GEC 9: The Life and Works of Rizal

Chapter: 4 Week: 5

Chapter 4:
The Life of Jose Rizal

Objectives:
At the end of the rating period, students should be able to:
1. Discuss about Rizal’s family, childhood, and early education;
2. Describe people and events that influenced Rizal’s early life;
3. Explain Rizal’s growth as a propagandist; and
4. Identify the factors that led Rizal’s execution

Discussion:

Rizal’s Family
Jose Rizal was born on June 9, 1861 in the town of Calamaba, province of
Laguna. Calamba, then a town with around three to four thousand inhabitants, is
located 54 kilometers south of Manila. It is found in the heart of the region known for its
agricultural prosperity and is among the major producers of sugar and rice, with an
abundant variety of tropical fruits. On the southern part of the town lies the majestic
Mount Makiling, and on the other side is the lake called Laguna de Bay. The wonders of
creation that surrounded Rizal made him love nature from an early age. His student
memoirs show how his love of nature influenced his appreciation of the arts and
sciences (Coates, 1992).

Rizal’s father, Francisco Mercado, was a wealthy farmer who leased lands from
the Dominican friars. Francisco’s earliest ancestors were Siang-co and Zun-nio, who
later gave birth to Lam-com is said have from the district of Fujian in southern China
and migrated to the Philippines in the late 1600s. In 1697, he was baptized in Binondo,
adopting “Domingo” as his first name. He married Ines de la Rosa of a known
entrepreneurial family in Binondo. Domingo and Ines later settled in the estate of San
Isidro Labrador, owned by the Dominicans, In 1731, they had a son whom the named
Francisco Mercado. The surname “Mercado” which means “market” was a common
surname adopted by many Chinese merchants at that time (Reyno, 2012).

Francisco Mercado became one of the richest in Binan and owned the largest
herd of carabaos. He was also active in local politics and was elected as capitan del
pueblo in 1783. He had a son named Juan Mercado who was also elected as capitan
del pueblo in 1808, 1813, and 1823 (Reyno, 2012.

Juan Mercado married Cirila Alejandra, a native of Binan. They had 13 children,
including Francisco Engracio, the father of Jose Rizal. Following Governor Narciso
Claveria’s decree in 1849 which ordered the Filipinos to adopt Spanish surnames,
FRancisco Engracio Mercado added the surname “Rizal” from the word “ricial” meaning
green field”, as he later settled in the town of Calamba as a farmer growing sugar cane,
rice, and indigo.

Being in a privileged family, Francisco Engracion (1818-1898) had a good

education that started in a Latin school in Binan. Afterwards, he attended the College of
San Jose in Manila. In 1848, Francisco married Teodora Alonso (1826-1911) who
belonged to one of the wealthiest families in Manila. Teodora, whose father was a
member of the Spanish Cortes, was educated at the College of Sta. Rosa. Rizal
described her as “a woman of more than ordinary culture” and that she is “a
mathematician and has read many books” (Letter to Blumentritt, November 8 ,1888).
Because of Francisco and Teodora’s industry and handwork, their family became a
prominent member of the principalia class in the town of Calamba. Their house was
among the first concrete houses to be built in the town.

Jose Rizal (1861- 1896) is the seventh among the eleven children of Francisco
Mercado and Teodora Alonso. The other children were: Saturnina (1850-1913); Paciano

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(1851-1930); Narcisa (1852 - 1939); Olimpia (1855-1887); Lucia (1857- 1919); Maria
(1859-1945);Concepcion (1862-1865); Josefa (1865-1945); Trinidad (1868-1951); and
Soledad (1870-1929).

Rizal was affectionate to all siblings. However his relation with his only brother,
Paciano, was more than that of an older brother. Paciano became Rizal’s second father.
Rizal highly respected him and valued all his advice. It was Paciano who accompanied
Rizal when he first went to school in Binan. It was also him who convinced Rizal to
pursue his studies in Europe. Like Rizal, Paciano had his college education in Manila
but latter decided to join the Katipunan and fight for independence. After the revolution.
Paciano retired to his home in Los Banos and led a quiet until his death in 1930.

Childhood and Early Education

Rizal had good memories of childhood in Calamba. As a family, they prayed

together during the Angelus. There were times when they would stay in the garden
exchanging stories. It was in this garden where he learned to appreciate nature. Rizal’s
childhood was full of love and care shown to him by his parents and siblings. Due to his
poor health, Rizal had a personal servant who, after the daily Angelus, would tell him
legends and fairy tales. These stories made him become interested in myths and
folklore's.

As a young boy, Rizal demonstrated intelligence and learned easily. His first
teacher was Dona Teodora who taught him how to pray. He was only three years old
when he learned the alphabet. At a very young age, he already showed a great interest
in reading books. He enjoyed staying in their library at home with his mother. Dona
Teodora would notice Rizal’s skills in poetry. She would ask him to write verses. Later,
she felt the need for a private tutor for the young Rizal.

Just like the other children from the principalia class, Rizal experienced
education under private tutors. His first private tutor was Maestro Celestino followed by
Maestro Lucas Padua. But it was Leon Monroy, his third tutor, who honed his skills in
basic Latin, reading, and writing. This home education from private tutors prepared
Rizal to formal schooling which he first experienced in Binan.

At age of nine, Rizal left Calamba with his brother to study in Binan. After one-
and-a-half hour of travel they reached the town on board a carromata. They went to the
house of their aunt where Rizal stayed for more than year., Before leaving his brother,
Paciano introduced Rizal to the teacher, Justiniano Aquinoi Cruz, who was also
Paciano’s former teacher.

The class, as described by Rizal (J.Jacinto, 1879). was in a nipa house, about
thirty meters away from his aunt house. Everyday Rizal, would wake up early and either
hear mass at four o’clock in the morning or study his lesson first and go to mass after.
After returning home, he would take breakfast and go to class from which he would
come out at ten o’clock. He would then again go to school at wo o’clock and come out
at five. He would pray with his cousins at six and then study for a while before going to
sleep.

In Binan, he excelled in Latin and Spanish. He also had painting lessons under
Maestro Cruz’ father -in-law, Jauncho, an old painter. Rizal’s leisure hours were mostly
spent in Juancho’s studio where he was given free lessons in painting and drawing.

After receiving a letter from his sister, Saturnina, Rizal returned to Calamba on
December 17, 1870 after one- and-a-half of schooling in Binan. He went home on board
the steamship Talim and was accompanied by Arturo Camps, a Frechman and friend of
his father (P.Jacinto, 1879).

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Student of Manila

Rizal was sent by his father to Ateneo Municpal, formerly knwon as Escuela Pia,
for a six-year program, Bachiller en Artes. He took the entrance exam on June 10,
1872, four months after the execution of Gomburza. He followed the advice of his
brother, to use the name Jose Rizal instead of Jose Mercadp. He feared that Rizal
might trouble if it was known openly that they brothers since Paciano was known to
have links to Jose Burgos, one of the leaders of the secularization movement and one
three priests executed.

During this time, Ateneo Municipal was known to offer the best education for
boys. Like all colleges in Manila, Ateneo was managed ny priests, but with an important
difference in the sence that these religious were not friars but Jesuit Fathers. Students
in Ateneo were required to attend masses in the morning before the start of classes.
Ateneo was also known for its rigid discipline and religious instruction that trained
students’ character.

Students in Ateneo were divided into groups, the Romans and the Carthaginians.
The Roman Empire was composed boarding at Ateneo while the Carthginian Empire
was composed of non-boarding students. This grouping was done to stimulate the spirit
of competition among the students. At the start lagged behind his classmates but
because of his perseverance and seriousness in studies, he became the “emperor”, a
title given to the most outstanding student in class, in just a month’s time (Zaide and
Zaide, 1999).

Rizal studied at Ateneo from 1872-1877. In those eyars, he consistently showed

excellence in his academic performance. He passed the oral examination on March 14,
1877 and graduated with a degree Bachiller en Artes, with the highest honors.

After finishing Bachiller en Artes, Rizal was sent by Don Franciscp to the
University of Sato Tomas, Initially, Dona Teodora opposed the diead for fear of what
had happened to Gomburza. Despite this, Rizal still pursued university education and
enrolled in UST. During his freshman year (1877-1878), he attended the course
Philosophy and Letters. Also in the same year, he took up a vocational course in
Ateneno that gave him the title pepito agrimensor (expert surveyor) issued on
November 25, 1881.

In his second year at UST, Rizal shifted his course to Medicine. He felt need to
take up this course after learning about his mother’s failing eyesight. Rizal’s academic
performance in UST was not as impressive as that in Ateneo. He was a good student in
Medicine but not as gifted as he was in Arts and Letters. Despite this, he was still one of
the seven students who remained in the course in his last year at UST out of original
batch of twenty-four (Jose, 2011).

In 1882, Rizal and Paciano made a secret pact - Rizal would go to Europe to
complete his medical studies there and prepared himself for the great task of liberating
the country from Spanish tyranny.

Rizal in Europe

On May 3, 1882, Rizal left the Philippines for Spain. In his first abroad, Rizal was
very excited to learn new things. He was only twenty years old and as a young man, he
was very observant and eager to interact with foreign nationals. He made sketches of
his fellow passengers and of the things thaty he saw during his travels.

Rizal reached Barcelona on June 16, 1882. He arrived during the summer
vacation so he was able to meet up with former classmates in Ateneo. These
classmates organized a welcome party for Rizal at a coffee house in Plaza de

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Caratuna. They toured Rizal around the city and brought him to the famous historical
sites in Barcelona. In this city, Rizal found to write an essay entitled “EL Amor Patrio
(Love of Country). This essay was published on August 20, 1882 in Diarriong Tagalos
where he used the pen name Laong Laab.

After the summer vacation, Rizal decied to move to Madrid where he enrolled in
Medicine and Philosophy and Letters at the Universidad Central de Madrid (presently
the Universidad Complutense de Madrid) on November 3, 1882. He also took lessons in
painting and sculpture at the Academia de San Fernando, and classes in French,
English, and German at the Madrid Ateneo. Not content with these activities, he still
managed to enroll in fencing class at the school of Sanz and Carbonell. In January of
1883, Rizal wrote to his family and informed them that: “I am now studying Italian and
have made a bet that I shall be able to speack it in two months” (Guerrero, 2020).

Rizal was awarded with the degree and title of Licentiate in Medicine for passing
the medical examination in June 1884. With this title, Rizal was able to practice
medicine. He continued enrolling in courses that would have led to a Doctorate in
Medicine but the degree was not given to him because he failed to pay the free required
to defend his thesis. It is important to note that st this time, Rizal was already feeling the
effect of the difficult economic situation in Calamba. His family faced financial problems
brought about by low crop production because of drought and locusts aggravated by the
hike in rentals on the haciendas by the Dominicans. Consequently. There were delays
his monthly allowance from the Philippines.

Rizal also took examinations in Greek, Latin, and world on the haciendas by the
Dominicans. Consequently, there was delays in his monthly allowance from the
Philippines. Rizal also took examination in Greek, Latin, and world history. He won the
first prize in Greek and a grade of “excellent” in history. He also obtained the degree
licenciado en Filosofia y Letras (Licentiate in Philosophy and Letters) from the
Universidad Central de Madrid on June 19, 1885 with a rating of sobrealiente.

In between his studies, Rizal made time for meeting fellow Filipinos in Madrid.
Know as ilustrados, these Filipinos (enlightened ones) formed the Circulo Hispano
Filipino which held informal programs with activities like petry-reading and debates. As a
prolific writer and poet, RizaL WAS ASKED TO WRITE A POEM. As a result, he wrote
Mi Piden Versos (They Ask Me for Verses).

In one of the Filipino reunions at the house of Pedro Paterno in Madrid on

January 2, 1884, Rizal proposed the writing of a novel about the Philippine society. The
group approved the project but this did not materialize. His fellow Filipinos who agreed
to help him did not write anything so he drafted the novel alone. It was in Madrid that he
was able to write the first half of his novel. Noli Me Tangere.

While in Madrid, Rizal was exposed to liberal ideas through the masons that he
met. He was impressed with the massoons view about knowledge and reasoning and
how they value brotherhood. He joined the Masonry and became a Master Mason at the
Lodge Solidaridad on November 15, 1890.

Filipinos in Mardrid occasionally visited Don Oablo Ortega y Rey,m the former
city mayos of Manila under the term of Governor-General Carlos Maria de la Torre.
Rizal joined his fellow Filipinos at Don Pablo’s house where he met and became
attracted to Consuelo, Don pablo’s daughter. However, Rizal did not pursue her bacuse
of his commitment to Leonor Rivera. His frined, Eduardo de Lete, was also in love with
Consuelo but did not want to ruin friendship. In 1883, Rizal wrote a peom for Consuelo
entitled A Senorita, C.O. y R.

Rizal specialized in ophthalmology and trained under the leading

ophthalmologists in Europe like Dr. Louis de Weckert of Paris for whom he worked as

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an assistant from October 1885 to March 1886. In Germany, he also worked with expert
ophalmologist Dr. Javier Galezowsky and Dr. Otto Becker in Heidelbery in 1886 and Dr.
Schulzer and Dr. Schwiegger in 1887 (De Vianna, 2011).

During his stay in Germany, Rizal befriended different scholars like Fredrich
Ratzel, a German historian. Through his friend, Ferdinand Blumentritt, Rizal was also
able to meet Feodor Jagor and Hans Virchow, anthropologists who were doing studies
on Philippine culture. Rizal mastered the German language and wrote a paper entitled
Tagalische Verkunst (Tagalog Metrical Arts.) He also translated Schiller’s William Tell
into Tagalog in 1886. It was also in Berlin where he finished Noli Me Tangere which
was published on March 21, 1887 with financial help from his friend Maximo Viola.

After five years in Europe, Rizal went home to Calamba on August 8, 1887. He
spent time with the members of his family who were delighted to see him again. He also
kept himself busy by opening a medical clinic and curing the sick. He came to be known
as Doctor Uliman as he was mistaken for a German. His vacation, however, was cut
short because he was targeted by the friars who were portrayed negatively in his novel
Noli Me Tangere. He left the country for the second time on February 16, 1888.

Rizal’s Second Trip to Europe

In his second trip, Rizal became more active in the Propaganda Movement with
fellow ilustrados like Marcelo H. Del Pilar, Graciano Lopez Janena, Anbtonio Luna,
Mariano Ponce and Trinidad Pardo de Tavera. The Propaganda Movement campaigned
for reforms such as: (1) for the Philippines to be made a province of Spain so that native
Filipinos would have equal rights accorded to Spaniards; (2) representation of the
Philippines in the Spanish Cortes; and (3) secularization of parishes.

Rizal became preoccupied with writing articles and essays which were published
in the Propaganda Movement’s newspaper, La Solidaridad. Among his intellectual
works in Europe in his annotation of Antonio de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas
(1890) in which Rizal showed that even before the coming of the Spaniards, the
Fili[pinos already had a developed culture, He also wrote an essay entitled “Sobre la
Indolencia de loas Filipinas” (On the Indolence of the Filipinos) published in 1890 in
which Rizal showed that even before the coming of the Spaniards, the Filipino already
had a developed culture. He also wrote an essay entitled “Sobre la Indolencia de los
Filipinos” (On the Indolence of the Filipinos) published in 1890 in which he attributed the
Filipinos’ ‘INDOLENCE’ to different factors such as climate disorders. Another essay he
wrote strongly called for reforms; it was called “Filipinas Dentro de Cien Anos” (The
Philippine a Century Hence) p[published in parts from 1889 to 1890.

By June 1891, while in Brussels, Rizal completed his second novel, El

Fiilibusterismo, which in Brussels, Rizal completed his second novel, El Filibusterismo,
which was published on September 18, 1891 through the help of his friend Valentine
Ventura. Compared with his Noli, Rizal’s El Fili was more radical with its narrative
portrayed of a society on the verge of a revolution.

In 1892, Rizal decided to return to the Philippines thinking that the real struggle
was in his homeland. In spite of warnings and his family’s disapproval, Rizal arrived in
the Philippines on June 26, 1892. Immediately, he visited his friends in Central Luzon
and encouraged them to join the La Liga Filipina, a socio-civic organization that Rizal
established on July 3, 1892.Unfortunately, just a few days after the Liga’s formation,
Rizal was arrested and brought to Fort Santiago on July 6, 1892. He was charged with
bringing with him from Hong Kong leaflets entitled Probres Frailes (Poor Friears) a
satire against the rich Dominican Frailes , a satire against the rich Dominican friars and
their accumulation of wealth which was against their vow of poverty. In spite of his
protests and denial of having those materials, Rizal was exiled to Dapitan in Mindanao.

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Exile in Dapitan

Rizal arrived in Dapitan on board the streamer Cebu on July 17, 1892. Dapitan
(now a city whithin Zamboanga del Norte) was a remote town in Mindanao whioch
served as a politico-militay outpost of the Spaniards in the Philippines. It was header by
Captain Ricardo Carnicero, who became a friend of Rizal during his exile. He gave Rizal
Rizal the permission to explore the place and required him to report once a week in his
office.

The quit place of Dapitan became Rizal’s home from 1892 to 1896. Here, he
practiced medicine, pursued scientific studies, and continued his artistic pursuits in
sculpture, painting, sketching, and writing poetry. He established a school for boys and
promoted community development projects. He also found time to study the Malayan
language and other Philippine languages. He engaged himself in farming, and
commerce and even invented a wooden machine for making bricks.

On September 21, 1892, Rizal won the second prize in a lottery together with
Ricardo Carnicero and another Spaniard. His share amounted to 6,200 pesos. A portion
of Rizals’ winning was used in purchasing land approximately one kilometer away from
Dapitan in a palace known as Talisay. He built his house on the seashore of Talisay as
well as a school and a hospital within the area.
In his letter to Blumentritt (December 19, 1893), Rizal Described his daily activities in
Dapitan:
I am going to tell you how we live here. I have a square house, another
hexagonal, and another octagonal all made of bamboo, wood and nipa. In the
square my mother, sister Trinidad, a nephew and I live. In the octagonal my boys
live-some boys whom I teach arithmetic, Spanish and English-and now and then
paint who has been operated on. In the hexagonal are my chickens. From my
house I hear the mumur of crystalline rivulet that comes from the high rocks. I
see the beach, the sea where I have two small crafts- two canoes or barotos, as
they call them here. I have many fruit trees-mangoes, lanzones,guyabano,
baluno nangka etc. I have rabbits, dogs, cats, etc.
I get up early at 5 :00 I visit my fields, I feed the chickens . I wake up my folks,
and start them moving. At 7:30 we take breakfast-tea, pastry, cheese, sweets,
etc. Afterwards I treat my poor patients who come to my Land. I dress and go
to the town im my baroto, I treat the people there and I return at 12:00 and take
lunch .Afterwards, I teach the boys until 4:00 and I spend the afternoon farming. I
spend the evening reading and studying.

Relative to Rizal's project to improve and beautify Dapitan, he made a big relief
map of Mindanao in the plaza and used it to teach geography. With this map, which still
exists today, he discussed to the town people the position of Dapitan in relation to other
places of Mindanao. Assisted by his pupils, Rizal also constructed a water system to
supply the town with water for drinking and irrigation. He also helped the people in
putting up lampposts at every corner of the town.

Having heard of Rizal fame as an ophthalmologist, George Taufer who was

suffering from an eye ailment traveled from Hong Kong to Dapitan. He was
accompanied by his adopted daughter, Josephine Bracken, who eventually fell in love
with Rizal. They lived as husband and wife in Rizal's octagonal house after being denied
the sacrament of marriage by Father Obach, the parish priest of Dapitan, due to Rizal's
refusal to retract his statements against the Church and to accept other conditions

On the eve of June 21, 1896, Dr. Pio Valenzuela visited Rizal in Dapitan and
informed him about the founding of Katipunan and the planned revolution. Rizal
objected to it, citing the importance of a well-planned movement with sufficient arms.
Meanwhile, Rizal had been sending letters to the Governor General Ramon Blanco.
Twice he sent letters, one in 1894 and another in 1895. He asked for a review of his

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case. He said that if his request would not be granted, he would volunteer to serve as a
surgeon under the Spanish army fighting in the Cuban revolution.
On July 30, 1896, Rizal's request to go to Cuba was approved. The next day, he left for
Manila on board the steamer España. And on September 3, 1896, he boarded the
steamer Isla de Pamay which would bring him to Barcelona. Upon arriving at the fort,
however, Governor General Despujol told him that there was an order to ship him back
to Manila. On November 3, 1896, Rizal arrived in Manila and was immediately brought
to Fort Santiago.

Trial and Execution

The preliminary investigation of Rizal's case began on November 20, 1896. He

was accused of being the main organizer of the revolution by having proliferated the
ideas of rebellion and of founding illegal organizations. Rizal pleaded not guilty and
even wrote a manifesto appealing to the revolutionaries to discontinue the uprising.
Rizal's lawyer, Lt. Luis Taviel de Andrade, tried his best to save Rizal. However, on
December 26, 1896, the trial ended and the sentence was read. José Rizal was found
guilty and sentenced to death by firing squad.

On December 28, 1896, Governor-General pursuitsCamilo de Polavieja signed

the court decision. He later decreed that Rizal be executed by firing squad at 7:00 a.m.
of December 30. Rizal, on his last remaining days, composed his longest poem, Mi
Ultimo Adios, which was about his farewell to the Filipino people. When his mother and
sisters visited him on December 29, 1896, Rizal gave away his remaining possessions.
He handed his gas lamp to his sister Trinidad and murmured softly in English, “There is
something inside." Eventually, Training and her sister Maria would extract from the lamp
the copy of Rizal's last poem.

At 6:30 in the morning of December 30, 1896, Rizal, in black suit with his arms
tied behind his back, walked to Bagumbayan. The orders were given and shots were
fired. Consummatum est! ("It is finished!”) Rizal died offering his life for his country and
its freedom.

Evaluation:
A. ESSAY. DIRECTION: Read the question carefully. Write best answer for each
question.
1. Describe the background of Rizal’s Ancestry that might have contributed to
his life and education.
2. Who were the important persons that influence Rizal in his intellectual
pursuits?
3. What were Rizal’s activities in Dapitan and their impact?

B. Direction: Reflect on the topics carefully. Write your reflection neatly in a long
size bond paper. It can be handwriting of yours or encoded on your respective
computer/s.
Reflection Paper No. 2
Rizal’s Execution: United a Nation

References:
a. RhodalynWani-Obias et.al., The Life and Works of Jose Rizal, C&E Publishing
Inc. 2018
b. Jose Rizal: First Global Filipino Hero, Ruben D. Maranan, PhD., C&E Publishing
Inc. 2015

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Prepared by: Noted:

OSCAR H. FALCON AMIEL A. BRACINO

Instructor Program Chairperson of GEC Department

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