WEEK 3: RIZAL’S FAMILY, CHILDHOOD AND EARLY 11.

Soledad or “Loleng” (1870-1929) the youngest,

EDUCATION
The Mercado Family
On June 19, 1861, Wednesday, Jose Protacio Rizal
Mercado y Alonso Realonda was born in Calamba,
Laguna. He was seventh of the eleven children, and
second son to Francisco (Kikoy) Mercado and Teodora
(Lolay) Alonso. Three days later, he was baptized in the
parish church of Calamba by Fr. Rufino Collantes. His
godfather was Fr. Pedro Casaňas.
His father, Francisco Mercado was a businessman from
Biňan, Laguna who settled in Calamba after being able
to establish his sugar farm through a lease with the
Dominicans. His mother, Teodora Alonso, although born
became the wife of Pantaleon Quintero. She will
marry another later, Luis Beliso, a Spanish
soldier.
The Ancestry
Father Side
On the father side, Rizal’s great great grandfather was
the Chinese immigrant Domingo Lamco, who married a
Filipina named Ines dela Rosa. Their children were
Francisco and Clemente. Francisco married Bernarda
Monica. They had a son named Juan Mercado who then
married Cirila Alejandra. Juan and Cyril a were blessed
with thirteen children. One of them was Francisco
Mercado who married Teodora Alonso. Francisco
Mercado established himself in Calamba with his two
sisters after acquiring a tenancy assignment in the

m
in Manila, became a resident also of Biňan and was

er as
Dominican Hacienda in Calamba, Laguna. In 1849, when
educated also in Laguna. The eleven children they had

co
Gov. Narciso Claveria issued the decree on the
are as follows:

eH w
Hispanization of Filipino names, he was given the new
surname Rizal, from the Latin ‘ricial’ meaning ‘rice

o.
1. Saturnina or “Neneng” (1850-1913) the eldest

rs e
and who became wife to Manuel Hidalgo. fields.’
ou urc
2. Paciano (1851-1930) the farm caretaker, had a Mother Side
common-law wife named Severina Decena
From the side of Rizal’s mother, Gregorio Alonso I was
o

3. Narcisa or “Sisa” (1852-1939) who was married Rizal’s great-great grandfather. Cipriano Alonso was his
aC s

to Antonino Lopez. son who became gobernadorcillo of Biňan in 1797. He

vi y re

was the father of Lorenzo Alberto Alonso who had an

4. Olimpia or “Ipiang” (1855-1887) who became earlier marriage to a girl named Paula Florentino but
the wife of Silvestre Ubaldo was separated. He took later Brigida de Quintos for his
wife but were not married. Don Lorenzo became, in
ed d

5. Lucia (1857-1919) who espoused Mariano

Herbosa. 1824, gobernadorcillo of Biňan. He was, at one time,
ar stu

became a representative of the colonial government to

6. Maria or “Biang” (1859-1945) who became the the Spanish Cortes and, also a recipient of a Spanish
wife of Daniel Faustino Cruz. knighthood during the reign of Queen Isabel II. Lorenzo
is

7. Jose Protacio or “Pepe” (1861-1896) the great and Brigida had five children namely: Narcisa, Teodora,
Gregorio, Manuel and Jose Alberto (who is rumored to
Th

Filipino, was the most educated. He married

Josephine Bracken, an Irish. have come from Paula).

8. Concepcion or “Concha” (1862-1865) who died Adoption of New Names

sh

at the age of three due to illness.
9. Josefa or “Panggoy” (1865-1945) who lived as a
spinster. She was an epileptic.
10. Trinidad or “Trining” (1868-1951) was never
married and also died as a spinster. She was put
in-charge of Rizal’s property in Dapitan.
When Governor General Narciso Claveria issued the
decree for the revision and adoption of new names, the
children of Lorenzo Alberto Alonso adopted the name
Realonda. Thus, the name Teodora Alonso became
Teodora Alonso Realonda. Dona Teodora was educated
in Colegio de Sta. Rosa. In 1848, she married Francisco
Mercado.

This study source was downloaded by 100000815634433 from CourseHero.com on 10-13-2021 21:07:47 GMT -05:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/94865274/RIZL-Week-03-Rizals-Family-Childhood-and-Early-Educationdocx/
 The Childhood Days
Calamba, Laguna was a special place for Jose Rizal. It is
where he was born, grew up and spent his early
childhood. Even when Rizal was already in Europe, he
would remember this town as the place where he spent
some of the most joyous times of his life.
The Rizal home, which is preserved to this day, is huge
and is built of stones (granite) and tiles. It has many
rooms, for the girls, the boys, another for the couple
and quarters for servants. The house has a large dining
table with a big fan on the ceiling. It also has a huge
kitchen, a rest room and a well inside. They also had
more than a thousand volumes of Latin and Spanish
books in the library. In the backyard is a nipa hut
wherein the children played. Many fruit trees
surrounded the house.
and give their children is all for their good and not to
listen to them may cause them harm.
A Sad Memory
The first sad memory Jose could recall as a child is when
his younger sister, playmate and best friend, Concha
died of sickness at the age of three. Jose was four at the
time. Josefa, the next sister, should have taken the place
of Concha, but with her health condition, being an
epileptic, Jose was probably more of a caretaker to her
rather than a playmate. Trining, the next one to Josefa,
became much even closer to Jose. Trining was Rizal’s
protégé. As a result, she became strong in character.
The Uncles
Some of those who became very influential to Pepe
when he was young were the three brothers of his

m
er as
Rizal’s family was one of the richest families in Calamba. mother. They were uncles Gregorio, Manuel and Jose
Alberto. Of these uncles, Jose Alberto was only a half-

co
Indeed, they belonged to the principalia class. The main

eH w
source of livelihood was the sugarcane plantation of brother of Dona Lolay. Nevertheless, all of them were
which the land was leased from the Dominicans who close to the Mercado-Rizal family and frequently visited

o.
their house. Pepe would always be brought along by
rs e
possessed the town of Calamba. The farm also had
these uncles to teach him things that would become
ou urc
coconuts (copra), some rice fields, fruit trees and a large
turkey farm. Added to these, the family milled their some of his interests in the later years. Jose, an artist
sugar and had a ham press operated by Teodora. They and an engineer, would teach Pepe skills in sketching
and drawing. Manuel, being an athlete, would teach him
o

were also the first family in Calamba to own a horse-

fencing and wrestling. Lastly, his uncle Gregorio who
aC s

drawn carriage, the carruaje. With Dona Lolay coming

was a writer would instill in him the passion for writing,
vi y re

from a family was rather popular not only in Calamba

but also in Biňan and was well respected by the town and an appreciation to poetry and literature.
folks. The First Out of Town Travel
ed d

Early Learning
When Dona Lolay gave birth to Soledad, their eleventh
ar stu

At an early age Moy (Jose) proved to be truly gifted. His child, she became so weak right after that she could not
mother was his first teacher. At three he was already fulfill her promise that time for a pilgrimage to Our Lady
taught how to read Latin and Spanish alphabet. He was of Peace and Good Voyage of Antipolo. The fulfill this
is

instructed to work fast and efficiently, be honest at all devotion, Don Francisco together with Jose went to
Antipolo for the pilgrimage. Jose was then seven years
Th

times, and always pray to God for help and everlasting

mercy. old. They proceeded afterwards to Manila where they
visited Saturnina who was then a boarding student at La
Jose learned many stories and legends already even at a Concordia College in Sta. Ana.
sh

young age. He remembered how his ‘yaya’ would always

frighten him through stories of the creatures of the First Writing
night. However, of all the stories told, one he would
When he reached the age of eight, he wrote an untitled
never forget was that of ‘The Moth and the Flame’ from
poem about a love, one that is for the native tongue or
the book, El Amigo de los Niňos. The story was about a
language. Here, he expressed the Tagalog language as
young moth who was told by his mother not to go near
one of that is in equal footing with Latin and Spanish,
to the light. However, the little moth did not listen. It
and how sad it is that natives would have study and use
flew near the flame which caught its wings and caused
the foreign ones when they have their own to be proud
its death. Jose came to a lesson that what parents tell
This study source was downloaded by 100000815634433 from CourseHero.com on 10-13-2021 21:07:47 GMT -05:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/94865274/RIZL-Week-03-Rizals-Family-Childhood-and-Early-Educationdocx/
 of. A young critic, he added that a man who does not
love his own language is worse than any beast or evil-
smelling fish. Rizal scholars later entitled this early
masterpiece as ‘Sa Aking Mga Kababata.’ However, some
contested that the title should have been ‘Sa Aking
Katutubong Wika’ since the poem is about language,
and not youth.

BIÑAN STUDIES

In 1870, at the age of nine, Jose was sent by his parents

to Biňan to study under the instruction of Maestro
Aquino Cruz. Maestro Justiniano was well known for his
knowledge of Latin and Spanish grammar and was also a
former teacher of Paciano. Pepe remembered how strict
he was that he would hit the palms of his pupils
whenever they fail to recite well.

Jose lived with his aunt Tomasa, Don Kikoy’s sister, in

m
er as
Biňan. Here, he befriended Leandro, his cousin’s son. His

co
best friend in the class was Jose Guevarra who was also

eH w
his painting partner under the instruction of Mang
Juancho, the old father-in-law of Maestro Justiniano.

o.
rs e
Jose also received instruction under Maestro Lucas
ou urc
Padua. He was, likewise, given a Latin tutor in the
person of Leon Monroy.

Being frail and thin, Jose was initially bullied by his

o

classmates. One of them was the boy Pedro, the

aC s

maestro’s son, whom he remembered as the first one he

vi y re

had brawl with. Another one was Andres Salandanan

who almost broke his arm during an arm-wrestling
contest. While in his studies, during the first weeks, he
ed d

received ruler blows on his palms for his mistakes and

ar stu

mischief. The pain of Maestro Justiniano’s punishment

brought him to take studies seriously. Later on, he was
able to catch up quickly and win the many prizes in
competitions held by the maestro. He had beaten all the
is

Biňan boys. In 1971, his Biňan studies ended.

Th
sh

This study source was downloaded by 100000815634433 from CourseHero.com on 10-13-2021 21:07:47 GMT -05:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/94865274/RIZL-Week-03-Rizals-Family-Childhood-and-Early-Educationdocx/
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)