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Injustices to Rizal’s Family His family had more trouble over their land without waiting for the outcome of the lawsuit the Governor General, no more remembered for his honesty in the Philippines than he is in Cuba for his humanity. "Butcher" Weyler, had sent troops to Kalamba. The litigants were told they must carry away their buildings and sugar mills but could bring them back again should the lawsuits be decided in their favor. As this meant the destruction of their improvements naturally no one removed anything and, under protection of his soldiers by Weyler's authority, all the houses were torn apart valued at about 150,000 pesos. Twenty-five Kalambans, including Rizal's father, brother, brothers-in law and two sisters were banished to a distant part of the Archipelago, by Weyler's order. Dr. Rizal went to Hong Kong and, from there, asked permission of his parents and of the new governor general, Despujol, to return to the Islands. Meantime he practiced medicine in Hong Kong. He wrote, too, some articles on the Kalamba trouble for the "Hong Kong Telegraph" and made a short visit to British North Borneo. There he obtained the promise of land for a Filipino colony through the influence of his recommendations from Europe, especially of his London friend, Dr. Roth, editor of Truebner's Monthly of which Rizal had contributed while in England. Despujol was proving the best governor general the Philippines had had in many years and Rizal wrote to him again, expressing appreciation of his work and notifying him of his own intention of returning to take his relatives to North Borneo. The governor general's reply, through the Spanish consul of Hong Kong, was that any one who observed the laws might live in Philippines but with the scarcity of labor there was little patriotism in taking any of its people to foreign lands. Rizal left in Hong Kong, two letters to be opened after his death. The one to the Filipino people said that there were those who no longer permitted him to serve the Philippines, an illusion to the jealousy of the del Pilar faction, so his duty was now to his family who had suffered so much and through his death possibly these could live in their own country undistributed. Then there would be higher respect, too, for Philippine patriots, and evidently he considered these did not stand very high then, if one should show enough disinterested patriotism to die for his country. The letter to the family regretted their sufferings but showed no regret over his own troubled life or the prospect of his death. Source: Back to The Life of Jose Rizal
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