The Mercado-Rizal Family and Domingo Lam-Co

The Mercado-Rizal Family

• Domingo Lam-Co, a full-blooded Chinese from Amoy, China, came to the Philippines and married Ines de la Rosa, a half-Chinese lady, in the late 16th century.
• He adopted the surname Mercado in the early 17th century.
• The Mercado-Rizal family had a mix of Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Malay, and Negrito blood.

Francisco Mercado Rizal (1818-1898)

• Born on April 18, 1818, in Biñan, Laguna.
• Father of Jose Rizal.
• Youngest of 13 offspring of Juan and Cirilia Mercado.
• Studied in San Jose College.
• Industrious farmer and a model of fathers according to Jose Rizal.

Teodora Alonso Realonda (1827-1913)

• Born on November 14, 1827, in Santa Cruz, Manila.
• Mother of Jose Rizal.
• Second child of Lorenzo Alfonso and Brijida de Quintos.
• Studied at Colegio de Santa Rosa.
• Business-minded, courteous, religious, hard-working, and well-read.
• First teacher of Jose Rizal.
• Married Francisco Mercado Rizal on June 28, 1848.

The Rizal Children

• Saturnina Rizal Mercado de Hidalgo (1850-1913): Eldest sister of Jose Rizal, known as "Neneng".
• Paciano Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (1851-1930): Second child, became a farmer and later a general of the Philippine Revolution, known as "Pinoy Hero's Big Brother".
• Narcisa Alonso Lopez (1852-1939): Third child, married Antonio Lopez, a school teacher, known as "The Hospitable Sister of the Hero".
• Olympia Mercado Realonda Ubaldo (1855-1887): Fourth child, married Silvestre Ubaldo, a telegraph operator, known as "The Sister Whom the Hero Loves to Tease".
• Lucia Alonso Herbosa (1857-1919): Fifth child, married Mariano Herbosa of Calamba, Laguna, known as "Partaker of the Hero's Sufferings".
• Maria Rizal Cruz (1859-1945): Sixth child, married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Biñan, Laguna, known as "The Hero's Confidant".
• Jose Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (1861-1896): Second son and seventh child, executed by firing squad on December 30, 1896.