TAGOLOAN Community College MODULE WEEK NO.

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Baluarte, Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental
University Tel.No. (08822)740-835/(088)5671-215
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College of Arts and Sciences

GEC 9: The Life and Works of Rizal
Semester of A.Y. 2020-2021

Introduction

A biography narrates how a person has lived during a certain period of time. It presents not only the life
of an individual and how he/she has influenced the society but also how an individual and his/her ideas
have been shaped by historical events. Jose Rizal lived in the 19 th century, a period in Philippine history
when changes in public consciousness were already being felt and progressive ideas were being realized.
Studying Rizal’s biography, therefore, will lead to a better understanding of how Rizal devoted his life in
shaping the Filipino character.

Rationale

This chapter will cover Rizal’s life and how he became an important hero of the Philippines.

Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of this module, the students should be able to:

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- Discuss about Rizal’s family, childhood, and early education;
- Describe people and events that influenced Rizal’s early life;
- Explain Rizal’s growth as propagandist; and
- Identify the factors that led to Rizal’s execution.

Discussion

Rizal’s Family

Jose Rizal was born on June 19, 1861 in the town of Calamba, province of Laguna.
Calamba, then a town with around 3 to 4 thousand inhabitant, is located 54 kilometers
south of Manila. It is found in the heart of a 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 wonder of creation that surrounded Rizal made him
love nature from an early age. His student memoirs show how his love of nature of nature
influenced his appreciation of the arts and sciences.

Rizal’s father, Francisco Mercado, way 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-co. Lam-co is said to have come 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.

Francisco Mercado became one of the richest in Binan and owned the largest herd of
carabaos. He was also active in local politics and was elected as capitan del pueblo in

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1783. He had a son named Juan Mercado who was also elected as capitan del pueblo in
1808, 1813, and 1823.

Juan Mercado married Cirila Alejandra, a native of Binan. They had 13 sons, including
Francisco Engracio Mercado, the father of Jose Rizal. Following Governor Narciso Claveria’s
decree in 1849 which ordered the Filipinos to adopt surname “Rizal”, from the word “racial”
meaning “greenfield”, as he later settled in the town of Calamba as a farmer growing
sugar cane, rice, and indigo.

Being in a privileged family, Francisco Engracio Mercado (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 hard work, their family became a prominent member of Principalia class in the
town of Calamba. Their houses was among the first concrete houses to be built in the town.
Rafael Palma, one of the first Biographers of Jose Rizal, described the family’s house.

The house was high and even sumptuous, a solid and massive earthquake-proof structure
with sliding shell windows. Thick walls of lime and stone bounded the first floor; the second
floor was made entirely of red tile, in the style of the building in Manila at that time.
Francisco himself selected the hardest woods from the forest and had them sawed; it took
him more than two years to construct the house. At the back, there was an azotea and a
wide, deep cistern to hold rain water for home use.

Jose Rizal (1861-1986) 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); Conception
(1862-1865); Josefa (1865-1945); Trinidad (1868-1951); and Soledad (1870-1929).

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Rizal was affectionate to all the 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
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 the independence. After the
revolution, Paciano retired to his home in Los Banos and led a quiet life until 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 daily angelus, would tell him legends and fairy tales.
These stories made him become interested in myths and folklores.

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. Eventually, Dona Teodora would
notice Rizal’s skills in poetry. She would ask him to write verse. Later, she felt the need for a
private tutor for the young Rizal.

Just like the other children from the principilia class, Rizal experience education under
private tutors. His first private tutor was Maestro Celestinoo 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 experience in Binan.

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At the age of nine, Rizal left Calamba with his brother to study in Binan. After one-and-a-
half hour 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 Aquino Cruz, who was also Paciano’s former
teacher.

The class was in a nipa house, about 30 meters away from his aunt’s house. Everyday, Rizal
would wake up early and either hear mass at 4 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 10 o’clock. He would pray with his cousins at 6 and then
study for a while before going to sleep.

In Binan, he excelled in Latin and Spanish. He also had painting lessons under Maestro
Cruz’s father-in-law, Juancho, an old painter. Rizal’s leisure hours were mostly spent in
Juancho’s studio where he was given free lessons in painting and in drawing.

After receiving a letter from his sister, Saturnina, Rizal returned to Calamba on December
17, 1870 after one-and-a-half year 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.

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 Gamburza. He followed the advice of his brother, Paciano, to use
the name Jose Rizal instead of Jose Mercado. He feared that Rizal might run into 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 secularization movement and one of three priests executed.

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During this time, Ateneo Municipal was known to offer the best education for boys. Like all
colleges in Manila, Ateneo was manage 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 also known for its rigid discipline and religious instruction that strained students’
character.

Students in Ateneo were divided into two groups, the Romans and the Carthaginians. The
Roman empire was composed of students 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, Rizal lagged behind his classmates
nut 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.

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 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 idea for fear of what had happened to
Gamburza. Despite this, Rizal pursued university education and enrolled in UST. During his
freshmen year (1877-1878), he attended the course Philosophy and Letters. Also in the same
year, he look up a vocational course in Ateneo that gave him the title perito 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 this
course after learning 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
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the original batch of twenty-four.

In 1882, Rizal and Paciano made a secret pact – Rizal would go to Europe to complete his
medical studies there and prepare himself for the great task of liberating the country from
Spanish Tyranny.

Rizal in Europe

On May 3, 1882, Rizal left the Philippines for Spanish. In his first trip 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 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 Rizal at a coffee house in Plaza de Cataluna. They toured Rizal around the city and
brought him to the famous historical sites in Barcelona. In this city, Rizal found time to write
an essay “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 Letter at the Universidad Central 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 schools of Sanz and Carbonell. In January of
1883, Rizal wrote to his family and informed them that: “I am now studying Italian and have
made a bet that I shall be able to speak it in two months”.

Rizal was awarded with the degree and title of Licentiate in Medicine for passing the
medical examinations in June 1884. With this title, Rizal was able to practice medicine. He
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continued enrolling in courses that would have led to 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 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
hacienda by the Dominicans. Consequently, there were delays in his monthly allowance
from the Philippines.

Rizal also took examination in Greek, Latin, and World History. He won the first price in Greek
and a grade of “excellent” in history. He also obtained the degree Licenciado en Filosofia
y Letras (Licentiate in Philosophy and Letters) from the Universidad Central de Madrid on
June 19, 1885 with the rating of Sobresaliente.

In between his studies, Rizal made time for meeting fellow Filipinos in Madrid. Known as the
Ilustrados, 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 Pided 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 plan 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’ 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 at the Lodge Solidaridad on November 15, 1890.

Filipinos in Madrid occasionally visited Don Pablo Ortiga y Rey, the former city mayor of
Manila under the term of Governor-General Carlos Maria de la Torre. Rizal joined his fellow
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Filipinos at Don Pablo’s house where he met and became a Master Mason at the Lodge
Solidaridad on November 15, 1890.

Filipino in Madrid occasionally visited Don Pablo Ortiga 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
their 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 ophthalmologist in

Europe 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 Ophthalmologists Dr.
Javier Galezowsky and Dr. Otto Becker in Heidelberg in 1886 and Dr. R. Schulzer and Dr.
Schwiegger in 1887.

During his stay in Germany, Rizal befriended different scholars like Fredrich Ratzel, a
German Historian. Though his friend, Ferdinand Blummentritt, Rizal was also able to meet
Feodor Jagor and Hans Virchow, anthropologist who were doing studies on Philippine
culture. Rizal mastered the German Language and wrote a paper entitled Tagalische
Verkunst (Tagalog Metrical Art). 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 5 years in Europe, Rizal went home to Calamba on August 9, 1887. He spent time with
the members of his family who were delighted to see him again. He also kept himself busy
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 Tanger. He left the
country for the second time on February 16, 1888.

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Rizal’s Second Trip to Europe

In his second trip, Rizal became more active in the Propaganda Movement with his fellow
Ilustrados like Marcelo H. del Pilar, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Atonio Luna, Mariano Ponce,
and Trinidad Pardo de Tavera. The Propaganda Movement campaign 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 occupied with writing articles and essays which were published in the
Propaganda Movement’s newspaper La Solidaridad. Among his intellectual works in
Europe is his annotation Antonio de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (1890) in which
Rizal showed that even before the coming of the Spaniards, the Filipinos 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 and social disorders. Another essay he wrote strongly
called “Filipinas Dentro de Cien Anos” (The Philippines a Century Hence) published in parts
from 1889 to 1890.

By July 1891, while in Brussels, Rizal completed his second novel, El filibusterismo, in which
was published on September 18, 1891 through the help of his friend, Velentin Ventura.
Compared with his Noli, Rizal’s El Fili was more radical with its narrative portrayed of a
society on the verge of 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 encourage them
to join the La Liga Filipina, a socio-civic organization that Rizal established on July 3, 1892.
Unfortunately, just a few day 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 Pobre Frailes (Poor Friars), a satire against the rich Dominican friars and their
accumulation of wealth which was against their vow of poverty. In spite of his protest and

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denial of having those materials, Rizal was exiled to Dapitan in Mindanao.

Exile in Dapitan

Rizal arrived in Dapitan on board the steamer 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 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.

On September 21, 1892, Rizal won the second price in a lottery together with Ricardo
Carnicero and another Spaniard. His share amounted to 6,200 pesos. A portion of Rizal’s
winnings was used in purchasing land approximately one kilometer away from Dapitan in a
place 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, and a nephew and I lived. In the octagonal my boys live – some boys whom I
teach arithmetic, Spanish and English – and now then a patient who has been operated
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on. In the hexagonal are my chickens. From my house I here the murmur of a crystalline
rivulent 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 fruits – mangoes,
lanzones, guyabanos, bulano, nagka, 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 take breakfast – tea, pastry, cheese, sweets, etc. afterwards I treat my poor patients
who come to my land. I dress and go to town on 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 use it to teach geography. With this map, which still exist today,
he discussed to the town people the position of Dapitan in relation to the 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 lamppost at
every corner of the town.

Having heard of Rizal’s fame as 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 July 21, 1896, Dr. Pio Valezuela visited Rizal in Dapitan and informed him
about the founding of the 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 1894 and another in 1895. He asked for the review of his case. He said
that if his request would not be granted, he would volunteer to serve as a surgeon under

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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 Espana. 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 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 in 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 Taviel de
Andrade, tried his best to save Rizal. However, on December 26, 1896, the trial ended and
sentence was read. Jose Rizal was found guilty of 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 am 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 sister visited him on
December 29, 1896, Rizal gave away his gas lamp to his sister Trinidad and murmured softy
in English “There is something inside”. Eventually, Trining 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 behing 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.

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Exercises

Name: ________________________________
Section : _______________________________

Briefly answer the following:

1. Describe the background of Rizal’s ancestry that might have contributed to his life
and education

2. Compare the experiences of Rizal as a student in Ateneo Municipal, UST, and in

Madrid.

3. Who were the important persons that influenced Rizal in his intellectual pursuits?
(explain)

4. What were Rizal’s activities in Dapitan and their impacts?

5. How would you assess Rizal’s Objection to the revolution?

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