ACTIVATING PRIOR LEARNING

1. What story/stories does your mother usually read when you were young?

What lesson you have learned from the story?

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FAMILY, CHILDHOOD AND EARLY EDUCATION

Dr. Jose Rizal is a unique example of a many-splendored genius who became the greatest hero
of a nation. Endowed by God with versatile gifts, he truly ramked with the world’s geniuses.
(Dr. Sonia Zaide, 2nd Edition Rizal’s Life, works and writings 2008)

INTRODUCTION:

Jose Rizal, like many boys, had many beautiful memories of childhood. He has a
happy home, filled with parental affection, impregnated with family joys. And sanctified by
prayers. In the midst of such peaceful, refined God – loving family, he spent the early years of
his childhood. The beautifies of Calamba impressed him as a growing child and deeply
influenced his mind and character. The happiest period of his life was truly his childhood days in
his natal town.
Jose Rizal was a physician, poet, dramatist, essayist, novelist, historian, architect, painter,
sculptor, educator, linguist, musician, naturalist, ethnologist, surveyor, engineer, farmer,
businessman, economist, geographer, cartographer, bibliophile, philologist, grammarian,
folklorist, philosopher, translator, inventor, magician, humorist, satirist, polemicist, sportsman,
traveler, and prophet. Above and beyond all these, he was a hero and political martyr who
consecrated his life for the redemption of his oppressed people. No wonder, he is now
acclaimed as the national hero of the Philippines.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1. Examine Rizal’s life, family childhood and early education.

2. Point-out the significant other of Jose Rizal.
3. Describe the efforts, diligence and determination of Rizal to achieve excellence in his
early education
4. Identify the people and events and their influence in the early life of Rizal
5. Evaluate the people and events that influence on Rizal’s early life.
6. Make a family tree showing Rizal’s ancestry.

THE RIZAL ANCESTRY

As a typical Filipino, Rizal was a product of the mixture of races. In his veins flowed the blood of
both the East and West. Predominantly, he was a Malayan and was a magnificent specimen of
Asian manhood. Rizal’s great-great grandfather on his father side was Domingo Lameo, a
Chinese immigrant from the Fukien city of Changchow, who arrived in Manila in about 1690. He
became a Christian, married a well-to-do Chinese Christian girl of Manila named Ines dela Rosa,
and assumed in 1731 the surname Mercado, which was appropriate for him because he was a
merchant. The Spanish term Mercado means market in English. Domingo Mercado and Ines
dele Rosa had a son Francisco Mercado, who resided in Binan, married a Chinese-Filipino
mestiza, Cirila Bernacha, and was elected gobernadorcillo of the town. One of their sons, Juan
Mercado, Rizal’s grandfather, married Cirila Alejandro, Chinese-Filipino mestizo. Like his father,
he was elected gobernadorcillo of Binan. Capitan Juan and capitana Cirila had thirteen children,
the youngest being Francisco Mercado, Rizal’s father.

At the age of eight, Francisco Mercado lost his father and grew up to manhood under the care
of his mother. He studied Latin and Philosophy in the College of San Jose in Manila. While
studying in Manila, he met and fell in love with Teodora Alonso Realonda, a student in the
College of Sta Rosa. They were married on June 28, 1848. After which they settle down in
Calamba, where they engaged in farming and business and reared a big family.

It is said that Dona Teodora’s family descended from Lakandula, the last native King of Tondo.
Her great grandfather, Rizla’s maternal great-great grandfather, Eugenio Ursua, (of Japanese
ancestry) who married a Filipina named Benigna (surname unknown). Their daughter Regina,
married Manuel de Quintos, a Filipino-Chinese lawyer from Pangasinan. On eof the daughters of
Atty. De Quintos and Regina was Brigida, who married Lorenzo Alberto Alonso, a prominent
Spanish-Filipino mestizo of Binan. Their children were Narcisa, Teodora (Rizal’s mother)
Gregorio, Manuel, and Jose.

Jose Rizal was born on June 19, 1861.  It was a Wednesday evening in Calamba, Laguna, and
his mother nearly died in the process.  He was baptized three days later, on June 22, by the
parish priest of the Catholic church in his town, Fr. Rufino Collantes from Batangas.   His
godfather, Fr. Pedro Casanas, was a close family friend.  Rizal's mother named him after St.
Joseph, to whom she was ardently devoted.

RIZAL'S FAMILY

Francisco Mercado Rizal was born on May 11, 1818 in Binan, Laguna.  He was a graduate of the
College of San Jose in Manila, studying Latin and Philosophy.  Francisco moved to Calamba to
become a tenant-farmer of a hacienda owned by the Dominicans.  He died at the age of 80 on
January 5, 1898 in Manila. About his father, Jose Rizal says that he is "a model of fathers."
 
Teodora Alonso Realonda was born on November 8, 1826 in Manila.  She was a graduate of the
College of Santa Rosa.  She died at the age of 85 on August 16, 1911 in Manila. About his
mother, Jose Rizal says, "My mother is a woman of more than ordinary culture; she knows
literature and speaks Spanish better than I. She corrected my poems and gave me good advice
when I was studying rhetoric. She is a mathematician and has read many books."

Rizal is the seventh of eleven children:

1. Saturnina
2. Paciano
3. Narcisa
4. Olimpia
5. Lucia 
6. Maria
7. Jose
8. Concepcion
9. Josefa
10. Trinidad
11. Soledad
Rizal's family was a mixture of races.  They were a combination of Negrito, Malay, Indonesian,
Japanese, Chinese, and Spanish, though Jose was predominantly Malayan. Mercado was the
original surname of the Rizal family.  Domingo Lamco, Jose's great-great-grandfather, adopted
the name Rizal in 1731 and it became a second surname of the family.
EARLY EDUCATION

Jose Rizal early education in Calamba and Binan was a typical schooling that a son of Ilustrado
family received during his time, characterized by the four Rs- reading, writing, arithmetic and
religion. Instruction was rigid and strict. Knowledge was forced into minds of the pupils by
means of the tedious memory method aided by the teacher’s whip. Despite the defects of the
Spanish system of elementary education, Jose Rizal was able to acquire the necessary
instruction preparatory for college work in Manila and abroad

EARLY EDUCATION IN CALAMBA AND BIÑAN

Rizal had his early education in Calamba and Biñan. It was a typical schooling that a son of an
ilustrado family received during his time, characterized by the four R’s- reading, writing,
arithmetic, and religion. Instruction was rigid and strict. Knowledge was forced into the minds
of the pupils by means of the tedious memory method aided by the teacher’s whip. Despite the
defects of the Spanish system of elementary education, Rizal was able to acquire the necessary
instruction preparatory for college work in Manila. It may be said that Rizal, who was born a
physical weakling, rose to become an intellectual giant not because of, but rather in spite of,
the outmoded and backward system of instruction obtaining in the Philippines during the last
decades of Spanish regime.

THE HERO’S FIRST TEACHER

The first teacher of Rizal was his mother, who was a remarkable woman of good character and
fine culture. On her lap, he learned at the age of three the alphabet and the prayers. "My
mother," wrote Rizal in his student memoirs, "taught me how to read and to say haltingly the
humble prayers which I raised fervently to God."

As tutor, Doña Teodora was patient, conscientious, and understanding. It was she who first
discovered that her son had a talent for poetry. Accordingly, she encouraged him to write
poems. To lighten the monotony of memorizing the ABC’s and to stimulate her son’s
imagination, she related many stories.

The three uncles who were brothers of his mother also had much on the early childhood of
Rizal. The youngest uncle named Jose took care of teaching regular lessons to Rizal. His huge
uncle Manuel developed his physique until he had a body of silk and steel and no longer a
skinny and sickly boy. And his uncle Gregorio who was a lover of books instilled into his mind
a great love for books

As Jose grew older, his parents employed private tutors to give him lessons at home. The first
was Maestro Celestino and the second, Maestro Lucas Padua. Later, an old man named Leon
Monroy, a former classmate of Rizal’s father, became the boy’s tutor. This old teacher lived at
the Rizal home and instructed Jose in Spanish and Latin. Unfortunately, he did not lived long.
He died five months later.

After a Monroy’s death, the hero’s parents decided to send their gifted son to a private school in
Biñan.

JOSE GOES TO BIÑAN

One Sunday afternoon in June , 1869, Jose, after kissing the hands of his parents and a tearful
parting from his sister, left Calamba for Biñan. He was accompanied by Paciano , who acted as
his second father. The two brothers rode in a carromata, reaching their destination after one
and one-half hours’ drive. They proceeded to their aunt’s house, where Jose was to lodge. It
was almost night when they arrived, and the moon was about to rise.

That same night, Jose, with his cousin named Leandro, went sightseeing in the town. Instead
of enjoying the sights, Jose became depressed because of homesickness. "In the moonlight,"
he recounted, "I remembered my home town, my idolized mother, and my solicitous sisters. Ah,
how sweet to me was Calamba, my own town, in spite of the fact that was not as wealthy as
Biñan."

FIRST DAY IN BIÑAN SCHOOL

The next morning (Monday) Paciano brought his younger brother to the school of Maestro
Justiniano Aquino Cruz.

The school was in the house of the teacher, which was a small nipa hut about 30 meters from
the home of Jose’s aunt.

Paciano knew the teacher quite well because he had been a pupil under him before. He
introduced Jose to the teacher, after which he departed to return to Calamba.

Immediately, Jose was assigned his seat in the class. The teacher asked him:

"Do you know Spanish?"

"A little, sir," replied the Calamba lad.
"Do you know Latin?"
"A little, sir."

The boys in the class, especially Pedro, the teacher’s son laughed at Jose’s answers.
The teacher sharply stopped all noises and begun the lessons of the day.

Jose described his teacher in Biñan as follows: "He was tall, thin, long-necked, with sharp nose
and a body slightly bent forward, and he used to wear a sinamay shirt, woven by the skilled
hands of the women of Batangas. He knew by the heart the grammars by Nebrija and Gainza.
Add to this severity that in my judgement was exaggerated and you have a picture, perhaps
vague, that I have made of him, but I remember only this."

First School BrawlIn the afternoon of his first day in school, when the teacher was having his
siesta, Jose met the bully, Pedro. He was angry at this bully for making fun of him during his
conversation with the teacher in the morning.

Jose challenged Pedro to a fight. The latter readily accepted, thinking that he could easily beat
the Calamba boy who was smaller and younger.

The two boys wrestled furiously in the classroom, much to the glee of their classmates. Jose,
having learned the art of wrestling from his athletic Tio Manuel, defeated the bigger boy. For
this feat, he became popular among his classmates.

After the class in the afternoon, a classmate named Andres Salandanan challenged him to an
arm-wrestling match. They went to a sidewalk of a house and wrestled with their arms. Jose,
having the weaker arm, lost and nearly cracked his head on the sidewalk.

In succeeding days he had other fights with the boys of Biñan. He was not quarrelsome by
nature, but he never ran away from a fight.

BEST STUDENT IN SCHOOL

In academic studies, Jose beat all Biñan boys. He surpassed them all in Spanish, Latin, and
other subjects.

Some of his older classmates were jealous of his intellectual superiority. They wickedly squealed
to the teacher whenever Jose had a fight outside the school, and even told lies to discredit him
before the teacher’s eyes. Consequently the teacher had to punish Jose. 

EARLY SCHOOLING IN BIÑAN

Jose had a very vivid imagination and a very keen sense of observation. At the age of seven he
traveled with his father for the first time to Manila and thence to Antipolo to fulfill the promise
of a pilgrimage made by his mother at the time of his birth. They embarked in a casco, a very
ponderous vessel commonly used in the Philippines. It was the first trip on the lake that Jose
could recollect. As darkness fell he spent the hours by the katig, admiring the grandeur of the
water and the stillness of the night, although he was seized with a superstitious fear when he
saw a water snake entwine itself around the bamboo beams of the katig. With what joy did he
see the sun at the daybreak as its luminous rays shone upon the glistening surface of the wide
lake, producing a brilliant effect! With what joy did he talk to his father, for he had not uttered
a word during the night!

When they proceeded to Antipolo, he experienced the sweetest emotions upon seeing the gay
banks of the Pasig and the towns of Cainta and Taytay. In Antipolo he prayed, kneeling before
the image of the Virgin of Peace and Good Voyage, of whom he would later sing in elegant
verses. Then he saw Manila, the great metropolis , with its Chinese sores and European
bazaars. And visited his elder sister, Saturnina, in Santa Ana, who was a boarding student in the
Concordia College.

When he was nine years old, his father sent him to Biñan to continue studying Latin, because
his first teacher had died. His brother Paciano took him to Biñan one Sunday, and Jose bade his
parents and sisters good-bye with tears in his eyes. Oh, how it saddened him to leave for the
first time and live far from his home and his family! But he felt ashamed to cry and had to
conceal his tears and sentiments. "O Shame," he explained, "how many beautiful and pathetic
scenes the world would witness without thee!"

They arrived at Biñan in the evening. His brother took him to the house of his aunt where he
was to stay, and left him after introducing him to the teacher. At night, in company with his
aunt’s grandson named Leandro, Jose took a walk around the town in the light of the moon. To
him the town looked extensive and rich but sad and ugly.

His teacher in Biñan was a severe disciplinarian. His name was Justiniano Aquino Cruz. "He was
a tall man, lean and long-necked, with a sharp nose and a body slightly bent forward. He used
to wear a sinamay shirt woven by the deft hands of Batangas women. He knew by memory the
grammars of Nebrija and Gainza. To this add a severity which, in my judgement I have made of
him, which is all I remember."

The boy Jose distinguished himself in class, and succeeded in surpassing many of his older
classmates. Some of these were so wicked that, even without reason, they accused him before
the teacher, for which, in spite of his progress, he received many whippings and strokes from
the ferule. Rare was the day when he was not stretched on the bench for a whipping or
punished with five or six blows on the open palm. Jose’s reaction to all these punishments was
one of intense resentment in order to learn and thus carry out his father’s will.

Jose spent his leisure hours with Justiniano’s father-in-law, a master painter. From him he took
his first two sons, two nephews, and a grandson. His way life was methodical and well
regulated. He heard mass at four if there was one that early, or studied his lesson at that hour
and went to mass afterwards. Returning home, he might look in the orchard for a mambolo
fruit to eat, then he took his breakfast, consisting generally of a plate of rice and two dried
sardines. 

After that he would go to class, from which he was dismissed at ten, then home again. He ate
with his aunt and then began at ten, then home again. He ate with his aunt and then began to
study. At half past two he returned to class and left at five. He might play for a short time with
some cousins before returning home. He studied his lessons, drew for a while, and then prayed
and if there was a moon, his friends would invite him to play in the street in company with
other boys.

Whenever he remembered his town, he thought with tears in his eyes of his beloved father, his
idolized mother, and his solicitous sisters. Ah, how sweet was his town even though not so
opulent as Biñan! He grew sad and thoughtful.

While he was studying in Biñan, he returned to his hometown now and then. How long the road
seemed to him in going and how short in coming! When from afar he descried the roof of his
house, secret joy filled his breast. How he looked for pretexts to remain longer at home! A day
more seemed to him a day spent in heaven, and how he wept, though silently and secretly,
when he saw the calesa that was flower that him Biñan! Then everything looked sad; a flower
that he touched, a stone that attracted his attention he gathered, fearful that he might not see
it again upon his return. It was a sad but delicate and quite pain that possessed him.

SOURCES

(http://www.joserizal.ph/ed01.html)
http://www.angelfire.com/punk/jrizal/ancestry.html