JOSE RIZAL’s LIFE WORKS and WRITINGS

JOSE Rizal

- He was an anthropologist, botanist, businessman, cartographer, dramatist, economist, educator,

engineer, essayist, entomologist, ethnologist, farmer, folklorist, geographer, grammarian, historian,
horticulturist, humorist, lexicographer, linguist, musician, novelist, painter, physician, poet,
philologist, philosopher, polemist, psychologist, satirist, sculptor, sportsman, sociologist, surveyor,
traveler, and zoologist.

The World When Rizal Was Born

- In 1861, the Philippines were browsing redolently beneath the shadow of the cross.
- The Spanish Governor-General then was a good militarist, General Jose Lemery.
- Gargantuan China was prostrate, impotent to stop the predatory western powers that were busy
looting their riches.
- Spain fared ill under the rule of a woman-Queen Isabela II(1833-1868). She had lost her Rich
colonies (except Cuba and Puerto Rico) in the New World.

The Birth of a Hero

I was born in Kalamba on the 19th of June 1861 between eleven and
- Near midnight of Wednesday, twelve o’clock at night, a few days before the full of a moon.
June 19, 1861 a frail baby boy - Jose Rizal-
was born to the Rizal family in
Calamba Laguna.
- The delivery was exceedingly difficult and the mother was almost died. Her seemingly miraculous
survival was attributed to our lady of peace and voyage
- The baby boy was baptized by Rev. Rufino Collantes in the Catholic church of Calamba on June 22,
1861, three days after his birth.
- He was named “Jose” by his pious mother, in Honor of Saint Joseph.
- The Full name of baby boy was Jose Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda.

PARENTS OF JOSE Rizal

- Jose Rizal was the 7th of eleven the Eleven children of Francisco Mercado Rizal and Teodoro Alonzo
Realonda.
- The Hero’s Father, Francisco (1818-1898), was born in Binan, Laguna, on May 11, 1818 and died in
Manila on January 5, 1898, at the age of 80.he was an educated farmer having Studied Latin and
Philosophy at the College of san Jose in Manila.
- In early manhood, after his mother’s death, he moved to Calamba and became a tenant-farmer of the
Dominican State. He married a college-bred Manilena, Teodora Alonzo Realonda, on June 28, 1848.
- Jose Rizal called his Father “a model of fathers”
- The Hero’s mother, Teodora (1826-1911), was born in Manila on November 8, 1826 and died in
Manila on August, 16, 1911, at the age of 85.
- A graduate of Santa Rosa College, she was talented woman with high culture, business ability and
literary gift. A woman with a good character and religiousness.

THE RIZAL CHILDREN

1. SATURNINA – (1850-1913). She was the oldest of Rizal children. She married Manuel T. Hidalgo
of Tanawan, Batangas.
2. PACIANO – (1851-1930). He was the older brother of Jose Rizal. After his younger brother’s
execution, he joined the revolution and became a general. After the Revolution he retired to his farm
in Los Banos and led the life of a Gentleman farmer. He died an old bachelor, though he had a
common-law wife.
3. NARCISA – (1852-1939). She married Antonio Lopez, a School teacher of Morong, Rizal.
4. OLYMPIA – (1855-1887). She married Silvestre Ubaldo, a telegraph operator from manila.
5. LUCIA – (1857-1919). She married Mariano Herbosa of Calamba.
6. MARIA – (1859-1945). She married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Binan, Laguna.
7. JOSE – (1861-1896) – he married Josephine Bracken, a pretty Irish from Hongkong.
8. CONCEPCION – (1862-1865). She died at the age of three.
9. JOSEFA – (1865-1945). She did not marry. She died an old maid.
10. TRINIDAD – (1868-1951). She died an old maid, like Josefa.
11. SOLEDAD – (1870-1929). She was the youngest and she married Pantaleon Quintero of Calamba.
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ANCESTRY OF Rizal

- Jose Rizal, like a typical Filipino, was of mixed ancestry. In his veins flowed the bloods of both east
and west – Negrito, Indonesian, Malay, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish.
- Rizal’s paternal great grand Father was a china man named Domingo Lamco a native of chinchew
“China’s City Spring”.
- Both his father and grandfather has been Capitanes (town Mayors) of Binan.
- On the maternal side, Rizal’s ancestor was Lakan-Dula, last Malayan King of Tondo. A maternal
great grandfather was Eugenio Ursua, of Japanese blood.
- Jose’s mother Teodora belonged to a clan of gifted men. Her brothers Gregorio, Manuel and Jose
were men of unusual talents.
- Her father, Lorenzo Alberto Alonso, was an engineer who was awarded by Spain with the coveted
decoration of “Knight of the Grand order of Isabela the Catholic.”
- Her maternal Grandfather was Manuel De Quintos, a prominent Manila Lawyer.
- Her Paternal Grandfather, Cipriano Alonso, was a Capitan of Binan.

DOMINGO
INEZ EUGENIO
LAMCO BENIGNA
DELAROSA OCHOA

MANUEL
FRANCISCO BERNARDA REGINA
JOSEFA DE
MERCADO MONICHA OCHOA
QUINTOS

BRIGIDA LORENZO
CIRILA JUAN CLEMENTE DE ALBERTO
ALEJANDRO MERCADO MERCADO
QUINTOS ALONSO

FRANCISCO
MANUEL JUAN GREGORIO TEODORA
RIZAL
ALONSO ALONSO ALONSO ALONSO
MERCADO

SATURNINA NARCISA LUCIA JOSE JOSEFA SOLEDAD

PACIANO OLYMPIA MARIA CONCEPCION TRINIDAD

- In 1849, when Governor Narciso Claveria ordered the Filipino families to choose new Surnames from
a list of Spanish Family names, the children of Lorenzo Alberto adopted the name Realonda.
- The original name of Rizal Family was Mercado. It was a surname adopted in 1731by Domingo
Lamco, the paternal Chinese ancestor. In English it means market. Lamco, Liked it because it
appealed to his business nature and also because it reminds him of his Chinchew ancestors who were
mostly merchants.
- Jose’s Father chose his own surname Rizal, which was not on the list recommended by the Spanish
authorities. He considered this new Family name as more fitting for his farming clan than Mercado
which signifies Market.

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- The term Rizal came from the Spanish word racial which means “green field” or “new Pasture”.

The Rizal Family

- The Rizal Family was one of the richest families in Calamba.

- They were able to build a large stone house in calamba.
- First to own a carruaje (horse-drawn carriage).
- The first to have a home library (estimated to consist of more than 1000 volumes), and the first to
educate their children in the colleges of Manila.
- The hero’s mother owned a store in town which sold many articles of trade needed by the people.

CHILDHOOD IN CALAMBA

- Jose like many Filipino boys had many beautiful memories of childhoods.
- Calamba, “Cradle of a genius” the town of Calamba is situated in on a verdant plain by the rippling
Laguna de bay. A few kilometers to the south looms the legendary Mt. Makiling, and beyond this
mountain lies the coffee producing Batangas.
- Rizal loved Calamba with all his heart and soul. In 1876, when he was 15 years old and was a student
in the Ateneo , he remembered his beloved town. Accordingly, he wrote a poem “Un Recuerdo A Mi
Pueblo” (In Memory of My Town).

ERLIEST CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

- Rizal was a frail, sickly and undersized child; he was given the tenderness care by his parents.
- His father built a little nipa cottage in the garden for him to play in the daytime.
- A kind old woman was employed as an “aya” (maid) to look after his comfort.
- Another childhood memory was the daily childhood prayer. By nightfall, Rizal related, his mother
gathered all children at the house to pray the angelus.
- The aya related to the Rizal children many stories about the fairies; tales of buried treasure and trees
blooming with diamonds, and other fabulous stories. Sometimes, when Rizal did not like to take his
supper, the aya would threaten him that the aswang, the nuno, the tigbalang, or a terrible bearded and
turbaned Bombay would come to take him away.
- Another memory of his infancy, the aya took him for a walk in the moonlight by the river.

FIRST SORROW

- Rizal children affectionately called their father as tatay, and their mother nanay.
- Jose was jokingly called Ute by his brother and sisters. The people of calamba knew him as Pepe or
Pepito.
- Jose loved most the little Concha (concepcion). He is one year older than Concha. He played with her,
and from her he learned the sweetness of brotherly loved.
- Unfortunately, concha died of sickness in 1865 when he as only three years old. The death of little
concha brought him to sorrow.

DEVOTED SON OF CHURCH

- Young Rizal was a religious boy.

- At the age of three, he began to take part in the family prayers.
- When he was five years old, he was able to read haltingly the Spanish family bible.
- He loved to go to church, to pray, to take part in novenas, and to join the religious processions. “he
was seriously devout that he was laughingly called Manong Jose by hermanos and hermanas
terceras.”
- Evidence of his fervent catholic spirit is seen in the poems which he wrote during his boyhood such as
Al Nino Jesus (1876), La Alianza Intima Entre La Religion y La Buena Educacion (1876), and La
Virgen Maria, (no date).

PILGRIMAGE TO ANTIPOLO

- On june 6 1868, jose and his father left Calamba to go on pilgrimage to Antipolo, in order to fulfill his
mother’s vow which was made when Jose was Born.
- It was the first trip to Jose across Laguna de Bay and his first Pilgrimage to Antipolo. He and his

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father rode in a casco (barge).

- Jose did not sleep the whole night as the casco sailed toward the Pasig River because he was awed by
the “magnificence of the watery expanse and the silence of the night”.
- Writing many years later of this experience, he said: “with that pleasure I saw the sun rise! It was the
first time I had seen the bright rays strike, with dazzling effect, the rough surface of the vast lake”.

FIRST EDUCATION FROM MOTHER

- Jose’s first teacher was his mother.

- At the age of three, Jose learned the alphabet and the prayers from her.
- She was patient and loving, but strict as a tutor.
- When Rizal misbehaved, she spanked her with slipper. At one time, at the age of five, Jose refused to
wear a sinamay camisa because it was coarse and was scratchy to the skin. After the whipping, Jose
wore the coarse camisa without the protest.
- The story of the moth

RIZAL’S THREE UNCLES

- There were three uncles, brothers of his mother, who played a big part of the early education of Rizal.
They were Gregorio, Jose and Manuel Alberto Alonso (Realonda) (1849).
- Uncle Gregorio was a lover of books. He instilled into the mind of his nephew a great love for books.
He taught him to work hard, to think for himself and to observe life keenly.
- Uncle Jose, who had been educated at Calcutta, India, was the youngest brother of Dona Teodora. He
Encourage his nephew to paint, sketch and sculpture.
- Uncle Manuel was a big, strong and husky man. He looked after the physical training of his sickly
and weak nephew. He encouraged young Rizal to learn swimming, fencing, wrestling and other
sports.

ARTISTIC TALENTS

- Since early childhood Rizal revealed his god given talents for the arts.
- He drew sketches, carved figures of animals and person out of wood.
- Jose had the soul of a genuine artist. Rather an introvert child, with a skinny physique and sad dark
eyes.
- He loved to ride on a spirited pony (which his father bought for him) or take long walking the
meadows and lakeshore with his big black dog named Usman.
- In his room, he kept many statuettes which he made out of clay and wax. At one time, his sisters
teased him: “Ute, what are you doing with so many statuettes?”
He replied: “don’t you know that people will erect monuments and statues in my honor in the future?”
These are indeed prophetic words from the lips of a little boy.
- Jose had also a gift of Magic, his nimble fingers and supple wrist could perform many tricks which
dazzled the eyes of the onlookers.
- Prodigy of the pen: the first known poem that he wrote was Tagalog poems entitled Sa Aking Mga
Kababata (to my Fellow Children). He wrote it in appeal to our people to love our national language.
- Before he was eight years old, he wrote a tagalog drama. This drama was staged in Calamba in
connection with the town fiesta. The Gobernadorcillo bought the manuscript from little Jose for two
pesos, and had it staged during the Fiesta celebration in Paete.
-

INFLUENCES OF HERO’S BOYHOOD

- On the night Jose Rizal was born, other children were born in Calamba and hundreds of other
Children were also born all over the Philippines. But why is it that out of all these children, only one
boy – JOSE Rizal- rose to fame and greatness.

- HERIDITARY INFLUENCE – according to biological science, there are inherit traits or qualities
which a person inherits from his ancestors and parents.

- ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCE – according to Psychologists, environment, as well as hereditary,

affects the nature a person. Environmental influence includes places, associates and events.

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- AID OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE – greater than hereditary and environment in the fate of man is the
aid of divine providence. A person may have everything in life – Brains, wealth and power – but
without the aid of divine providence he cannot attain greatness.

SCHOOLDAYS IN BINAN

- The first formal schooling of

Rizal was in Binan, the natal
“This is the first town where my father first saw the light of
town of his father.
day, and where he sent me to continue studying the rudiments
- He attended private school under
of Latin, which I had started to learn.
Maestro Justiano Aquino Cruz,
who was reputed to be a good
- Jose Rizal -
teacher.
- Rizal studied in this school from
1870 – 1871.
- He was whipped by the teacher to make him learn his lessons or to behave well.
- He was given further instruction by private tutors, such as Maestro Celestino and later Maestro Lucas
Padua.
- Later Jose’s father hired an Oldman, Leon Monroy, who had been his classmate, to give Rizal, the
first lessons in Latin. This old Latin teacher lived in Rizal home, but he died five months later.

JOSE GOES TO BINAN

- One Sunday afternoon in June, 1870, Jose left Calamba to Binan. He was accompanied by Paciano.
- The two brothers rode in a carromata, reaching their destination after one and one half hours’ drive.
- The School was in the house of the teacher, which was a small nipa hut about 30 meters from the
home of Jose’s aunt where Jose was to lodge.
- First day in Binan School. The teacher asked him.
“Do you know Spanish?”
“A little sir,” replied the Calamba lad.
“Do you know Latin?”
“A little Sir”
- The boys in the class, especially Pedro, the teacher’s son, laughed at Jose’s answer.
- Jose challenged his bully classmate Pedro to a fight. The two boys wrestled furiously in the
classroom. Jose having learned the arts of wrestling from his uncle Manuel, defeated the bigger boy.
- After the class in the afternoon, a classmate named Andres Lakundanan challenged him to an arm
wrestling match. Jose, having weaker arm, lost, and nearly cracked his head on the sidewalk.
- In succeeding days he had other fights with the boys of Binan. He was not quarrelsome by nature, but
he never run away from a fight.
- Near the school was the house of an old painter, called Juancho, who was the father-in-law of the
school teacher. Old Juancho freely gave him lessons in drawing and painting.
- Jose and his classmate Jose Guevarra, who also loved painting, became the apprentices of the old
painter.
- In school studies, Jose bet all Binan boys. He surpassed them all in Spanish, Latin and other subjects.
- Some of his older classmates were jealous of his intellectual superiority. They wickedly squealed to
the teacher whenever Jose had a fight outside the school, and even told lies to discredit him before the
teacher’s eyes.
- Time came when Jose learned all that Maestro Justiano could teach him and that was the end of Binan
Schooling.

INJUSTICE TO HERO”S MOTHER

- Dona Teodora was arrested on malicious charge that she aided her brother, Jose Alberto, in trying to
poison Alberto’s wife.
- Alberto had gone to Europe for a business trip. During his absence his wife abandoned their home and
children. When he returned to Binan, he found her living with another man.
- The unfaithful wife connived with the lieutenant of the Guardia Civil to fabricate with evidence that
her husband attempted to poison her, with Dona Teodora as an accomplice.
- The judge ordered that Dona Teodora be sent to the provincial jail in Sta. Cruz Laguna, Capital of
Laguna instead in Calamba Jail.

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- The lieutenant forced the hero’s mother to walk on foot from Calamba to Sta. Cruz, a distance of
more than 50klms until it reached the royal Audiencia (Supreme Court).

THE MARTYDOM OF GOMBURZA

- Dela torre was a liberal governor. He abolished press censorship and encourages the free and open
discussion of political issues. The Filipinos began to advocate political reforms.
- However a change of government in Spain hindered the regency to act on the reforms. The Spanish
cortes restored the monarchy.
- A new Spanish Governor-General – General Rafael de Izquierdo – was sent to the Philippines to
replace Dela Torre. Izquierdo ended the freedom the Filipinos enjoyed briefly under the Dela Torre
administration. He reinstates forced labor especially in the ship yards.
- Polistas or workers under Polo Y Servicio under worst condition resulted to internal revolt in the
province.
- The polistas work more than eight (8) hours a day but they were underpaid.
- On the basis of fake evidence, the three priests were convicted and sentenced to death. They were
strangled to death by means of the garrote at the luneta.
- On January 20, 1872, the Cavite Mutiny flared up, followed the execution of Fathers Gomez, Burgos
and Zamora on February 17th.
- Years later, after the execution of the three Priest Dr. Jose Rizal wrote of Burgos: “he awakened my
intellect and made me understand goodness and justice. His farewell words I shall always remember”.

SECULARISATION OF THE CHURCH

Before we talk about the events that finally led to the killing of the three priests, let’s talk first about why
they were so important.

The fathers Gomez, Burgos and Zamora were very active when it came to pushing for changes in the way the
church was run in colonial Philippines. At that time, the church was still heavily led by Spanish friars and
religious orders despite the declaration of secularisation in 1774. The priests were also aware of the unfair
treatment of Spain toward ordinary Filipinos and did not hesitate to voice out their concerns through
demonstrations and publications.

Father Mariano Gomez, father Jacinto Zamora and father Jose Apolonio Burgos

The three martyr priests were members of the Committee of Reformers that campaigned for changes in the
way the country was run. Because of their consistent clash with Spain’s ideals, they were considered
filibusteros or agitators. However, they were popular figures and priests to boot — it was not so easy for
Spain to just put them in front of a firing squad.

Enter this very timely opportunity to frame them.

The Cavite Mutiny

In January 1872 a group of unhappy Filipino workers and soldiers staged a mutiny in Fort San Felipe, Cavite.
The fort was a Spanish armory where weapons and ammunitions were made, repaired and stored.

The mutiny started when previously un-taxed labourers and soldiers were suddenly bereft of a portion of their
wages to cover for personal taxes and a tax that exempted them from rendering forced labour or polo y
servicio. The order came from Governor-General Rafael de Izquierdo, known as the ‘Iron Fist’ statesman.

The angry labourers and soldiers (around 40, says history books) took control of the fort and killed 11
Spanish officers. The mutineers were so drunk with victory that they thought Manila would join in a
simultaneous uprising. But no one joined their ranks.

Once news of the mutiny reached the city, it was the Spanish forces, which acted immediately on it. To
prevent a massive uprising, they rushed and laid siege to the fort. The mutineers surrendered, some were
killed while others were sent on a ship bound for Mindanao.

But Spain’s efforts to put out the fire did not end there. They used what power they had over the shocked

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Filipino public to implicate those they believed supported the mutiny, including the priests Gomez, Burgos
and Zamora.

All the accused were tried at a special military court. The principal witness was a certain Francisco Salduo
who said that the mutiny was a conspiracy to overthrow the government. He even said he personally sent
messages to fathers Zamora and Burgos. Other witnesses stepped to the pulpit, but all they offered were
hearsay. However, the Council of War under the governor-general still declared the priests guilty and
sentenced them to garrote.

17 February 1872

It was said that Burgos cried like a boy on the day of their execution. Zamora meanwhile was said to have
gone mad after suffering a nervous breakdown. He only stared blankly ahead. Gomez, who was 73 at the
time, held his head high and even blessed Filipinos who were there to watch his execution. Many Filipinos
who came to watch the execution of the beloved priests crossed themselves or knelt to pray after the priests
perished.

Aftermath

Jose Rizal himself recognised the importance of the martyrdom of the three priests in 1872 in the eventual
realisation of the revolution:

‘Without 1872, there would have been no Plaridel, Jaena or Sanciongco; nor would the brave and generous
Filipino colonies in Europe have existed. Without 1872, Rizal would now have been a Jesuit and instead of
writing ‘Noli Me Tangere,’ would have written the opposite. Observing those injustices and cruelties fired
my young imagination and I pledge to dedicate myself and to avenge some day those victims. With this idea,
I have studied and this can be discerned in all my works and writings. God will give me the opportunity
someday to keep my vow’ (Rizal’s letter to La Solidaridad, Paris).

The death of the progressive priests Gomez, Burgos and Zamora was necessary in the build-up towards the
revolution. The death of innocents is also a consistent theme in the history of the world that helped empower
people and fuel the greatest minds to think and pursue changes in the way we do things.

SCHOLASTICS TRIUMPHS AT ATENEO DE MANILA

- Four months after the martyrdom of Gomburza and with Dona Teodora still in prison, Jose, who had
not yet celebrated his eleventh birthday, was sent to Manila.
- He studied in the Ateneo Municipal, a college under the supervision of the Spanish Jesuits.
- This college was a bitter rival of the Dominican-owned College of San Juan de Letran.
- It was formerly the Escuela Pia (Charity School) a school for poor boys in Manila.
- When the Jesuits who had expelled from the Philippines in 1768, returned to Manila in 1859, they
were given the management of the Escuela Pia, whose name was changed to Ateneo Municipal, and
later become the Ateneo Manila.
- Rizal enters the Ateneo on June 10, 1872 accompanied by Paciano.
- He took the entrance examinationson Christian doctrine, arithmetic, and reading at the college of San
Juan de Letran, and passed them.
- At first Father Magin Ferrando, who was the college registrar, refused to admit him for two reasons.
o He was late for registration
o He was sickly and undersized
- Upon the intercession of Manuel Xerez Burgos, nephew of Father Burgos, he was reluctantly
admitted to the Ateneo.
- Jose as the first of his family to adopt the surname Rizal, their family had come under suspicion of the
Spanish authorities.
- At this time Jose Studied in the Ateneo, this college was located in the Intramuros, within the wall of
Manila.
- He first boarded in a house outside Intramuros, on Caraballo Street, 25 minutes’ walk from the
College.

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- This boarding house was owned by a spinster named Titay who owned the Rizal Family the amount
of 300 pesos.

JESUIT SYSTEM OF EDUCATION

- Ateneo offers academic courses leading to the degree of A.B. and vocational courses in agriculture,
commerce and mechanics
- Students were divided into two groups, namely: the Roman Empire consisting of the internos
(boarders) and the Carthaginian Empire composed of the Externos (non-boarders).
- Each empire had it ranks. The best student in each empire was the empire, the second best the tribune,
the third best the Decurion, the fourth best the centurion, and the fifth best, the standard bearer.
- They had their distinctive banners, red for the Roman, and Blue for the Carthaginians.
- The Ateneo students wore a uniform which consisted of “hemp-fabric trousers” and striped cotton
coat.” The coat material was called rayadillo.
- Rizal’s first Professor was Fr. Jose Bech, whom he described as tall thin man, with a body slightly
bent forward, a hurried walk, an ascetic face, severe and inspired , small deep sunken eyes, a sharp
nose that was almost Greek, and thin lips forming an arc whose ends fell toward the chin.
- Summer Vacation (1873) Rizal did not particularly enjoy his vacation because his mother was in
prison.
- Second year in Ateneo (1873-74). Some of his classmates were new. Among them were three boys
from Binan, who had been his classmates in the school of maestro Justiano.
- Prophecy of Mother’s release. Dona Teodora told her Son of her dream the previous night, Rizal
interpreting such dream, said to her that she would be release from the prison.
- Summer vacation in 1874 in Calamba when Rizal began to take interest in reading Romantic novels.
- The First favorite novel of Rizal was the count of Monte Cristo by alexander Dumas.
- Later, Rizal read the Travels in the Philippines by Dr. Feodor Jagor, German Scintist – Traveler who
had visited the Philippines.
o Jagor’s keen observations of the defects of Spanish colonization
o Prophecy that someday Spain would lose the Philippines and that America would come to
succeed her as colonizers
- Third year in ateneo. At the end of the school year (March, 1875), Rizal returned to Calamba for
summer vacation. He, himself, was not impressed by his scholastic work. He said I returned
dissatisfied to my home town”.
- Fourth year in Ateneo. After a refreshing and happy summer vacation, Rizal went back to Manila for
his fourth year course. On June 14, 1875, he became an internee in Ateneo. One of his professors this
time was Fr. Francisco Sanchez, a great Educator and scholar.
- Years later Rizal wrote of Father Sanchez in glowing terms, showing his affection and gratitude. He
described his Jesuits professor as “a model of rectitude, solitude, and devotion to his pupils’
progress”.

POEMS WRITTEN IN ATENEO

- The first poem Rizal probably wrote during his days in Ateneo was Mi Primera Inspiracion (My First
Inspiration) which was dedicated to his mother on her birthday.
- In 1875, inspired by Father Sanchez, he wrote more poems, such as:
1. Felicitacion (Felicitation)
2. El Embarque: Himno a la Flota de Magallanes (the departure: hymn to Magellan Fleet).
3. Y es Espanol: Elcano, El Primero en dar la Vuelta el Mundo (and he is Spanish; the First to
Circumnavigate the World).
4. El Combate: Urbiztondo, terror de Jolo (the Battle; Urbiztondo, Terror of Jolo).
- In 1876, Rizal wrote poems in Various topics- religion, education, childhood memoirs and war.
1. La tragediade San Eustaquo (the tragedy of St. Eustace)
2. Un Requerdo A Mi Pueblo (in Memory of my Town)

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3. Alianza Intima Entre La Religion y La Buena Educacion (Intimate alliance between religion
and good education)
4. Por la Educacion Recibe Lustre la Patria (through Education the country receives light)
5. El Cautiverio y el Triunfo: Batalla de Lucena y Prision de Boabdil (The captivity and the
triumph: Battle of Lucena and the Imprisonment of Boadbil)
6. La Entrada triunfal de los Reyes Catolicos en Granada (the triumphal Entry of the Catholic
Monarchs into Granada)
- A year later, in 1877, he wrote more Poems. It was his Last year in Ateneo. Among the Poems written
this year were:
1. El Herooismo de Colon
2. Colon y Juan II (Columbus and John)
3. Gran Consuelo en la Mayor Desdicha (Great comfort in Great Misfortune)
4. Un Dialogo Alusivo a la Despedida de los Colegiales (A farewell dialogue of the students)

FIRST ROMANCE OF Rizal

She looked at me, and I Blushed
- Shorlty after his graduation from the ateneo, Rizal, who ~Jose Rizal~
was then 16 years old experience his first romance “that
painful experience which comes to nearly adolescents.”
- The girl was Segunda Katigbak, a pretty fourteen year old Batangeuena from Lipa.
- In Rizal’s own words “she was rather short, with eyes that were eloquent and ardent at time and
languid at others, rosy cheeked, with an enchanting and provocative smile that revealed very beautiful
teeth, and the air of a sylph; her entire self-diffused a mysterious charm.”
- Segunda was already engaged to be married to her town mate, Manuel Luz.

AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

- After finishing the first year of the course in Philosophy and letters (1877-78), he transferred to the
medical course.
- As a Thomasion, he won more literary laurels, had more romances with girls, and fought against
Spanish students.
- The Bachelor of Arts degree during Spanish time was equivalent to a highschool diploma today. It
merely qualified its holder to enter a university.
- Both Don Francisco and Paciano wanted that Jose should Pursue higher learning. But Dona Teodora
did not want him to study more. Evidently, she had a premonition that too much knowledge that too
much knowledge would imperil her son’s life.
- In April, 1877, Rizal was then nearly 16 years old, matriculated in the University of Santo Tomas
taking Philosophy and letters. He enrolled this course in two reasons:
o His Father like it
o He was still uncertain as to what career to follow
- He had written father Pablo Ramon, Rector of Ateneo, asking for advice on the choice of career.
- It was during the following school term (1878-79) that Rizal took up medicine, enrolling
simultaneously in preparatory medical course and the regular first year medical course.
- The reason why he studied medicine were:
o He wanted to be a physician so that he might cure his mother’s failing eyesight
o Father Rector of Ateneo finally answered his letter, recommending medicine.
- Rizal also studied in Ateneo during his first school term in UST. He took the vocational course
leading to the title of Perito Agrimensor (expert Surveyor).
- At the age of 17 he passed final examination in the surveying course, but he could not be granted the
title as surveyor because he was below age. The title was issued to him on November 25, 1881.

ROMANCES WITH OTHER GIRLS

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- Rizal was a Romantic dreamer who liked to sip the nectar of love. His sad experience with the first
love had made him wiser in the ways of romance.
- He court to a young women in Calamba. In his memoirs, he called her simply Miss L, describing her
as “fair with seductive and attractive eyes’’.
- After visiting her in her house several times, he suddenly stopped his wooing, and the romance died a
natural death. He gave his reasons for his change of heart, namely:
o The sweet memory of Segunda Katigbak was still in his heart
o His father objected to the match
- Several months later, he boarded in the house of Dona Concha Leyva in Intramuros. The next door
neighbors of Dona Concha were Capitan Juan and Capitana Sanday Valenzuela, parents of a
charming girl named Leonor.
- He courted Leonor Valenzuela, who was a tall girl “almost as tall as Jose Himself”. He sent her love
notes written in invisible ink.
- Rizal’s next Romance, was with another Leonor – Leonor Rivera – his cousin from Camiling. In
1879, at the start of his junior year at the University
- In 1879, at the start of his Junior year at the University, he lived in “Casa Tomasino” a boarding
house managed by his uncle, Antonio Rivera, at No. 6 Calle Santo Tomas, Intramuros.
- His landlord Uncle, had a pretty daughter, Leonor, a student at La Concordia College, where Soledad
was then Studying.
- Leonor Born in Camiling Tarlac on April 11, 1867, was a frail, beautiful girl, “tender as a budding
flower with kindly, wistful eyes”.
- They become engaged. In her letters to Rizal, Leonor signed her name as “Taimis” in order to
camouflage their intimate relationship from their parents and friends.

TO THE FILIPINO YOUTH

- In the year 1879 the Liceo Artistico-Literario (Artistic-Literary Lyceum) of Manil, a society of
literary men and artists, held a literary contest.
- Rizal, who was then eighteen years old, submitted his poem entitled A La Juventud Filipina (to the
Filipino youth).
- The board of Judges composed of Spaniards,was impressed by Rizal’s poem and gave it the first
prize. This prize was a silver pen, feather shaped and decorated with a gold ribbon.

THE COUNCIL OF THE GOD’S

- The following year (1880) the artistic literary Lyceum opened another literary contest to
commemorate the fourth centennial of the death of Cervantes, Spain’s glorified man-of-letters.
- Rizal, inspired his poetical triumph the previous year, submitting an allegory in prose entitled El
Consejo de los Dioses (The Council of the Gods)
- Afer a long and critical appraisal of the entries, they were forced to award the prize to Rizal because
of its literary superiority over the others.
- Despite all objections, the prize was awarded to Rizal, which was a Gold Ring on which was
engraved the bust of Cervantes.
- A Spanish writer, D.N. Del Puzo, won the 2nd prize.

VICTIM OF SPANISH OFFICER’S BRUTALITY

- When Rizal was a freshman medical student at UST. He experienced his first taste of Spanish
brutality
- One dark night in Calamba, during the summer vacation in 1878, he was walking in the street. He
dimly perceived the figure of a man while passing him. Not knowing the person to darkness, he did
not salute nor say a courteous “Good Evening”. The vague figure turned out to be a lieutenant of the
Guardia Civil. With a snarl, he turned upon Rizal, whipped out his sword and brutally slashed the

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latter on the back.

RIZAL’S VISIT TO PAKIL AND PAGSANJAN

- In the summer month of May, 1881, when he was still a medical

Turumba, turumba,
student at the University of Santo Tomas he went on a pilgrimage
to the town of Pakil, famous shrine of a Birhen Maria de los Mariangga
Dolores. Matuwa tayo at masaya
- They were accompanied by his sisters – Saturnina, Maria and
Sumayaw ng turumba
Trinidad and their female friends.
- They took a casco from Calamba to Pakil, Laguna and stayed at Puri sa birhen Maria
the Home of Mr and Mrs Regalado.
- Rizal and his companions were fascinated by the famous Turumba.

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