Professional Documents
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Many Rizals
Posted on November 5, 2014 by Lora
If Rizal stayed in Hong Kong and never returned to the Philippines in 1892, he wouldn’t have died on
December 30, 1896. But he did.
Ambeth Ocampo describes Jose Rizal as a “conscious hero” because Rizal planned his entire life in details
based on his letters, diaries, and writings (9).
In June 1892, Rizal wrote a letter that shows his love for his country and his fellow Filipinos. The step
that I have taken, or am about to take, is undoubtedly very risky, and it is unnecessary to say that I have
pondered on it a great deal. I know that everyone is opposed to it but I realize also that no one knows what
goes on in my heart. I cannot live knowing that many are suffering unjust persecution because of me; I
cannot live seeing my brothers [hermanos] and their large families persecuted like criminals. I prefer to
face death and gladly give my life to free so many innocent persons from this unjust persecution.
I know that, at present, the future of my country gravitates in part around me; that with my death, many
would rejoice, and that, consequently, many are longing for my end. But what am I to do? I have duties of
conscience toward my aged parents whose sighs pierce my heart; I know that I alone, even my death, can
make them happy by returning them to their country and the tranquility of their home. My parents are all
that I have, but my country has many sons still who can take it to advantage.
Moreover, I wish to show those who deny us patriotism that we know how to die for our duty and for our
convictions. What matters death if one dies for what one loves, for one’s country and for those whom he
loves?
If I know that I were the only pillar of Philippine politics and if I were convinced that my countrymen were
going to make me use of my services, perhaps I would hesitate to take this step, but there are still others
who can take my place, who can take my place to advantage. Furthermore, there are those who find me
superfluous and in no need of my services, thus they reduce me to inaction.
I have always loved my poor country and I am sure that I shall lover her until my last moment. Perhaps
some people will be unjust to me; well, my future, my life, my joys, everything, I have sacrificed for love of
her. Whatever fate my be, I shall die blessing my country and wishing her the dawn of her redemption.
But let’s not forget; even though he loved the Philippines, he was only human.
Even though he graduated with sobresaliente (excellent) marks in Ateneo De Manila University, eighth of
his other classmates (out of the 12 students) graduated sobresaliente as well (14). Even though the
Americans sponsored him as a national hero, Rizal thought the country didn’t have “real civil liberty”
when he travelled in United States from April to May 1888 (17).
And even though Filipino students are taught with Rizal’s first poem, “Sa Aking Mga Kabata”, he didn’t
write it at all. Ocampo refuted this notion and provided examples. He said that while “Rizal spoke and
wrote Tagalog fluently”, Rizal couldn’t write a novel in his native tongue. There was no existing
manuscript of the original poem, and Rizal never published it when he was alive. (5) As smart as he
was, there was no way that Rizal wrote the poem when he was eight years old. He was still a child.
How would you describe Rizal? What are his other ‘identities’ that you’ve heard of?
Reference:
Ocampo, Ambeth R. Rizal Without the Overcoat. Mandaluyong: Anvil Publishing, Inc. 2012. Print.
Meeting with ex-patriates (L-R, seated): Jose Rizal, Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, Trinidad H. Pardo de
Tavera, and Juan Luna
1 de enero 1883. La Noche. Estoy muy triste yo. No sé qué vaga melancolía, indefinida soledad ahoga el
alma, semejante a la profunda tristeza de las ciudades después de un tumultuoso júbilo, a una ciudad
después de una felicísima unión. Soñé que imitando yo a un actor en una escena en que muere, sentí
vivamente que me faltaba el aliento y perdía rápidamente las fuerzas. Después se me oscurecía la vista y
densas tinieblas, como las de la nada, se apoderaban de mí: las angustias de la muerte. Quise gritar y pedir
socorro a Antonio Paterno, sintiendo que iba a morir. Desperté sin fuerzas y sin aliento. Night. Mournful am
I. I do not know what vague melancholy, what indefinable loneliness stifles the soul, similar to the profound
sadness of cities after a tumultuous rejoicing, to a city after an exceedingly happy union. [Two nights ago,
that is, December 30], I had a frightful nightmare when I almost died. I dreamed that imitating an actor in
a scene in which he dies, I felt vividly that my breath was failing and I was rapidly losing strength. Then my
vision became dim and dense darkness like that of nothingness overpowered me: the anguish of death. I
wanted to shout and ask for help from Antonio Paterno, feeling that I was about to die. I awoke weak and
breathless. (27)
(Translated by Austin Coates and Leon Ma. Guerrero, Rizal’s biographers)
The paragraph above was from Jose Rizal’s journal entry for January 1, 1883, exactly 13 years before his
execution. Did Rizal really write this entry? Did he really have that dream?
Based on this journal entry, it seems that Rizal knew that he was going to die. “Austin Coates is even
surprised that many incidents Rizal wrote about in his novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo
eventually happened to him in real life.” (28) It’s incredible to think that Rizal had these dreams or
premonitions—this is a side of Rizal that not a lot of people know.
This was not the first time Rizal mentioned this dream—in fact, when Rizal was in Brussels, Belgium, he
wrote a letter to Marcelo H. del Pilar dated June 11, 1890 about his plans and the use of the pseudonym
Laong Laan.
… I am sad and in the midst of mournful presentiments but I don’t believe all of them. When I was a boy
I believed that I would not reach the age of 30, and I don’t know why I used to think that way. Night
after night, for the last two months, I have had dreams of friends and relatives who are now dead. Once,
I even
dreamed of descending into the depths of the earth where I was met by many people who were seated
and dressed in white. They had white faces, were quiet and encircled with a white light. It was there that
I saw two of my relatives, one already dead and the other still living. Even if I don’t believe in these things
and though my body is strong and I have no fear nor sickness of any kind, nevertheless, I prepare myself
for
death, arranging things I will leave behind and disposing myself for any eventuality. Laong Laan (Ever
prepared), is my real name. (32)
If one needs more evidence of Rizal’s dreams, they should go through Epistolario Rizalino and Escritos
de Rizal. Epistolario Rizalino is a six-volume collection of Rizal’s letters and correspondence to relatives
and friends while Escritos de Rizal is a multi-volume of his notes and diaries. (28)
It is normal to be skeptical of Rizal’s paranormal experiences. But how does one explain the dream
he had in December 30th? Was it a coincidence? Or was it because he was psychic? Reference:
Ocampo, Ambeth R. Rizal Without the Overcoat. Mandaluyong: Anvil Publishing, Inc. 2012. Print.
In this chapter, Ambeth Ocampo shows that Rizal was no different from us.
FOOD
Based on Ocampo’s research, he discovered that Rizal usually had “hot chocolate, a cup of rice, and
sardinas secas for breakfast” (61). Sardinas secas is just another word for tuyo (salted, dry fish).
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For lunch, Rizal usually ate rice and ayungin (Silver Perch) (61).
When the Rizal family lived in Hong Kong in 1892, the family had a 20-year-old cook named “Asing”.
El Renacimiento Filipino published an interview between Vicente Sotto and the Chinese cook in June
15, 1913.
In the interview, Asing was “the cook of the Rizal family for more than a year”. Asing described Rizal as a
good master who never shouted nor hit him. Rizal lived with his mother and two sisters, Trinidad and
Josefa in 2 Rednaxela Terrace in Hong Kong. (65)
Asing added that his “amo (master) was not delicado (delicate) about his food. He ate everything, but he
was very moderate”. “Bread and rice were often served at the dinner table” and “he drank nothing but
water”. (66)
When Rizal was exiled in Dapitan in 1892, he had a cook named “Tinong”. Faustino “Tinong” Alfon, who
was from Cebu, moved to Dapitan, Zamboanga Del Norte where he was hired as Rizal’s cook and
handyman. Tinong lived and worked in Rizal’s Talisay estate, cooked meals, assisted Rizal during eye
operations, and learned Spanish. (64)
In an interview with The Independent in 1929, Tinong mentioned that Rizal’s meals usually consisted of
three dishes: a Filipino dish, a Spanish dish, and another Filipino or “mestizo dish”. Tinong also
mentioned that Rizal liked lanzones and mangoes.
It’s interesting that tuyo is already a dish in the mid to late 1800s. What’s even more interesting is that
Rizal liked eating tuyo. Just like today,
BOOKS
It was rare to have a large library in the 19th century, but the Rizal family home had the biggest library
in the town of Calamba, Laguna. Jose was raised “to appreciate and care for books”, so it is no wonder
that his interest in books and reading started at home.
These were some of the books and authors that Rizal read (Most books were in Spanish translation, but
he also read English, French, and German):
Honoré de Balzac;
Alexandre Dumas’s The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo;
Pierre-Jean de Béranger;
Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu;
Emmanuel, comte de Las Cases’s Le Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène (The Memorial of Saint Helene:
A Collection of Memories of Napoleon I of France);
Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe;
Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield;
Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales;
Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais’s The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of
Figaro; Azcarraga y Pamero’s La Libertad de comercio en las Islas Filipinas;
Ferdinand Blumentritt’s Breve diccionario etnográfico de Filipinas;
Montero y Vidal’s El Archipiélago Filipino y las Islas Marianas and Carolinas y Palaos; The
Bible (three versions: Spanish, Catholic edition, and translated from the Latin Vulgate); J.
Baille’s Las Maravillas de la Electricidad;
Kō no Bairei’s Studies of Birds;
Buenet’s Drawings and Ornaments of Architecture;
Evert Augustus Duyckinck’s Lives and Portraits of the Presidents of the United States, from Washington
to Grant;
James William B. Money’s Java; How to Manage a Colony: A Practical Solution of the Questions
Now Affecting British India;
Michel Levy’s Treatise on Public and Private Hygiene.
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STINGINESS
Below is a copy of Jose Rizal’s expenses in January 1884, when he was a student in Madrid, Spain. This
list was one of Rizal’s lists that he wrote in his diaries and notebooks.
Rizal eating tuyo, Rizal reading Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales, and Rizal listing his expenses
provide proof that Jose Rizal was, indeed, just like the rest of us.
Reference:
Ocampo, Ambeth R. Rizal Without the Overcoat. Mandaluyong: Anvil Publishing, Inc. 2012. Print.