1 0 i n t e r e s t i n g t h i n g s a b o u t D r.

J o s e R i z a l

By Venus May H. Sarmiento

As the country commemorates the 121st death anniversary of Dr. Jose Rizal, the Masonry in
Pangasinan thought of presenting a trivia about the beloved hero.  

Junior Grand Lecturer Atty. Michael Camilo Datario presented 10 interesting things about the
national hero during the Rizal Day celebration in Dagupan City. He said a better way to honor
Rizal is to know lesser known facts about his life and death. 

After all, Filipinos do not want Rizal to be buried with the flurry of social media trends and
technological innovations. Read on… 

1.  There are three animals named after Rizal. These animals were what he collected when
he was exiled in Dapitan:  abogonia rizalie, a type of small beetle; Drago Rizalie, a specie of
dragonfly and Racoforus Rizalie, a specie of toad. 

2. When he was studying in Spain, Rizal had to pawn a ring owned by his sister Saturnina
just to pay for his exams. 

3. Rizal was only five feet and three inches tall but had a waistline of 25-26 inches. He also
had a big head. His hats were 6 1/2 inches across and the interior measures eight inches from
front to back 

4. Rizal stuffed unknown papers in his pockets and shoes on the eve of his execution. He
did this because he presumed that his corpse would be turned over to his family after his
execution. But as we all know, his body was dumped by Spanish officials in an unmarked grave
in Paco cemetery. The papers have since deteriorated and the contents of which were never
identified. 

5. Rizal’s favorite fruits were lanzones and mango. On account of his former cook in
Dapitan, his meals consisted of three viands. His breakfast comprised of hot chocolate, rice
and tuyo. 

6. Rizal had his third unfinished work or novel. Known by historians as “Maka-misa,” this
unfinished work was started by Rizal in 1892 in Hongkong. Maka-misa is not actually a title of
the novel but only a single chapter of the unfinished novel. He began writing it in Tagalog but
gave up and continued writing in Spanish 

7. Rizal made humorous comics in Germany entitled “The Baptism of Two Brothers.” He
made the comic strip to entertain the children of his landlord. He used cuss in that comic
strip. 
8. While in Dapitan, Rizal wrote an extensive written discourse on witchcraft with translation
entitled the “Treatment and Cure of the Bewitched.”  A part of it explained that witches are not
always old and ugly. 

9. Rizal established a school while in Dapitan with 21 pupils who were never asked to pay
but was required by Rizal to work for the community.  

10. As a polyglot, Rizal had the habit of switching from one language to another. His
biographers faced difficulty in translating his works because of his habit of switching
languages. He was conversant in 22 languages.  

 Bonus Trivia:

 Rizal was a video game character. He appeared in the 1999 video game Medal of Honour as a
secret character in a multi-player mode alongside other historical figures like William
Shakespeare and Winston Churchill. 

Just recently, the popular video game Tekken (martial arts), one of its fighter character was
inspired by Rizal. Although female, the character was Josie Rizal whose main armament was
arnis and kick boxing. Her outfit bore the colors of the Philippine flag and the ornament in her
waist is sampaguita.