Week 3

Unit 1: Life, Works, and Struggles (Part I)

Topic: Education

Learning Outcomes:
1. Analyze the system of education that Rizal experienced in
his formal education in Biñan, Ateneo and UST;
2. Identify the remarkable events that happened while Rizal
is still a student, which played a vital role to his
growing age such as: (a) the injustice arrest and
imprisonment of his mother (b) the execution of GOMBURZA;
3. Identify the teachers that made a primary contribution to
Rizal’s choice of education and character formation; and
4. Write an essay as a part of portfolio, regarding Rizal’s
life, its significance and role to the present
generation.

Concept Digest (Discussion)

FIRST TEACHER
Rizal was first schooled in their home by his mother, Doña
Teodora, a remarkably good and educated woman herself. She was
Rizal’s first teacher. As a loving mother and tutor, she would
sit the three-year-old Pepe on her lap and devotedly taught him
the alphabet and the prayers. He also taught Pepe to read the
Holy Bible. In their moments together, Doña Teodora would tell
him many stories which later fueled his strong interest in
poetry. But of all the stories that his mother told him, the
Story of the Moth touched him so deeply that he recorded it in
his diary.

Pepe and The Story of the Moth

One night, all the family, except my mother and myself,
went to bed early. Why, I do not know, but we two remained
sitting alone. The candles had already been put out. They had
been blown out in their globes by means of a curve tube of tin.
That tube seemed to me the finest and most wonderful plaything
in the world. The room was dimly lighted by a single light of
coconut oil. In all Filipino homes such a light burns through
the night. It goes out just at daybreak to awaken people by its
spluttering.
My mother was teaching me to read in a Spanish reader
called “The Children’s Friend” (El Amigo de los Niños). This
was quite a rare book and an old copy. It had lost its cover
and my sister had cleverly made a new one. She had fastened a
sheet of thick blue paper over the back and then covered it
with a piece of cloth.
This night my mother became impatient with hearing me read
so poorly. I did not understand Spanish and so I could not read
with expression. She took the book from me. First, she scolded
me for drawing funny pictures on its pages. Then, she told me
to listen and she began to read. When her sight was good, she
read very well. She could recite well, and she understood
verse-making, too. Many times, during Christmas vacations, my
mother corrected my poetical compositions, and she always made
valuable criticisms.
I listened to her, full of childish enthusiasm. I marveled
at the nice-sounding phrases which she read from those same
pages. The phrases she read so easily stopped me at every
breath. Perhaps I grew tired of listening to sounds that had no
meaning to me. Perhaps I lacked self-control. Anyway, I paid a
little attention to the reading. I was watching the cheerful
flame. About it, some little moths were circling in playful
flights. By chance, too, I yawned. My mother soon noticed that
I was not interested. She stopped reading. Then she said to me:
“I am going to read you a very pretty story. Now, pay
attention.”
One hearing the word ‘story’ I once opened my eyes wide.
The world ‘story’ promised something new and wonderful. I
watched my mother while she turned the leaves of the book, as
if she were looking for something. Then I settled down to
listen. I was full of curiosity and wonder. I had never even
dreamed that there were stories in the old book which I read
without understanding. My mother began to read me the fable of
the young moth and the old one. She translated it into Tagalog
a little at a time.
My attention increased from the first sentence. I looked
toward the light and fixed my gaze on the moths which were
circling around it. The story could not have been better timed.
My mother repeated the warning of the old moth. She dwelt upon
it and directed it to me. I heard her, but it is a curious
thing that the light seemed to me each time more beautiful, the
flame more attractive. I really envied the fortune of the
insects. They frolicked so joyously in its enchanting splendor
that the ones which had fallen and been drowned in the oil did
not cause me any dread.
My mother kept on reading and I listened breathlessly. The
fate of the two insects interested me greatly. The flame rolled
its golden tongue to one side and a moth which this movement
had signed fell into the oil, fluttered for a time and then
became quiet. That became for me a great event. A curious
change came over me which I have always noticed in myself
whenever anything has stirred my feelings. The flame and the
moth seemed to go further away and my mother’s words sounded
strange and uncanny. I did not notice when she ended the fable.
All my attention was fixed on the fate of the insects. I
watched it with my whole soul. It had died a martyr to its
illusions.
As she put me to bed, my mother said: “See that you do not
behave like the young moth. Don’t be disobedient, or you may
get burnt as it did.” I do not know whether I answered or not.
It was a long time before I feel asleep. The story
revealed to me things until then unknown. Moths no longer were,
for me, insignificant insects. Moths talked; they knew how to
warn. They advised, just like my mother. The light seemed to me
more beautiful, more dazzling, and more attractive. I now knew
why the moths circled the flame.

PRIVATE TUTOR

Rizal’s parents were very passionate of their children of

their child’s education, as they themselves also received good
education. Private tutors were employed to give Jose lessons at
home. First tutor was Maestro Celestino and second was Maestro
Lucas Padua. Later, Don Francisco hired his former classmate
named Leon Monroy, who was quite advanced in years, to teach Jose
in Spanish and Latin. He was a stay-in tutor at the Rizal’s home
but not for long because he died five months later.

The death of Leon Monroy caused Jose’s parents to send their

nine-year-old Jose to a private school in Biñan.

FIRST FORMAL SCHOOLING – BIÑAN, LAGUNA (1870-1871)

It was a Sunday afternoon in June 1870, when Jose, after

kissing the hands of his parents and a tearful parting from his
sisters left Calamba for Biñan. Accompanied by his brother
Paciano, who acted as his second father, they rode in a
“Carromata” headed for their aunt’s house where Jose was to stay.
Their travel lasted for one and a half hours so that it was
almost dark when they arrived. That very night, Jose and his
cousin, Leandro, went sightseeing around the town but he did not
enjoy because he got homesick. He remembered his parents and his
sisters back in Calamba.

On Monday morning following their arrival, Paciano brought

Jose to Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz’s schoolhouse located
about 30 meters away from their aunt’s house where Jose will be
staying. The school was a small nipa hut. Paciano who had been a
pupil of Maestro Cruz, introduced Jose to him, after which he
left for Calamba.

Jose was assigned a seat. Then the teacher asked him if he

knew Spanish and Latin to which he answered “a little, sir”. He
was laughed at by his classmates especially Pedro, who was the
son of his teacher. The teacher stopped them sharply and begun
the lessons of the day.

Later during the day, Jose met Pedro, who bullied him
earlier and challenged him into a fight. Thinking that he would
defeat Jose because of the latter’s young age and small physique,
Pedro readily accepted the challenge. The two boys wrestled
furiously amidst their classmates’ boisterous laughter. Having
learned the art of wrestling from his uncle Manuel, he defeated
the bigger boy. Since that time, he became popular among his
classmates.

The days that followed, Jose was drawn into other fights
with the Biñan boys. Though thin and not so sturdy in strength,
Jose’s courage and spirit were so strong that he never ran from a
fight. And in those fights he lost some, and won some.

Jose’s life in Biñan was also marked by happiness. It was

here that his love for painting was revived and nurtured. Near
the school, lived an old painter whose name was Juancho. He was
the father-in-law of his teacher, Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz.
Jose loved to paint, so that he spent most of his free time at
old man’s studio. Impressed by the lad’s artistic talent, the old
Juancho gave him lessons in drawing and painting. One of his
classmates, Jose Gueverra who also loved painting joined him.
They both became apprentices of old Juancho. Expectedly, they
improved their art and they became “favourite painters of the
class.”

His education in Biñan was concentrated on learning the four

R’s – Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and Religion. The instruction
was more of religion; it was rigid and his teacher was overly
strict. Pupils were forced to memorize their lessons and
discipline was imposed to whip.
In school, Jose surpassed all his classmates in Spanish,
Latin, and other subjects. He was the best student in class. His
intellectual superiority made some of his classmates jealous.
They would tell lies to their teacher about Jose which caused him
to be punished with five to six blows as he was laid out on a
school bench.

AFTER BIÑAN
 Although education in Biñan was limited to the 4 R’s, it
gave Jose the necessary knowledge preparatory for college. After
a year and a half of rigid instruction, Maestro Justiniano
informed the parents of Jose that the boy had learnt everything
that he could teach him, and that the boy should be sent to
college in Manila. And so Saturnina, the eldest of the Rizal
siblings, wrote Jose informing him that the steamer “Talim” would
be arriving to Biñan, which he could broad bound for Calamba.
Jose became sad because he knew that returning to Biñan was
impossible. He was filled with sorrow when he bade farewell to
his classmates and his teacher. He left Biñan with a heavy heart
on the 17th of December 1870.
It was Rizal’s first time to board a steamer. He was
excited. He had many stories to tell his brother and sisters
about his experiences in Biñan. He arrived Calamba in time for
the Christmas season. His family welcomed him. He was happy that
he could spend Christmas with his family again.

THE IMPRISONMENT OF DOÑA TEODORA

Jose’s father, Don Francisco, thought of sending him to
college in Manila in June. However, trouble struck the family.
Jose Alberto, the brother of Doña Teodora, went on a business
trip to Europe. Upon his return, he found out that his wife
abandoned their home and their children and lived with another
man. This angered Jose Alberto and decided to divorce his wife.
Doña Teodora advised his brother, persuaded him to just forgive
his wife in order to avoid family scandal. And so, the husband
and wife lived together again. However, the adulterous woman
connived with a Spanish Lieutenant of the Guardia Civil
fabricating stories that her husband, Jose Alberto, tried to
poison her with Doña Teodora helping him to do so.
Doña Teodora was arrested and was forced to walk for about
50 kilometers from Calamba to Santa Cruz. She was imprisoned
there for two years and a half. Jose heard his mother got sick
while inside her prison cell. No proper medical treatment was
given her, she was treated unkindly. This saddened the barely 11-
year old Jose.
The case reached the Manila Royal Audiencia (Supreme Court)
where she was acquitted.

THE DEATH OF GOMBURZA

On the night of January 20, 1872, about 200 Filipino
soldiers and workers of the Cavite arsenal rose in violent revolt
under the leadership of La Madrid, a Filipino sergeant. The
revolt was caused by the abolition of the usual privileges of the
soldiers and workers; in addition to not being exempted from
tribute and forced labor, called Polo at that time. However, the
mutiny was suppressed after two days when reinforcement troops
from Manila arrived.
This incident was used by the Spanish authorities to give an
order to liquidate Fathers Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and
Jacinto Zamora for advocating the secularization movement to
Filipinize the Philippine parishes, and their supporters Jose Ma.
Basa, Attys. Joaquin Pardo de Tavera and Antonio Ma. Regidor. The
Archbishop plead for clemency because of their innocence but he
was denied. On the sunrise of February 17, 1872, by order of
Governor General Rafael de Izquierdo, the three priests were
executed through a garrote, a method of execution by strangling
with an iron collar. The execution was deeply mourned by the
Rizal family and many other Filipinos.
Father Burgos was a friend and a teacher of Paciano. Enraged
by the execution, he quit his studies in Manila and returned to
Calamba. He told the news to his 11-year old brother, Jose. This
event had added to the already rousing indignation that Jose felt
for the injustice done to his family and vowed to fight against
the evils of Spanish tyranny. He swore to avenge the cruelties
that his brother’s friend and the two priests had suffered.
Later, Rizal wrote his second novel. El Filibusterismo, that
he dedicated to the three priests.

MANILA EXPERIENCE (1872-1877)

The family of Don Francisco was undaunted by the two tragic
events: the imprisonment of Doña Teodora and the execution of the
three priests. Four months after the martyrdom of GOM-BUR-ZA and
while his mother was still in prison, Jose was sent to Manila to
study at the Ateneo de Municipal, a college under the management
of Spanish Jesuits. This school later became Ateneo de Manila
which was managed by highly competent educators. The school was
reputed as an excellent college for boys.
On his first day in Manila, Jose was accompanied by his
brother, Paciano. He took and passed all subject during the
entrance examination at the College of San Juan de Letran. After
that, he and his brother returned to Calamba to attend the town
fiesta. Don Francisco, who initially wanted Jose to study at
Letran, changed his mind and decided to enroll his son in Ateneo.
So, when Jose returned to Manila, with his brother, they went in
Ateneo de Municipal.
At first, he was refused admittance in the said school for
two reasons: (1) he was already late for registration and (2) he
was so frail and sickly, aside from being too small for his age.
However, due to the intervention of Manuel Xeres Burgos, the
nephew of one of the martyred priests, Jose was finally admitted.