A.

THE MERCADO FAMILY

On June 19, 1861, Wednesday, Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda was born in Calamba, Laguna.
He was seventh of the eleven children, and second son to Francisco (Kikoy) Mercado and Teodora (Lolay)
Alonso. Days later, he was baptized in the parish church of Calamba by Fr. Rufino Collantes. His godfather was
Fr. Pedro Casaňas.

His father, Francisco Mercado was a businessman from Biňan, Laguna who settled in Calamba after being able
to establish his sugar farm through a lease with the Dominicans. His mother, Teodora Alonso, although born in
Manila, became a resident also of Biňan and was educated also in Laguna. The eleven children they had are as
follows:

1. Saturnina or “Neneng” (1850-1913) the eldest and who became wife to Manuel Hidalgo.
2. Paciano (1851-1930) the farm caretaker, had a common-law wife named Severina Decena
3. Narcisa or “Sisa” (1852-1939) who was married to Antonino Lopez.
4. Olimpia or “Ipiang” (1855-1887) who became the wife of Silvestre Ubaldo
5. Lucia (1857-1919) who espoused Mariano Herbosa.
6. Maria or “Biang” (1859-1945) who became the wife of Daniel Faustino Cruz.
7. Jose Protacio or “Pepe” (1861-1896) the great Filipino, was the most educated. He married Josephine
Bracken, an Irish.
8. Concepcion or “Concha” (1862-1865) who died at the age of three due to illness.
9. Josefa or “Panggoy” (1865-1945) who lived as a spinster. She was an epileptic.
10. Trinidad or “Trining” (1868-1951) was never married and also died as a spinster. She was put in-charge
of Rizal’s property in Dapitan.
11. Soledad or “Loleng” (1870-1929) the youngest, became the wife of Pantaleon Quintero. She will marry
another later, Luis Beliso, a Spanish soldier.
THE ANCESTRY.
On the father side, Rizal’s great great grandfather was the Chinese immigrant Domingo Lamco, who married a
Filipina named Ines dela Rosa. Their children were Francisco and Clemente. Francisco married Bernarda
Monica. They had a son named Juan Mercado who then married Cirila Alejandra. Juan and Cyrila were blessed
with thirteen children. One of them was Francisco Mercado who married Teodora Alonso. Francisco Mercado
established himself in Calamba with his two sisters after acquiring a tenancy assignment in the Dominican
Hacienda in Calamba, Laguna. In 1849, when Gov. Narciso Claveria issued the decree on the Hispanization of
Filipino names, he was given the new surname Rizal, from the Latin ‘ricial’ meaning ‘rice fields.’

From the side of Rizal’s mother, Gregorio Alonso I was Rizal’s great-great grandfather. Cipriano Alonso was
his son who became gobernadorcillo of Biňan in 1797. He was the father of Lorenzo Alberto Alonso who had
an earlier marriage to a girl named Paula Florentino but was separated. He took later Brigida de Quintos for his
wife, but were not married. Don Lorenzo became, in 1824, gobernadorcillo of Biňan. He was, at one time,
became a representative of the colonial government to the Spanish Cortes and, also a recipient of a Spanish
knighthood during the reign of Queen Isabel II. Lorenzo and Brigida had five children namely: Narcisa,
Teodora, Gregorio, Manuel and Jose Alberto (who is rumored to have come from Paula).

When Governor General Narciso Claveria issued the decree for the revision and adoption of new names, the
children of Lorenzo Alberto Alonso adopted the name Realonda. Thus, the name Teodora Alonso became
Teodora Alonso Realonda. Dona Teodora was educated in Colegio de Sta. Rosa. In 1848, she married Francisco
Mercado.

B. CHILDHOOD DAYS

Calamba, Laguna was a special place for Jose Rizal. It is where he was born, grew up and spent his early
childhood. Even when Rizal was already in Europe he would remember this town as the place where he spent
some of the most joyous times of his life.

The Rizal home, which is preserved to this day, is huge and is built of stones (granite) and tiles. It has many
rooms, for the girls, the boys, another for the couple and quarters for servants. The house has a large dining
table with a big fan on the ceiling. It also has a huge kitchen, a rest room and a well inside. They also had more
than a thousand volumes of Latin and Spanish books in the library. In the backyard is a nipa hut wherein the
children played. Many fruit trees surrounded the house.

Rizal’s family was one of the richest families in Calamba. Indeed, they belonged to the principalia class. The
main source of livelihood was the sugarcane plantation of which the land was leased from the Dominicans who
possessed the town of Calamba. The farm also had coconuts (copra), some rice fields, fruit trees and a large
turkey farm. Added to these, the family milled their sugar and had a ham press operated by Teodora. They were
also the first family in Calamba to own a horse-drawn carriage, the carruaje. With Dona Lolay coming from a
family was rather popular not only in Calamba but also in Biňan, and was well respected by the townfolks.

EARLY LEARNING.

At an early age Moy (Jose) proved to be truly gifted. His mother was his first teacher. At three he was already
taught how to read Latin and Spanish alphabet. He was instructed to work fast and efficiently, be honest at all
times, and always pray to God for help and everlasting mercy.

Jose learned many stories and legends already even at a young age. He remembered how his ‘yaya’ would
always frighten him through stories of the creatures of the night. However, of all the stories told, one he would
never forget was that of ‘The Moth and the Flame’ from the book, El Amigo de los Niňos. The story was about
a young moth who was told by his mother not to go near to the light. However, the little moth did not listen. It
flew near the flame which caught its wings and caused its death. Jose came to a lesson that what parents tell and
give their children is all for their good and not to listen to them may cause them harm.

A SAD MEMORY.

The first sad memory Jose could recall as a child is when his younger sister, playmate and bestfriend, Concha
died of sickness at the age of three. Jose was four at the time. Josefa, the next sister, should have taken the place
of Concha, but with her health condition, being an epileptic, Jose was probably more of a caretaker to her rather
than a playmate. Trining, the next one to Josefa, became much even closer to Jose. Trining was Rizal’s protégé.
As a result, she became strong in character.

THE UNCLES.
Some of those who became very influential to Pepe when he was young were the three brothers of his mother.
They were uncles Gregorio, Manuel and Jose Alberto. Of these uncles, Jose Alberto was only a half-brother of
Dona Lolay. Nevertheless, all of them were close to the Mercado-Rizal family and frequently visited their
house. Pepe would always be brought along by these uncles to teach him things that would become some of his
interests in the later years. Jose, an artist and an engineer, would teach Pepe skills in sketching and drawing.
Manuel, being an athlete, would teach him fencing and wrestling. Lastly, his uncle Gregorio who was a writer
would instill in him the passion for writing, and an appreciation to poetry and literature,

THE FIRST OUT OF TOWN TRAVEL.

When Dona Lolay gave birth to Soledad, their eleventh child, she became so weak right after that she could not
fulfill her promise that time for a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage of Antipolo. The fulfill
this devotion, Don Francisco together with Jose went to Antipolo for the pilgrimage. Jose was then seven years
old. They proceeded afterwards to Manila where they visited Saturnina who was then a boarding student at La
Concordia College in Sta. Ana.

FIRST WRITING.

When he reached the age of eight, he wrote an untitled poem about a love, one that is for the native tongue or
language. Here, he expressed the Tagalog language as one of that is in equal footing with Latin and Spanish,
and how sad it is that natives would have study and use the foreign ones when they have their own to be proud
of. A young critic, he added that a man who does not love his own language is worse than any beast or evil-
smelling fish. Rizal scholars later entitled this early masterpiece as ‘Sa Aking Mga Kababata.’ However, some
contested that the title should have been ‘Sa Aking Katutubong Wika’ since the poem is about language, and
not youth.

BIŇAN STUDIES

In 1870, at the age of nine, Jose was sent by his parents to Biňan to study under the instruction of Maestro
Aquino Cruz. Maestro Justiniano was well known for his knowledge of Latin and Spanish grammar and was
also a former teacher of Paciano. Pepe remembered how strict he was that he would hit the palms of his pupils
whenever they fail to recite well.

Jose lived with his aunt Tomasa, Don Kikoy’s sister, in Biňan. Here, he befriended Leandro, his cousin’s son.
His best friend in the class was Jose Guevarra who was also his painting partner under the instruction of Mang
Juancho, the old father-in-law of Maestro Justiniano. Jose also received instruction under Maestro Lucas Padua.
He was likewise, given a Latin tutor in the person of Leon Monroy.

Being frail and thin, Jose was initially bullied by his classmates. One of them was the boy Pedro, the maestro’s
son, whom he remembered as the first one he had brawl with. Another one was Andres Salandanan who almost
broke his arm during an arm-wrestling contest. While in his studies, during the first weeks, he received ruler
blows on his palms for his mistakes and mischief. The pain of Maestro Justiniano’s punishment brought him to
take studies seriously. Later on, he was able to catch up quickly and win the many prizes in competitions held
by the maestro. He had beaten all the Biňan boys. In 1971, his Biňan studies ended.