”The sisters of Rizal went to the gates of the palace of Malacañang, where they waited for Polavieja to emerge. When he finally appeared, they “collapsed into tears”, “throwing themselves at his feet, pleading for clemency. The General would have wished that the fulfillment of unavoidable duties could permit to identify the clemency of authority with the pity of his own intimate feelings.

Wenceslao Emilio Retana, Vida y Escritos del Dr. José Rizal, 1907, citing a telegram by correspondent Santiago Mataix to the Heraldo de Madrid which was published in the evening edition of December 29, 1896 (via mlq3)