GEC 9: The Life and Works of Rizal

Chapter: 4 Week: 5-6

THE LIFE OF JOSE RIZAL

Objectives:
At the end of this activity, the student should be able to:
⮚ Discuss about Rizal’s family, childhood, and early education;
⮚ Describe people and events that influenced Rizal’s early life;
⮚ Explain Rizal’s growth as a propagandist; and
⮚ Identify the factors that led to Rizal’s execution.

Discussion:
Rizal’s Family
Jose Rizal was born on June 9, 1861 in the town of Calamba, province of Laguna.
Calamba, then a town with around three to four thousand inhabitants, is located 54 kilometers
south of Manila. It is found in the heart of the region known for its agricultural prosperity and is
among the major producers of sugar and rice, with an abundant variety of tropical fruits. On the
southern part of the town lies the majestic Mount Makiling, and on the other side is the lake
called Laguna de Bay. The wonders of creation that surrounded Rizal made him love nature from
an early age. His student memoirs show how his love of nature influenced his appreciation of the
arts and sciences (Coates, 1992).
Rizal’s father, Francisco Mercado, was a wealthy farmer who leased lands from the
Dominican friars. Francisco’s earliest ancestors were Siang-co and Zun-nio, who later gave birth
to Lam-com is said to have been from the district of Fujian in southern China and migrated to the
Philippines in the late 1600s. In 1697, he was baptized in Binondo, adopting “Domingo” as his
first name. He married Ines de la Rosa of a known entrepreneurial family in Binondo. Domingo
and Ines later settled in the estate of San Isidro Labrador, owned by the Dominicans, In 1731,
they had a son whom they named Francisco Mercado. The surname “Mercado” which means
“market” was a common surname adopted by many Chinese merchants at that time (Reyno,
2012).
Francisco Mercado became one of the richest in Biñan and owned the largest herd of
carabaos. He was also active in local politics and was elected as Capitan del Pueblo in 1783. He
had a son named Juan Mercado who was also elected as Capitan del Pueblo in 1808, 1813, and
1823 (Reyno, 2012).
Juan Mercado married Cirila Alejandra, a native of Biñan. They had 13 children,
including Francisco Engracio, the father of Jose Rizal. Following Governor Narciso Claveria’s
decree in 1849 which ordered the Filipinos to adopt Spanish surnames, FRancisco Engracio
Mercado added the surname “Rizal” from the word “ricial” meaning green field”, as he later
settled in the town of Calamba as a farmer growing sugar cane, rice, and indigo.
Being in a privileged family, Francisco Engracion (1818-1898) had a good education that
started in a Latin school in Binan. Afterwards, he attended the College of San Jose in Manila. In
1848, Francisco married Teodora Alonso (1826-1911) who belonged to one of the wealthiest
families in Manila. Teodora, whose father was a member of the Spanish Cortes, was educated at
the College of Sta. Rosa. Rizal described her as “a woman of more than ordinary culture” and
that she is “a mathematician and has read many books” (Letter to Blumentritt, November 8,
1888). Because of Francisco and Teodora’s industry and handwork, their family became a
prominent member of the principalia class in the town of Calamba. Their house was among the
first concrete houses to be built in the town.

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 Jose Rizal (1861- 1896) is the seventh among the eleven children of Francisco Mercado and
Teodora Alonso. The other children were: Saturnina (1850-1913); Paciano (1851-1930); Narcisa
(1852 - 1939); Olimpia (1855-1887); Lucia (1857- 1919); Maria (1859-1945); Concepcion
(1862-1865); Josefa (1865-1945); Trinidad (1868-1951); and Soledad (1870-1929).
Rizal was affectionate to all siblings. However, his relation with his only brother, Paciano,
was more than that of an older brother. Paciano became Rizal’s second father. Rizal highly
respected him and valued all his advice. It was Paciano who accompanied Rizal when he first
went to school in Binan. It was also him who convinced Rizal to pursue his studies in Europe.
Like Rizal, Paciano had his college education in Manila but later decided to join the Katipunan
and fight for independence. After the revolution. Paciano retired to his home in Los Banos and
led a quiet life until his death in 1930.
Childhood and Early Education
Rizal had good memories of childhood in Calamba. As a family, they prayed together
during the Angelus. There were times when they would stay in the garden exchanging stories. It
was in this garden where he learned to appreciate nature. Rizal’s childhood was full of love and
care shown to him by his parents and siblings. Due to his poor health, Rizal had a personal
servant who, after the daily Angelus, would tell him legends and fairy tales. These stories made
him become interested in myths and folklore.
As a young boy, Rizal demonstrated intelligence and learned easily. His first teacher was
Dona Teodora who taught him how to pray. He was only three years old when he learned the
alphabet. At a very young age, he already showed a great interest in reading books. He enjoyed
staying in their library at home with his mother. Dona Teodora would notice Rizal’s skills in
poetry. She would ask him to write verses. Later, she felt the need for a private tutor for the
young Rizal.
Just like the other children from the principalia class, Rizal experienced education under
private tutors. His first private tutor was Maestro Celestino followed by Maestro Lucas Padua.
But it was Leon Monroy, his third tutor, who honed his skills in basic Latin, reading, and writing.
This home education from private tutors prepared Rizal to formal schooling which he first
experienced in Binan.
At age of nine, Rizal left Calamba with his brother to study in Binan. After one-and-a-half
hours of travel they reached the town on board a carromata. They went to the house of their aunt
where Rizal stayed for more than a year. Before leaving his brother, Paciano introduced Rizal to
the teacher, Justiniano Aquinoi Cruz, who was also Paciano’s former teacher.
The class, as described by Rizal (J.Jacinto, 1879) was in a nipa house, about thirty meters
away from his aunt's house. Everyday Rizal would wake up early and either hear mass at four
o’clock in the morning or study his lesson first and go to mass after. After returning home, he
would take breakfast and go to class from which he would come out at ten o’clock. He would
then again go to school at two o'clock and come out at five. He would pray with his cousins at
six and then study for a while before going to sleep.
In Biñan, he excelled in Latin and Spanish. He also had painting lessons under Maestro
Cruz’ father -in-law, Jauncho, an old painter. Rizal’s leisure hours were mostly spent in
Juancho’s studio where he was given free lessons in painting and drawing.
After receiving a letter from his sister, Saturnina, Rizal returned to Calamba on December
17, 1870 after one- and-a-half of schooling in Binan. He went home on board the steamship
Talim and was accompanied by Arturo Camps, a Frenchman and friend of his father (P.Jacinto,
1879).
Student of Manila
Rizal was sent by his father to Ateneo Municipal, formerly known as Escuela Pia, for a
six-year program, Bachiller en Artes. He took the entrance exam on June 10, 1872, four months
after the execution of Gomburza. He followed the advice of his brother, to use the name Jose

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Rizal instead of Jose Mercado. He feared that Rizal might trouble if it was known openly that
they were brothers since Paciano was known to have links to Jose Burgos, one of the leaders of
the secularization movement and one of three priests executed.
During this time, Ateneo Municipal was known to offer the best education for boys. Like
all colleges in Manila, Ateneo was managed by priests, but with an important difference in the
sense that these religious were not friars but Jesuit Fathers. Students in Ateneo were required to
attend masses in the morning before the start of classes. Ateneo was also known for its rigid
discipline and religious instruction that trained students’ character.
Students in Ateneo were divided into groups, the Romans and the Carthaginians. The
Roman Empire was composed of boarding at Ateneo while the Carthaginian Empire was
composed of non-boarding students. This grouping was done to stimulate the spirit of
competition among the students. At the start lagged behind his classmates but because of his
perseverance and seriousness in studies, he became the “emperor”, a title given to the most
outstanding student in class, in just a month’s time (Zaide and Zaide, 1999).
Rizal studied at Ateneo from 1872-1877. In those years, he consistently showed
excellence in his academic performance. He passed the oral examination on March 14, 1877 and
graduated with a degree of Bachiller en Artes, with the highest honors.
After finishing Bachiller en Artes, Rizal was sent by Don Francisco to the University of
Santo Tomas. Initially, Dona Teodora opposed the death for fear of what had happened to
Gomburza. Despite this, Rizal still pursued university education and enrolled in UST. During his
freshman year (1877-1878), he attended the course Philosophy and Letters. Also in the same
year, he took up a vocational course in Ateneo that gave him the title Pepito Agrimensor (Expert
Surveyor) issued on November 25, 1881.
In his second year at UST, Rizal shifted his course to Medicine. He felt the need to take
up this course after learning about his mother’s failing eyesight.
Rizal’s academic performance in UST was not as impressive as that in Ateneo. He was a
good student in Medicine but not as gifted as he was in Arts and Letters. Despite this, he was still
one of the seven students who remained in the course in his last year at UST out of an original
batch of twenty-four (Jose, 2011).
In 1882, Rizal and Paciano made a secret pact - Rizal would go to Europe to complete his
medical studies there and prepared himself for the great task of liberating the country from
Spanish tyranny.
Rizal in Europe
On May 3, 1882, Rizal left the Philippines for Spain. In his first abroad, Rizal was very
excited to learn new things. He was only twenty years old and as a young man, he was very
observant and eager to interact with foreign nationals. He made sketches of his fellow passengers
and of the things that he saw during his travels.
Rizal reached Barcelona on June 16, 1882. He arrived during the summer vacation so he
was able to meet up with former classmates in Ateneo. These classmates organized a welcome
party for Rizal at a coffee house in Plaza de Caratula. They toured Rizal around the city and
brought him to the famous historical sites in Barcelona. In this city, Rizal found to write an essay
entitled “EL Amor Patrio (Love of Country). This essay was published on August 20, 1882 in
Diariong Tagalog where he used the pen name Laong Laan.
After the summer vacation, Rizal decided to move to Madrid where he enrolled in Medicine
and Philosophy and Letters at the Universidad Central de Madrid (presently the Universidad
Complutense de Madrid) on November 3, 1882. He also took lessons in painting and sculpture at
the Academia de San Fernando, and classes in French, English, and German at the Madrid
Ateneo. Not content with these activities, he still managed to enroll in fencing class at the school
of Sanz and Carbonell. In January of 1883, Rizal wrote to his family and informed them that: “I

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am now studying Italian and have made a bet that I shall be able to speak it in two months”
(Guerrero, 2020).
Rizal was awarded with the degree and title of Licentiate in Medicine for passing the
medical examination in June 1884. With this title, Rizal was able to practice medicine. He
continued enrolling in courses that would have led to a Doctorate in Medicine but the degree was
not given to him because he failed to pay the fee required to defend his thesis. It is important to
note that at this time, Rizal was already feeling the effect of the difficult economic situation in
Calamba. His family faced financial problems brought about by low crop production because of
drought and locusts aggravated by the hike in rentals on the haciendas by the Dominicans.
Consequently. There were delays in his monthly allowance from the Philippines.
Rizal also took examinations in Greek, Latin, and world on the haciendas by the
Dominicans. Consequently, there were delays in his monthly allowance from the Philippines.
Rizal also took examinations in Greek, Latin, and world history. He won the first prize in
Greek and a grade of “excellent” in history. He also obtained the degree Licenciado en Filosofía
y Letras (Licentiate in Philosophy and Letters) from the Universidad Central de Madrid on June
19, 1885 with a rating of sobresaliente.
In between his studies, Rizal made time for meeting fellow Filipinos in Madrid known as
Illustrados, these Filipinos (enlightened ones) formed the Circulo Hispano Filipino which held
informal programs with activities like poetry-reading and debates. As a prolific writer and poet,
Rizal WAS ASKED TO WRITE A POEM. As a result, he wrote Mi Piden Versos (They Ask Me
for Verses).
In one of the Filipino reunions at the house of Pedro Paterno in Madrid on January 2, 1884,
Rizal proposed the writing of a novel about the Philippine society. The group approved the
project but this did not materialize. His fellow Filipinos who agreed to help him did not write
anything so he drafted the novel alone. It was in Madrid that he was able to write the first half of
his novel Noli Me Tangere.
While in Madrid, Rizal was exposed to liberal ideas through the masons that he met. \he
was impressed with the masons view about knowledge and reasoning and how they value
brotherhood. He joined the Masonry and became a Master Mason at the Lodge Solidaridad on
November 15, 1890.
Filipinos in Madrid occasionally visited Don Oablo Ortega y Rey, the former city mayor of
Manila under the term of Governor-General Carlos Maria de la Torre. Rizal joined his fellow
Filipinos at Don Pablo’s house where he met and became attracted to Consuelo, Don Pablo’s
daughter. However, Rizal did not pursue her because of his commitment to Leonor Rivera. His
friend, Eduardo de Lete, was also in love with Consuelo but did not want to ruin the friendship.
In 1883, Rizal wrote a poem for Consuelo entitled A Senorita, C.O. y R.
Rizal specialized in ophthalmology and trained under the leading ophthalmologists in
Europe like Dr. Louis de Weckert of Paris for whom he worked as an assistant from October
1885 to March 1886. In Germany, he also worked with expert ophthalmologist Dr. Javier
Galezowsky and Dr. Otto Becker in Heidelberg in 1886 and Dr. Schulzer and Dr. Schwiegger in
1887 (De Vianna, 2011).
During his stay in Germany, Rizal befriended different scholars like Fredrich Ratzel, a
German historian. Through his friend, Ferdinand Blumentritt, Rizal was also able to meet Feodor
Jagor and Hans Virchow, anthropologists who were doing studies on Philippine culture. Rizal
mastered the German language and wrote a paper entitled Tagalische Verkunst (Tagalog Metrical
Arts.) He also translated Schiller’s William Tell into Tagalog in 1886. It was also in Berlin
where he finished Noli Me Tangere which was published on March 21, 1887 with financial help
from his friend Maximo Viola.
After five years in Europe, Rizal went home to Calamba on August 8, 1887. He spent time
with the members of his family who were delighted to see him again. He also kept himself busy

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by opening a medical clinic and curing the sick. He came to be known as Doctor Uliman as he
was mistaken for a German. His vacation, however, was cut short because he was targeted by the
friars who were portrayed negatively in his novel Noli Me Tangere. He left the country for the
second time on February 16, 1888.
Rizal’s Second Trip to Europe
In his second trip, Rizal became more active in the Propaganda Movement with fellow
ilustrados like Marcelo H. Del Pilar, Graciano Lopez Janena, Anbtonio Luna, Mariano Ponce
and Trinidad Pardo de Tavera. The Propaganda Movement campaigned for reforms such as: (1)
for the Philippines to be made a province of Spain so that native Filipinos would have equal
rights accorded to Spaniards; (2) representation of the Philippines in the Spanish Cortes; and (3)
secularization of parishes.
Rizal became preoccupied with writing articles and essays which were published in the
Propaganda Movement’s newspaper, La Solidaridad. Among his intellectual works in Europe in
his annotation of Antonio de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (1890) in which Rizal
showed that even before the coming of the Spaniards, the Fili[pinos already had a developed
culture, He also wrote an essay entitled “Sobre la Indolencia de loas Filipinas” (On the
Indolence of the Filipinos) published in 1890 in which Rizal showed that even before the coming
of the Spaniards, the Filipino already had a developed culture. He also wrote an essay entitled
“Sobre la Indolencia de los Filipinos' ' (On the Indolence of the Filipinos) published in 1890 in
which he attributed the Filipinos’ ‘INDOLENCE’ to different factors such as climate disorders.
Another essay he wrote strongly called for reforms; it was called “Filipinas Dentro de Cien Anos'
' (The Philippine a Century Hence) published in parts from 1889 to 1890.
By June 1891, while in Brussels, Rizal completed his second novel, El Filibusterismo,
which in Brussels, Rizal completed his second novel, El Filibusterismo, which was published on
September 18, 1891 through the help of his friend Valentine Ventura. Compared with his Noli
Me Tangere, Rizal’s El Filibusterismo was more radical with its narrative portrayed of a society
on the verge of a revolution.
In 1892, Rizal decided to return to the Philippines thinking that the real struggle was in
his homeland. In spite of warnings and his family’s disapproval, Rizal arrived in the Philippines
on June 26, 1892. Immediately, he visited his friends in Central Luzon and encouraged them to
join the La Liga Filipina, a socio-civic organization that Rizal established on July 3,
1892.Unfortunately, just a few days after the Liga’s formation, Rizal was arrested and brought to
Fort Santiago on July 6, 1892. He was charged with bringing with him from Hong Kong leaflets
entitled Pobres Frailes (Poor Friars) a satire against the rich Dominican Frailes, a satire against
the rich Dominican friars and their accumulation of wealth which was against their vow of
poverty. In spite of his protests and denial of having those materials, Rizal was exiled to Dapitan
in Mindanao.
Exile in Dapitan
Rizal arrived in Dapitan on board the streamer Cebu on July 17, 1892. Dapitan (now a
city within Zamboanga del Norte) was a remote town in Mindanao which served as a politico-
military outpost of the Spaniards in the Philippines. It was headed by Captain Ricardo Carnicero,
who became a friend of Rizal during his exile. He gave Rizal the permission to explore the place
and required him to report once a week in his office.
The quiet place of Dapitan became Rizal’s home from 1892 to 1896. Here, he practiced
medicine, pursued scientific studies, and continued his artistic pursuits in sculpture, painting,
sketching, and writing poetry. He established a school for boys and promoted community
development projects. He also found time to study the Malayan language and other Philippine
languages. He engaged himself in farming, and commerce and even invented a wooden machine
for making bricks.

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 On September 21, 1892, Rizal won the second prize in a lottery together with Ricardo
Carnicero and another Spaniard. His share amounted to 6,200 pesos. A portion of Rizals’
winning was used in purchasing land approximately one kilometer away from Dapitan in a
palace known as Talisay. He built his house on the seashore of Talisay as well as a school and a
hospital within the area.
In his letter to Blumentritt (December 19, 1893), Rizal described his daily activities in
Dapitan:
I am going to tell you how we live here. I have a square house, another hexagonal, and
another octagonal all made of bamboo, wood and nipa. In the square my mother, sister
Trinidad, a nephew and I live. In the octagon my boys live-some boys whom I teach arithmetic,
Spanish and English-and now and then paint who have been operated on. In the hexagonal are
my chickens. From my house I hear the murmur of crystalline rivulet that comes from the high
rocks. I see the beach, the sea where I have two small crafts- two canoes or barotos, as they call
them here. I have many fruit trees-mangoes, lanzones, guyabano, baluno, nangka etc. I have
rabbits, dogs, cats, etc.
I get up early at 5:00, I visit my fields, I feed the chickens. I wake up my folks, and start
them moving. At 7:30 we eat breakfast-tea, pastry, cheese, sweets, etc. Afterwards I treat my
poor patients who come to my Land. I dress and go to the town in my baroto, I treat the people
there and I return at 12:00 and take lunch .Afterwards, I teach the boys until 4:00 and I spend
the afternoon farming. I spend the evening reading and studying.
Relative to Rizal's project to improve and beautify Dapitan, he made a big relief map of
Mindanao in the plaza and used it to teach geography. With this map, which still exists today, he
discussed to the town people the position of Dapitan in relation to other places of Mindanao.
Assisted by his pupils, Rizal also constructed a water system to supply the town with water for
drinking and irrigation. He also helped the people in putting up lamp posts at every corner of the
town.
Having heard of Rizal fame as an ophthalmologist, George Taufer who was suffering
from an eye ailment traveled from Hong Kong to Dapitan. He was accompanied by his adopted
daughter, Josephine Bracken, who eventually fell in love with Rizal. They lived as husband and
wife in Rizal's octagonal house after being denied the sacrament of marriage by Father Obach,
the parish priest of Dapitan, due to Rizal's refusal to retract his statements against the Church and
to accept other conditions
On the eve of June 21, 1896, Dr. Pio Valenzuela visited Rizal in Dapitan and informed
him about the founding of Katipunan and the planned revolution. Rizal objected to it, citing the
importance of a well-planned movement with sufficient arms. Meanwhile, Rizal had been
sending letters to the Governor General Ramon Blanco. Twice he sent letters, one in 1894 and
another in 1895. He asked for a review of his case. He said that if his request would not be
granted, he would volunteer to serve as a surgeon under the Spanish army fighting in the Cuban
revolution.
On July 30, 1896, Rizal's request to go to Cuba was approved. The next day, he left for
Manila on board the steamer España. And on September 3, 1896, he boarded the steamer Isla de
Panay which would bring him to Barcelona. Upon arriving at the fort, however, Governor
General Despujol told him that there was an order to ship him back to Manila. On November 3,
1896, Rizal arrived in Manila and was immediately brought to Fort Santiago.
Trial and Execution
The preliminary investigation of Rizal's case began on November 20, 1896. He was
accused of being the main organizer of the revolution by having proliferated the ideas of
rebellion and of founding illegal organizations. Rizal pleaded not guilty and even wrote a
manifesto appealing to the revolutionaries to discontinue the uprising. Rizal's lawyer, Lt. Luis

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Taviel de Andrade, tried his best to save Rizal. However, on December 26, 1896, the trial ended
and the sentence was read. José Rizal was found guilty and sentenced to death by firing squad.
On December 28, 1896, Governor-General Camilo de Polavieja signed the court decision.
He later decreed that Rizal be executed by firing squad at 7:00 a.m. of December 30.
Rizal, on his last remaining days, composed his longest poem, Mi Ultimo Adios, which
was about his farewell to the Filipino people. When his mother and sisters visited him on
December 29, 1896, Rizal gave away his remaining possessions. He handed his gas lamp to his
sister Trinidad and murmured softly in English, “There is something inside." Eventually,
Training and her sister Maria would extract from the lamp the copy of Rizal's last poem.
At 6:30 in the morning of December 30, 1896, Rizal, in black suit with his arms tied
behind his back, walked to Bagumbayan. The orders were given and shots were fired.
Consummatum est! ("It is finished!”) Rizal died offering his life for his country and its freedom.

Reference:
Rhodalyn O. et al. (2018) The Life and Works of Rizal. Quezon City. C&E Publishing, Inc.

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