Rizal

Full name: José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda

RA are laws created by the Congress. PD are laws created by the time of Marcos which is kasing lakas ng RA kasi Martial
Law nung panahong na yun

Rizal Law – Republic act 1425

- Also known as Rizal Law
- approved on June 12, 1956 is an act of mandating all public and private institutions including state colleges and
universities to include the Dr. Jose Rizal's life, works, and writings as a course across programs.
- Passed by Senator Jose P. Laurel

It was written by Sen. Jose P. Laurel with a comprised version of House Bil no. 5561 which came out on April 19, 1956 in
the House of Representatives and Senate Bill no. 428 on April 3, 1956 by then Committee on Education, led by Cong.
Jacobo Gonzales and Sen. Claro Recto known as Noli-Fili Bill.

Rizal Seeks to Accomplish

• To rededicate the lives of the youth to the ideals of
freedom and nationalism, for which our heroes lived and died;
• To pay tribute to our national hero devoting his life and works in shaping the Filipino character;
• To gain an inspiring source of patriotism through the study of Jose Rizal's life, works and writings.

Birth of a Hero
● Jose Rizal was born on the night of Wednesday, June 19, 1861 in the lakeshore town of Calamba, Laguna
Province, Philippines.
● His mother almost died during the delivery because of his big head. 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 ranked with the world's geniuses.
o He was a physician (ophthalmic surgeon),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
● He was baptized in the Catholic church of his town on June 22, aged three days old, by the parish priest, Father
Rufino Collantes, who was a Batangueño.
● Father Pedro Casanas - his godfather (ninong), native of Calamba and close friend of the Rizal family.
● His name "Jose" was chosen by his mother w h o was a devoted of the Christian saint San Jose (St. Joseph).

Rizal is acclaimed the foremost hero in our country

Definition of the term hero include:
● "a prominent or central personage taking an admirable part in any remarkable action or event.".
● "a person of distinguished valor or enterprise in danger, or fortitude in suffering."
● "a man honored after death by public worship, because of exceptional service to mankind. (Emiliano C. de
Catalina)

RIZAL'S PARENTS
Jose Rizal was the seventh of the eleven children of
- Francisco Mercado Rizal
- Teodora Alonso Realonda
Francisco Mercado Rizal and Teodora Alonso Realonda had eleven children (two boys and nine girls)

1 Saturnina (1850-1913) - oldest of the Rizal children, nicknamed Neneng; she married Manuel T. Hidalgo of Tanawan,
Batangas
2. Paciano (1851-1930) - older brother and confidant of Jose Rizal; after his younger brother's execution, he joined the
Philippine Revolution and became a combat general; after the Revolution, he retired to his farm in Los Baños, where
he lived as a gentleman farmer and died on April 13, 1930, an old bachelor aged 79. He had two children by his mistress
(Severina Decena)- a boy and a girl
3. Narcisa (1852-1939) - her pet name was Sisa and she married Antonio Lopez (nephew of Father Leoncio Lopez), a
school teacher of Moring.
4. Olimpia (1855-2887) - Ypia was her pet name: she married Silvestre Ubaldo, a telegraph operator from Manila.
5. Lucia (1857-1919) - She married Mariano Herbosa of Calamba, who was a nephew of Father Casanas. Herbosa died of
cholera in 1889 and was denied Christian burial because he was a brother-in-law of Dr. Rizal.
6. Maria (1859-1945 - Biang was her nickname; she married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Biñan, Laguna
7. Jose (1861-1945) - the greatest Filipino hero and peerless genius; his nickname was Pepe; during his exile in Dapitan
he lived with Josephine Bracken, Irish girl from Hong Kong; he had a son by her, but this baby-boy died a few hours after
birth; Rizal named him "Francisco" after his father and buried him in Dapitan.
8. Concepcion (1862-1865) - her pet name was Concha; she died of sickness at the age of 3; her death was Rizal's first
sorrow in life
9. Josefa (1865-1945) - her pet name was Panggo; she died also an old maid at the age of 80
10. Trinidad (1868-1951) - Trining was her pet name; she died also an old maid in 1951 aged 83
11. Soledad (1870-1929) - youngest of the Rizal children; her pet name was Choleng; she married Pantaleon Quintero of
Calamba

Rizal’s Childhood

● Rizal was born in Calamba laguna

○ Calamba was an hacienda town which belonged to the Dominican Order, which also owned all land
around it. Rizal Loved Calamba with all his heart and soul.
○ In 1876, when he was 15 years old and was a student in Ateneo de Manila, he remembered his beloved
town. He wrote a poem entitled…Un Recuerdo A Mi Pueblo (In Memory of My Town)
● Earliest Childhood Memories
○ The first memory of Rizal, in his infancy, was his happy days in the family garden when he was three
years old.
○ By nightfall the whole family gathered together to pray the Angelus.
○ Because he was frail, sickly, and undersized child, he was given the most tender care by his parents.
○ With nostalgic feeling, he also remembered the happy moonlit nights at the azotea after the rosary
● Concha’s death - Rizal’s first sorrow
○ “When I was four years old, I lost my little sister Concha and then for the first time I shed tears caused by
love and grief…
● Devoted Son of the Church
○ At the age of three, Rizal began to take part in the family prayers. His mother, who was a devout Catholic,
taught him the Catholic Prayers.
○ He loved to go to church, to pray, to take part in the novenas, and to join the religious processions.
○ Father Leoncio Lopez, the town priest, was one of the men Rizal esteemed and respected the most.
● Pilgrimage to Antipolo
○ On June 6, 1868, Jose and his father left Calamba to go on a pilgrimage to Antipolo, in order to fulfill his
mother’s vow which was made when Jose was born.
○ He was thrilled, as a typical boy should, by his first lake voyage. It was the first trip across Laguna de Bay
and his first pilgrimage to Antipolo.
● Artistic talents
○ Since early childhood, Rizal revealed his God-given talent for art. At the age of five, he began to make
sketches with his pencil and to mould in clay and wax objects which attracted his fancy.
● First Poem and Drama by Rizal
○ At the age of eight, Rizal wrote his first poem in the native language entitled “Sa aking mga kababata”
○ Doña Teodora, who was a lover of literature, noticed Rizal’s poetic inclination and encouraged him to
write poetry.
● Recounting this childhood experience
○ At the age of 3, he began to take part in the family prayers.
○ When he was five years old, he was able to read haltingly the family bible
○ Young that he was, he grieved deeply over the unhappy situation of his beloved fatherland. The Spanish
misdeeds awakened in his boyish heart a great determination to fight tyranny
● Lakeshore Reveries
○ During the twilight hours of summertime Rizal, used to meditate at the shore of Laguna de Bay on the
sad conditions of his oppressed people
● Influences on the Hero’s boyhood
○ In the life of Jose Rizal there are influences that cause him to rise to fame and greatness. These are:
■ Hereditary Influence
■ Environmental influence
■ Aid of Divine Providence

JOSE RIZAL’S EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

● EARLY EDUCATION
○ Pepe’s Parents
 ■ Father - Francisco Mercado
● Chinese mestizo descendant
● Described by Pepe as a “model father”
● Thrift and entrepreneurial
■ Mother - Teodora Alonso y Realonda
● Mathematician and a lover of books
● Manila native
● Cultured and well-educated

● Livelihood of the Mercados

○ Inquilino
■ Operations
● Sugar mill, flour mill, ham press
● Dona Teodora also operated a store at the ground floor of their house
■ Produce
● Corn, rice, sugar cane, dyestuff
■ Permanent tenant
● The Mercados leased farmland from the Dominicans
○ Dominican friars had a large estate (hacienda) in Laguna

● Social status
○ Principalia
■ Affluent citizens who are elligible for public office
■ Considered as economic elites
■ Have greater opportunities in terms of education and work.
○ Possessions
■ Two bahay na bato in the town of Calamba
■ Sign of great wealth
■ Having a house in the town indicates social prominence
○ Large collection of books
■ Said to be about 1000 titles
■ Indicates emphasis on education

● Pepe’s big brother Paciano

○ “Second father”
■ Paciano realized pepe’s potentials
■ Supported pepe’s endeavours
■ Helped shaped pepe’s political and social consciousness
○ Background of Paciano
■ Studied under the Jesuits in Colegio de San Jose
■ Had a connection with the GOMBURZA priests
■ Friend and student of Father Jose Burgos
■ Stopped schooling to escape persecution by Spanish authorities

● Others who influenced Rizal

○ Tutors
■ Leon Monroy
■ Latin teacher
○ School Teacher
■ Justiniano Aquino Cruz
■ Formal education

● ATENEO YEARS (1872-1877)

● Jesuit Education
○ Nature of their education regimen
■ Rigid discipline
■ Ratio Studiorum
■ Rigorous daily regime
○ Character building
■ Complements rigid discipline
■ Competence and competition was emphasized
■ Students were encourage to compete with one another academically via a ranking system
 ■ Systems of Team (Empires) and individual competition (rank within the empire) was introduced
between the Broaders (Interno) represented as ‘Romans’ and Non-boarders (Externo)
represented as Carthaginians.
■ Rizal attained the Rank of Emperor of the Carthaginians as he was an externo when first enrolled
in Ateneo
○ Religious instruction
■ Prayers were central to daily life; center of Jesuit educational life is the Chapel
■ Reinforces character and discipline
■ Aim of Jesuit education = ‘Ad majorem Dei gloriam’ (for the greater glory of God)

● Pepe the boarder

○ Initial Lodgings
■ Caraballo Street in Santa Cruz
■ Outside Intramuros
■ The owner, a spinster, owed money to the Mercado family and Rizal’s brief stay served as a
means of paying off part of the Debt.
■ Later moved to Intramuros in the Boarding House of a ‘Doña Pepay’ due to shorter walking
distance to his school.
○ Externo
■ Living-out student
■ Does not live inside the school.
■ 1872-1875 = Rizal stayed in boarding houses outside the Ateneo
○ Interno
■ Living-in student
■ Lives within the dormitories of the school
■ 1875-1877 = Mercado family decided he should move to the Jesuit Dormitory to better his
performance in his studies. Rizal welcomed this move.

● The Burgos connection

○ Links with the GOMBURZA priests
■ Paciano was a friend of Fr. Burgos
● He had to quit college after their executions
● Spanish authorities were suspicious of all those who have connection with them
○ Jose’s challenge
■ How not to be linked with the martyred priests
● Solution
○ Use the surname ‘Rizal’
○ First of the Mercado children to do so.
○ This is a second surname assigned to the family to distinguish them from other
‘mercados’
○ Indicated to his friend Blumentritt how he felt like an ‘illegitimate child’ for using
the surname Rizal
○ Rizal means ‘field’ in Spanish

● Early Difficulties
○ Crude knowledge of Spanish
○ Source of ridicule from Spanish classmates
■ Solution
● Private lessons from Santa Isabel College
● Reading, reading, reading]
○ His mother was imprisoned
■ Caused him sadness
● Only resolved once his mother was released

● Love for Poetry

○ Pepe the poet
■ Guided by Fr. Sanchez
● He was his mentor
● Honed pepe academically
● Corresponded with him and guided his early work
● Nurtured his love for words and prose
○ Why love poetry?
■ Appeals to Jose’s creative and romantic nature
● Other interests and Extra-Curricular
○ Painting and sculpting
■ Why does these appeal to pepe?
● Reflects his artistic nature
○ Arts and Sciences
■ Member of two academies
● Spanish Literature
● Natural Science

● Awards and Recognitions

○ Active student Leader
○ Aspiring young Poet
○ Excelled Academically
○ Received Five Medals in His Senior Year
○ Well regarded by both Peers and Faculty
○ Graduated Sobresaliente (outstanding) with High Honors

● RIZAL AT SANTO THOMAS (1877-1882)

● A mother’s objection
○ Why she objected to Jose’s desire to continue his studies?
■ Persecution of Filipino intellectuals after the GOMBURZA execution of 1872
● Dona Teodora was afraid the same fate might befall pepe
● She blamed the fate of the Filipino intellectuals to the level of education they received
which they used to challenge Spanish rule in the islands
○ Intuition?
■ Jose is said to have contemplated later in life that his mother knew what would happen to him
○ Education as a curse
■ Too much education = liable to be persecuted by the conservative spanish authorities in the
Philippines
● Challenges to the status quo can spark from the ilustrados who are well aware of the
changes happening in Europe
● They want to bring progress in the Philippines… something that threatens to destroy the
vested interests of those in power.

● Course in UST
○ Philosophy and letters
■ 1877-1878
● First term = Philosophy program
■ 1878-1879
● Shifted to medicine
● Reason = desire to heal his mother’s eyesight
○ Why not take other courses?
■ Law = Paciano advised that this is not practical due to the political climate of the Philippines
■ Priesthood = not his desire
■ Literature = possible option, but also not very practical considering the family’s fortunes

● Perito Agrimensor
○ Course taken 1877-1878
■ Land surveying course = vocational
● Certificate issued = Nov. 25, 1881
○ He was under aged when he finished the course

● Debate over racism and discrimination in UST

○ Leon Guerrero’s Biography of Jose Rizal, “The First Filipino” (originally published in the 1960s)
■ argued that Jose’s race consciousness was awaken in Ateneo as expressed in his poetry with
poems dedicated to love of country spurned by norms he observed in Manila on difference in
treatment between Indio (native) and European/ Spanish students (chapter 4 ).
■ In UST, his observation on such norms turned into indignation over such treatment and even
blamed Dominican faculty members for favoritism; the start of what Guerror calls as his ‘race
jealousy’. Guerrero cites the character of Placido Penitente in the El Filibusterismo as a sort of
‘autobiographical’ of student life as experienced by Rizal in UST.
○ Key Question for reflection: Was Friar-led Education discriminatory against natives?
 ● FURTHER STUDIES IN SPAIN
○ Suez Canal: shortcut to Europe

● Pepe in Spain
○ Ideas he imbibed
■ Liberal ideals
● Drawn from liberal thinkers like History Professor Dr. Miguel Morayta who was
excommunicated by the Church in Spain for his proclamation on “the freedom of science
and the teacher”.
○ Places he visited:
■ Barcelona
● Capital of Cataluna
■ Madrid
● Universidad Central de Madrid
○ Courses enrolled and completed from the Unibersidad Central de Madrid
■ Licenciado en Filosofia y Letras (Licentiate in Philosophy and Letters)
■ Licenciado en Medicina (Licentiate in Medicine)

● Outcomes
○ Licenciado en Filosofia y Letras (Licentiate in Philosophy and Letters)
■ Qualified to be a professor in Humanities
■ Can teach in any Spanish university
○ Licenciado en Medicina (Licentiate in Medicine)
■ obtained degree on June 21, 1884.
■ Can Practice Medicine
■ Became a Physician
■ Note: he is a doctor (physician), not a PhD degree holder.

● Rizal’s other sources of learnings

○ German French English
■ Studied under Private instructors
○ Sculpture & Painting
■ studied under the Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, Spain
○ Books and Reading
■ Amassed a small collection of books through economizing his means

Key Points

● Learning as a means to an end

○ Jose’ striving for excellence is a cornerstone of his character
○ Reinforced by his Mother’s Love, Family Encouragement, Jesuit Discipline, Desire to counter
discrimination
● The Mercado Family invested heavily in Jose’ education
○ Only sons received high levels of education during Spanish era
○ Education was an indicator of social standing and wealth for the family
● Rizal the Ilustrado
○ Continuous education and studies abroad equipped the young Jose with the skills needed for him to take
his place in Society
○ Education opened his eyes to the many problems of his country and time.

Why study Rizal?

● Legitimacy - endeavors - recognize, respect, acknowledge I.R
● Legally
● Philosophically - Super science (mother of all sciences)
● Socrates - know thy self
● Plato - Conquer self
● Protagoras - homensura
● Gandi - be the change

● Secret mission of Jose Rizal - to observe kinly the culture of other states
○ Preparation for Philippines liberation
■ The mission of rizal is very risky since it will be suicidal

● Rizal's first love - Filipinas

 ● Illustrados - Propaganda, enlightened ones

● theodoro Patino -
○ Katipunan
■ bloody recourse
○ Propaganda
■ Peaceful

Civil Governor WIlliam H. Taft

- Civil Governor - who endorsed Jose rizal as the national hero

Dr. Pio Valenzuela - attempted to rescue Rizal