Chapter 1

Advent of A National Hero

Dr. Jose Rizal is a unique example of a many-splendored genius who became th

e greatest hero of a nation. Endowed by God with versatile gifts, he truly ranked with t
he world's [Link] was a physician (ophthalmic surgeon), poet, dramatist,essayist,
novelist, historian, architect, painter, sculptor, educator,linguist, musician, naturalist, e
thnologist, surveyor, engineer,farmer businessman, economist, geographer, ca-tograp
her, bib-liophile, philologist, grammarian, folklorist, philosopher, trans-lator, inventor,
magician, humorist, satirist, polemicist sportsman, traveler, and prophet. Above and b
eyond all these,he was a hero and political martyr who consecrated his life for the red
emption of his oppressed people. No wonder, he is now acclaimed as the national her
o of the Philippines.
The Birth of a Hero. Jose Rizal was born on the moonlit night of Wednesday, Ju
ne 19, 1861, in the lakeshore town of Calamba, Laguna Province, Philippines. His moth
er almost died during the delivery because of his big head. As he recounted many year
s later in his student memoirs: “I was born in Calamba on 19 June, 1861, between elev
en and midnight, a few days before full moon. It was a Wednesday and my coming out
in this vale of tears would have cost my mother her life had she not vowed to the virgi
n of Antipolo to take me to her sanctuary by way of pilgrimage."
He was baptized in the Catholic church of his town on June 22, aged three days
old, by the parish priest, Father Rufino Collantes, who was a Batangueño. His godfathe
r (ninong) was Father Pedro Casanas, native of Calamba and close friend of the Rizal fa
mily. His name "Jose" was chosen by his mother who was a devotee of the Christian sa
int San Jose (St. Joseph).
 JOSE RIZAL: LIFE,WORKS AND WRITINGS

During the christening ceremony Father Collantes was impressed by the baby's big
head, and told the members of the family who wvere present: "Take good care of this chil
d, for someday he will become a great man." His words proved to be prophetic, as confirm
ed by subsequent events.
The baptismal certificate of Rizal reads as follows:
"I, the undersigned parish priest of Calamba, certify that from the inve
stigation made with proper authority,for replacing the parish books which we
re burned September 28, 1862,to be found in Docket No.1 of Baptisms,p.49,i
t appears by the sworn testimony of competent witnesses that JOSE RIZAL M
ERCADO is the legitimate son, and of lawful wedlock, of Don Francisco Rizal
Mercado and Doña Teodora Realonda,having been baptized in this parish on
the 22nd day of June in the year 1861, by the parish priest Rev. Rufino Collan
tes, Rev. Pedro Casanas being his godfather.-Witness my signature.

(Signed): LEONCIO LOPEZ

It should be noted that at the time Rizal was born, the governor general ofthe Philip
pines was Lieutenant-General Jose Lemery, former senator of Spain (member of the upper
chamber of the Spanish Cortes). He governed the Philippines from Feb-ruary 2, 1861 to Jul
y 7, 1862. Incidentally, on the same date of Rizal's birth (June 19, 1861), he sent an official
dispatch to the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Ultramar in Madrid,denouncing Sultan
Pulalun of Sulu and several powerful Moro datus for fraternizing with a Brtish consul. Amo
ng his achieve-ments as governor general were (1) fostering the cultivation of cotton in the
provinces and (2) establishing the politico-military governments in the Visayas and in Mind
anao.
Rizal's Parents. Jose Rizal was the seventh of the eleven children of Francisco Mer
cado Rizal and Teodora Alonso Realonda. The hero's father, Francisco (1818-1898) was bor
n in Biñan, Laguna, on May 11, 1818. He studied Latin and Philosophy at the College of San
Jose in Manila. In early man-hood,following his parent's death, he moved to Calamba and
became a tenant-farmer of the Dominican-owned hacienda. He was a hardy and independ
ent-minded man, who talked less and worked more,and was strong in body and valiant in
spirit. HHe

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 Advent of National Hero

died in Manila on January 5, 1898, at the age of 80. In his student memoirs, Rizal affecti
onately called him "a model of fathers”.2

Doña Teodora (1826-1911), the hero's mother, was born in Manila on Novembe
r 8, 1826 and was educated at the College of Santa Rosa, a well-known college for girls
in the city. She was a remarkable woman, possessing refined culture,literary talent, bus
iness ability, and the fortitude of Spartan [Link] lovingly said of her: "My mother
is a woman of more than ordinary culture; she knows literature and speaks Spanish bett
er than I. She corrected my poems and gave me good advice when I was studying rhet
oric. She is a mathematician and has read many books."3 Doña Teodora died in Manila
on August 16,1911,at the age of 85. Shortly before her death,the Philippine governme
nt offered her a life pension. She courteously rejected it saying,“My family has never b
een patriotic for money. If the government has plenty of funds and does not know wha
t to do with them, better reduce the taxes." Such remarks truly befitted her as a worth
y mother of a national hero.

The Rizal [Link] blessed the marriage of Francisco Mercado Rizal and Teo
dora Alonso Realonda with eleven chil-dren-two boys and nine girls. These children we
re as follows:

1. Saturnina (1850-1913)-oldest of the Rizal chil-dren, nicknamed

Neneng; she married Manuel T. Hidalgo of Tanawan,Batangas.
2. Paciano (1851-1930)-older brother and confidant of Jose Rizal;
after his younger brother's execution,he joined the Philippine Revolution
and became a combat general; after the Revolution, he retired to his far
m in Los Baños, where he lived as a gentleman farmer and died on April 1
3, 1930,an old bachelor aged 79. He had two children by his mistress (Sev
erina Decena)- a boy and a girl.

3. Narcisa (1852-1939)-her pet name was Sisa and she married An

tonio Lopez (nephew of Father Leoncio Lopez), a school teacher of Moro
ng.
4. Olimpia (1855-1887) -- Ypia was her pet name;she married Silv
estre Ubaldo, a telegraph operator from Manila.
JOSE RIZAL:LIFE,WORKS AND WRITINGS

5. Lucia (1857-1919)-She married Mariano Her-bosa of Calamba, who

was a nephew of Father [Link] died of cholera in 1889 and was de
nied Christian burial because he was a brother-in-law of Dr. Rizal.

6. Maria (1859-1945)- Biang was her nickname;she married Daniel Fa

ustino Cruz of Biñan, Laguna.
7. JOSE (1861-1896)- the greatest Filipino hero and peerless genius; h
is nickname was Pepe; during his exile in Dapitan he lived with Josephine Bra
cken,Irish girl from Hong Kong; he had a son by her, but this baby-boy. died a
few hours after birth; Rizal named him “Francisco” after his father and buried
him in Dapitan.
8. Concepcion (1862-1865)-her pet name was Con-cha; she died of sic
kness at the age of 3; her death was Rizal's first sorrow in life.

9. Josefa (1865-1945)-her pet name was Panggoy;she died an old mai

d at the age of 80.
10. Trinidad(1868-1951)-Trining was her pet name;she died also an old
maid in 1951 aged 83.
11. Soledad (1870-1929)-youngest of the Rizal chil-dren; her pet name
was Choleng; she married Pantaleon Quintero of Calamba.
Sibling relationship among the Rizal children was affection-ately cordial. As a little b
oy, Rizal used to play games with his sisters. Although he had boyish quarrels with them he
respected them. Years later when he grew to manhood, he always called them Doña or Señ
ora (if married) and Señorita (if single). For instance,he called his older sister “Doña Ypia,” h
is oldest sister “Señora Saturnina,” and his unmarried sisters “Señorita Josefa”and “Señorit
a Trinidad.”

Rizal's relation with his only brother Paciano, who was ten years his senior, was mor
e than that of younger to older [Link] was a second father to him. Throughout hi
s life, Rizal respected him and greatly valued his sagacious advice. He immor-talized him in
his first novel Noli Me Tangere as the wise Pilosopo Tasio. In a letter to Blumentritt, written
in London on June 23,1888,he regarded Paciano as the “most noble of Filipinos” and “thou
gh an Indio, more generous and noble than all the Spaniards put together"4. And in a subse
quent letter also written toBlumen-
 Advent of National Hero

tritt and dated London, October 12, 1888, he spoke of his beloved older brother, as follows: “He is m
uch finer and more serious than I am; he is bigger and more slim; he is not so dark;his nose is fine, b
eautiful and sharp; but he is bow-legged."5
Rizal's Ancestry. As a typical Filipino, Rizal was a product of the mixture of races." In his veins
flowed the blood of both East and West-Negrito,Indonesian,Malay,Chinese,Japanese,and Spanish. Pr
edominantly, he was a MMalayan and was a mag-nificent specimen of Asian manhood. Rizal's great-
greatgrand-father on his father's side was Domingo Laméo, a Chinese immigrant from the Fukien city
of Changchow, who arrived in Manila about 1690. He became a Christian, married a well-to-do Chine
se Christian girl of Manila named Ines de la Rosa, and assumed in 1731 the surname Mercado which
was appropriate for him because he was a merchant. The Spanish term mercado means “market” in
English. Domingo Mercado and Ines de la Rosa had a son, Francisco Mercado, who resided in Biñan,
married a Chinese-Filipino mestiza, Cirila Bernacha, and was elected gobernadorcillo (municipal may
or) of the town. One of their sons, Juan Mercado (Rizal's grandfather), married Cirila Alejandro, a Chi
nese-Filipino mestiza. Like his father,he was elected governadorcillo of Biñan. Capitan Juan and Capit
ana Cirila hadthirteen children, the youngest being Francisco Mer-cado, Rizal's father.
At the age of eight, Francisco Mercado lost his father and grew up to manhood under the car
e of his mother. He studied Latin and Philosophy in the College of San Jose in [Link] studying i
n Manila, he met and fell in love with Teodora Alonso Realonda, a student in the College of Santa Ro
sa. They were married on June 28, 1848, after which they settled down in Calamba, where they enga
ged in farming and business and reared a big family.
It is said that Doña Teodora's family descended from Lakan-Dula, the last native king of Tond
o. Her great-grandfather (Rizal's maternal great-great-grandfather) was Eugenio Ursua (of Japanese a
ncestry), who married a Filipina named Benigna (surname unknown). Their daughter, Regina, marrie
d Manuel de Quintos, a Filipino-Chinese lawyer from Pangasinan. One of the daughters of Attorney Q
uintos and Regina was Brigida,who married Lorenzo Alberto Alonso, a prominent Spanish-Filipino

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JOSE RIZAL: LIFE,WORKS AND WRITINGS

mestizo of Biñan. Their children were Narcisa, Teodora (Rizal's mother), Gregorio, Manuel,
and Jose.
The Surname Rizal. The real surname of the Rizal family was Mercado, which was ad
opted in 1731 by Domingo Lamco (the paternal great-great-grandfather of Jose Rizal), who
was a full-blooded Chinese. Rizal's family acquired a second sur-name-Rizal-which was give
n by a Spanish alcalde mayor (provincial governor) of Laguna, who was a family friend. Thu
s said Dr. Rizal, in his letter to Blumentritt (without date or place):7

I am the only Rizal because at home my parents,my sisters,my brother,

and my relatives have always preferred our old surname Mercado. Our famil
y name was in fact Mercado,but there were many Mercados in the Philippine
s who are not related to us. It is said that an alcalde mayor,who was a friend
of our family added Rizal to our [Link] family did not pay much attention
to this, but now I have to use it. In this way, it seems that I am an illegitimate
son.

“Whoever that Spanish alcalde mayor was," commented Ambassador Leon Ma. Gue
rrero, distinguished Rizalist and diplomat,“his choice was prophetic for Rizal in Spanish me
ans a field where wheat, cut while still green, sprouts again.”8
The Rizal Home. The house of the Rizal family,where the hero was born, was one of
the distinguished stone houses in Calamba during Spanish times. It was a two-storey buildi
ng,rectangular in shape, built of adobe stones and hard-woods,and roofed with red tiles. It
is described by Dr. Rafael Palma,one of Rizal's prestigious biographers,as follows:°

The house was high and even sumptuous, a solid and massive earthqu
ake-proof structure with sliding shell win-dows. Thick walls of lime and stone
bounded the first floor;the second floor was made entirely of wood except f
or the roof,which was of red tile, in the style of the buildings in Manila at tha
t time ... At the back there was an azotea and a wide, deep cistern to hold rai
n water for home use.
Behind the house were the poultry yard full of turkeys and chickens and a big garde
n of tropical fruit trees-atis,balimbing,chico, macopa, papaya, santol, tampoy, etc.

6
 Advent of National Hero

It was a happy home where parental affection and children's laughter reigned.
By day, it hummed with the noises of children at play and the songs of the birds in the
garden. By night, it echoed with the dulcet notes of family prayers.
Such a wholesome home, naturally, bred a wholesome family. And such a famil
y was the Rizal family.
A Good and Middle-Class [Link] Rizal family belonged to the principalia, a
town aristocracy in Spanish Philippines. It was one of the distinguished families in Cala
mba. By dint of honest and hard work and frugal living, Rizal's parents were able to liv
e well. From the farms, which were rented from the Dominican Order, they harvested
rice, corn, and [Link] raised pigs, chickens, and turkeys in their [Link] a
ddition to farming and stockraising, Doña Teodora managed a general goods store an
d operated a small flour-mill and a home-made ham press.
As evidence of their affluence, Rizal's parents were able to build a large stone h
ouse which was situated near the town church and to buy another one. They owned a
carriage,which was a status symbol of the ilustrados in Spanish Philippines and a priva
te library (the largest in Calamba) which consisted of more than 1,000 volumes. They
sent their children to the colleges in Manila. Combining affluence and culture, hospita
lity and courtesy, they participated prominently in all social and religious affairs in the
community. They were gracious hosts to all visitors and guests-friars,Spanish officials,
and Filipino friends-dur-ing the town fiestas and other holidays. Beneath their roof,all
guests irrespective of their color, rank, social position, and economic status, were wel
come.
Home Life of the Rizals. The Rizal family had a simple,contented, and happy lif
e. In consonance with Filipino custom,family ties among the Rizals were intimately clo
se. Don Francisco and Doña Teodora loved ther children, but they never spoiled them.
They were strict parents and they trained their children to love God, to behave well, t
o be obedient, and to respect people,especially the old folks. Whenever the children, i
ncluding Jose Rizal, got into mischief, they were given a sound [Link], the
y believed in the maxim: “Spare the rod and spoil the child.”

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 JOSE RIZAL:LIFE,WORKS AND WRITINGS

Every day the Rizals (parents and children) heard Mass in the town church, particula
rly during Sundays and Christian holi-days. They prayed together daily at home-the Angelus
at sunset and the Rosary before retiring to bed at night. After the family prayers, all the chil
dren kissed the hands of their parents.
Life was not, however, all prayers and church services for the Rizal children. They we
re given ample time and freedom to play by their strict and religious parents. They played
merrily in the azotea or in the garden by themselves. The older ones were allowed to play
with the children of other families.

*****