Knights of Rizal to reenact transfer of hero’s remains

MANILA, Philippines - The Order of the Knights of Rizal will lead the first ever reenactment of the transfer national hero Dr. Jose Rizal’s remains on his death anniversary tomorrow.

Reghis Romero II, the order’s supreme commander, made the announcement during a press briefing at the Manila Yacht Club yesterday.

Among the speakers during the briefing was Gemma Cruz Araneta, a descendant of Rizal.

The order announced the details of the procession from the house of Narcisa, Rizal’s sister, in Binondo, to his final resting place at the Rizal Park 100 years ago. Among those who will lead the reenactment are President Aquino and Romero, who will spearhead a contingent of government and community leaders.

Based on documents distributed during press briefing, Rizal was executed at past 7 a.m. on Dec. 30, 1896, in the park, then known as Luneta de Bagumbayan. Narcisa, searching for her brother’s body, found he was secretly buried at the old Paco Cemetery. She asked the guards to place a marble plaque designed by Doroteo Ongjungco containing Rizal’s initials in reverse, “RPJ.”

On Aug. 17, 1898, four days after the Americans took over the city, the remains of Rizal where exhumed. His bones were brought to Narcisa’s house, where they were cleaned and placed in an ivory urn designed by Romualdo Teodoro de Jesus. The urn stayed in Narcisa’s house until 1912.

On Dec. 29, 1912, from Estraude street in Binondo, Manila, the urn was transferred in a procession headed by the Knights of Rizal to the marble hall of the Ayuntamiento de Manila, where it stayed overnight with the knights on guard.

The next morning, the urn was brought to Luneta, Rizal’s final resting place, in a procession. Exactly one year later, the Rizal National Monument – whose original name was “Motto Stella (Guiding Star)” – at the Luneta was inaugurated. The monument was made by Swiss sculptor Richard Kissling, who earlier made the national monument to William Tell, the national hero of Switzerland.