Life of Jose Rizal (PDF)

Jose Rizal was born on June 19, 1861 in the town of Calamba, province of Laguna. Calamba, then a town with around three to four thousand inhabitants, is located 54 kilometers south of Manila. It is found in the heart of region known for its agricultural prosperity and is among the major producers o...

Jose Rizal was born on June 19, 1861 in the town of Calamba, province of Laguna. Calamba, then a town with around three to four thousand inhabitants, is located 54 kilometers south of Manila. It is found in the heart of region known for its agricultural prosperity and is among the major producers of sugar and rice, with an abundant variety of tropical fruits. On the southern part of the town lies the majestic Mount Makiling, and on the other side is the lake called Laguna de Bay. The wonders of creation that surrounded Rizal made him love nature from an early age. His student memoirs show how his love of nature influenced his appreciation of the arts and sciences. Rizal’s father, Francisco Mercado, was a wealthy farmer who leased lands from the Dominican friars. Francisco’s earliest ancestors were Siang-co and Zun-nio, who later gave birth to Lam-co. Lam-co is said to have come from the district of Fujian in southern China and migrated to the Philippines in the late 1600s. In 1697, he was baptized in Binondo, adopting “Domingo” as his first name. He married Ines de la Rosa of a known entrepreneurial family in Binondo. Domingo and Ines later settled in the estate of San Isidro Labrador, owned by the Dominicans. In 1731, they had a son whom they named Francisco Mercado. The surname “Mercado”, which means “market,” was a common surname adopted by many Chinese merchants at that time. Francisco Mercado became one of the richest in Biñan and owned the largest herd of carabaos. He was also active in local politics and was elected as capitan del pueblo in 1783. He had a son named Juan Mercado who was also elected as capitan del pueblo in 1808, 1813, and 1823. In 1848, Francisco married Teodora Alonso (1826-1911) who belonged to one of the wealthiest families in Manila. Teodora, whose father was a member of the Spanish Cortes, was educated at the College of Sta. Rosa. Rizal described her as “a woman of more than ordinary culture” and that she is “a mathematician and has read many books”. Jose Rizal (1861-1896) is the seventh among the eleven children of Francisco Mercado and Teodora Alonso. The other children were: Saturnina (1850-1913) Paciano (1851-1930) Narcisa (1852-1939) Olimpia (1855-1887) Lucia (1857-1919) Maria (1859-1945) Jose Rizal (1861-1896) Concepcion (1862-1865) Josefa (1865-1945) Trinidad (1868-1951) and Soledad (1870-1929). Rizal was affectionate to all his siblings. However, his relation with his only brother, Paciano, was more than that of an older brother. Paciano became Rizal’s second father. Rizal highly respected him and valued all his advice. It was Paciano who accompanied Rizal when he first went to school in Biñan. It was also him who convinced Rizal to pursue his studies in Europe. Like Rizal, Paciano had his college education in Manila but later decided to join Katipunan and fight for independence. After the revolution, Paciano retired to his home in Los Baños and led a quiet life until his death in 1930. CHILDHOOD AND EARLY EDUCATION As a family, they prayed together during the Angelus. There were times when they would stay in the garden exchanging stories. It was in this garden where he learned to appreciate nature. Rizal’s childhood was full of love and care shown to him by his parents and siblings. Due to his poor health, Rizal had a personal servant who, after the daily Angelus, would tell him legends and fairy tales. These stories made him become interested in myths and folklores. At the age of nine, Rizal left Calamba with his brother to study in Biñan. In Biñan, he excelled in Latin and Spanish. He also had painting lessons under Maestro Cruz’ father-in-law, Juancho, an old painter. After receiving a letter from his sister, Saturnina, Rizal returned to Calamba on December 17, 1870 after one-and-a- half year of schooling in Biñan. He went home on board the steamship Talim and was accompanied by Arturo Camps, a Frenchman and friend of his father.  STUDENT OF MANILA Rizal was sent by his father to Ateneo Municipal, formerly known as Escuela Pia, for a six-year program, Bachiller en Artes. He took the entrance exam on June 10, 1872, four months after the execution of Gomburza. He followed the advice of his brother, Paciano, to use the name Jose Rizal instead of Jose Mercado. He feared that Rizal might run into trouble if it was known openly that they were brothers since Paciano was known to have links to Jose Burgos, one of the leaders of the secularization movement and one of three priests executed. Rizal studied at Ateneo from 1872-1877. In those years, he consistently showed excellence in his academic performance. He passed the oral examination on March 14, 1877 and graduated with a degree Bachiller en Artes, with the highest honors. Rizal still pursued university education and enrolled in UST. During his freshman year (1877-1878), he attended the course Philosophy and Letters. In his second year at UST, Rizal shifted his course to Medicine. He felt the need to take up this course after learning about his mother’s failing eyesight. In 1882, Rizal and Paciano made a secret pact—Rizal would go to Europe to complete his medical studies there and prepare himself for the great task of liberating the country from Spanish tyranny.  RIZAL IN EUROPE On May 3, 1882, Rizal left the Philippines for Spain. In his first trip abroad, Rizal was very excited to learn new things. In Barcelona, he saw his former classmates. They toured Rizal around the city and brought him to the famous historical sites in Barcelona. In this city, Rizal found time to write an essay entitled “El Amor Patrio” (Love of Country). This essay was published on August 20, 1882 in Diariong Tagalog where he used the pen name Laong Laan. Rizal was awarded with the degree and title of Licentiate in Medicine for passing the medical examinations in June 1884. With this title, Rizal was able to practice medicine. Rizal tried to enrolled to some courses for Doctorate in Medicine but due to financial problems in Calamba because of low crop production and locusts aggravated by the hike in rentals on the haciendas by the Dominicans. In between his studies, Rizal made time for meeting fellow Filipinos in Madrid. Known as ilustrados, these Filipinos (enlightened ones) formed the Circulo Hispano- Filipino which held informal programs with activities like poetry-reading and debates. As a prolific writer and poet, Rizal was asked to write a poem. As a result, he wrote Mi Piden Versos (They Ask Me for Verses). In one of the Filipino reunions at the house of Pedro Paterno in Madrid on January 2, 1884, Rizal proposed the writing of a novel about the Philippine society. The group approved the project but this plan did not write anything so he drafted the novel alone. It was in Madrid that he was able to write the first half of his novel, Noli Me Tangere. Rizal specialized in ophthalmology and trained under the leading ophthalmologists in Europe like Dr. Louis de Weckert of Paris for whom he worked as an assistant from October 1885 to March 1886. It was also in Berlin where he finished Noli Me Tangere which was published on March 21, 1887 with financial help from his friend Maximo Viola. After five years in Europe, Rizal went home to Calamba on August 8, 1887. He spent time with the members of his family who were delighted to see him again. He also kept himself busy by opening a medical clinic and curing the sick. His vacation, however, was cut short because he was targeted by the friars who were portrayed negatively in his novel Noli Me Tangere. He left the country for the second time on February 16, 1888. In his second trip, Rizal became more active in the Propaganda Movement with fellow ilustrados like Marcelo H. del Pilar, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Antonio Luna, Mariano Ponce, and Trinidad Pardo de Tavera. The Propaganda Movement campaigned for reforms such as: (1) for the Philippines to be made a province of Spain so that native Filipinos would have equal rights accorded to Spaniards; (2) representation of Philippines in the Spanish Cortes; and (3) secularization of parishes. Rizal became preoccupied with writing articles and essays which were published in the Propaganda Movement’s newspaper, La Solidaridad. Among his intellectual works in Europe is his annotation of Antonio de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (1890) in which Rizal showed that even before the coming of the Spaniards, the Filipinos already had a developed culture. He also wrote an essay entitled “Sobre la Indolencia de los Filipinos” (On the Indolence of the Filipinos) published in 1890 in which he attributed the Filipinos’ “indolence” to different factors such as climate and social disorders. Another essay he wrote strongly called for reforms; it was called “Filipinas Dentro de Cien Años” (The Philippines a Century Hence) published in parts from 1889 to 1890. By July 1891, while in Brussels, Rizal completed his second novel, El Filibusterismo, which was published on September 18, 1891 through the help of his friend, Valentin Ventura. Compared with his Noli, Rizal’s El Fili was more radical with its narrative portrayed of a society on the verge of a revolution. In 1892, Rizal decided to return to the Philippines thinking that the real struggle was in his homeland. In spite of warnings and his family’s disapproval, Rizal arrived in the Philippines on June 26, 1892. Immediately, he visited his friends in Central Luzon and encouraged them to join the La Liga Filipina, a socio-civic organization that Rizal established on July 3, 1892. Unfortunately, just a few days after the Liga’s formation, Rizal was arrested and brought to Fort Santiago on July 6, 1892. He was charged with bringing with him from Hong Kong leaflets entitled Pobres Frailes (Poor Friars), a satire against the rich Dominican friars and their accumulation of wealth which was against their vow of poverty. In spite of his protests and denial of having those materials, Rizal was exiled to Dapitan in Mindanao. Rizal arrived in Dapitan on board the steamer Cebu on July 17, 1892. Dapitan (now a city within Zamboanga del Norte) was a remote town in Mindanao which served as a politico- military outpost of the Spaniards in the Philippines. It was headed by Captain Ricardo Carnicero, who became a friend of Rizal during his exile. The quiet place of Dapitan became Rizal’s home from 1892 to 1896. Here, he practiced medicine, pursued scientific studies, and continued his artistic pursuits in sculpture, painting, sketching, and writing poetry. On September 21, 1892, Rizal won the second prize in a lottery together with Ricardo Carnicero and another Spaniard. His share amounted to 6,200 pesos. A portion of Rizal’s winnings was used in purchasing land approximately one kilometer away from Dapitan in a place known as Talisay. He built his house on the seashore of Talisay as well as a school and a hospital within the area. In his letter to Blumentritt (December 19, 1893), Rizal described his daily activities in Dapitan: I am going to tell you how we live here. I have a square house, another hexagonal, and another octagonal—all made of bamboo, wood and nipa. In the square my mother, sister Trinidad, a nephew and I live. In the octagonal my boys live— some boys whom I teach arithmetic, Spanish and English— and now and then a patient who has been operated on. In the hexagonal are my chickens. From my house I hear the murmur of a crystalline rivulet that comes from the high rocks. I see the beach, the sea where I have two small crafts—two canoes or barotos, as they call them. I have many fruit trees— mangoes, lanzones, guyabanos, baluno, nangka, etc. I have rabbits, dogs, cats, etc. I get up early—at 5:00. I visit my fields, I feed the chickens. I wake up my folks, and start them moving. At 7:30 we take breakfast—tea, pastry, cheese, sweets, etc. afterwards I treat my poor patients who come to my land. I dress and go to the town in my baroto, I treat the people there and I return at 12:00 and take lunch. Afterwards, I teach the boys until 4:00 and I spend the afternoon farming. I spend the evening reading and studying. Relative to Rizal’s project to improve and beautify Dapitan, he made a big relief map of Mindanao in the plaza and used it to teach geography. With this map, which still exists today, he discussed to the town people the position of Dapitan in relation to other places of Mindanao. Assisted by his pupils, Rizal also constructed a water system to supply the town with water for drinking and irrigation. He also helped the people in putting up lamposts at every corner of the town. Having heard of Rizal’s fame as an ophthalmologist, George Taufer who was suffering from an eye ailment traveled from Hong Kong to Dapitan. He was accompanied by his adopted daughter, Josephine Bracken, who eventually fell in love with Rizal. They lived as husband and wife in Rizal’s octagonal house after being denied the sacrament of marriage by father Obach, the parish priest of Dapitan, due to Rizal’s refusal to retract his statements against the Church and to accept other conditions. On the eve of June 21, 1896, Dr. Pio Valenzuela visited Rizal in Dapitan and informed him about the founding of Kapitan and the planned revolution. Rizal objected to it, citing the importance of a well-planned movement with sufficient arms. On July 30, 1896, Rizal’s request to go to Cuba was approved. The next day, he left for Manila on board the steamer España. Upon arriving at the fort, however, Governor- General Despujol told him that there was an order to ship him back to Manila. On November 3, 1896, Rizal arrived in Manila and was immediately brought to Fort Santiago. The preliminary investigation of Rizal’s case began on November 20, 1896. He was accused of being the main organizer of the revolution by having proliferated the ideas of rebellion and of founding illegal organizations. Rizal pleaded not guilty and even wrote a manifesto appealing to the revolutionaries to discontinue the uprising. Rizal’s lawyer, Lt. Luis Taviel de Andrade, tried his best to save Rizal. However, on December 26, 1896, the trial ended and the sentence was read. Jose Rizal was found guilty and sentenced to death by firing squad. On December 28, 1896, Governor-General Camilo de Polavieja signed the court decision. He later decreed that Rizal be executed by firing squad at 7:00 am of December 30. Rizal, on his last remaining days, composed his longest poem, Mi Ultimo Adios, which was about his farewell to the Filipino people. When his mother and sister visited him on December 29, 1896, Rizal gave away his remaining possessions. He handed his gas lamp to his sister Trinidad and murmured softly in English, “There is something inside.” Eventually, Trining and her sister Maria would extract from the lamp the copy of Rizal’s last poem. At 6:30 in the morning of December 30, 1896, in black suit with his arms tied behind his back, walked to Bagumbayan. The orders were given and shots were fired. Consummatum est! (“It is finished!”) Rizal died offering his life for his country and its freedom.