Rizal's Journey to Greatness

JOURNEY TO THE GREATNESS OF JOSE P.
RIZAL
In partial fulfillment of the Requirements
In General Education
9(Life and Works of Rizal)
Lea R. Robrigado
BEED I-B
MARCH 26, 2019
1
Republic of the Philippine
Commission on Higher Education
Region V (Bicol)
Libon Community College
Libon, Albay
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE .....................................................................................1
TABLE OF CONTENTS.....................................................................2
APPROVAL SHEET .........................................................................3
DEDICATION.....................................................................................4
INTRODUCTION................................................................................5-10
BODY................................................................................................11-21
CONCLUSION..................................................................................22-27
REFERENCES..................................................................................28
CURRICULUM VITAE.......................................................................29
2
Region V (Bicol)
Libon, Albay
APPROVAL SHEET
This study has to entitle. The Rizals Journey to the Greatness
prepared by Lea Robrigado in partial fulfillment of the requirements in
General Education 9 (Life and works of Rizal) has been examined and is
recommended for the acceptance and approval fie an oral examination.
JOHN SALCEDO
Instru
ctor
3
Region V (Bicol)
Libon, Albay
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
To Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, for giving the wisdom,
strength, support and knowledge in exploring things, for the guidance in
helping surpass all the trials that been countered and for giving
determination to pursue our study, and to make this study possible.
I would like to extend their deepest sincerest gratitude to all the
people who helped there in any manner, who have shared the effort and
knowledge in order to make this term paper a reality.
I would like to express our sincere gratitude to our adviser,
Professor John Salcedo, the continuous support to our study and term
paper, for his patience, motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge.
His guidance helps us all the time of doing this term paper. We could not
have imagined having a better advisor and mentor for our term paper.
To my loving parents, for their moral encouragement, financial
assistance as well as their spiritual support in every path the researchers
take.
4
Region V (Bicol)
Libon, Albay
DEDICATION
This humble piece of work is lovingly dedicated to my parents who
serve as their inspiration, to my friends, to my Aunt who helped me in
doing this term paper and all our classmates who always make us happy
and inspired all throughout this writing.
To ALMIGHTY GOD who serves as guidance and the source of
strength and knowledge for without his guidance everything is futile.
5
Region V (Bicol)
Libon, Albay
INTRODUCTION
José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Realonda was a Filipino nationalist
and polymath during the tail end of the Spanish colonial period of the
Philippines. He is a nationalist and the most prominent advocate for
reforms in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is
considered the Philippines' national hero and the anniversary of Rizal's
death is commemorated as a Philippine holiday called Rizal Day. Rizal's
1896 military trial and execution made him a martyr of the Philippine
Revolution. Jose Rizal is one of the most remarkable men in history. He is
a well-known Filipino not only in our country but in the world. His
contributions in the fields of literature and science were his greatest
legacies. Just like any other man, he was once a young boy who is filled
with so many aspirations, dreams and hopes in life. This paper intends to
cite some salient part of his journey on becoming an exceptional and
extraordinary person, a genius.
José Rizal's parents, Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado y Alejandra
II (1818-1898) and Teodora Morales Alonso Realonda y Quintos (1827-
1911), were prosperous farmers who were granted lease of

6
Region V (Bicol)
Libon, Albay
a hacienda and an accompanying rice farm by the Dominicans. Rizal was
the seventh child of their eleven children namely: Saturnina (1850-1913),
Paciano (1851-1930), Narcisa (1852-1939), Olympia (1855-1887), Lucia
(1857-1919), Maria (1859-1945), José Protasio (1861-1896), Concepcion
(1862-1865), Josefa (1865-1945), Trinidad (1868-1951) and Soledad
(1870-1929).
Rizal was a sixth-generation patrilineal descendant of Domingo
Lam-co, a Chinese immigrant entrepreneur who sailed to the Philippines
from Jinjiang, Quanzhou in the mid-seventeenth century. Lam-co married
Inez de la Rosa, a Sangley native of Luzon. To free his descendants from
the anti-Chinese animosity of the Spanish authorities, Lam-co changed
the family surname to the Spanish surname "Mercado" (market) to
indicate their Chinese merchant roots. In 1849, Governor-General Narciso
Claveria ordered all Filipino families to choose new surnames from a list of
Spanish family names. José's father Francisco adopted the surname
"Rizal" (originally Ricial, the green of young growth or green fields), which
was suggested to him by a provincial governor, whom José described as
"a friend of the family." However, the name change caused confusion in
the business affairs of Francisco, most of which were begun under the old
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Libon, Albay
name. After a few years, he settled on the name "Rizal Mercado" as a
compromise, but usually just used the original surname "Mercado."
José Rizal was born on June 19, 1861, in Calamba, Philippines.
While living in Europe, Rizal wrote about the discrimination that
accompanied Spain's colonial rule of his country. He returned to the
Philippines in 1892, but was exiled due to his desire for reform. Although
he supported peaceful change, Rizal was convicted of sedition and
executed on December 30, 1896 at age 35.
While in Europe, José Rizal became part of the Propaganda
Movement, connecting with other Filipinos who wanted reform. He also
wrote his first novel, Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not/The Social Cancer),
a work that detailed the dark aspects of Spain's colonial rule in the
Philippines, with particular focus on the role of Catholic friars. The book
was banned in the Philippines, though copies were smuggled in. Because
of this novel, Rizal's return to the Philippines in 1887 was cut short when
he was targeted by police.Rizal returned to Europe and continued to write,
releasing his follow-up novel, El Filibusterismo (The Reign of Greed) in
1891. He also published articles in La Solidaridad, a paper aligned with
the Propaganda Movement. The reforms Rizal advocated for did not
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Libon, Albay
include independencehe called for equal treatment of Filipinos, limiting
the power of Spanish friars and representation for the Philippines in the
Spanish Cortes (Spain's parliament).
Rizal returned to the Philippines in 1892, feeling he needed to be in
the country to effect change. Although the reform society he founded, the
Liga Filipino (Philippine League), supported non-violent action, Rizal was
still exiled to Dapitan, on the island of Mindanao. During the four years
Rizal was in exile, he practiced medicine and took on students.
In 1895, Rizal asked for permission to travel to Cuba as an army
doctor. His request was approved, but in August 1896, Katipunan, a
nationalist Filipino society founded by Andres Bonifacio, revolted. Though
he had no ties to the group, and disapproved of its violent methods, Rizal
was arrested shortly thereafter.
After a show trial, Rizal was convicted of sedition and sentenced to
death by firing squad. Rizal's public execution was carried out in Manila on
December 30, 1896, when he was 35 years old. His execution created
more opposition to Spanish rule.
9
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Libon, Albay
This study aims to highlight Rizals life as a student, a person with
so much hunger for learning and education. Rizal, who was born a
physical weakling, rose to become an intellectual giant not because of, but
rather in spite of, the outmoded and backward system of instruction
obtaining in the Philippines during the last decades of Spanish regime.
Typical schooling that a son of an ilustrado family received during his time,
characterized by the four Rs- reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion.
Instruction was rigid and strict. Knowledge was forced into the minds of
the pupils by means of the tedious memory method aided by the teacher s
whip. And he says that without education and liberty which are the soil and
sun of man, no reform is possible, no measure can give the result desired.
Rizal pleaded to government authorities to take steps to improve the
Education of the Filipinos. He said that the cause of backwardness and
ignorance is the lack of the means of education. Rizal s appear for
education was not to contrary to Spain s aim at Christianizing the Filipinos.
If al it was in support of this, for a true Christian education calls for the
development of the whole man. Rizals consistently urged his fellowmen to
do everything they could for the Education of their generation.
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BODY
The familiar statement that Doña Teodora was Rizal s first teacher
is not just a sort of venerating his mother who sacrificed a lot for our hero.
It was 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.
Education in Calamba, In Rizals time, seldom would one see a
highly educated woman of fine culture like Doña Teodora who had the
capacity to teach Spanish, reading, poetry, and values through rare story
books. Under her supervision, Rizal had thus learned the alphabet and the
prayers at the age of three.
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Aside from his mother, his sister Saturnina and three maternal
uncles also mentored him. His uncle Jose 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
students comically malicious insinuation that Rizal had something to do
with his death.)
12
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Libon, Albay
Education in Biñan, Rizal was subsequently sent to a private school in
Biñan. 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 Rizals first day in Biñan 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 had 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.
13
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Libon, Albay
After the class however, he had an arm-wrestling match with his
classmate Andres Salandanan in which Jose lost and even almost
cracked his head on the sidewalk. That only proves that merely being a
desperado wont make you win all your fights.
In the following days, Jose was said to have had other fights with
Biñan boys. (If his average was two fights per day, as what happened
during his first day in Biñan School, then he might have been more active
than todays MMA [mixed martial arts] fighters). For his scuffles, he
nonetheless received many whippings and blows on the open palm from
his disciplinarian teacher.
Rizal may have not won all his brawls but he nevertheless beat all Biñan
boys academically in Spanish, Latin, and other subjects.
14
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Libon, Albay
Theres a claim that from Biñan school, Rizal studied in Colegio de
San Juan de Letran. The story states that after attending his classes for
almost three months in Letran, Jose was asked by the Dominican friars to
look for another school due to his radical and bold questions.
However, standard biographies agree that Rizal just took the
entrance examination in that institution but Don Francisco sent him to
enroll instead in Ateneo Municipal in June 1872. Run by the Jesuit
congregation (Society of Jesus), Ateneo upheld religious instruction,
advanced education, rigid discipline, physical culture, and cultivation of the
arts, like music, drawing, and painting. Ironically, this school which is now
the archrival of La Salle in being exclusively luxurious, among others, was
formerly the Escuela Pia (Charity School)a school for poor boys in
Manila established by the city government in 1817.
15
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Libon, Albay
Paciano found Jose a boarding house in Intramuros but he later
transferred to the house of a spinster situated on Calle Carballo in Santa
Cruz area. There he became acquainted with various mestizos that were
said to be begotten by friars. (Jose perhaps had not thought twice to
befriend them, believing that they were probably nice people for after all,
they were mga anak ng pari [children of priests]).
To encourage healthy competitions, classes in Ateneo were divided
into two groups which constantly competed against each other. One
group, named the Roman Empire, comprised the interns (boarders) while
the other one, the Carthaginian Empire, consisted of the externs (non-
boarders). Within an empire, members were also in continuous
competition as they vied for the top ranks called dignitaries Emperor,
being the highest position, followed by Tribune, Decurion, Centurion, and
Standard-Bearer, respectively. Initially placed at the tail of the class as a
newcomer, Jose was soon continually promoted that just after a month,
he had become an Emperor, receiving a religious picture as a prize.
When the term ended, he attained the mark of excellent in all the
subjects and in the examinations. The second year, Jose transferred
residence to No. 6 Calle Magallanes and he obtained a medal at the end
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Libon, Albay
of that academic term. In the third year, he won prizes in the quarterly
examinations. The following year, his parents placed him as intern
(boarding student) in the school and stayed there until his graduation. At
the end of the school year, he garnered five medals, with which he said he
could somewhat repay his father for his sacrifices. On March 23, 1877, he
received the Bachelor of Arts degree, graduating as one of the nine
students in his class declared sobresaliente or outstanding.
Some of his priest-professors in Ateneo were Jose Bech, a man
with mood swings and somewhat of a lunatic and of an uneven humor;
Francisco de Paula Sanchez, an upright, earnest, and caring teacher
whom Rizal considered his best professor; Jose Vilaclara; and a certain
Mineves. At the Ateneo, Rizal cultivated his talent in poetry, applied
himself regularly to gymnastics, and devoted time to painting and
sculpture. Don Augustin Saez, another professor, thoughtfully guided him
in drawing and painting, and the Filipino Romualdo de Jesus lovingly
instructed him in sculpture.
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Libon, Albay
In 1877, Rizal enrolled in the University of Santo Tomas, taking the
course on Philosophy in Letters. At the same time, he took in Ateneo a
land surveyor and assessor's degree (expert surveyor), a vocational
course. 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.
After a year in UST, Jose changed course and enrolled in medicine
to be able to cure the deteriorating eyesight of his mother. But being tired
of the discrimination by the Dominican professors to Filipino students, he
stopped attending classes at UST in 1882. It s worthwhile to note that
Rizals another reason for not completing medicine in UST was that the
method of instruction was obsolete and repressive. Rizal s observation
perhaps had served as a challenge for UST to improve in its mode of
instructions. If records were accurate, Rizal had taken a total of 19
subjects in UST and finished them with varied grades, ranging from
excellent to fair. Notably, he got excellent in all his subjects in the
Philosophy course.
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Education in Europe, On May 3, 1882, he left for Spain and
enrolled in Medicine and Philosophy and Letters at the Universidad
Central de Madrid on November 3. In some days of November 1884, Rizal
was involved in the chaotic student demonstrations by the Central
University students in which many were wounded, hit by cane, arrested,
and imprisoned. The protest rallies started after Dr. Miguel Morayta had
been excommunicated by bishops for delivering a liberal speech,
proclaiming the freedom of science and the teacher, at the opening
ceremony of the academic year. Incidentally, the street in Manila named
after Morayta (Nicanor Reyes Street today) has always been affected by, if
not itself the venue of, student demonstrations.
In June of 1884, Rizal received the degree of Licentiate in Medicine
at the age of 23. His rating though was just fair for it was affected by the
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low grades he got from UST. The next school year (1884-1885), he took
and completed the three additional subjects leading to the Doctor of
Medicine degree. He was not awarded the Doctors diploma though for
failing to pay the fee and the required thesis.
Exactly on his 24th birthday, the Madrid University awarded him the
degree of Licentiate in Philosophy and Letters with the grade of excellent
(sobresaliente). We can thus argue that Rizal was better as a
philosopher than a physician. Wanting to cure his mother's advancing
blindness, Rizal went to Paris. He was said to have attended medical
lectures at the University of Paris. From November 1885 to February
1886, he worked as an assistant to Dr. Louis de Weckert. Through this
leading French ophthalmologist, Rizal was thankful that he learned how to
perform all the ophthalmological operations.
In February 3, 1886, Rizal arrived in Heidelberg, Germany. He
attended the lectures of Dr. Otto Becker and Prof. Wilhelm Kuehne at the
20
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Libon, Albay
University of Heidelberg. He also worked at the University Eye Hospital
under the guidance of Dr. Becker. Under the direction of this renowned
German ophthalmologist, Rizal had learned to use the then newly
invented ophthalmoscope (invented by Hermann von Helmholtz) which he
later used to operate on his mother s eye. In Heidelberg, the 25-year-old
Rizal completed his eye specialization.
Afterward, Rizal spent three months in the nearby village,
Wilhemsfeld where he wrote the last few chapters of Noli Me Tangere . He
stayed at the pastoral house of a kind Protestant pastor, Dr. Karl Ullmer,
the whole family of whom became Rizal s good friends. In August 1886, he
attended lectures on history and psychology at the University of Leipzig. In
November 1886, he reached Berlin, the famous city where he worked as
21
Region V (Bicol)
Libon, Albay
an assistant in Dr. Schweiggers clinic and attended lectures in the
University of Berlin.
In Germany, Rizal met and befriended the famous academicians
and scholars at the time. Among them were Prof. Friedrich Ratzel,
German historian; Dr. Hanz Meyer, German Anthropologist; Dr. Feodor
Jagor, the author of Travels in the Philippines which Rizal had read as a
student in Manila; Dr. Rudolf Virchow, German anthropologist; and
Rudolfs son, Dr. Hans Virchow, Descriptive Anatomy professor.
Especially after the heros martyrdom, these people who were the
renowned personalities in the academe not only in Germany but also in
Europe were so proud that once in their life they had known the educated
and great Filipino named Jose Rizal.
22
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Libon, Albay
CONCLUSION
The Right to Education seeing the condition of the people made
Rizal concludes that education should be top priority. Unless education
was wrested away from the hands of the friars, the school, instead of
becoming an instrument of liberation, will continue to be used as an
instrument of enslavement. Education was the primordial concern of Jose
Rizal. It had been his lifelong concern of the preparation for the attainment
of independence. John Schumacher aptly puts it: Education is the key to
understanding much of Rizal's career, for his whole career was bound up
with education-his own education and the education of his own people. In
defending the right of the Filipinos to education Rizal appealed to the good
sense of the Spanish authorities not to be begrudging the education of the
Filipinos. In another letter of Rizal to Blumentritt, Rizal said: We believe
that the cause of our backwardness is and ignorance is the lack of means
of education. We are all human and we can improve ourselves
through education and culture.
Rizal expressed his desire to found a school to carry out his
aspirations for the Filipinos: When we shall have obtained this (Philippine
representation in the Spanish Cortes) concession, then we shall rest and
23
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Libon, Albay
devote our strength to the education of our people which is my supreme
aspiration. The right to the education is now enshrined in the historic
Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which the Philippines are one of
the 48 original signatories.
Education for the Masses Rizal wished the education for the
masses. He shared his educational views with Blumentritt. On one
occasion he told the German scholar about his dream of establishing a
school in Calamba, Laguna to carry out his aspiration of educating his
people. At another time he wrote the same good doctors about the efforts
of Filipino leaders in educating the masses: "All our efforts tend to educate
our peopleeducation, education, education, education of our
peopleeducation and enlightenment."
In advocating the education of the masses, Rizal pleaded for the
education of the adults. In a conversation in El Filibusterismo, between
Isagani, the leader of the students, and Senor Pasta, the lawyer whom the
friars consulted in their difficulties, on the indifference of the Spanish
authorities in granting the student's petition for the opening of an academy
to teach Castilian, Rizal embarked through Isagani:
24
Region V (Bicol)
Libon, Albay
"We cannot all be doctors, it is necessary that some of us cultivate
the soil. We must follow everyone's own personal inclination." Mass
education is therefore a must in a free society. Rizal emphatically
expressed this idea in the Noli when he said: The school is the basis of
society, the school is the book in which is written the future of the nation!
Show us the school of the people and we shall show you what the people
are.
Rizal's School Rizal advocated education as a necessary condition
in a free society, necessary in the pursuance of liberty. The Admission Test
Rizal's school, like any school today, devised an admission test each
applicant had to hurdle. However this entrance exam was unique. Towards
dusk Rizal would take the applicant for a walk in the woods, and when he
could do so without the student noticing it, leave his walking stick behind.
Before nightfall the two would return to the school grounds, and
when it was completely dark, Rizal would casually mention that his cane
was missing. Remembering where he had left it, he would send the boy to
fetch it. By this time, the older students, in collusion with Rizal, were
already hiding in the forest, waiting for the initiate to come by. As soon as
25
Region V (Bicol)
Libon, Albay
the unsuspecting boy was deep in the woods, they would make strange
sounds and swing their lanterns to cast eerie spots of light.
College Education Rizal prepared a plan for a college to be
established in Hong Kong. It included a progressive curriculum offering
subjects which would provide for physical, academic, vocational,
aesthetic, and moral development.
European educational system taught him that science was the key
to industrial progress. Curriculum would offer subjects on health and
physical. Courses that would develop their artistic talents and aesthetic
sense Courses on etiquette to refine their manners and social behavior,
and vocational subjects to prepare them for gainful occupation.
Rizal's curriculum also included the following features: Academic
Freedom In a letter to his parents about the expulsion of Dr. Miguel
Morayta from the Universidad Central de Madrid because of his speech on
the academic freedom of the professor, Rizal said: "Knowledge ought to
be free and the professor as well." The school curriculum would develop
the potentials of the students. The curriculum would promote the dignity
of the individual and thus no corporal punishment would be inflicted.
26
Region V (Bicol)
Libon, Albay
Rizal as Teacher Rizal first and foremost was an educator, a
teacher. Even at the early age of 16, at the Ateneo, Rizal already wrote a
poem on education entitled "Por La Educacion." And in his poem "El Amor
Patrio," Rizal urged Filipinos to seek progress through education, to be
proud of being Filipinos.
Rizal chose to fight to his country through knowledge and the
power of letters. He noticed the continued suffering of his countrymen at
the hands of Spaniards and sought to out an end hands to his situation.
He decided to improve to his personal studies to acquire that he would
later on pass to his people through novels and poems.
27
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References:
Websites
www.weebly.com
www.insightsphilippines.com
www.positivelyfilipino.com
www.joserizal.ph
www.spot.ph
www.the12list.com
www.towardancountry.com
www.coursehero.com
www.nchp.gov.ph
www.prezi.com
www.researchgate.net
www.pdfsdocuments.com
www.studymode.com
28
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CURRICULUM VITAE:
NAME: Lea Retanan Robrigado
AGE: 18 years old
BIRTHDAY: July 14, 2000
FATHER NAME: Efren Satparam Robrigado
MOTHER NAME: Nedy Retanan Robrigado
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND:
COLLEGE: Libon Community College (2018-2019)
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL: Libon Private High School (2016-2018)
JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL: Libon Private High School (2012-2016)
ELEMENTARY: Libtong Elementary School (2006-2012)
29

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JOURNEY TO THE GREATNESS OF JOSE P.

In partial fulfillment of the Requirements

9(Life and Works of Rizal)

MARCH 26, 2019

Commission on Higher Education

Libon Community College

TITLE PAGE .....................................................................................1

APPROVAL SHEET .........................................................................3

Commission on Higher Education

Libon Community College

This study has to entitle. The Rizals Journey to the Greatness

prepared by Lea Robrigado in partial fulfillment of the requirements in

recommended for the acceptance and approval fie an oral examination.

Commission on Higher Education

Libon Community College

strength, support and knowledge in exploring things, for the guidance in

determination to pursue our study, and to make this study possible.

I would like to extend their deepest sincerest gratitude to all the

knowledge in order to make this term paper a reality.

I would like to express our sincere gratitude to our adviser,

paper, for his patience, motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge.

To my loving parents, for their moral encouragement, financial

assistance as well as their spiritual support in every path the researchers

Commission on Higher Education

Libon Community College

This humble piece of work is lovingly dedicated to my parents who

serve as their inspiration, to my friends, to my Aunt who helped me in

and inspired all throughout this writing.

To ALMIGHTY GOD who serves as guidance and the source of

strength and knowledge for without his guidance everything is futile.

Commission on Higher Education

Libon Community College

José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Realonda was a Filipino nationalist

Philippines. He is a nationalist and the most prominent advocate for

reforms in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is

considered the Philippines' national hero and the anniversary of Rizal's

death is commemorated as a Philippine holiday called Rizal Day. Rizal's

Revolution. Jose Rizal is one of the most remarkable men in history. He is

contributions in the fields of literature and science were his greatest

cite some salient part of his journey on becoming an exceptional and

extraordinary person, a genius.

José Rizal's parents, Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado y Alejandra

II (1818-1898) and Teodora Morales Alonso Realonda y Quintos (1827-

1911), were prosperous farmers who were granted lease of

Commission on Higher Education

Libon Community College

a hacienda and an accompanying rice farm by the Dominicans. Rizal was

the seventh child of their eleven children namely: Saturnina (1850-1913),

Paciano (1851-1930), Narcisa (1852-1939), Olympia (1855-1887), Lucia

(1857-1919), Maria (1859-1945), José Protasio (1861-1896), Concepcion

(1862-1865), Josefa (1865-1945), Trinidad (1868-1951) and Soledad

Rizal was a sixth-generation patrilineal descendant of Domingo

Lam-co, a Chinese immigrant entrepreneur who sailed to the Philippines

from Jinjiang, Quanzhou in the mid-seventeenth century. Lam-co married

Inez de la Rosa, a Sangley native of Luzon. To free his descendants from

the anti-Chinese animosity of the Spanish authorities, Lam-co changed

the family surname to the Spanish surname "Mercado" (market) to

indicate their Chinese merchant roots. In 1849, Governor-General Narciso

Spanish family names. José's father Francisco adopted the surname

was suggested to him by a provincial governor, whom José described as

Commission on Higher Education

Libon Community College

This study has to entitle. The Rizals Journey to the Greatness

include independencehe called for equal treatment of Filipinos, limiting

This study aims to highlight Rizals life as a student, a person with

characterized by the four Rs- reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion.

ignorance is the lack of the means of education. Rizal s appear for

education was not to contrary to Spain s aim at Christianizing the Filipinos.

development of the whole man. Rizals consistently urged his fellowmen to

Education in Calamba, In Rizals time, seldom would one see a

students comically malicious insinuation that Rizal had something to do

Do you know Spanish?

A little, sir, replied Rizal.

Do you know Latin?

Because of this, his classmates, especially the teacher s son Pedro,

desperado wont make you win all your fights.

Theres a claim that from Biñan school, Rizal studied in Colegio de