INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF RIZAL: LIFE, WORKS AND WRITINGS

Republic Act 1425 (R.A. 1425) otherwise known as the Rizal Law approved on June 12, 1956
provides the integration of the study of the life and works of Dr. Jose Rizal in the curriculum of
tertiary level.
• To recognize the importance of Rizal’s ideals and teachings in relation to
present conditions and situations in the society;
• To develop an appreciation and deeper understanding of all that Rizal fought
and died for; and To foster the development of the Filipino youth in all aspects
of citizenship.

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1425

AN ACT TO INCLUDE IN THE CURRICULA OF ALL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS,

COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES COURSES ON THE LIFE, WORKS AND WRITINGS OF
JOSE RIZAL, PARTICULARLY HIS NOVELS NOLI ME TANGERE AND EL
FILIBUSTERISMO, AUTHORIZING THE PRINTING AND DISTRIBUTION THEREOF, AND
FOR OTHER PURPOSES

WHEREAS, today, more than any other period of our history, there is a need for a re-dedication
to the ideals of freedom and nationalism for which our heroes lived and died;

WHEREAS, it is meet that in honoring them, particularly the national hero and patriot, Jose Rizal,
we remember with special fondness and devotion their lives and works that have shaped the
national character;

WHEREAS, the life, works and writing of Jose Rizal, particularly his novels Noli Me Tangere and
El Filibusterismo, are a constant and inspiring source of patriotism with which the minds of the
youth, especially during their formative and decisive years in school, should be suffused;

WHEREAS, all educational institutions are under the supervision of, and subject to regulation
by the State, and all schools are enjoined to develop moral character, personal discipline, civic
conscience and to teach the duties of citizenship; Now, therefore,

SECTION 1. Courses on the life, works and writings of Jose Rizal, particularly his novel Noli Me
Tangere and El Filibusterismo, shall be included in the curricula of all schools, colleges and
universities, public or private: Provided, That in the collegiate courses, the original or
unexpurgated editions of the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo or their English translation
shall be used as basic texts.

The Board of National Education is hereby authorized and directed to adopt forthwith measures
to implement and carry out the provisions of this Section, including the writing and printing of
appropriate primers, readers and textbooks. The Board shall, within sixty (60) days from the
effectivity of this Act, promulgate rules and regulations, including those of a disciplinary nature,
to carry out and enforce the provisions of this Act. The Board shall promulgate rules and
regulations providing for the exemption of students for reasons of religious belief stated in a
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sworn written statement, from the requirement of the provision contained in the second part of
the first paragraph of this section; but not from taking the course provided for in the first part of
said paragraph. Said rules and regulations shall take effect thirty (30) days after their publication
in the Official Gazette.

SECTION 2. It shall be obligatory on all schools, colleges and universities to keep in their
libraries an adequate number of copies of the original and unexpurgated editions of the Noli Me
Tangere and El Filibusterismo, as well as of Rizal’s other works and biography. The said
unexpurgated editions of the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo or their translations in
English as well as other writings of Rizal shall be included in the list of approved books for
required reading in all public or private schools, colleges and universities.

The Board of National Education shall determine the adequacy of the number of books,
depending upon the enrollment of the school, college or university.

SECTION 3. The Board of National Education shall cause the translation of the Noli Me Tangere
and El Filibusterismo, as well as other writings of Jose Rizal into English, Tagalog and the
principal Philippine dialects; cause them to be printed in cheap, popular editions; and cause
them to be distributed, free of charge, to persons desiring to read them, through the Purok
organizations and Barrio Councils throughout the country.

SECTION 4. Nothing in this Act shall be construed as amendment or repealing section nine
hundred twenty-seven of the Administrative Code, prohibiting the discussion of religious
doctrines by public school teachers and other person engaged in any public school.

SECTION 5. The sum of three hundred thousand pesos is hereby authorized to be appropriated
out of any fund not otherwise appropriated in the National Treasury to carry out the purposes of
this Act.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: June 12, 1956

FACTORS IN DETERMINING OF A PERSON

• Just Bearer of •
• Patient Wisdom
• Courageous • Respectful
• Nationalist
CRITERIA IN CHOOSING THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL HERO

• Filipino Citizen Has already been dead

• Patriot/Nationalist Patient

PERSONALITIES NOMINATED TO BE OUR NATIONAL HERO

• Marcelo H. Del Pilar

• Emilio Jacinto

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 • Graciano Lopez-Jaena
• Antonio Luna

2. THE PHILIPPINES IN THE NINETEENTH C ENTURY AS RIZAL’S CONTEXT

SPANISH EXPEDITIONS AND COLONIZATION

Although the archipelago may have been visited before by the Portuguese (who conquered
Malacca City in 1511 and reached Maluku Islands in 1512), the earliest documented European expedition
to the Philippines was that led by Ferdinand Magellan, in the service of the king of Spain. The expedition
first sighted the mountains of Samar at dawn on the 16th March
1521, making landfall the following day at the small, uninhabited island of Homonhon at the mouth of the
Leyte Gulf. On Easter Sunday, 31 March 1521, at Mazaua (today believed to be Limasawa island in
Southern Leyte) as is stated in Antonio Pigafetta's Primo Viaggio Intorno El Mondo (First Voyage Around
the World), Magellan solemnly planted a cross on the summit of a hill overlooking the sea and claimed
for the king of Spain possession of the islands he had seen, naming them Archipelago of Saint Lazarus.

Magellan conquered and sought alliances among the natives beginning with Datu Zula, the chieftain of
Sugbu (now Cebu), and took special pride in converting them to Catholicism. Magellan's expedition got
involved in the political rivalries between the Cebuano natives and took part in a battle against Lapu-lapu,
chieftain of Mactan island and a mortal enemy of Datu Zula. At dawn on 27 April 1521, Magellan invaded
Mactan Island with 60 armed men and 1,000 Cebuano warriors, but had great difficulty landing his men
on the rocky shore. Lapu-Lapu had an army of 1,500 on land. Magellan waded ashore with his soldiers
and attacked the Mactan defenders, ordering Datu Zula and his warriors to remain aboard the ships and
watch. Magellan seriously underestimated Lapu-Lapu and his men, and grossly outnumbered, Magellan
and 14 of his soldiers were killed. The rest managed to reboard the ships.

The battle left the expedition with too few crewmen to man three ships, so they abandoned the
"Concepción". The
remaining ships - "Trinidad" and "Victoria" – sailed to the Spice Islands in present-day Indonesia. From
there, the expedition split into two groups. The Trinidad, commanded by Gonzalo Gómez de Espinoza
tried to sail eastward across the Pacific Ocean to the Isthmus of Panama. Disease and shipwreck
disrupted Espinoza's voyage and most of the crew died. Survivors of the Trinidad returned to the Spice
Islands, where the Portuguese imprisoned them. The Victoria continued sailing westward, commanded
by Juan Sebastián Elcano, and managed to return to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain in 1522. In 1529,
Charles I of Spain relinquished all claims to the Spice Islands to Portugal in the treaty of Zaragoza.
However, the treaty did not stop the colonization of the Philippine archipelago from New Spain.

After Magellan's voyage, subsequent expeditions were dispatched to the islands. Five expeditions
were sent: that of Loaisa (1525), Cabot (1526), Saavedra (1527), Villalobos (1542), and Legazpi (1564).
The Legazpi expedition was the most successful as it resulted in the discovery of the tornaviaje or return
trip to Mexico across the Pacific by Andrés de Urdaneta. This discovery started the Manila galleon trade,
which lasted two and a half centuries.

In 1543, Ruy López de Villalobos named the islands of Leyte and Samar Las Islas Filipinas after
Philip II of Spain. Philip II became King of Spain on January 16, 1556, when his father, Charles I of Spain,
abdicated the Spanish throne. Philip was in Brussels at the time and his return to Spain was delayed until
1559 because of European politics and wars in northern Europe. Shortly after his return to Spain, Philip
ordered an expedition mounted to the Spice Islands, stating that its purpose was "to discover the islands
to the west". In reality its task was to conquer the Philippines for Spain.

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 On November 19 or 20, 1564 a Spanish expedition of a mere 500 men led by Miguel López de
Legazpi departed Barra de Navidad, New Spain, arriving off Cebu on February 13, 1565, conquering it
despite Cebuano opposition.

In 1569, Legazpi transferred to Panay and founded a second settlement on the bank of the Panay
River. In 1570, Legazpi sent his grandson, Juan de Salcedo, who had arrived from Mexico in 1567, to
Mindoro to punish the Muslim Moro pirates who had been plundering Panay villages. Salcedo also
destroyed forts on the islands of Ilin and Lubang, respectively South and Northwest of Mindoro.

In 1570, Martín de Goiti, having been dispatched by Legazpi to Luzon, conquered the Kingdom of
Maynila (now Manila),
a puppet-state of the Sultanate of Brunei. Legazpi then made Maynila the capital of the Philippines and
simplified its spelling to Manila. His expedition also renamed Luzon Nueva Castilla. Legazpi became the
country's first governor-general. With time, Cebu's importance fell as power shifted north to Luzon. The
archipelago was Spain's outpost in the orient and Manila became the capital of the entire Spanish East
Indies. The colony was administered through the Viceroyalty of New Spain (now Mexico) until 1821 when
Mexico achieved independence from Spain. After 1821, the colony was governed directly from Spain.

During most of the colonial period, the Philippine economy depended on the Galleon Trade which
was inaugurated in 1565 between Manila and Acapulco, Mexico. Trade between Spain and the
Philippines was via the Pacific Ocean to Mexico (Manila to Acapulco), and then across the Caribbean
Sea and Atlantic Ocean to Spain (Veracruz to Cádiz). Manila became the most important center of trade
in Asia between the 17th and 18th centuries. All sorts of products from China, Japan, Brunei, the
Moluccas and even India were sent to Manila to be sold for silver 8-Real coins which came aboard the
galleons from Acapulco. These goods, including silk, porcelain, spices, lacquerware and textile products
were then sent to Acapulco and from there to other parts of New Spain, Peru and Europe.

The European population in the archipelago steadily grew although natives remained the majority. During
the initial
period of colonization, Manila was settled by 1200 Spanish families. In Cebu City, at the Visayas, the
settlement received a total of 2,100 soldier-settlers from New Spain (Mexico). At the immediate south of
Manila, Mexicans were present at Ermita and at Cavite where they were stationed as sentries. In addition,
men conscripted from Peru, were also sent to settle Zamboanga City in Mindanao, to wage war upon
Muslim pirates.There were also communities of Spanish-Mestizos that developed in Iloilo, Negros and
Vigan. Interactions between native Filipinos and immigrant Spaniards plus Latin-Americans eventually
caused the formation of a new language, Chavacano, a creole of Mexican Spanish.They depended on
the Galleon Trade for a living. In the later years of the 18th century, Governor-General Basco introduced
economic reforms that gave the colony its first significant internal source income from the production of
tobacco and other agricultural exports. In this later period, agriculture was finally opened to the European
population, which before was reserved only for the natives.

During Spain’s 333 year rule in the Philippines, the colonists had to fight off the Chinese pirates
(who lay siege to Manila, the most famous of which was Limahong in 1574), Dutch forces, Portuguese
forces, and indigenous revolts. Moros from western Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago also raided the
coastal Christian areas of Luzon and the Visayas and occasionally captured men and women to be sold
as slaves.

Some Japanese ships visited the Philippines in the 1570s in order to export Japanese silver and
import Philippine gold. Later, increasing imports of silver from New World sources resulted in Japanese
exports to the Philippines shifting from silver to consumer goods. In the 1580s, the Spanish traders were
troubled to some extent by Japanese pirates, but peaceful trading relations were established between
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the Philippines and Japan by 1590. Japan's kampaku (regent), Toyotomi Hideyoshi, demanded
unsuccessfully on several occasions that the Philippines submit to Japan's suzerainty.

On February 8, 1597, King Philip II, near the end of his 42-year reign, issued a Royal Cedula
instructing Francisco de Tello de Guzmán, then Governor-General of the Philippines to fulfill the laws of
tributes and to provide for restitution of ill-gotten taxes taken from the natives. The decree was published
in Manila on August 5, 1598. King Philip died on 13 September, just forty days after the publication of the
decree, but his death was not known in the Philippines until middle of 1599, by which time a referendum
by which the natives would acknowledge Spanish rule was underway. With the completion of the
Philippine referendum of 1599, Spain could be said to have established legitimate sovereignty over the
Philippines.

SPANISH CONTROL

Political system

The Spanish quickly organized their new colony according to their model. The first task was the
reduction, or relocation
of native inhabitants into settlements. The earliest political system used during the conquista period was
the encomienda system, which resembled the feudal system in medieval Europe. The conquistadores,
friars and native nobles were granted estates, in exchange for their services to the King, and were given
the privilege to collect tribute from its inhabitants. In return, the person granted the encomienda, known
as an encomendero, was tasked to provide military protection to the inhabitants, justice and governance.
In times of war, the encomendero was duty bound to provide soldiers for the King, in particular, for the
complete defense of the colony from invaders such as the Dutch, British and Chinese. The encomienda
system was abused by encomenderos and by 1700 was largely replaced by administrative provinces,
each headed by an alcalde mayor (provincial governor)The most prominent feature of Spanish cities was
the plaza, a central area for town activities such as the fiesta, and where government buildings, the
church, a market area and other infrastructures were located. Residential areas lay around the plaza.
During the conquista, the first task of colonization was the reduction, or relocation of the indigenous
population into settlements surrounding the plaza.

National government

On the national level or social class, the King of Spain, via his Council of the Indies (Consejo de las
Indias), governed
through his representative in the Philippines, the Governor-General of the Philippines (Gobernador y
Capitán General). With the seat of power in Intramuros, Manila, the Governor-General was given several
duties: head of the supreme court, the Royal Audiencia of Manila; Commander-in-chief of the army and
navy, and the economic planner of the country. All executive power of the local government stemmed
from him and as regal patron, he had the authority to supervise mission work and oversee ecclesiastical
appointments. His yearly salary was 40,000 pesos. The Governor-General was commonly a peninsular
Spaniard, a Spaniard born in Spain, to ensure loyalty of the colony to the crown or tiara.

Provincial government

On the local level, heading the pacified provinces (alcaldia), was the provincial governor (alcalde
mayor). The unpacified military zones (corregimiento), such as Mariveles and Mindoro, were headed by
the corregidores. City governments (ayuntamientos), were also headed by an alcalde mayor. Alcalde
mayors and corregidores exercised multiple prerogatives as judge, inspector of encomiendas, chief of
police, tribute collector, capitan-general of the province and even vice-regal patron. His annual salary
ranged from P300 to P2000 before 1847 and P1500 to P1600 after it. But this can be augmented through
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the special privilege of "indulto de commercio" where all people were forced to do business with him. The
alcalde mayor was usually an Insulares (Spaniard born in the Philippines). In the 19th century, the
Peninsulares began to displace the Insulares which resulted in the political unrests of 1872, notably the
execution of GOMBURZA, Novales Revolt and mutiny of the Cavite fort under La Madrid.

Municipal government

The pueblo or town is headed by the Gobernadorcillo or little governor. Among his administrative duties
were the
preparation of the tribute list (padron), recruitment and distribution of men for draft labor, communal public
work and military conscription (quinto), postal clerk and judge in minor civil suits. He intervened in all
administrative cases pertaining to his town: lands, justice, finance and the municipal police. His annual
salary, however, was only P24 but he was exempted from taxation. Any native or Chinese mestizo, 25
years old, literate in oral or written.

Any member of the Principalía, who speaks or who has knowledge of the Spanish language and
has been a Cabeza de Barangay of 4 years can be a Gobernadorcillo. Among those prominent is Emilio
Aguinaldo, a Chinese Mestizo and who was the Gobernadorcillo of Cavite El Viejo (now Kawit). The
officials of the pueblo were taken from the Principalía, the noble class of pre-colonial origin. Their names
are survived by prominent families in contemporary Philippine society such as Duremdes, Lindo, Tupas,
Gatmaitan, Liwanag, Pangilinan, Panganiban, Balderas, and Agbayani, Apalisok, Aguinaldo to name a
few.

Barrio government

Every barangay was further divided into "barrios", and the barrio government (village or district)
rested on the barrio administrator (cabeza de barangay). He was responsible for peace and order and
recruited men for communal public works.

Cabezas should be literate in Spanish and have good moral character and property. Cabezas who served
for 25 years were exempted from forced labor.

In addition, this is where the sentiment heard as, "Mi Barrio", first came from.

ECONOMY

1. Manila-Acapulco galleon trade

The Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade was the main source of income for the colony during its early
years. Service was inaugurated in 1565 and continued into the early 19th century. The Galleon trade
brought silver from New Spain, which was used to purchase Asian goods such as silk from China, spices
from the Moluccas, lacquerware from Japan and Philippine cotton textiles. These goods were then
exported to New Spain and ultimately Europe by way of Manila. Thus, the Philippines earned its income
through the trade of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon.

The trade was established and operated primarily for the benefit of Spain and Spaniards. While
the trade did bring some results which were beneficial to the Philippines, most effects were
disadvantageous. However, the trade did result in cultural and commercial exchanges between Asia and
the Americas that led to the introduction of new crops and animals to the Philippines such as tamarind,
avocado, guava, papaya, pineapple, horses and carabao. These gave the colony its first real income.
The trade lasted for over two hundred years, and ceased in 1815 just before the secession of American
colonies from Spain.

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 2. Taxation
Also there was the bandalâ (from the Tagalog word mandalâ, a round stack of rice stalks to be threshed),
an annual forced sale and requisitioning of goods such as rice. Custom duties and income tax were also
collected. By 1884, the tribute was replaced by the cedula personal, wherein everyone over 18 were
required to pay for personal identification.[26] The local gobernadorcillos were responsible for collection
of the tribute. Under the cedula system taxpayers were individually responsible to Spanish authorities for
payment of the tax, and were subject to summary arrest for failure to show a cedula receipt.

3. Polo y Servicio
Aside from paying a tribute, all male Filipinos from 16 to 60 years old were obliged to render
forced labor called “polo”. This labor lasted for 40 days a year, later it was reduced to 15 days. It took
various forms such as the building and repairing of roads and bridges, construction of Public buildings
and churches, cutting timber in the forest, working in shipyards and serving as soldiers in military
expeditions. People who rendered the forced labor was called “polistas”. He could be exempted by
paying the “falla” which is a sum of money. The polista were according to law, to be given a daily rice
ration during their working days which they often did not receive.

RISE OF FILIPINO NATIONALISM

Freemasonry

Freemasonry had gained a generous following in Europe and the Americas during the 19th
century and found its way to the Philippines. The Western World was quickly changing and sought less
political control from the Roman Catholic Church.

The first Filipino Masonic lodge was Revoluccion. It was established by Graciano Lopez Jaena in
Barcelona and was
recognized in April 1889. It did not last long after he resigned from being its worshipful master on
November 29, 1889.

In December 1889, Marcelo H. del Pilar established, with the help of Julio Llorente, the Solidaridad
in Madrid. Its first worshipful master was Llorente. A short time later, the Solidaridad grew. Some its
members included José Rizal, Pedro Serrano Laktaw, Baldomero Roxas, and Galicano Apacible.

In 1891, Del Pilar sent Laktaw to the Philippines to establish a Masonic lodge. Laktaw established on
January 6, 1892,
the Nilad, the first Masonic lodge in the Philippines. It is estimated that there were 35 masonic lodges in
the Philippines in 1893 of which nine were in Manila. The first Filipina freemason was Rosario Villaruel.
Trinidad and Josefa Rizal, Marina Dizon, Romualda Lanuza, Purificacion Leyva, and many others join
the masonic lodge.

Freemasonry was important during the time of the Philippine Revolution. It pushed the reform
movement and carried out the propaganda work. In the Philippines, many of those who pushed for a
revolution were member of freemasonry like Andrés Bonifacio. In fact, the organization used by Bonifacio
in establishing the Katipunan was derived from the Masonic society. It may be said that joining masonry
was one activity that both the reformists and the Katipuneros shared.

Illustrados, Rizal and Katipunan

The mass deportation of nationalists to the Marianas and Europe in 1872 led to a Filipino expatriate
community of reformers in Europe. The community grew with the next generation of Ilustrados studying
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 in European universities. They allied themselves with Spanish liberals, notably Spanish senator Miguel
Morayta Sagrario, and founded the newspaper La Solidaridad.

Among the reformers was José Rizal, who wrote two novels while in Europe. His novels were considered
the most
influential of the Illustrados' writings causing further unrest in the islands, particularly the founding of the
Katipunan. A rivalry developed between himself and Marcelo H. del Pilar for the leadership of La
Solidaridad and the reform movement in Europe. Majority of the expatriates supported the leadership of
del Pilar.

Rizal then returned to the Philippines to organize La Liga Filipina and bring the reform movement
to Philippine soil. He was arrested just a few days after founding the league. In 1892, Radical members
of the La Liga Filipina, which included Bonifacio and Deodato Arellano, founded the Kataastaasan
Kagalanggalang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK), called simply the Katipunan, which had the
objective of the Philippines seceding from the Spanish Empire.

The Philippine Revolution

By 1896 the Katipunan had a membership by the thousands. That same year, the existence of the
Katipunan was discovered by the colonial authorities. In late August Katipuneros gathered in Caloocan
and declared the start of the revolution. The event is now known as the Cry of Balintawak or Cry of Pugad
Lawin, due to conflicting historical traditions and official government positions.

Andrés Bonifacio called for a general offensive on Manila and was defeated in battle at the town
of San Juan del Monte. He regrouped his forces and was able to briefly capture the towns of Marikina,
San Mateo and Montalban. Spanish counterattacks drove him back and he retreated to the mountains of
Balara and Morong and from there engaged in guerrilla warfare. By August 30, the revolt had spread to
eight provinces. On that date, Governor-General Ramon Blanco declared a state of war in these
provinces and placed them under martial law. These were Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Pampanga, Tarlac,
Laguna, Batangas, and Nueva Ecija. They would later be represented in the eight rays of the sun in the
Filipino flag Emilio Aguinaldo and the Katipuneros of Cavite were the most successful of the rebels and
they controlled most of their province by September–October. They defended their territories with
trenches designed by Edilberto Evangelista.

Many of the educated ilustrado class such as Antonio Luna and Apolinario Mabini did not initially
favor an armed revolution. Rizal himself, whom the rebels took inspiration from and had consulted
beforehand, disapproved of a premature revolution. He was arrested, tried and executed for treason,
sedition and conspiracy on December 30, 1896. Before his arrest he had issued a statement disavowing
the revolution, but in his swan song poem Mi último adiós he wrote that dying in battle for the sake of
one's country was just as patriotic as his own impending death.

While the revolution spread throughout the provinces, Aguinaldo's Katipuneros declared the
existence of an insurgent government in October regardless of Bonifacio's Katipunan, which he had
already converted into an insurgent government with him as president in August. Bonifacio was invited
to Cavite to mediate between Aguinaldo's rebels, the Magdalo, and their rivals the Magdiwang, both
chapters of the Katipunan. There he became embroiled in discussions whether to replace the Katipunan
with an insurgent government of the Cavite rebels' design. To this end, the Tejeros Convention was
convened, where Aguinaldo was elected president of the new insurgent government. Bonifacio refused
to recognize this and he was executed for treason in May 1897.

By December 1897, the revolution had resulted to a stalemate between the colonial government
and rebels. Pedro Paterno mediated between the two sides for the signing of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato.
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The conditions of the armistice included the self-exile of Aguinaldo and his officers in exchange for
$800,000 or 40,104,392.82542 pesos to be paid by the colonial government. Aguinaldo then sailed to
Hong Kong for self-exile.

JOSE PROTACIO MERCADO RIZAL Y ALONZO REALONDA

THE MERCADO - RIZAL FAMILY
The Rizals is considered one of the biggest families during their time. Domingo Lam-co, the family's paternal
ascendant was a full-blooded Chinese who came to the Philippines from Amoy, China in the closing years of the
17th century and married a Chinese half-breed by the name of Ines de la Rosa.

Researchers revealed that the Mercado-Rizal family had also traces of Japanese, Spanish, Malay and Even Negrito
blood aside from Chinese.

Jose Rizal came from a 13-member family consisting of his parents, Francisco Mercado II and Teodora Alonso
Realonda, and nine sisters and one brother.

FRANCISCO MERCADO (1818-1898)

Father of Jose Rizal who was the youngest of 13 offsprings of Juan and Cirila Mercado. Born in Biñan, Laguna on
April 18, 1818; studied in San Jose College, Manila; and died in Manila.

TEODORA ALONSO (1827-1913)

Mother of Jose Rizal who was the second child of Lorenzo Alonso and Brijida de Quintos. She studied at the Colegio
de Santa Rosa. She was a business-minded woman, courteous, religious, hard-working and well-read. She was
born in Santa Cruz, Manila on November 14, 1827 and died in 1913 in Manila.

SATURNINA RIZAL (1850-1913)

Eldest child of the Rizal-Alonzo marriage. Married Manuel Timoteo Hidalgo of Tanauan, Batangas.

PACIANO RIZAL (1851-1930)

Only brother of Jose Rizal and the second child. Studied at San Jose College in Manila; became a farmer and later
a general of the Philippine Revolution.

NARCISA RIZAL (1852-1939)

The third child. married Antonio Lopez at Morong, Rizal; a teacher and musician.

OLYMPIA RIZAL (1855-1887)

The fourth child. Married Silvestre Ubaldo; died in 1887 from childbirth.

LUCIA RIZAL (1857-1919)

The fifth child. Married Matriano Herbosa.

MARIA RIZAL (1859-1945)

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The sixth child. Married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Biñan, Laguna.

JOSE RIZAL (1861-1896)

The second son and the seventh child. He was executed by the Spaniards on December 30,1896.

CONCEPCION RIZAL (1862-1865)

The eight child. Died at the age of three.

JOSEFA RIZAL (1865-1945)

The ninth child. An epileptic, died a spinster.

TRINIDAD RIZAL (1868-1951)

The tenth child. Died a spinster and the last of the family to die.

SOLEDAD RIZAL (1870-1929)

The youngest child married Pantaleon Quintero.

EARLY CHILDHOOD
In Calamba,

Laguna 19 June

1861

JOSE RIZAL, the seventh child of Francisco Mercado Rizal and Teodora Alonso y Quintos, was born in
Calamba, Laguna.

22 June 1861

He was baptized JOSE RIZAL MERCADO at the Catholic of Calamba by the parish priest Rev. Rufino
Collantes with Rev. Pedro Casañas as the sponsor.

28 September 1862

The parochial church of Calamba and the canonical books, including the book in which Rizal’s baptismal
records were entered, were burned.

1864

Barely three years old, Rizal learned the alphabet from his mother.

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1865

When he was four years old, his sister Conception, the eight child in the Rizal family, died at the age of
three. It was on this occasion that Rizal remembered having shed real tears for the first time.

1865 – 1867

During this time his mother taught him how to read and write. His father hired a classmate by the name
of Leon Monroy who, for five months until his (Monroy) death, taught Rizal the rudiments of Latin.

At about this time two of his mother’s cousin frequented Calamba. Uncle Manuel Alberto, seeing Rizal
frail in body, concerned himself with the physical development of his young nephew and taught the latter
love for the open air and developed in him a great admiration for the beauty of nature, while Uncle
Gregorio, a scholar, instilled into the mind of the boy love for education. He advised Rizal: "Work hard
and perform every task very carefully; learn to be swift as well as thorough; be independent in thinking
and make visual pictures of everything."

6 June 1868

With his father, Rizal made a pilgrimage to Antipolo to fulfill the vow made by his mother to take the child
to the Shrine of the Virgin of Antipolo should she and her child survive the ordeal of delivery which nearly
caused his mother’s life.

From there they proceeded to Manila and visited his sister Saturnina who was at the time studying in the
La Concordia College in Sta. Ana.

1869

At the age of eight, Rizal wrote his first poem entitled "Sa Aking Mga Kabata." The poem was written in
tagalog and had for its theme "Love of One’s Language."

In Biñan, Laguna

1870

His brother Paciano brought Rizal to Biñan, Laguna. He was placed under the tutelage of Justiniano
Aquino Cruz, studying Latin and Spanish. In this town he also learned the art of painting under the
tutorship of an old painter by the name of Juancho Carrera.

17 December 1870

Having finished his studies in Biñan, Rizal returned to Calamba on board the motorboat Talim. His parents
planned to transfer him to Manila where he could continue his studies.

Back in Calamba

1871

His mother was imprisoned in Sta. Cruz, Laguna for allegedly poisoning the wife of her cousin Jose
Alberto, a rich property owner of Biñan and brother of Manuel and Gregorio.

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1872

For the first time, Rizal heard of the word filibustero which his father forbid the members of his family to
utter, including such names as Cavite and Burgos. (It must be remembered that because of the Cavite
Mutiny on January 20, 1872, Fathers Mariano
Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora were garroted at Bagumbayan Field on February 17, 1872.)

EDUCATION
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.

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

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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.

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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

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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.

Life and Studies at Ateneo

The Jesuits were considered the best educators of Spain, and perhaps of Europe, and so, when
they were permitted to return to the Philippines, although their power to administer parishes was
restricted except in the remote regions of Mindanao, the privilege of founding colleges, they had
to apply to the City of Manila for subsidies. That is why the college which began to function in
the year 1865, was called the Ateneo Municipal.

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To enter the Ateneo a candidate was subjected to an entrance examination on Christian doctrine,
reading, writing, grammar, and elementary arithmetic. Jose did not take his entrance
examinations Jose did not remain in Manila but returned first to his town to celebrate the fiesta
of its patron saint; it was then that his father changed his mind and decided to send him to the
Ateneo instead.

Since Mercado, the first surname of the family, had come under suspicion of the authorities
because it was the name used by Paciano when he was studying and working with Father
Burgos, in whose house he lived, Jose adopted the second surname, Rizal.

Paciano who accompanied Jose, found him a house in Walled City, but Intramuros looked
gloomy to Jose, and he later found lodging outside, in the house of a spinster situated on Calle
Carballo, district of Santa Cruz. As if chance would furnish him data for his future campaigns, he
became acquainted in that house with various mestizos, begotten by friars.

The Jesuitical system of instruction was considered more advanced than that of other colleges
in that epoch. Its discipline was rigid and its methods less mechanical. It introduced physical
culture as part of its program as well as the cultivation of the arts, such as music, drawing, and
painting. It also establishes vocational courses in agriculture, commerce, and mechanics as a
religious institute, its principal purpose was to mold the character and the will of the boys to
comply more easily with the percepts of the Church. The students heard mass before the
beginning of the class, which was opened and closed with prayers.

In the first two terms the classes were divided into groups of interns and externs: the first
constituted the Roman
Empire and the second, the Carthaginian Empire. In each empire there were five dignitaries:
Emperor, Tribune, Decurion, Centurion, and Standard-Bearer. These dignities were won by
means of individual competitions in which it was necessary to catch one’s adversary in error
three times. The empires considered themselves in perpetual warfare, and when an individual
of one empire was caught in error by one belonging to the enemy empire, a point was counted
in favor of the latter. At the end of each week or two, the points in favor of each were added and
the empire, which obtained more point, was declared winner.

There was a fraternity of Mary and Saint Louis Gonzaga, to which only those who distinguished
themselves in the class for their piety and diligence could belong. This fraternity met on Sundays
and after mass held public programs in which poems were recited or debates were held. With
all these inducements it was only natural that should be a spirit of emulation, a striving to surpass
ones colleagues found in the Ateneo.

The first professor Jose had was Fr. Jose Bech, whom he describes as a man of high stature;
lean body, bent forward; quick gait; ascetic physiognomy, severe and inspired; small, sunken
eyes; sharp Grecian nose; thin lips forming an arch with its sides directed toward the chin." He
was somewhat of a lunatic and of an uneven humor; sometimes he was hard and little tolerant
and at other times he was gay and playful as a child. Among Jose’s classmates were
Peninsulares and sons of Peninsulares; Francisco G. Oliva, very talented but not very studious;

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Joaquin Garrido, endowed with a poor memory but with much talent and industry; and Gonzalo
Marzano, who occupied the throne of Emperor.

From the first days Jose learned to systematize his work; he fixed a program of what he had to
do in the twenty-four hours of the day and did not in the least deviate from it. Thus he disciplined
his will and subjected it to the commands of his reason.

As a newcomer, Jose was at first put at the tail of the class, but he was soon promoted and
kept on being promoted so that at the end of one month he had attained to the rank of
Emperor. At the end of the term he obtained marks of excellent in all the subjects and in the
examinations. He had reason to feel proud of his advancement; and so when he went home on
vacation that year, he ran alone to see his mother in the prison and tell her the happy news.

He must have uttered this exclamation on learning from his mother that they had played her a
mean trick. The judge, who was a blind partisan of the friars having been a domestic of theirs,
told her that if she confessed her culpability he would release her at once. With the desire to see
her children again, she pleaded guilty; but the judge, instead of releasing her, convicted her. In
a few months the judge asked her forgiveness for what he had done because according to him
his conscience hurt him, but the case had no remedy because it was already on appeal.

The second year, Jose had the same professor as in the previous year; but instead of lodging
outside the City, he resided at No. 6 Calle Magallanes. At the end of the term he obtained a
medal, and upon returning to his town, he again visited his mother in jail alone. This was three
months before her release.

The rejoicing that her release produced in his spirit had much influence on the result of his studies
in the third year, for he began to win prizes in the quarterly examinations.

About that time he devoted himself to reading novels, and one of those he enjoyed most was
Dumas’ (father) The Count of Monte Cristo. The sufferings of the hero of the twelve years. He
also asked his father to buy him a copy of The Universal History by Cesar Cantanu, and
according to himself he profited much from its perusal.

The family, who saw in Jose great aptitude for study, decided to place him as intern or boarding
student in the college the following year. In the corner of the dormitory facing the sea and the
pier Jose passed his two years of internship.

In the fourth year of his course he had Fr. Francisco Sanchez as professor. Jose describes him
as a model of rectitude, a solicitude, and love for the student, and his studied mathematics,
rhetoric, and Greek, and he must have progressed much, for at the end of the year he-obtained
five medals, which pleased him immensely because with them I could repay my father somewhat
for his sacrifices.

His aptitude for poetry revealed itself early, and from that time on he did not cease to cultivate it.

An incident which demonstrates Jose’s independence of character took place at this time. Fr.
Leoncio Lopez, parish priest of the town, who was a great friend of his father, also liked Jose as
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a little friend. He was cultured but at the same time timid and tender. One day Jose’s mother
showed Father Lopez a poem of his young friend and that the latter must have copied it from a
book. Jose, who heard this, answered the priest violently, for which his mother reprehended him.
Afterward Father Lopez came to know from the Jesuits themselves that Jose was a pupil who
excelled in poetry; and, in spite of his age, made a trip to Manila expressly to apologize to Jose.
That gesture of Father Lopez’ won him Jose’s esteem and they became good friends again,
lending each other the books they had.

In the fifth years Jose had other professors: Frs. Vilaclara and Mineves. He studied philosophy,
physics, chemistry, and natural history, but his devotion to poetry was such that his professor in
philosophy advised him once to leave it, which made him cry. But in his rest hours he continued
cultivating the Muses under the direction of his old professor, Father Sanchez. Jose had then
written a short story (leyenda), which was only slightly corrected by his professor, and a dialogue,
which was enacted at the end of the course, alluding to the collegians’ farewell. However,
philosophy, just and serve, inquiring into the wherefores of things, interested him as much as
poetry; physics, drawing back the veil that divine drama of nature was enacted, natural history
seemed to him somewhat uninteresting although he much liked the shells and sometimes
imagined seeing a goddess in each shell he was on the shelf.

Jose was considered small of stature and he tried to correct this defect by applying himself
regularly to gymnastics in the college. He also engaged in other physical exercises, such as
fencing. After his baccalaureate, he surprised his family with his skill in handling the sword when
he gave an exhibition bout with the best swordsman of the town.

He also devoted time to painting and sculpture. In drawing and painting he was under the
guidance and direction of the Ateneo professor, the Peninsula Don Augustin Saez, who honored
him with his affection and consideration because of his progress. In sculpture his instructor was
a Filipino, Romualdo de Jesus, who felt proud in the last years of his life of having had such an
excellent pupil.

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