Rizal 101: The Basics

Rizal 101: The Basics
As one respected Filipino historian once said, “Jose Rizal is everywhere yet
he is nowhere.”
We’ve learned more about his life than any other Filipino hero who fought
for our liberty. His name is indeed everywhere–from coins and schools to
streets and numerous monuments.
Still, few Filipinos bother to look back at his life, and the principles that
made him our unofficial national hero.
So how do we inspire our countrymen, especially the millennials, to know
more about this oft taken-for-granted hero? It should all start with curiosity,
and nothing can intrigue them better than bite-sized trivia about Jose Rizal’s
life, works, and death.
Jose Rizal: Basic Facts and FAQs about the Filipino Hero
1. Rizal’s full name
 The full name of Jose Rizal is “Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso
Realonda.” The hero would usually use only the name “Jose” but officially,
he has two first names: “Jose Protacio” (the last is also spelled in some
references as ‘Protasio’)
1. Rizal’s full name
 The hero was given the name Jose Protacio in honor of two saints: (1)
Saint Joseph, of whom Jose’s mother was a devotee, and (2) Saint Protacio,
the patron saint for June 19, the birthdate of Rizal.
 “Rizal Mercado” is his paternal surname while “Alonso Realonda” is

Rizal’s maternal surnames.
2. Rizal’s birthday
 The birthday of Jose Rizal is June 19, 1861, having been born in the
Philippines on that fateful day—some eight years before the famous Suez
Canal was completed and opened.
 In fact, one of his given names, “Protacio” was taken from a Catholic Saint
whose feast day is June 19. The Catholic saint referred to is “St. Protase,”
the patron of Milan, Breisach, and of haymakers. Protase is invoked for the
discovery of thieves.
3. Rizal’s parents
 Jose Rizal’s father is Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado. He was a

productive farmer from Binan, Laguna. He is commonly described as 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 Kiko’.
 Don Francisco was born on May 11, 1818 in Biñan, Laguna. When
Francisco 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.
 Jose Rizal’s mother is Teodora Alonzo (also spelled ‘Alonso’).
 She was an educated and highly cultured woman from Sta. Cruz, Manila.
Common biographies state that Doña Teodora Alonso Quintos Realonda,
also known as ‘Lolay,’ was born on November 8, 1826 in Santa Cruz,
Manila and baptized in the Santa Cruz Church.
 Doña 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 flourmills and a small store in their house, selling
home-made ham, sausages, jams, jellies, and others.
4. Rizal’s siblings
 Rizal was the seventh of the 11 children of Don Francisco and Dona
Teodora.
 Saturnina was the eldest, followed by Paciano, Narcisa, Olympia, Lucia,

Maria, Concepcion, Josefa, Trinidad, and Soledad.
5. Rizal as a child prodigy
 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 young age, he already showed inclinations to 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 Calamba fiesta,
and penned a short play in Spanish which was presented in school.
5. Rizal as a student
 At age eleven, Rizal attended the Ateneo Municipal de Manila and

obtained at age 16 his Bachelor of Arts degree with an average of
“excellent”. In the same year (1877), he took Philosophy and Letters at the
University of Santo Tomas, while at the same time enrolled in a course in
land surveying at the Ateneo.
 He finished his surveyor’s training in 1877, passed the licensing exam in

May 1878, though the license was granted to him only in 1881 when he
reached the age of majority. He enrolled in medicine at the University of
Santo Tomas in 1878. Sensing however that the Filipino students were
being discriminated by the Dominican professors, he stopped his studies at
UST without finishing his course.
 On May 3, 1882, he went to Spain and enrolled at the Universidad Central

de Madrid. In June of 1884, he received the degree of Licentiate in
Medicine at the age of 23. A year later, he completed his course in
Philosophy and Letters with the grade of “excellent.”
 Wanting to cure his mother’s advancing blindness, Rizal went to Paris,

Heidelberg, and Berlin to get further knowledge and training in
ophthalmology. In Heidelberg, he completed his eye specialization.
6. Rizal’s contribution
 Being well-traveled, Rizal was said to have learned 22 languages. He wrote

extraordinary poems, contributed nationalistic essays to publications,
religiously kept his diary, and corresponded to his friends and relatives.
6. Rizal’s contribution
 In March 1887, he published in Berlin his first controversial novel, the

Noli Me Tangere, which revealed the tyranny and arrogance of the Spanish
clergy and officials in the Philippines. To bring to light that the Filipinos
had an impressive civilization even long before the Spanish colonization,
he annotated and reprinted in Paris Morga’s Successos De Las Islas
Filipinas. On September 18, 1891, Rizal’s more militant novel, El
Filibusterismo was printed in Ghent.
7. Rizal as a leader and a patriot
 As leader of patriotic Filipinos, he became one of the leaders of the literary

and cultural organization Propaganda Movement, the patriotic society
Asociacion La Solidaridad (Solidaridad Association), the temporary social
society Kidlat Club, the society of Filipino patriots in Paris Indio Bravo,
the mysterious Redencion de los Malayos (Redemption of the Malays).
7. Rizal as a leader and a patriot
 He founded the La Liga Filipina, a civic organization that subsequently

gave birth to the Katipunan. In various ways, Rizal asked for radical
reforms in the Spanish colonial system and clerical powers in the
Philippines and advocated equal rights before the law for Filipinos.
8. Rizal’s homecoming
 From Europe, Rizal went home in August 1887. He practiced medicine in

Calamba and restored his mother’s eyesight. But the friars he had enraged
through his novel and involvement in the Calamba agrarian trouble
pressured the governor general to ‘advise’ Rizal to leave the country.
 In February 1888, Rizal thus left the country again. He sailed first to other
Asian countries and then to various places in the West.
 When Rizal returned to the Philippines in 1892, he was imprisoned in Fort

Santiago from July 6 to July 15 on a trump-up charge that anti-priest
leaflets were found in the pillow cases of his sister Lucia who arrived with
him from Hong Kong.
 He was then exiled to Dapitan, an island in Mindanao. While an exile, he

engaged in agriculture, fishing, and commerce while operating a hospital
and maintaining a school for boys. Moreover, he did scientific researches,
collected specimens of rare species, corresponded with scholars abroad,
and led construction of water dam and a relief map of Mindanao.
9. Implication to Rebellion
 In 1896, Rizal received a permission from the Governor General to become

a volunteer military physician in the revolution in Cuba, which was at the
time also raged by yellow fever.
 But the ‘Katipunan’ started the Philippine Revolution in August 1896. The
powerful people whose animosity Rizal had provoked took the opportunity
to implicate him to the rebellion. After a trial in a kangaroo court, he was
convicted of rebellion and sentenced to death by firing squad at
Bagumbayan Field (now Luneta).
10. Rizal’s execution
 Days before his execution, Rizal bid farewell to his motherland and
countrymen through one of his final letters, entitled Mi último adiós or My
Last Farewell. Dr. José Rizal was executed on the morning of December
30, 1896, in what was then called Bagumbayan (now referred to as
Luneta). Upon hearing the command to shoot him, he faced the squad and
uttered in his final breath: “Consummatum est!” (It is finished). According
to historical accounts, only one bullet ended the life of the Filipino martyr
and hero.

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Rizal 101: The Basics

1. Rizal’s full name

1. Rizal’s full name

 “Rizal Mercado” is his paternal surname while “Alonso Realonda” is

 Jose Rizal’s father is Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado. He was a

 Don Francisco became ‘tiniente gobernadorcillo’ (lieutenant governor) in

 Jose Rizal’s mother is Teodora Alonzo (also spelled ‘Alonso’).

 Saturnina was the eldest, followed by Paciano, Narcisa, Olympia, Lucia,

5. Rizal as a child prodigy

 He amazed his family by his pencil drawings, sketches, and moldings of

 At age eleven, Rizal attended the Ateneo Municipal de Manila and

 He finished his surveyor’s training in 1877, passed the licensing exam in

 On May 3, 1882, he went to Spain and enrolled at the Universidad Central

 Wanting to cure his mother’s advancing blindness, Rizal went to Paris,

 Being well-traveled, Rizal was said to have learned 22 languages. He wrote

 In March 1887, he published in Berlin his first controversial novel, the

7. Rizal as a leader and a patriot

 As leader of patriotic Filipinos, he became one of the leaders of the literary

7. Rizal as a leader and a patriot

 He founded the La Liga Filipina, a civic organization that subsequently

 From Europe, Rizal went home in August 1887. He practiced medicine in

 When Rizal returned to the Philippines in 1892, he was imprisoned in Fort

 He was then exiled to Dapitan, an island in Mindanao. While an exile, he

 In 1896, Rizal received a permission from the Governor General to become

10. Rizal’s execution

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