is finished!). When the bullets hit their mark, Rizal made a last effort to turn around, thus, falling lifeless with his back on the ground, his face to the sky. Another soldier gave the body a “tiro de gracia” -- one last shot to make sure Rizal was dead. Shouts of “Viva Espana!” rent the air. The band of the regiment struck the first chords of “Marcha de Cadiz.” By 7:03 a.m. the execution was over.
It is said that a dog (mascot) ran around the lifeless body, whining. Whose mascot was it? Nobody knows, or nothing was written about it except that it was captured by the camera’s eye as being among the crowd that witnessed the execution that morning.
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