Name: Ernick Roy M.

Parreño Section:

Instructions: Watch the film Rizal sa Dapitan (1997). Afterwards, in pairs, identify the five
different professions that Rizal practiced while in exile. Explain how Rizal carried out these
professions.

1. Profession: Teacher
Description: Rizal dreamed of founding a school with Blumetritt as school director so
that he could focus in studying science and in writing history. In Talisay, he built a school
and taught local children (16 high school level boys in 1896), as well as children
entrusted to him by his kins (elementary level), how to catch insects, gather shells, dive
for rare fish, speak and write languages like Spanish, English, French and German, as
well as “practical lessons in botany and zoology,” physical fitness and martial arts. As a
teacher, Rizal developed his own practical teaching method, learning aids and learning
management.”

2. Profession: Farmer
Description: Rizal’s farm had fruit trees (mangoes, lanzone, guayabanos, baluno, nanka,
etc.), rabbits, dogs, cats, chickens, rice, corn, ferns and flowers like roses and sampaguita.
In another letter to his mother, Rizal said:

“My land has 6,000 abaca plants. If you want to come here, I shall build a house where
we can all live together until we die…My land is beautiful; it is in the interior, far from
the sea, about a half-hour’s walk; it is in a very picturesque place. The land is very fertile.
In addition to the abaca plantation there is land for planting two cavanes [150 liters] of
corn. Little by little we can buy the remaining lands near mine. There are plenty of dalag
[mudfish], pakò [ferns] and little round stones.”

3. Profession: Surgeon
Description: Rizal’s fame as an exiled surgeon began seven days after his arrival in
Dapitan and while he was staying in the house of the governor and military commandant.
 This was made possible by an incident that occurred during a celebration of the town’s
fiesta on 24 July 1892. A local resident was hurt by a firecracker that exploded in his
hands. He squirmed in pain, but the local folks could not help him. An unknown Rizal
came into the picture and treated his first patient. In a few months, the townfolk would
call him “Dr. Rizal” and “greeted him with more reverence than they did the comandante
and the parish priest.”

4. Profession: Engineer
Description: On 15 January 1895, Rizal wrote to Blumentritt that he was “going to build a
water-tank on my land. I have 14 boys whom I teach languages, mathematics, and how to work,
and as we have no work I have decided to construct a dike of stone, brick, and mortar so that
they may learn.” On 20 November of the same year, he wrote that he “made a wooden machine
for making bricks” and that he could “make at least 6,000 a day”. He eventually built an oven for
the bricks. Outside his land, Rizal helped the town by developing its first park, with street lamps
and a garden/flower relief map of the whole island of Mindanao. With support of the local
authorities and the residents, he constructed Dapitan’s aqueduct with a length of several
kilometers using clay tiles and lime. He also initiated plaza beautification and clean-up to
improve health and sanitation.

5. Profession: Learner
Description: On top of his professional occupation and other activities, Rizal continued
his search for knowledge. He studied the Tagalog grammar, Malay and Bisaya, wrote an
article on witchcraft in the Philippines, collected species that he sent to scientists abroad
like A.B. Meyer (three species are named after Rizal), read books and magazines like
Scientific American and Saturday Review. He wrote poems and letters that reflected his
brilliant mind and carried his pains and aspirations.