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Chapter 3

EARLY EDUCATION IN CALAMBA AND BINAN

 The first teacher of Rizal was his mother, who was remarkable woman of good character and fine
culture—her mother
 Maestro Celestino- Rizal’s first private tutor
 Maestro Lucas Padua- Rizal’s second tutor
 Leon Monroy- a former classmate of Rizal’s father became Rizal’s tutor that instructed Jose in
Spanish and Latin. He died five months later
 Sunday afternoon in June, 1869- Rizal left Calamba for Binan accompanied by Paciano
 Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz- Rizal’s teacher in a private school in Binan
-Rizal described his teacher as follows: He was thin, long-necked, with a sharp nose and a body
slightly bent forward
 Pedro- the teacher’s son which Rizal challenged to a fight
 Andres Salandanan- challenged Rizal to an arm-wrestling match
 Juancho-an old painter who was the father-in-law of the school teacher; freely give Rizal lessons
in drawing and painting
 Jose Guevara- Rizal’s classmate who also loved painting, became apprentices of the old painter
“the favorite painters of the class”- because of his artistic talent
 Christmas in 1870-Rizal received a letter from his sister Saturnina, informing him of the arrival of
the steamer Talim which would take him from Binan to Calamba
 Saturday afternoon, December 17, 1870- Rizal left Binan after one year and a half of schooling
 Arturo Camps- a Frenchman friend of Rizal’s father who took care of him on board

DAILY LIFE IN BINAN

-Heard the four o’ clock mass then at ten o’ clock went home at once and went at school at two and
came out at five
-The day was unusual when Rizal was not laid out on a bench and given five or six blows because
of fighting

MARTYRDOM OF GOM-BUR-ZA

 Night of January 20, 1872- about 200 Filipino soldiers and workmen of the Cavite arsenal under
the leadership of Lamadrid, Filipino sergeant, rose in violent mutiny because of the abolition of their
usual privileges
 Fathers Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora- were executed at sunrise of
February 17, 1872, by order of Governor General Izquierdo
 The martyrdom of Gom-Bur-Za in 1872 truly inspired Rizal to fight the evils of Spanish tyranny and
redeem his oppressed people
 Rizal dedicated his second novel, El Filibusterismo, to Gom-Bur-Za
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INJUSTICE TO HERO’S MOTHER

 Before June, 1872- Dona Teodora was suddenly arrested on a malicious charge that she and her
brother, Jose Alberto, tried to poison the latter’s perfidious wife
 Antonio Vivencio del Rosario- Calamba’s gobernadorcillo, help arrest Dona Teodora
 After arresting Dona Teodora, the sadistic Spanish lieutenant forced her to walk from Calamba to
Santa Cruz (capital of Laguna province), a distance of 50 kilometers
 Dona Teodora was incarcerated at the provincial prison, where she languished for two years and a
half
 Francisco de Marcaida and Manuel Marzan- the most famous lawyers of Manila that defend
Dona Teodora

Chapter 4

SCHOLASTIC TRIUMPHS AT ATENEO DE MANILA (1872-1877)

 Ateneo Municipal- a college under the supervision of the Spanish Jesuits

 Escuela Pia (Charity School)- formerly name of Ateneo, a school for poor boys in Manila which
was established by the city government in 1817
Escuela Pia---- Ateneo Municipal--- Ateneo de Manila

 June 10, 1872- Rizal accompanied by Paciano went to Manila

 Father Magin Ferrando- was the college registrar, refused to admit Rizal in Ateneo for two
reasons: (1) he was late for registration (2) he was sickly and undersized for his age
 Manuel Xerez Burgos-because of his intercession, nephew of Father Burgos, Rizal was
reluctantly admitted at the Ateneo
 Jose was the first of his family to adopt the surname “Rizal”. He registered under this name at
Ateneo because their family name “Mercado” had come under the suspicion of the Spanish
authorities
 Rizal was first boarded in a house outside Intramuros, on Caraballo Street. This was owned by a
spinster named Titay who owed the Rizal family the amount of 300 pesos

JESUIT SYSTEM OF EDUCATION

-it trained the character of the student by rigid discipline and religious instructions
-Students were divided into two groups:
 Roman Empire- consisting of internos (boarders); red banner
 Carthaginian Empire- composed of the externos (non-boarders); blue banner
 Emperor- the best student in each “empire”
 Tribune- the second best
 Decurion- the third best
 Centurion-the fourth best
 Stand-bearer- the fifth best
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 The Ateneo students in Rizal’s time wore a uniform which consisted of “hemp-fabric trousers” and
“striped cotton coat” The coat material was called rayadillo

FIRST YEAR IN ATENEO (1872-1873)

 Father Jose Bech- Rizal’s first professor in Ateneo whom he described as a “tall thin man, with a
body slightly bent forward, a harried walk, an ascetic face, severe and inspired, small deep-sunken
eyes, a sharp nose that was almost Greek, and thin lips forming an arc whose ends fell toward the
chin
 A Religious picture- Rizal’s first prize for being the brightest pupil in the whole class
 To improve his Spanish, Rizal took private lessons in Santa Isabel College during the noon
recesses. He paid three pesos for those extra Spanish lessons
 At the end of the school year in March, 1873, Rizal returned to Calamba for summer vacation
 When the summer vacation ended, Rizal returned to Manila for his second year term in Ateneo.
This time he boarded inside Intramuros at No. 6 Magallanes Street. His landlady was an old widow
named Dona Pepay

SECOND YEAR IN ATENEO (1873-1874)

-At the end of the school year, Rizal received excellent grades in all subjects and a gold medal
 The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas- the first favorite novel of Rizal which made a
deep impression on him
 Universal History by Cesar Cantu- Rizal persuaded his father to buy him this set of historical
work that was a great aid in his studies
 Dr. Feodor Jagor- a German scientist-traveler who visited the Philippines in 1859-1860 who wrote
Travels in the Philippines

-Rizal was impressed in this book because of (1) Jagor’s keen observations of the defects of Spanish
colonization (2) his prophecy that someday Spain would lose the Philippines and that America would come
to succeed her as colonizer

THIRD YEAR IN ATENEO (1874-1875)

 Rizal grades remained excellent in all subjects but he won only one medal—in Latin
 At the end of the school year (March 1875), Rizal returned to Calamba for the summer vacation.
He himself was not impressed by his scholastic work

FOURTH YEAR IN ATENEO

 June 16, 1875- Rizal became an interno in the Ateneo
 Padre Francisco de Paula Sanchez- a great educator and scholar, one of Rizal’s professors who
inspired him to study harder and to write poetry

-Rizal described this Jesuit professor as “model of uprightness, earnestness, and love for the
advancement of his pupils”
 Rizal topped all his classmates in all subjects and won five medals at the end of the school term
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LAST YEAR IN ATENEO (1876-1877)

-Rizal’s studies continued to fare well. As a matter-of-fact, he excelled in all subjects. The most brilliant
Atenean of his time, he was truly “the pride of the Jesuits”
 March 23, 1877- Commencement Day, Rizal, who was 16 years old, received from his Alma
Mater, Ateneo Municipal, the degree of Bachelor of Arts, with highest honors
 Marian Congregation- a religious society wherein Rizal was an active member and later became
the secretary
 Rizal cultivated his literary talent under the guidance of Father Sanchez
 Father Jose Vilaclara- advised Rizal to stop communing with the Muse and pay more attention to
more practical studies
 Rizal studied painting under the famous Spanish painter, Agustin Saez, and sculpture under
Romualdo de Jesus, noted Filipino sculptor
 Rizal carved an image of the Virgin Mary on a piece of batikuling (Philippine hardwood) with his
pocketknife
 Father Lleonart- impressed by Rizal’s sculptural talent, requested him to carve for him an image
of Sacred Heart of Jesus

ANECDOTES ON RIZAL, THE ATENEAN

 Felix M. Roxas- one of Rizal’s contemporaries in the Ateneo, related an incident of Rizal’s
schooldays in Ateneo which reveals hero’s resignation to pain and forgiveness. “Neither
bitterness nor rancor towards the guilty party”
 Manuel Xerez Burgos- This anecdotes illustrates Rizal’s predilection to help the helpless at the
risk of his own life

POEMS WRITTEN IN ATENEO

-It was Dona Teodora who was first discovered the poetic genius of her son, and it was also she who first
encouraged him to write poems. However it was Father Sanchez who inspired Rizal to make full use of his
God-given gift in poetry
 Mi Primera Inspiracion (My First Inspiration), 1874- the first poem Rizal probably wrote during
his days in Ateneo which was dedicated to his mother on her birthday; Rizal wrote it before he was
14 years old
 In 1875, inspired by Father Sanchez, Rizal wrote more poems, as such:
1. Felicitacion (Felicitationi)
2. El Embarque: Himno a la Flota de Magallanes (The Departure: Hymn to Magellan’s Fleet)
3. Y Es Espanol; Elcano, el Primero en dar la Vuelta al Mundo (And He is Spanish: Elcano, the
First to Circumnavigate the World)
4. El Combate: Urbiztondo, Terror de Jolo (The Battle: Urbiztondo, Terror of Jolo)
 In 1876, Rizal wrote poems on various topics-religion, education, childhood memories and war.
They were as follows:
1. Un Recuerdo a Mi Pueblo (In Memory of My Town)- a tender poem in honor of Calamba, the
hero’s natal town
2. Alianza Intima Entre la Religion y la Buena Educacion (Intimate Alliance Between Religion
and Good Education)- Rizal showed the importance of religion in education
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3. Por la Educacion Recibe Lustre la Patria (Through Education the Country Receives Light)-
Rizal believed in the significant role which education plays in the progress and welfare of a
nation
4. El Cautiverio y el Triunfo: Batalla de Lucena y Prision de Boabdil (The Captivity and the
Triumph: Battle of Lucena and the Imprisonment of Boabdil)- this martial poem describes the
defeat and capture of Boabdil, last Moorish sultan of Granada
5. La Entrada Triunfal de los Reyes Catolices en Granada (The Triumphal Entry of the Catholic
Monarchs into Granada)- this poem relates the victorious entry of King Ferdinand and Queen
Isabel into Granada, last Moorish stronghold in Spain
 A year later, in 1877, Rizal wrote more poems. It was his last years in Ateneo. Among the poems
written that year were:
1. El Heroismo de Colon (The Heroism of Columbus)- this poem praises Columbus, the discoverer
of America
2. Colon y Juan II (Columbus and John II)- this poem relates how King Kohn II of Portugal missed
fame and riches by his failure to finance the projected expedition of Columbus to the New World
3. Gran Consuelo en la Mayor Desdicha (Great Solace in Great Misfortune)- this is a legend in
verse of the tragic life of Columbus
4. Un Dialogo Aluviso a la Despedida de los Colegiales (A Farewell Dialogue of the Students)- this
was the last poem written by Rizal in Ateneo; it is a poignant poem of farewell to his classmate

 Al Nino Jesus (To the Child Jesus)- this poem was written in 1875 when Rizal was 14 years old;
it was a brief ode
 A La Virgen Maria (To the Virgin Mary)- another religious poem which doesn’t have exact date
when it was written
 San Eustacio, Martir (St. Eustace, the Martyr)- a drama based on the prose story of St. Eustace
which he wrote in poetic verses during the summer vacation of 1876 and finished it on June 2,
1876