JOSE PROTACIO RIZAL MERCADO Y ALONZO REALONDA: THE MAN OF ALL AGES

Prepared by: Ms. Majoy G. Tupaz, MAEd.

The Philippine Before Rizal

o Almost 300 years before the birth of Rizal, the Philippines had been a colony of Spain.
o 1565 the Philippine became a colony of Spain.
o From the time of the first governor-general, the natives have already expressed their deepest desire for their
freedom.

ABUSIVE ADMINISTRATORS AND INHUMANE POLICIES PLAGUED THE SOCIO-POLITICAL

SYSTEM OF THE COUNTRY

POLO – compulsory service to the government rendered annually by all males, ages 16-60 yrs. Old.
TRIBUTE – a form of heavy taxation paid annually by each family or single individual; symbol of vassalage to
Spain.
ENCOMIENDA SYSTEM – served as the first governmental system in the Philippines; land control was
delegated to selected Spanish officials or religious orders.
ISOLATION POLICY – prohibited the people from trading with other Asian countries in order to ward off the
expressed interests of other colonial powers over the islands.
DIVIDE and RULE - done through a systematic and gradual manner of using the people to fight their own
people..
FRAILOCRACY – rule of the friars.

19th Century – the world was starting to make rapid and radical changes.

 Intellectual revolution – modern ideas such as human rights, liberalism, justice and equality have become
popular over Europe and America.
 Industrial revolution – pushed the countries to become progressive leading to the fall of traditional
monarchies.
o Democracy and capitalism became the trend in modern Europe
o Nothing much has changed in the Philippines. Poverty and hopelessness prevailed in the country for the
past three centuries.
o Rise of the illustrados

THE ANCESTRY
FATHER SIDE

Domingo Lamco – Rizal’s great, great grandfather was a Chinese Immigrant, who married a Filipina named
Ines de la Rosa
Francisco and Clemente
Francisco married Bernarda Monica = Juan Mercado who married Cyrilla Alejandra
Juan and Cyrilla were blessed with thirteen children. One of them was Francisco Mercado who married
Teodora Alonzo
He established himself in Calamba after acquiring a tenancy assignment in Dominican Hacienda.
MOTHER SIDE

Gregorio Alonzo 1 – Rizal’s great, great grandfather from the mother side.
Cipriano Alonzo – son of Gregorio Alonzo 1 became gobernadorcillo of Binan in 1797
Lorenzo Alberto Alonzo – son of Cipriano who married Brigida de Quintos and was in 1824 became the
gobernadorcillo of Binan.
Lorenzo and Brigida had five children: Narcisa, Teodora, Gregorio, Manuel and Jose
Adopted the name Realonda
Dona Teodora Alonzo Realonda was educated in Colegio de Sta. Rosa
1848, she married Francisco Mercado

1849 – Gov. Narciso Claveria issued a decree on the Hispanization of Filipino names
RIZAL from Latin “racial” means “greenfields”.

BIRTH AND FAMILY

 FRANCISCO MERCADO – a businessman from Binan, Laguna.
 TEODORA ALONZO - born and a resident of Manila and was educated in Laguna.

SIBLINGS:

 SATURNINA (1850-1913) married Manuel Hidalgo of Tanauan, Batangas. In 1909, Dona Saturnina published
Pascual Poblete’s Tagalog translation of the Noli Me Tangere.
 PACIANO (1851-1930) Traveler on Foot
 NARCISA (1852-1939) married Antonino Lopez, a teacher and musician from Morong, Rizal. It is said that
Dona Narcisa could recite from memory almost all the poems of Rizal.
 OLIMPIA (1855-1887) married Silvestre Ubaldo, a telegraph operator from Manila.
 LUCIA (1857-1919) married Mariano Herbosa of Calamba, Laguna
 MARIA (1859-1945) married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Binan, Laguna
 JOSE PROTACIO RIZAL MERCADO Y ALONZO REALONDA (1861-1896)
Born on June 19, 1861
7th of the 11 children and second son of Francisco Mercado and Teodora Alonzo
Baptized at the Parish of Calamba by Father Rufino Collantes and his godfather was Father Pedro
Casanas
 CONCEPCION (1862-1865) who followed Jose, died when Rizal was four.
 JOSEFA (1865-1945)
 TRINIDAD (1868-1951) lived together until their deaths. Both became members of the Katipunan. Trinidad
was the custodian of Rizal’s eulogy, “Mi Ultimo Adios”
 SOLEDAD (1870-1929) married Pantaleon Quintero of Calamba, Laguna. She became a teacher, said to have
been “the best educated” among Rizal’s sisters.
 CHILDHOOD DAYS

 Calamba, Laguna it is where he was born

 The Rizal home is large and is built of stone and titles; has many rooms, for the girls, the boys, another for the
couple and quarters for the servants
 Huge dining table with a big fan on the ceiling
 They had a more than a thousand volume of Latin and Spanish books in their library
 The family belonged to the Principalia class
 The sugarcane plantation was the main source of livelihood
 The farm had coconuts, some rice fields, fruit bearing trees and a large turkey farm
 They were also the first native family in Calamba but as well as in Binan, and was well respected by the town
folks
 Moy proved to be truly gifted; his mother was his first teacher
 At the age of 3 he was taught how to read Latin and Spanish alphabet
 Jose learned many stories and legends at a young age
 Would never forget the store, “The Moth and the Flame” from the book El Amigo de los Ninos
 The first sad memory Jose could recall when he was a child is that when his younger sister, Concha died of a
sickness at the age of 3.
 He also served as a caretaker to her younger sister Josefa, an epileptic

THREE UNCLES

 Jose Alberto an artist, who taught him skills in sketching and drawing the used of pencil and charcoal
 Manuel an athlete, instruct him the rudiments of fencing and wrestling
 Gregorio lover of books and a writer would instill in him a passion in writing and appreciation to poetry and
literature

FIRST OUT OF TOWN

 Don Francisco and Jose went to Antipolo for a pilgrimage and visited Saturnina in Manila who was then a
boarding student in La Concordia College in Sta. Ana
 At the age of 8 Rizal wrote an untitled poem about love, he expressed the Tagalog language as one that is
equal footing with Latin and Spanish
 “Sa Aking Mga Kabata”
 “Sa Aking Katutubong Wika” - A man who does not love his own language is worse than any beast or evil
smelling fish
BINAN STUDIES
 9 yrs. old (1870) sent to Binan to study under the instruction of Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz
 Rizal lived with his aunt in Binan where he befriended Leandro, his cousin’s son
 Jose Guevarra – best friend in class, a painting partner under the instruction of Mang Juancho
 Rizal also received instruction under Maestro Lucas Padua
 Leon Monroy – Latin tutor
 Pedro - the first one he had brawl with
 Andres Salandanan - the one who almost broke his arm during a “bunongbraso” contest
 The pain of maestro Justiniano’s punishments brought him to take his studies seriously
 1871 - Rizal’s Binan studies ended
 Arturo Camps - the one who accompanied him home

THE ARREST OF RIZAL’S MOTHER

 1871 - Dona Teodora was arrested on a malicious charged that she had conspired with her brother, Jose
Alberto in attempt to murder the latter’s wife by poisoning
 She was tied at the back of karuwahe and was dragged to travel by foot from Calamba to Sta. Cruz instead of
sending he to Calamba jail
 1873 - the case should have ended and Teodora should have been freed but the case was reopened in the
Royal Audencia because of the intervention of Mayor Antonio Vivencio del Rosario

LIBERALISM AND MARYTYRDOM

 1868 - revolution broke out in Spain in defiance against the oppressive reign of Queen Isabel II
 Francisco Serrano and Juan Primo became the Marshall Regent of Spain and created a republican form of
government and ended absolute monarchy in Spain
 The revolution is called “Revolucion de Disgusto” or “Revolution of Disgust”
 This paved way for liberal reforms in the Philippines and a new Governor General was named – Carlos Ma.
Dela Torre
 Probably the best administrator the country ever had during Spanish rule
 Censorship was abolished and government criticisms were accepted as reforms recommended by various
sectors were welcomed

REFORMS DURING DELA TORRE

 The Filipinization of Parishes

 The abolition of Polo in Cavite
 The lifting of heavy taxes to native military servicemen
 The Education Decree of 1863
 Creation of Guardia Civil
RESTORATION OF TERROR

 Military rule was restored to the Philippines as a new governor-general arrived to replace dela Torre with
governor-general Rafael Izquierdo
 He immediately reversed all the reforms of the former governor and used the Guardia Civil to protect the
interest of the government

THE CAVITE MUTINY

 January 20, 1872 - about 200 Filipino soldiers and workmen of the Cavite Arsenal at Fort San Felipe rose in
mutiny under the leadership of Sgt. Lamadrid
 The mutiny was suppressed by troops from Manila and Felipe Ginoves defeated Lamadrid
 Evidence coming from the Intramuros included testimonies of those who were captured in the Cavite Mutiny
which included Francisco Zaldual
 February 17, 1872 - the GOMBURZA were executed upon the order of Gov.Gen. Rafael Izquierdo
 Paciano, a student of Colegio de San Jose was gravely affected for he was a trusted assistant of Burgos
 The martyrdom of GOMBURZA and the injustice to his mother made Rizal to become aware of the evils of
Spanish tyranny