Rizal’s Discoveries in Dapitan

Rizal collected local fauna in Dapitan

During his stay in Dapitan, Rizal gathered an impressive collection of 346 different species of
seashells as well as a vast range of insects. The Draco rizali (flying lizard), Rachophorus rizali (a tree
frog), and two beetle species—the Spathomeles rizali (also known as the "handsome fungus beetle")
and the Apogonia rizali (a flying beetle)—are among Rizal's less well-known accomplishments.

Rizal collected seashells in Dapitan

On the shores of Dapitan, Rizal collected about 200 seashells, which he offered to sell to
Meyer. Later, Rizal would make a deal with Meyer, asking for literature rather than cash in exchange
for the variety of Dapitan animals that would wind up in European museums.

Rizal collected butterflies in Dapitan

The national hero nimbly stalking Dapitan feilds with a net, writers have often associated those
years more with butterfly collecting. In his towering 1961 biography “The First Filipino,” Leon Ma.
Guerrero even entitled the Dapitan chapter A Commerce in Butterflies.

In reality, Rizal's butterfly trade was unsuccessful. It seems that despite his great expertise, he was
unaware of the best ways to transport delicate animals abroad. Dr. K. M. Heller, a well-known German
authority on insects, gave Rizal the following frank advice in a letter in 1895.

Rizal innovated a boarding school in Dapitan

Rizal believed that community service was a way to develop a teenager's national
consciousness. He chose sixteen high school boys to be his students, who were taught in his medical
clinic, horticulture, and stock farm. He also taught them botany and zoology lessons, and the dictum
"sound body, sound mind" was lived out. His high school class was a model of the ideal boarding
school.

Rizal as Teacher in Dapitan

It was characteristic of our national hero Dr. Jose Rizal to foresee and write of the future, such as
in his series of four articles published in La Solidaridad titled, Filipinas Dentro Cien Años (The Philippines
Within a Century). For our hero, this was not a mere political forecast. He believed that the Philippines
would prosper if children and their parents were taught to help themselves by selfless leaders. Rizal
yearned for the Filipinos to develop true independence and march with dignity alongside men from other
free countries of the world. His solution was a social revolution through the education of the youth.

Rizal as Farmer in Dapitan

Rizal’s farm had fruit trees (mangoes, lanzone, guayabanos, baluno, nanka, etc.), rabbits,
dogs, cats, chickens, rice, corn, ferns and flowers like roses and sampaguita. In another letter to his
mother, Rizal said that the land he owns is very fertile. In addition to the his abaca plantation which has
6000 abaca plants, there is also a land for planting two cavanes (150 liters) of corn. He also said to his
letter that there are plenty of dalag (mudfish), pakò (ferns) and little round stones.

Rizal as Surgeon in Dapitan

Rizal's fame as an exiled surgeon began when he treated a local resident who was hurt by a
firecracker during a fiesta celebration in Dapitan. In a few months, the townfolk would call him “Dr.
Rizal” and greeted him with more reverence than they did the comandante and the parish priest. Rizal
offered his services to the local people for free, but charged the visitors based on their capacity to pay.
From his earnings, he helped the town by building a hospital, donating funds for public lighting, etc.
Rizal as an Engineer in Dapitan

Jose Rizal, with his knowledge as a land surveyor and constructed new street layouts of
Dapitan with the help of the people and his students. He set up a lighting system of coconut oil lamps
and provided the town with a water system in 1895. He also drained the marshes to minimize the
dangers of malaria and invented a wooden machine for making bricks and a hemp-stripping machine to
increase the productivity of the abaca planters.

Rizal gave fishing lessons to the Dapitaños

Despite the abundance of marine life in the sea, the Dapitaños had no fishing industry because
they knew nothing about using and making fishing nets. So, Rizal requested his brother-in-law Manuel
Hidalgo to buy a big net for trawl fishing, and to send him two competent Calamba fishermen to teach
the people better fishing methods. The nets came but not the fishermen, so Rizal trained the locals
himself. This eventually established the local fishing industry.

REFERENCES:

Javier, J. S. (1970). What Rizal Did in Dapitan: Collecting Local Fauna, Establishing a Boarding
School, and Healing the Sick. Esquiremag.ph.
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/rizal-in-dapitan-a2653-20210701-lfrm

Rizal and the Creatures of Dapitan. (n.d.). GMA News Online.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/specials/content/11/rizal-and-the-creatures-of-dapitan/

Soliven, P. S. (2019, July 10). Rediscovering Dr. Jose P. Rizal as a teacher. Philstar.com.
https://www.philstar.com/other-sections/education-and-home/2019/07/11/1933856/
rediscovering-dr-jose-p-rizal-teacher

Cajes, A. S., PhD. (n.d.). Rizal as Teacher, Farmer, Surgeon and Engineer in Dapitan.
http://alsalca.blogspot.com/2015/12/rizal-as-teacher-farmer-surgeon-and.html