All the girls Rizal loved before

It can only be with true passion that one

can conquer and accomplish what
Filipino hero Jose Rizal had in his thirty-
five-year life. He stopped at nothing
when it came to expressing his love not
just for his country but also his women.
His travels across the Philippines and the
world swayed him into multifarious
relationships that colored almost half his
life. There are nine women on record. It’s
not to say that all those relationships
were serious, but he did pursue when he
wanted to pursue, cared, at least, and
displayed his attentiveness and charm
unapologetically.
He documented his affairs, too, using his
much-praised grandiloquence. And based
on those documents, let’s just say the
man is a high-high-level bolero. And he
wrote them letters (a dying art, so forgive
us waxing poetic about it). And let’s not
forget he almost fought in a duel with the
Filipino army general Antonio Luna,
when a drunk Luna made nasty
comments about a girl named Nellie
Boustead. He was grand when he needed
to be, and smooth without trying; an
expert playboy—or lover—if you will.
Could he be the original GOAT?
As proof of his “ways,” here are the
recorded stories of the nine women of
Dr. Jose Rizal.
1 Segunda Katigbak
First love never dies they say—unless
your first love is already engaged to be
married when you meet. Then you have
to let it go really fast. Such was the case
of Jose Rizal and Segunda Katigbak, a
Batangueña, whom Rizal met when he
was only a 16-year-old boy.
They met when the young hero visited
his grandmother with his friend, Mariano
Katigbak, Segunda’s brother. The
Katigbaks were close to Rizal’s
grandmother, and coincidentally,
Segunda was at the grandma’s house
when Rizal and Mariano arrived. It was
attraction at first sight. Segunda was also
a close friend of Rizal’s sister, Olympia,
whom he visited every week at the La
Concordia College. The two became very
close. However, Segunda was already
engaged to be married to a man who
lived in her town, and Rizal had to stop
pursuing her.
Rizal wrote about the incident years later,
“Ended, at an early house, my first love!
My virgin heart will always mourn the
reckless step it took on the flower-decked
abyss. My illusions will return, yes, but
indifferent, uncertain, ready for the first
betrayal on the path of love.”
2 Leonor Valenzuela
Leonor “Orang” Valenzuela, Rizal’s
second object of affection, is literally the
girl-next-door. They met when Rizal was
a sophomore medical student at the
University of Santo Tomas, during which
time he also lived at Doña Concha
Leyva’s boarding house in Intramuros,
Manila. Orang, who was then 14 years
old, was his neighbor.
During the courtship, Rizal was said to
have sent Leonor private and secret love
letters, which he wrote using invisible
ink made with water and salt—he was
adept in chemistry, too. To read the
letters, Orang had to heat the letter over a
candle or a lamp. (How did we get from
this intricate, labored way of courting
someone to pressing that heart icon on
Instagram? Just wondering.) Rizal also
frequented the Valenzuelas’ home, which
was a hang out place of the students in
the area.
There are, however, documents that may
serve as proof that Rizal’s efforts were
not effective. Some accounts say he was
courting Leonor Valenzuela and and his
second cousin Leonor Rivera at the same
time—thus the need for invisible letters.
(Still, we need to appreciate the effort
that went with it.) Rivera apparently
knew of this and gave way to Rivera’s
attraction for Rizal. When Rizal left for
Spain in 1882, it was said that he did say
goodbye to Orang, but kept in touch with
the help of Rizal’s close friend, Jose
“Chenggoy” Cecilio.
Chenggoy was the ultimate teaser—and
maybe wingman?—who was amused
with the “rivalry” of the namesakes. On
one of Chenggoy’s letters to Rizal, he
wrote, “…nagpipilit ang munting kasera
(Leonor Rivera) na makita si Orang,
pero dahil natatakpan ng isang belong
puti, hindi naming nakilala nang dumaan
ang prusisyon sa tapat ng bahay. Sinabi
sa akin ni O(rang) na sabihin ko raw sa
munting kasera na hindi
siya kumakaribal sa pag-iibigan ninyo.
Que gulay, tukayo, anong gulo itong
idinudulot natin sa mga dalagang
ito!” (Manebog 2013)
Lest it be forgotten, while he was
pursuing the two Leonors, Rizal was in
Europe taking courses in medicine at
Universidad Central de Madrid and
painting at Real Academia de Bellas
Artes de San Fernando in Calle Alcala.
Maybe he still had time on his hands?
3 Leonor Rivera
Leanor Rivera and Jose Rizal lived the
tragedies of Shakespeare’s poems.
They met when Rizal was 18 and Leonor
was 13, at the boarding house of Rizal’s
uncle in Intramuros, Manila. Leonor was
Rizal’s second cousin.
It was a perfect love story in the
beginning: he, the intelligent charmer,
and she, the beautiful student who had a
beautiful singing voice and was a
talented piano player. Soon, they fell in
love. But as tragic love stories go, they
were besieged by obstacles. Leonor’s
parents highly disapproved of their
relationship as they were wary of Rizal
being a “filibuster.” In his letters, Rizal
called Leonor “Taimis” to hide her
identity.

Before leaving for Europe in 1882, Rizal

said that he had found the woman he
wanted to marry. But even his brother,
Paciano Rizal, disagreed with the idea,
saying that it would be unfair to Leonor
if he were to leave her behind after
getting married.
But their love—as young loves are—
wanted to go against all that stood in the
way. Although they did not get married,
they tried to continue sending each other
love letters, a lot of which were
intercepted and kept hidden by Leonor’s
mother. In 1890, Leonor wrote a letter to
Rizal saying that she was engaged to be
married to a British engineer named
Henry Kipping. That same year, the
wedding pushed through.
Upon the coercion of her mother, Leonor
burned Rizal’s letters to her—but it was
said she kept the ashes of those letters. A
story goes that she hid some of these
ashes in the hem of her wedding gown.
But their dark romance didn’t end there.
In 1893, Leonor died during second
childbirth. Documents show that when
Rizal heard of the news through his
sister, Narcisa, he didn’t speak for a few
days. It is believed that Rizal
immortalized Leonor through the
character Maria Clara in Noli Me
Tangere. Like we said, it’s a
Shakespearean kind of dark—and no
love story is more intense than the one
that lost the battle with circumstances.
4 Consuelo Ortega Y Rey
Consuelo Ortega Y Rey was the daughter
of Don Pablo Ortiga Y Rey, who was
Mayor of Manila when Maria dela Torre
was the governor. While Rizal was in
Madrid, he would hang out at Don
Pablo’s house, which became a place
where Filipino students would often get
together. Through one of these
gatherings, Rizal met Consuelo.
He showed affection towards Consuelo
but was not serious in his pursuit as he
was still engaged to Leonor Rivera at the
time. Yes, he loved the company of
women, but during that brief period, he
too was lonely and yearning for the
physical void left by Leonor.

Although most accounts say the dalliance

didn’t turn serious, Rizal wrote a poem
for her, entitled, “A La Señorita
C.O.y.P.” Of course, these days, when
you write a poem for someone, that’s like
a marriage proposal. In the end,
Consuelo got engaged to Rizal’s friend,
Eduardo de Lete. It is said that Eduardo’s
love for Consuelo was also the reason
Rizal didn’t pursue the mestiza. Or
maybe, in modern parlance, theirs was a
classic case of a rebound fling.

5 Seiko Usui
In many of his diary entries, Rizal wrote
about how he was charmed by Japan’s
beauty, cleanliness, and peace and order.
But if there was one thing that almost
kept him in the country where cherry
blossoms bloom most beautiful, it was a
woman named Seiko Usui, affectionately
called O-Sei-San.
It was in 1888. Rizal had just arrived in
Japan from Hongkong upon an invitation
to take a job offer at the Spanish
Legation. One day, while he was in the
office grounds, he saw O-Sei-San walk
past the legation’s gate and was
immediately enthralled by her beauty.
With the help of a Japanese gardener, he
asked to be introduced to the woman who
captured his eyes—and the gardener
acquiesced. Rizal spoke little Japanese at
the time, so the gardener had to serve as
a translator. However, a few minutes into
the conversation, they both found O-Sei-
San spoke English and French, which
was a relief as Rizal spoke both
languages. When the language barrier
broke, they started to build a relationship.
As days went by, O-Sei-San taught Rizal
the ways of the Japanese. They went
gallivanting, visiting museums, galleries,
and universities. They talked about the
arts and culture, switching their language
from French to English and back as they
pleased. Their love was childlike and
spirited. According to many accounts,
Rizal was ready to move to Japan, stay
with O-Sei-San, and live a peaceful life
with his love.
Unfortunately for this relationship,
country-saving duties would call and he
had to leave Japan for San Francisco. He
never saw O-Sei-San again. Their affair
lasted for around two months. It’s shorter
than an average season of a Netflix
series, but you know Rizal and his
intensity.
6 Gertrude Beckett
In the same year he began and ended his
relations with O-Sei-San, our JR, then
27, went to London and met a woman
named Gertrude Beckett, the eldest
daughter of his landlord. Gertrude
showered Rizal with all the love and
attention of a girl who is hopelessly in
love. She even assisted Rizal as he
finished some of his popular sculptures,
“Prometheus Bound,” “The Triumph of
Death over Life,” and “The Triumph of
Science over Death.” He called her
Gettie, she called him Pettie. But all
documents lead to say one thing: the
feelings weren’t mutually shared.

In 1889, Rizal left London, and left

Gettie a composite carving of the heads
of the Beckett sisters. Marcelo del Pilar,
Rizal’s friend, said Rizal left London to
move away from Gertrude, whose idea of
their relationship was more than what it
really was—the most tormenting kind: an
unrequited love.
7 Suzanne Jacoby
Maybe Rizal was repulsed with the idea
of having an idle mind. With all the
loneliness and anxiety from the turmoil
of his country and family, he was even
able to fill his resting moments learning
new things—like flirting with women.
When he arrived in Belgium in 1890, he
lived at a boarding house that was run by
two sisters whose last name was Jacoby.
The sisters had a niece named Suzanne.
You probably can guess now what
happens with Rizal and his caretaker’s
kin. If it’s not a neighbor, it’s a
caretaker’s kin. Are we seeing a trend
here? Obviously, the guy is too busy to
explore beyond a one-kilometer radius.
The relationship was probably a fling,
too, as Rizal made no mention of
Suzanne when he wrote letters to his
friends about his stay in Belgium. Rizal
left the country in August that year.
Suzanne was heartbroken. Rizal
continued writing El
Filibusterismo, writing for La
Solidaridad, and worrying about his
family back home. It was said that
Suzanne wrote Rizal letters. Rizal may
have replied once. In 1891, Rizal went
back to Belgium—not for Suzanne—but
to finish writing El Filibusterismo. He
stayed for a few months, left, and never
returned. Maybe she got the point after
that.
8 Nellie Boustead
Remember that famous time when
Antonio Luna and Jose Rizal almost got
into a duel because of a girl? The girl in
the middle of that madness was Nellie
Boustead. Rizal and Nellie met in
Biarritz, where Nellie’s wealthy family
hosted Rizal’s stay at their residence on
the French Riviera. Before Biarritz, Rizal
already made friends with the Boustead
family a few years back, and even played
fencing with Nellie and her sister.
During his stay at the beautiful Biarritz
vacation home, Rizal learned of Leonor
Rivera’s engagement and thought of
pursuing a romantic relationship with
Nellie, who was classy, educated,
cheerful, and athletic. After
strengthening their relationship, Rizal
wrote letters to his friends, telling them
about his intention to marry her. They
were all supportive, including Antonio
Luna.

Although they seemed like the ideal

couple, marriage for Rizal was still not
meant to be. First, Nellie’s mother did
not think Rizal had the resources to be a
good provider for her daughter. Second,
Nellie wanted Rizal to convert to
Protestantism. Rizal refused. But their
friendship must have been strong enough
because they ended up being friends after
all the drama.
Before Rizal left Paris in 1891, Nellie
wrote him a letter: “Now that you are
leaving I wish you a happy trip and may
you triumph in your undertakings, and
above all, may the Lord look down on
you with favor and guide your way
giving you much blessings, and may your
learn to enjoy! My remembrance will
accompany you as also my prayers.”
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how
you become friends with your ex.
9 Josephine Bracken
Josephine Bracken was the woman who
stayed with Rizal until his execution in
1896. She was also, allegedly, the
woman whom Rizal married. However,
accounts of their marriage have been
much-debated over the years.
Josephine was the adopted daughter of
one George Taufer, whom she lived with
in Hongkong for years before she needed
to seek help from an ophthalmologist due
to George’s blindness. They then sought
the help of Jose Rizal, who was already
exiled in Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte
at the time. Rizal and Josephine fell in
love and in a month made the
announcement that they wanted to get
married. But just like the other Rizal
great loves, this one was once again
complicated. No priest would marry the
two, for reasons that are still unclear—
but perhaps it was because of Rizal’s
status in politics. Without a legal paper,
Rizal and Josephine lived together, and
had a son, who died a few hours after
birth. Rizal named his son after his
father, Francisco.

Up to this day, there is no legal proof that

Josephine and Rizal ever got married.