University of Caloocan City

Biglang Awa St. Grace Park East. Caloocan City

Name: Anoche, Antonette M. Rating:

Course: Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management Professor: Dr. Ramon S. Lacanilao

Title of Report: “School days in Biñan”

I. Objectives

1. To know the story of Rizal when he was studying.

2. Analyze the family, childhood, and early education of Rizal.

3. Evaluate the people and events and their influence on Rizal’s early life.

II. Introduction

The first day of school for us as a child was pretty difficult. We think that we are

facing the real world where each of us conquers the fear of socializing with other

people. In fact, this was our first journey as a person. Just like Jose Rizal, our

mother was our first teacher. They will teach us the basics and then when we reach
 the right age, they send us to school to learn more. Rizal studied in Biñan since he

grew up there.

III. Learning Content

 The Hero’s First Teacher

 Private Tutors

 The uncles of Rizal

 Jose goes to Biñan

 First Day in Biñan

 First School Brawl

 Painting Lessons in Biñan

 Daily Life in Biñan

 Best student in School

 End of Biñan Schooling

 The Martyrdom of Gomburza

 Injustice to Hero’s Mother

The Hero’s First Teacher

Doña Teodora – Jose’s first teacher

“Taught me how to read and to say haltingly the

humble prayers which raised fervently to God” Rizal.

His account of his school days in Biñan gives us a vivid

glimpse of the kind of elementary education that

(Jose Rizal and his Mother)

Filipino boys obtained during that time. It was an education with much religion and overly strict

discipline.

 A pupil had to study the hard way. He was whipped by the teacher to make him learn

his lessons or behave well.

 On her lap, Jose learned prayers and the alphabet at the age of three.

Private Tutors

 Maestro Celestino was Jose’s first private tutor.

 Maestro Lucas Padua was the second private tutor.

 Maestro Leon Monroy became the hero’s tutor in Spanish and Latin. He was a

classmate of Don Francisco. This teacher lived at the Rizal home and instructed Jose.

Unfortunately, he did not live long and died five months later.

 After Monroy’s death the hero’s parents decided to send their gifted son to a private

school in Biñan

The Uncles of Rizal

 Uncle Jose Albert – gave wise direction in the studies of Jose

 Uncle Gregorio – instilled into the mind of Jose the love of education.

 Uncle Manuel Alberto – seeing Jose was frail in nature, concerned himself with the

physical development of his nephew. He also taught Jose a love for the open air and an

admiration for the beauty of nature. He also encouraged him to learn swimming,

fencing, wrestling, and other sports.

Jose goes to Biñan

 One Sunday afternoon in June 1869. Jose, after kissing the hands of his parents and a

tearful parting from his sisters, left Calamba for Biñan. Jose goes to Biñan with Paciano. He

was accompanied by Paciano who acted as his second father.

The two brothers rode in a Carromata, reaching

their destination after one and 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.

(Carromata)

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 hometown, my idolized mother, and my solicitous sisters. Ah,

how sweet to me was Calamba, my own town, in spite of the fact, that it was not as wealthy as

Biñan.

First Day in Biñan

The next morning 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

(Nipa hut)
under him before. He introduced Jose to the teacher, after which he departed to return to

Calamba.

First School Brawl

In the afternoon of his first day in school, when the teacher was having a 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 his feat,

he became popular among his classmates.

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.

Painting Lessons in Biñan

Near the school was the house of an old painter, called Juancho, who was the father-in-

law of the school teacher. Jose, lured by his love for painting, spent many leisure hours at the

painter’s studio. Old Juancho freely gave him lessons in drawing and painting. He was
impressed by the artistic talent of the Calamba lad. Jose and his classmate, Jose Guevarra,

who also loved painting, became apprentices of the old painter. They improved their art so that

in due time they became “the favorite painters of the class”.

Daily Life in Biñan

Jose led a methodical life in Biñan, almost Spartan in simplicity. Such a life contributed

much to his future development. It strengthened his body and soul. Speaking of his daily life in

Biñan, he recorded in his memories. Here was my life. I heard the four o’clock Mass. If there

was any or I studied my lesson at that hour and went to Mass

afterward. I returned home and I went to the orchard to look

for a mabolo to eat. Then I took breakfast, which consisted

generally of a dish of rice and two dried small fish, and I went

home at once. If there was some special dish, Leandro and I

(Mabolo Fruit)
took some of it to the house of his children and I returned without saying a word. I ate with

them and afterward I studied. I went to school at two and came out at five. I prayed short while

with some nice cousins and I returned home. I studied for my lesson. I drew a little, and

afterward, I took my supper consisting of one or two dishes of rice with an ayungin. We prayed

and if there was a moon, my nieces invited me to play in the street together with others. Thank

God that I never got sick away from my parents.

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. Thus Rizal said that “in spite of the reputation I had of being a good boy, the day was

unusual when I was not laid out on a bench and given five or six blows”.

End of Biñan Schooling

Before the end of the Christmas season in 1870, Jose

received a letter from his sister Saturnina, informing him of

the arrival of the steamer Talim which would take him from

Biñan to Calamba. He left Biñan on Saturday afternoon,

Dec 17, 1870, after one year and a half of schooling in that
(Steamer Talim)
town. He was thrilled to take passage on the steamer Talim, for it was the first time he ever

rode on a steamer. On board was a Frenchman named Arturo Camps, a friend of his father,

who took care of him.

The Martyrdom of Gomburza

On the night of January 20, 1872, about 200 Filipino

soldiers and workmen of the Cavite arsenal under the

leadership of Lamadrid, a Filipino sergeant, rose in violent

mutiny because of the abolition of their usual privileges,

including exemption from tribute and polo (forced labor) by

the reactionary Governor Rafael de Izquierdo.

(Gomez, Burgos, Zamora) Accordingly, Gom-Bur-Za (Gomez, Burgos, Zamora),

despite the archbishop’s plea for clemency because of their innocence were executed at
sunrise, on February 17, 1872, by order of Governor General Izquierdo. Their martyrdom was

deeply mourned by the Rizal family and many other patriotic families in the Philippines.

Injustice to Hero’s Mother

Before June of 1872, tragedy struck the Rizal family. Doña Teodora was suddenly

arrested on a malicious charge that she and her brother, Jose Alberto, tried to poison the

latter’s perfidious wife. Jose Alberto, a rich Biñan ilustrado, had just returned from a business

trip in Europe. During his absence, his wife abandoned their home and children. When he

arrived in Biñan, he found her living with another man. Infuriated by her infidelity, he planned to

divorce her. Doña Teodora, to avert family scandal persuaded him to forgive his wife. The

family trouble was amicably settled, and Jose Alberto lived again with his wife. However, the

evil wife, with the connivance of the Spanish Lieutenant of the Guardian Civil, filed a case in

court accusing her husband and Doña Teodora of attempting to poison her.

After arresting Doña Teodora, the sadistic Spanish Lieutenant forced her to walk from

Calamba to Santa Cruz (capital of Laguna Province), a distance of 50 kilometers. Upon arrival

in Santa Cruz, she was incarcerated at the provincial prison, where she languished for two

years and a half until the Manila Royal Audiencia (Supreme Court) acquitted her of the alleged

crime.

Recounting this incidence of his mother’s imprisonment, Rizal said in his student memoirs:

“Our mother was unjustly snatched away from us and by whom? By some men who had been

our friends and whom we treated as honored guests. We learned later that our mother got sick,

far from us and at an advanced age. My mother was defended by Messrs. Francisco de
Marcaida and Manuel Marzan, the most famous lawyers in Manila. She finally succeeded to be

acquitted and vindicated in the eyes of her judges, accusers, and even her enemies, but after

how long? After two and a half years?”

IV. Vocabulary Words

1. Amicably - in a friendly and peaceable manner.

2. Ayungin - a freshwater fish known in English as silver perch.

3. Carromata - A light two-wheeled box-like vehicle usually drawn by a single native

pony and used to convey passengers within city limits or for traveling.

4. Incarcerated - confined in a jail or prison.

5. Languished - suffer from being forced to remain in an unpleasant place or

situation.

6. Mabola – also known as velvet apple is a fruit native to the Philippines with the

scientific name Diospyros blancoi. It is closely related to persimmons and is

characterized by having a fine, velvety fur on the skin.

7. Messrs. - used as a title to refer formally to more than one man simultaneously,

or in names of companies.

8. Methodical - done according to a systematic or established form of procedure.

9. Siesta - an afternoon rest or nap, especially one taken during the hottest hours of

the day in a hot climate.

10. Solicitous - showing attentive care or protectiveness

V. Post–Test

1. The Hero’s first Teacher.

A. Maestro Celestino

B. Leon Monroy

C. Doña Teodora

D. Don Francisco Mercado

2. This is the mode of transportation that Rizal and his brother Paciano ride on.

A. Carromata

B. Carommata

C. Talim

D. Kalesa

3. Who were the two people Jose Rizal fought in the brawl?

A. Andres and Peter

B. Antonio and Pedro

C. Pedro and Peter

D. Pedro and Andres

4. A painter who gave free lessons to Rizal in drawing and painting.

A. Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz

 B. Old Juancho

C. Jose Guevarra

D. Andres Salandanan

5. Rizal loved this fruit and would eat one during his daily morning walks.

A. Lansones

B. Mabola Fruit

C. Mango

D. Pineapples

6. Jose received a letter from which of his sister?

A. Saturnina

B. Narcisa

C. Lucia

D. Josefa

7. A French friend of Rizal’s father who is with him on way back to Calamba?

A. Jose Alberto

B. Paciano

C. Arturo Camps

D. Arturo Campo

8. Gomburza stands for?

 A. Gomez, Burious, Zamora

B. Gomilla, Burious, Zamora

C. Gomez, Burgos, Zamalla

D. Gomez, Burgos, Zamora

9. How many kilometers did Doña Teodora walked from Calamba to Santa Cruz?

A. 40 Kilometers

B. 50 Kilometers

C. 60 Kilometers

D. 45 Kilometers

10. What charge were Doña Teodora and his brother Jose Alberto arrested for?

A. Killing

B. Theft from a person

C. Poison

D. Assault

KEY TO CORRECTIONS

1. C

2. A

3. D

4. B

5. B

6. A
 7. C

8. D

9. B

10. C

VI. Summary

In the summary of this chapter, Rizal starts studying at a very young age with the help of

his mother, who is considered his first teacher. Rizal learned Spanish and Latin. His family was

known to be a well-off family in Calamba, Laguna, and they were considered one of the

biggest families of those times. They lived a life of comfort and prosperity, to the point where

they could hire tutors for Jose Rizal. In this chapter, Jose met his tutors. They are Maestro

Celestino, Maestro Lucas Padua, and Maestro Leon Monroy. Jose Rizal continued his studies

despite Maestro Monroy's death; his parents decided to send him to Biñan to continue his

studies. He came to Biñan with his brother, who accompanied him. He met his formal teacher,

whose name is Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz. Jose started his day at school by answering

his teacher's question, and he got into a fight with the bully of the school, who is the son of the

owner of their school. After the fight, they got into another fight each day. Jose found a painting

studio, and he met old Juancho, who freely gave him a lesson in drawing and painting. Jose

became the best student due to his high intellectual intelligence. At this point, Rizal received a

letter from his sister about the arrival of a steamer talim, and when Jose got home, this is the

time when the priest got into execution mode. Father Gomez, Father Burgos, and Father

Zamora are the three fathers. On June 18, 1872, Doña Teodora and his brother were arrested

on suspicion of poisoning Jose Alberto's wife. And Jose's mother was forced to walk with her

barefoot from Calamba to Santa Cruz.

 VII. Recommendation and Conclusion

The chapter or story concludes that Jose Rizal did study at a young age and became the

best student in Biñan due to his intelligence. He did well while he was far away from his family.

Recommendation for this chapter: If Doña Teodora doesn't stop Jose Albert from filing a

divorce case, she and her brother won't get arrested. Also, I recommend this chapter to my

fellow students because I learned a lot from this chapter and this story, especially during the

time when Rizal started school and experienced a lot, and I felt the moment when he missed

his family.

VIII. Bibliography

References

“Rizal’s Life, Works and Writings”

Author: Gregorio Zaide

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEyD_EPyFg0