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STUDY GUIDE FOR MODULE NO. ___

3

CHAPTER III:
RIZAL’S LIFE: RIZAL’S FAMILY,
CHILDHOOD, AND EARLY EDUCATION

MODULE OVERVIEW

José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda was born on June 19, 1861 in Calamba. Laguna. The
seventh of eleven children born to a relatively well-off family in a Dominican-owned tenant land in Calamba,
Laguna, Jose Rizal lived and died during the Spanish colonial era in the Philippines.

In his early childhood, Jose had mastered the alphabet and learned to write and read. His early
readings included the Spanish version of the Vulgate Bible. At a young age, he already showed inclinations to
the arts. He amazed his family by his pencil drawings, sketches, and moldings of clay. Later in his childhood. he
showed special talent in painting and sculpture, wrote a Tagalog play, which was presented at a town fiesta
(and later penned a short play in Spanish, which was presented in school)

MODULE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of the module, you should be able to:

1. Analyze Rizal’s family, childhood, and early education;

2. Evaluate the people and events and their influence on Rizal’s early life.

LEARNING CONTENTS

Don Francisco Mercado

Jose's father, Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado, was a productive farmer from Binan, Laguna. He was an
independent-minded, taciturn. but dynamic gentleman from whom Jose inherited his “free soul” Don Francisco
became tiniente gobernadorcillo (lieutenant governor) in Calamba and was thus nicknamed Tiniente Kika
(Some students' comical conjecture that the fictional character Kikong Matsing of Batibot was named after Don
Francisco is, of course, unfounded.)

Francisco's great grandfather was Domingo Lam-co, a learned pro-poor or maka-masa Chinese immigrant
businessman who married a sophisticated Chinese mestiza of Manila named Ines de la Rosa. One of their two
children, Francisco (also), resided in Binan and married Bernarda Monicha. Francisco and Bernarda's son,
Juan Mercado, became the gobernadorcillo (town mayor) of Bifian, Laguna. He married Cirila Alejandra, and
they had 12 children, the youngest being Jose Rizal's father, Francisco.

Don Francisco was born on May 11, 1818, in Binan, Laguna. When he was eight years old, he lost his father.
He was nonetheless educated as he took Latin and Philosophy at the College of San Jose in Manila, where he
met and fell in love with Teodora Alonso, a student in the College of Santa Rosa. Married on June 28, 1848, they
settled down in Calamba where they were granted lease of a rice farm in the Dominican-owned haciendas.

Dona Teodora Alonso

Jose’s mother, Teodora Alonzo (also spelled “Alonso”), was an educated and highly cultured woman from Sta.
Cruz, Manila. Common biographies state that Dona Teodora Alonso Quintos Realonda, also known as “Lolay,”
was born on November 8, 1826 in Sta. Cruz, Manila and baptized at the Santa Cruz Church. Strangely however,
the volume in the church books that supposedly contained Teodora’s baptismal records was the only one

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missing from the otherwise complete records down to the eighteenth century (Ocampo, 2012, p. 39). Asuncion
Rizal-Lopez Bantug, the granddaughter of Jose’s sister Narcisa, contrarily claims that Lola Lolay and all her
siblings were born in Calamba, but (just) lived in Manila (Bantug & Ventura, 1997, p. 18).

Dona Lolay was educated at the College of Santa Rosa, an esteemed school for girls in Manila. She was
usually described as a diligent business-minded woman, very graceful but courageous, well-mannered,
religious, and well-read. Very dignified, she disliked gossip and vulgar conversation. Possessing refined culture
and literary talents, she influenced her children to love the arts, literature, and music. Herself an educated
woman, Lolay sent her children to colleges in Manila. To help in the economy of the family, she ran sugar and
flour mills and a small store in their house, selling home-made ham, sausages, jams, jellies, and many others.
(Looking back, her business, in a way, predated the meat-processing commerce of the Pampanguenos today
and the ube jam production of some nuns in Baguio.)

It is believed that Dona Teodora's family descended from Lakandula, the last native king of Tondo. (For young
Filipino generations, Lakandula has to be distinguished from the unofficial Hari ng Tondo, Asiong Salonga, the
Manila kingpin who was immortalized in the movie incidentally by Laguna's own governor E. R. Ejercito.)

Lolay's great-grandfather was Eugenio Ursua (of Japanese descent) who married a Filipina named Benigna.
Regina, their daughter, married a Filipino-Chinese lawyer of Pangasinan, Manuel de Quintos. Lorenzo Alberto
Alonso, a well-off Spanish-Filipino mestizo of Binan, took as his "significant other" Brigida Quintos, daughter of
Manuel and Regina Quintos. The Lorenzo-Brigida union produced five children, the second of them was Jose
Rizal's mother, Teodora Alonso Quintos.

Through the Claveria decree of 1849 which changed the Filipino native surnames, the Alonsos adopted the
surname Realonda. Rizal's mother thus became Teodora Alonso Quintos Realonda.

Jose's Siblings

Saturnina Rizal (1850-1913) is the eldest child of Don Francisco and Teodora Alonso. She and her mother
provided the little Jose with good basic education that by the age of three, Pepe (Jose's nickname) already knew
his alphabet.

Paciano Rizal, Jose's only brother, was born on March 7, 1851 in Calamba, Laguna. He was fondly addressed
by his siblings as Nor Paciano, short for "Senor Paciano." The 10-year older brother of Jose studied at San Jose
College in Manila, became a farmer, and later a general of the Philippine Revolution.

After Jose's execution in December 1896, Paciano joined the Katipuneros in Cavite under General Emilio
Aguinaldo. As Katipunero, Paciano was commissioned as general of the revolutionary forces and elected as
secretary of finance in the Department Government of Central Luzon.

Narcisa Rizal (1852-1939) or simply "Sisa” was the third child in the family. Later in history, Narcisa (like
Sturnina) would help in financing Rizal's studies in Europe, even pawning her jewelry and peddling her clothes
if needed. It was said she could recite from memory almost all of the poems of our national hero.

Olympia Rizal (1855-1887) was the fourth child in the Rizal family. Jose loved to tease her, sometimes
good-humoredly describing her as his stout sister. Jose's first love, Segunda Katigbak, was Olympia's
schoolmate at the La Concordia College. Rizal confided to Olympia (also spelled "Olimpia”) about Segunda,
and the sister willingly served as the mediator between the two teenage lovers.

Lucia Rizal (1857—1919) was the fifth child in the family. She married Mariano Herbosa of Calamba, Laguna.
Charged of inciting the Calamba townsfolk not to pay land rent and causing unrest, the couple was once
ordered to be deported along with some Rizal family members. (Lucia's husband died during the cholera
epidemic in May 1889 and was refused a Catholic burial for not going to confession since his marriage to Lucia.
In Jose's article in La Solidaridad titled Una profanacion (A Profanation), he scornfully attacked the friars for
declining to bury in “sacred ground" a "good Christian" simply because he was the "brother-in-law of Rizal.)

Maria Rizal (1859-1945) was the sixth child in the family. It was to her whom Jose talked about wanting to
marry Josephine Bracken when the majority of the Rizal family was apparently not amenable to the idea. In his
letter dated December 12, 1891. Jose had also brought up to Maria his plan of establishing a Filipino colony in
North British Borneo. In his letter dated December 28, 1891. Jose wrote to Maria, "I'm told that your children are

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very pretty." Today, we have a historical proof that Maria's progenies were indeed nice-looking (lahing
maganda). Maria and Daniel had five children: Mauricio, Petrona, Prudencio, Paz, and Encarnacion. Their son
Mauricio married Conception Arguelles and the couple had a son named Ismael Arguelles Cruz. Ismael was the
father of Gemma Cruz Araneta, the first Filipina to win the Miss International title, also the first Southeast Asian
to win an international beauty-pageant title.

Also called "Concha" by her siblings, Concepcion Rizal (1862-1865) was the eighth child of the Rizal family
She died at the age of three. Of his sisters, it was said that the young Pepe loved most little Concha who was a
year younger than he. Jose played games and shared children stories with her, and from her he felt the beauty
of sisterly love at a young age.

Josefa Rizal's nickname is "Panggoy" (1865-1945) She was the ninth child in the family. Panggoy died a
spinster. Among Jose's letters to Josefa, the one dated October 26, 1893, was perhaps the most fascinating.
Written in English, the letter addressed Josefa as "Miss Josephine Rizal." (After Jose's martyrdom, the epileptic
Josefa joined the Katipunan and was even supposed to have been elected the president of its women section.
She was one of the original 29 women admitted to the Katipunan along with Gregoria de Jesus, wife of Andres
Bonifacio. They safeguarded the secret papers and documents of the society and danced and sang during
sessions so that civil guards would think that the meetings were just harmless social gatherings.

Trinidad Rizal (1868-1951) or "Trining" was the tenth child. Historically, she became the custodian of Rizal’s
last and greatest poem. Right before Jose's execution, Trinidad and their mother visited him in the Fort Santiago
prison cell. As they were leaving, Jose handed over to Trining an alcohol cooking stove, a gift from the Pardo de
Taveras, whispering to her in a language, which the guards could not understand. "There is something in it."
That “something" was Rizal's elegy now known as "Mi Ultimo Adios." Like Josefa, Paciano, and two nieces,
Trinidad joined the Katipunan after Jose's death.

Also called "Choleng," Soledad Rizal (1870-1929) was the youngest child of the Rizal family. Being a teacher,
she was arguably the best-educated among Rizal's sisters. In his long and meaty letter to Choleng dated June
6, 1890 ("Jose Rizal on Facebook Courtship," 2013), Jose told her sister that he was proud of her for becoming
a teacher. He thus counseled her to be a model of virtues and good qualities "for the one who should teach
should be better than the persons who need her learning." Rizal nonetheless used the topic as leverage in
somewhat rebuking her sister for getting married to Pantaleon Quintero of Calamba without their parents',
consent. "Because of you," he wrote, "the peace of our family has been disturbed."

Choleng's union with Pantaleon, nonetheless, resulted in the Rizal family's becoming connected by affinity to
Miguel Malvar (the hero who could have been listed as the second Philippine President for taking over the
revolutionary government after Emilio Aguinaldo's arrest in 1901). Soledad and Pantaleon had five children:
Trinitario, Amelia, Luisa, Serafin, and Felix. Their daughter Amelia married Bernabe Malvar, son of Gen. Miguel
Malvar.

The Surname Rizal

Had their forefathers not adopted other names, Jose and Paciano could have been known as "Lamco" (and
not Rizal) brothers.

Their paternal great-great grandfather, Chinese merchant Domingo Lamco, adopted the name "Mercado,"
which means "market." But Jose’s father, Francisco, who eventually became primarily a farmer, adopted the
surname "Rizal” (originally "Ricial", which means "the green of young growth" or "green fields"). The name
suggested by a provincial governor who was a friend of the family. The new name, however, caused confusion
in the commercial affairs of the family. Don Francisco settled on the name "Rizal Mercado" as a compromise,
and often just used his more known surname "Mercado."

When Paciano was a student at the College of San Jose, he used "Mercado" as his last name. But because he
had gained notoriety with his links to Father Burgos of the "Gomburza," he suggested that Jose use the
surname "Rizal" for Jose’s own safety.

Commenting on using the name "Rizal" at Ateneo, Jose once wrote: "My family never paid much attention [to
our second surname Rizal], but now I had to use it, thus giving me the appearance of an illegitimate child!" (as
cited in Arriza, 2012, para. 8)

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But this very name suggested by Paciano to be used by his brother had become so well known by 1891, the
year Jose finished his El Filibusterismo. As Jose wrote to a friend, "All my family now carry the name Rizal
instead of Mercado because the name Rizal means persecution! Good! I too want to join them and be worthy of
this family name..." (as cited in Arriza, 2012, para. 8).

Rizal’s Birth

Dona Teodora was said to have suffered the greatest pain during the delivery of her seventh child, Jose. Her
daughter Narcisa recalled: "I was nine years of age when my mother gave birth to Jose. I recall it vividly because
my mother suffered great pain. She labored for a long time. Her pain was later attributed to the fact that Jose's
head was bigger than normal" (as cited in "Lola Lolay," 2013, para. 8).

Jose Rizal was born in Calamba. In 1848, his parents decided to build a home in this town in Laguna, southern
Luzon. The name Calamba was derived from kalanbanga, which means "clay stove" (kalan) and "water jar"
(banga).

Jose's adoration of its scenic beauty—punctuated by the sights of the Laguna de Bay, Mount Makiling,
palm-covered mountains, curvy hills, and green fields— was recorded in the poem he would later write at
Ateneo de Manila in 1876, Un Recuerdo A Mi Pueblo (In Memory of My Town). (If Rizal's poem were written
today, he might mention the three-floor SM mall, shopping centers, and the South Luzon Expressway [SLEX]
terminus in the place. A city since 2001, Calamba is said to have earned the nickname "Resort Capital of the
Philippines" for its more than 600 resorts in the place today.)

The first massive stone house (or bahay na bato) in Calamba was the very birthplace of our national
hero. It was a rectangular two-storey building, built of adobe stones and solid wood, with sliding capiz windows.
Its ground floor was made of lime and stone, the second floor of hard wood, except for the roof, which was of red
tiles. There was an azotea and a water reservoir at the back. Its architectural style and proximity to the church
implied Rizal family's wealth and political influence.

The Childhood of a Phenom

A phenom is someone who is exceptionally talented or admired, especially an up-and-comer. Rizal, especially
during his childhood, was none less than a phenom.

Jose Rizal's first memory, in his infancy, was his happy days in their family garden when he was three years
old. Their courtyard contained- tropical fruit trees, poultry yard, a carriage house, and a stable for the ponies.
Because the young Pepe was weak, sickly, and undersized, he was given the fondest care by his parents, so
his father built a nipa cottage for Pepe to play in the daytime.

Memory of his infancy included the nocturnal walk in the town, especially when there was a moon. Jose also
recalled the "aya" (nursemaid) relating to the Rizal children some fabulous stories, like those about the fairies,
tales of buried treasure, and trees blooming with diamonds.

Another childhood memory was the daily Angelus prayer in their home. Rizal recorded in his memoir that by
nightfall, his mother would gather all the children in their home to pray the Angelus. At the early age of three, he
started to take a part in the family prayers.

When Concha died of sickness in 1865, Jose mournfully wept at losing her. He later wrote in his memoir,
"When I was four years old, I lost my little sister Concha, and then for the first time I shed tears caused by love
and grief" ("Memoirs of a Student in Manila," n.d.).

At the age of five, the young Pepe learned to read the Spanish family Bible, which he would refer to later in his
writings. Rizal himself remarked that perhaps the education he received since his earliest infancy was what had
shaped his habits ("Memoirs of a Student," n.d., para. 3).

As a child, Rizal loved to go to the chapel, pray, participate in novenas, and join religious processions. In
Calamba, one of the men he esteemed and respected was the scholarly Catholic priest Leoncio Lopez, the town
priest. He used to visit him and listen to his inspiring opinions on current events and thorough life views.

Also at the age of five, Pepe started to make pencil sketches and mold in clay and wax objects, which attracted

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his fancy. When he was about six years old, his sisters once laughed at him for spending much time making clay
and wax images. Initially keeping silent, he then prophetically told them "All right laugh at me now! Someday
when I die, people will make monuments and images of me."

When Jose was seven years old, his father provided him the exciting experience of riding a “casco” (a
flat-bottomed boat with a roof) on their way to a pilgrimage in Antipolo. The pilgrimage was to fulfill the vow
made by Jose's mother to take him to the Shrine of the Virgin of Antipolo should she and her child survive the
ordeal of delivery, which nearly caused her life. From Antipolo, Jose and his father proceeded to Manila to visit
his sister Saturnina who was at the time studying at the La Concordia College in Sta. Ana.

As a gift, the child Jose received a pony named "Alipato” from his father (Bantug & Ventura, 1997, p. 23). As a
child, he loved to ride this pony or take long walks in the meadows and lakeshore with his black dog named
"Usman”.

The mother also induced Jose to love the arts, literature, and the classics. Before he was eight years old, he
had written a drama (some sources say "a Tagalog comedy.”) which was performed at a local festival and for
which the municipal captain rewarded him with two pesos. (Some references specify that it was staged in a
Calamba festival and that it was a gobernadorcillo from Paete who purchased the manuscript for two pesos.)

Contrary to the “former" common knowledge however, Rizal did not write the Filipino poem "Sa Aking Mga
Kababata/Kabata" (To My Fellow Children). The poem was previously believed to be Rizal’s first written poem
at the age of eight and was said to have been published posthumously many years after Rizal’s death.
However, Jose had a preserved correspondence (letters) with his brother Paciano admitting that he (Jose) had
only encountered the word "kalayaan" when he was already 21 years old. The term ("kalayaan") was used not
just once in the poem "Sa Aking Mga Kababata/Kabata."

The young Rizal was also interested in magic. He read many books on magic. He learned different tricks, such
as making a coin disappear and making a handkerchief vanish in thin air.

Some other influences of Rizal's childhood involved his three uncles: his Tio Jose Alberto who inspired him to
cultivate his artistic ability; his Tio Manuel who encouraged him to fortify his frail body through physical
exercises; and his Tio Gregorio who intensified Rizal's avidness to read good books.

The Story of The Moth

To impart essential life lessons, Lolay held regular storytelling sessions with the young Rizal. Dona Teodora
loved to read to Pepe stories from the book Amigo de los Ninos (The Children's Friend). One day, she scolded
his son for making drawings on the pages of the story book. To teach the value of obedience to one's parents,
she afterward read him a story in it.

Lolay chose the story about a daughter moth who was warned by her mother against going too near a lamp
flame. Though the young moth promised to comply, she later succumbed to the pull of the light's mysterious
charm. believing that nothing bad would happen if she approached it with caution.

The moth then flew close to the flame. Feeling comforting warmth at first, she drew closer and closer, bit by bit,
until she flew too close enough to the flame and perished.

Incidentally, Pepe was watching a similar incident while he was listening to the storytelling. Like a live
enactment, a moth was fluttering too near to the flame of the oil lamp on their table. Not merely acting out, it did
fall dead as a consequence. Both moths in the two tales paid the price of getting near the fatal light.

Many years later, Rizal himself felt that the moths' tale could serve as an allegory of his own destiny. About
himself, he wrote:

“Years have passed since then. The child has become a man… Steamships have taken him across
seas and oceans. He has received from experience bitter lessons, much more bitter than the sweet
lessons that his mother gave him. Nevertheless, he has preserved the heart of a child. He still thinks that
light is the most beautiful thing in creation, and that it is worthwhile for a man to sacrifice his life for it." (as
cited in "My First Reminiscence," n.d. para. 9)

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Education in Calamba

The familiar statement that Dona Teodora was Rizal's first teacher is not just a sort of "venerating" his mother
who sacrificed a lot for our hero. It was actually a technical truth. In his memoirs, Rizal wrote, "My mother taught
me how to read and to say haltingly the humble prayers which I raised fervently to God."

In Rizal's time, seldom would one see a highly educated woman of fine culture, like Dona Teodora who had the
capacity to teach Spanish, reading, poetry, and values through rare story books. Lolay, indeed, was the first
teacher of the hero — teaching him Spanish, correcting his composed poems, and coaching him in rhetoric. On
her lap, Jose learned the alphabet and Catholic prayers at the age of three, and learned to read and write at age
of 5.

Aside from his mother, Jose's sister Saturnina and three maternal uncles mentored him. His uncle loge Alberto
taught him painting, sketching, and sculpture. Uncle Gregorio influenced him to further love reading. Uncle
Manuel, for his part, developed Rizal's physical skills in martial arts, like wrestling.

To further enhance what Rizal had learned, private tutors were hired to give him lessons at home. Thus,
Maestro Celestino tutored him, and Maestro Lucas Padua later succeeded Celestino. Afterward, a former
classmate of Don Francisco, Leon Monroy, lived at the Rizal home to become the boy's tutor in Spanish and
Latin. Sadly, Monroy died five months later. (Of course, there is no truth to some naughty students' comical
insinuation that Rizal had something to do with his death.)

Education in Binan

Rizal was subsequently sent to a private school in Binan. In June 1869, his brother Paciano brought him to the
school of Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz. The school was in the teacher's house, a small nipa house near the
home of Jose's aunt where he stayed. In Rizal's own words, his teacher "knew by the heart the grammars by
Nebrija and Gainza.”

During Rizal's first day at the Bifian school, the teacher asked him:
"Do you know Spanish?"
"A little, sir," replied Rizal.
"Do you know Latin?"
"A little, sir."

Because of this, his classmates, especially the teacher's son Pedro, laughed at the newcomer. So later in that
day, Jose challenged the bully Pedro to a fight. Having learned wrestling from his Uncle Manuel, the younger
and smaller Jose defeated his tormenter. (Compared to bullying victims today, we can say that Rizal did not wait
for anyone to enact a law against bullying, but rather took matters into his own hands.)

After the class, he had an arm-wrestling match with his classmate Andres Salandanan. In that match,
however, Jose lost and even almost cracked his head on the sidewalk. (That only proves that merely being a
desperado won't make you win all your fights.)

In the following days, Jose was said to have some other fights with Binan boys. (If his average was two fights
per day, as what happened during his first day in Binan school, then he might have been more active than
today's MMA (mixed martial arts) fighters.) For his scuffles, he nonetheless received many whippings and blows
on the open palm from his disciplinarian teacher.

Rizal might not have won all his brawls but he, nevertheless, beat all Binan boys academically in
Spanish, Latin, and many other subjects. After sometime, Jose told his father that he had already learned all
there was to be taught in Binan. Don Francisco firmly scolded Jose and hustled him back to the school. Maestro
Cruz, Jose's teacher in Binan, later confirmed, however, that Jose had indeed finished already all the needed
curricular works. So despite his wife's reluctance, Don Francisco then decided to send Jose to a school in
Manila.

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LEARNING ACTIVITY 1

1. Read Rizal’s “Memoirs of a Student in Manila,” Chapter 1 (available online in the article “Memoirs of a
Student in Manila” by P. Jacinto (a Pen Name of Jose Rizal)”
2. Create a timeline of Rizal’s childhood and early education.
3. Assessment:
a. Write a short biographical essay that compares your early childhood education with Rizal’s own

LEARNING ACTIVITY 2

Essay
1. Of all the members of Jose Rizal’s family, who do you think had been the most influential to his life?
Explain why.
2. Why do you think Rizal felt that the moths’ tale could serve as an allegory of his own destiny?
3. How was value for good education manifested in the life of Jose Rizal?
4. What can you say about Jose Rizal’s relationship with his parents and siblings?
5. Give some examples of virtues that were exemplified in the life of Rizal based on his relationship with
his family, his childhood, and early education.

REFERENCES

Coates, Austin. Rizal: Filipino Nationalist and Martyn Hong Kong: Oxford University Pres Quezon City. Malaya
Books, 1969; or Filipino translation b Nilo S. Ocampo. Rizal: Makabayan at Martir. Quezo City:
University of the Philippines Press, 2007.

Rizal, Jose. "Memoirs of a Student in Manila," Appendix Section of Gregorio Zaide's Jose Rizal: Life, Works and
Writings.

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