Lesson 2.2: The Rizal Family

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DEPARTMENT OF LIBERAL

ARTS AND BEHAVIORAL


SCIENCES
Visca, Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines
Phone: (053)565-0600 loc. 1028
Email: dlabs.vsu@vsu.edu.ph
Website: www.vsu.edu.ph

Lesson 2.2: The Rizal Family


Lesson Summary
From the previous lesson, we learned the conditions of the 19th century Philippines—Rizal’s
context. This lesson provides a background of the family of Rizal and the significant events of his family
life during his early years as these things molded the kind of person that he is. This is also an overview of
who Rizal is, and the significant events during his younger years which had a great impact on his life and
destiny. Rizal said “Without 1872, there would be today no Plaridel or Jaena or Sanciano, and those
brave and generous colonies of Filipinos in Europe would not succeed (Adarna Book Services, 1999 from
Jose Rizal in a Letter to Mariano Ponce in 1898).

Learning Outcomes
1. Appreciate Rizal’s family.
2. Understand significant events that happened to Rizal especially during his early years and to
his family.

Motivation Question
Had the family of Rizal helped him mold to be the kind of person that he is and, how about you?What
incident in your life which had so much impact unto your life’s decision?

Discussion
The Family Background of Rizal
In the 1700’s, there was growing anti-Chinese hostility by the Spanish authorities. The Rizal’s
were descendants of Domingo Lam-co, a Chinese immigrant to the Philippines during the late 1600s.
Because of this, Lam-co changed their surname to Mercado. Upon the invitation of the Spanish
landowners, Lam-co moved his family to Biñan and became landowners, too. With his wife, Inez de la
Roza, he sired Francisco Mercado I, who later sired Juan Mercado, the father of Francisco Mercado II –
Jose Rizal’s father (Balutol et al., 2018 fr.Zaide and Zaide, 2014 and Adanza, 1995).
Don Francisco lived in Biñan all his life until he married Doña Teodora Alonza y Realonda. The
Mercado family leased a Dominican-owned farmland and they built a house made of stone
(bahaynabato). The family belonged to the leading citizens of the town principals. As principales, they
accommodated all visitors including priests, Spanish officials, and the guardia civil. Don Francisco
adopted the name “Rizal”, in compliance with Governor-General Narciso Claveria’s decree in 1849 to
adopt new surnames for taxation purposes. In the same manner, Alonso chose the surname “Realonda”.
The word Rizal comes from the Spanish word “racial” which means “the young green after growth of
fields'' or simply “green field” (Balotol, Jr. et al., 2018 from Zaide and Zaide, 2014 and Adanza, 1995).
On June 19, 1861 in Calamba, Laguna, Doña Teodora gave birth to her seventh child and second
son, Jose Protacio Mercado. In his autobiography entitled, Memoria de un Estudiante de Manila, with
the pen name of P. Jacinto (Rizal’s pen name as the writer), he recounted that on the day of his birth,
Doña Teodora made a vow to take on a pilgrimage to Antipolo in gratitude for having survived a difficult

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childbirth. Mercado was full of joy coupled with reverence as being described in his autobiography. His
father was a model of fathers who had given all his children an education. Rizal considered his mother as
a cultured woman of Manila who knew literature and was also a mathematician.

Rizal’s Siblings

The union of Teodora Alonso Realonda and Francsico Mercado was blessed with 11 children.
These were as follows:
Saturnina – married Manuel T. Hidalgo of Tanauan, Batangas.
Paciano – a revolutionary general and retired to farming, was influential in the formation of Rizal’s
nationalist view.
Narcissa – married Antonio Lopez who was a teacher from Morong, Rizal.
Olimpia – married Silvestre Ubaldo who was a telegraph operator.
Lucia – named Mariano Herbosa of Calamba.
Maria – married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Binan, Laguna.
Jose – married Josephine Bracken.
Concepcion – died at the age of three.
Josefa – was the leader of the women’s Katipunan chapter leader.
Trinidad – a Katipunan member.
Soledad – married Pantaleon Quintero of Calamba.
Each of his siblings influenced Rizal in one way or another.
The Reasons Why Rizal and His family Experienced Too Much Sorrow
An incident that carved an unforgettable mark on Jose Rizal’s mind was when Doña Teodora was
accused as an accomplice of trying to poison the wife of her brother Jose Maria Alberto. Rizal’s uncle,
after a business trip to Europe returned and found out that his wife abandoned their home and children.
Jose Alberto planned to divorce her, but upon the intervention of Jose’s mother the pending separation
was averted. In spite of that, the unfaithful wife connived with the lieutenant (a close friend of Jose
Alberto’s wife) to fabricate unfounded pieces of evidence that her husband attempted to poison her
with the help of Doña Teodora.
In his letter to Ferdinand Blumentritt, Rizal recounted the impact of the event saying, “I don’t
want to tell you our resentment and profound sorrow. Since then, though still a child, I have distrusted
friendship and doubted men. We are brothers (brothers – and sisters) and our mother was unjustly
snatched away from us and by whom? By some men who had been our friends and whom we had
treated as sacred guests.” The case dragged on for two years until it reached the Supreme Court
((Balotol, Jr. et al., 2018 from Zaide and Zaide, 2014; Adanza, 1995).
Another remarkable event in his early years was when the three priests were executed on the
scaffold on February 17, 1872 at Bagumbayan where thousands of people coming from the provinces of
Pampanga, Laguna, and Bulakan had witnessed. The event awakened his young mind (he was 11 years

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Vision: A globally competitive university for science, technology, and environmental conservation.
Mission: Development of a highly competitive human resource, cutting-edge scientific knowledge
and innovative technologies for sustainable communities and environment.
old then), so that years later, he dedicated his book El Filibusterismo in memory of the three priests--
Marciano Gomes, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora.
In his book Rizal wrote: “As long, therefore, as it is not clearly shown that you took part in the
uprising in Cavite, I have the right, whether or not you were patriots and whether or not you were
seeking justice and liberty, to dedicate my work to you as victims of the evil I am trying to be party to
your death, let this pages serve as a belated wreath of withered leaves on your forgotten graves.”
The Significant Effect of the Cavite Mutiny in the Life of a Hero
First, let us investigate the backgroundof the Cavite Mutiny.
The mutiny of 1872 in Cavite marked the beginning of the surmounting unrest in the country.
The interpretations of the mutiny vary and depend largely upon the perspective and orientation of the
author as to who really are the instigators of this. One interpretation was that it all started when Rafael
de Izquierdo did not exempt the workers from the tribute and that there was this compulsory labor
obligation in the arsenal from the artillery barracks and engineer corps of Fort San Felipe. Although the
mutiny was suppressed in less than a day and no other actions followed, Izquierdo proclaimed it as part
of a widespread separatist conspiracy. While others view it as instigated by the friars to implicate the
Filipino priests led by Fr. Jose Burgos, who were asking for the secularization of the parishes. Other
authors based from a spurious document from Artigas, even speak of a friar resembling Burgos going
among the workers and soldiers in Cavite to incite them to revolt (Schumacher, 2011).
The mutiny provided the reason for the conservatives to eliminate the liberals, took advantage
of the incident and arrested several known liberals, among them were Jose Ma. Basa, Antonio Regidor,
Balbino Mauricio, and accused Fathers Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomes and Jacinto Zamora of being the
leaders of the mutiny. All the three protested their innocence until the end. The execution awakened
the nationalism of the Filipinos, yet at the same time aware of the fact that anyone threatening Spanish
authority will be dealt with severely. Very sad to note because until the end, there was no proper
closure on the issue on the Cavite Mutiny for the records of the trials can nowhere be found. This
mutiny could have ended like any other uprisings in the past if only the government had been less fired
up and acted more rationally.
In condemning the three innocent priests based on the supporting evidence, their execution had
added to the significance of this event which the officials in the colonial administration did not foresee.
Second, let us look closely at the effect of this mutiny on the young mind of Rizal.
Without 1872, Rizal would today be a Jesuit and instead of writing Noli Me Tangere would have
something different (Adarna Book Services, 1999 from Jose Rizal in a Letter to Mariano Ponce in 1898).
.

Figure 1: Image of a Young Rizal with His Parents


(photo taken from esquiremag.ph).

Vision: A globally competitive university for science, technology, and environmental conservation.
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