INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE: REPUBLIC

ACT 1425 -THE RIZAL LAW

B. The Rizal Law (RA 1425)
WEEK 3-4
Republic Act no. 1425, commonly known as
the Rizal Law, is basically about the
obligation of all schools in the Philippines to
A. COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS WHY WE
teach the:
STUDY THE LIFE AND WORKS OF RIZAL
√ life and works of Jose Rizal,
*In the Philippines, for instance, urban
√ the national hero,
legends and misconceptions surround our
√ in commemoration of all the sacrifices of
heroes, from Andres Bonifacio to Jose Rizal.
our heroes in the fight for our freedom.
*Rizal, in particular, is even more prone to
• Teaching the life and works of Rizal was
this false beliefs not only because he is our
deemed to bring a greater sense of
national hero, but also because of the
nationalism and idealism to the youth.
volume of written works he has put out,
• To support this intention, the schools
making them vulnerable to different kinds
should keep adequate number of copies of
of interpretation.
the works of Jose Rizal, particularly his two
*Unfortunately, misconceptions are
renowned novels—Noli Me Tangere and El
highlighted rather than the real
Filibusterismo.
contributions of Rizal: in terms of ideology,
and actual nation-building.

HERE ARE FIVE COMMON MISCONCEPTION * The original unexpurgated or uncensored

WHY WE STUDY THE LIFE AND WORKS OF
RIZAL:
1. To know the story behind his real name
2. To be familiar with Rizal’s love interests
3. To answer the question about several
issues about his life
4. To perceive if he is an apologist to the
Spaniards
5. To see if he really deserves to be our
National Hero Through shedding more light
on the factual, historical events that
happened, perhaps we can be more
conscientious in how we take, reflect, and
respond to such information.
texts of the said novels will be used in the
college level, though students may be
exempted to this provision with valid
reasons such as for religious beliefs.
* The then Board of National Education
was mandated to reproduce and distribute
the works of Jose Rizal, translated into
English, Tagalog, and other dialects in the
country, free usage for everyone who wants
to read them.
* The main proponent of the Rizal Bill was
Senator Claro M. Recto. Senator Jose P.
Laurel on the other hand, sponsored the bill
in the senate.
* They faced a lot of criticisms especially
from the religious sector claiming the bill
would violate freedom of conscience and
religion. After several amendments, the bill
was eventually signed by President Ramon
Magsaysay on June 12, 1956.
Important facets of Rizal Law are: (excerpt)
WHEREAS, today, more than any other
period of our history, there is a need for a
rededication to the ideals of freedom and
nationalism for which our heroes lived and
died;
WHEREAS, it is meet that in honoring them,
particularly the national hero and patriot,
Jose Rizal, we remember with special
fondness and devotion their lives and works
that have shaped the national character;
WHEREAS, the life, works and wriing of Jose
Rizal, particularly his novels Noli Me
Tangere and El Filibusterismo, are a
consistant and inspiring source of patriotsm
with which the minds of the youth,
especially during their formative and
decisive years in school, should be suffused;
WHEREAS, all educational institutions are
under the supervision of, and subject to
regulation by the state, and all schools are
enjoined to develop moral character,
personal discipline, civic conscience and to
teach the duties of citizenship;
C. REASONS WHY WE NEED TO STUDY
RIZAL
• Usually, during the first few weeks of the
course, some well-overused questions are
asked:
1. Why study Rizal?
2. What is the importance of studying Rizal?
3. Why is Rizal one of the minor subjects
taken up in college?
4. Why is Rizal included in the course
outline?
5. What relevance does Rizal have in college
education?
• The answer to such questions can be
summed up in two points:
1. First and foremost, because it is
mandated by law.
2. Secondly, because of the lessons
contained within the course itself.
* The teaching of Jose Rizal’s life, works,
and writings is mandated by Republic Act
1425, otherwise known as the Rizal Law.
* Senator Jose P. Laurel, the person who
sponsored the said law, said that since Rizal
was the founder of Philippine nationalism
and has contributed much to the current
standing of this nation, it is only right that
the youth as well as all the people in the
country know about and learn to imbibe the
great ideals for which he died.
• The Rizal Law, enacted in 1956, seeks to
accomplish the following goals:
1. To rededicate the lives of youth to the
ideals of freedom and nationalism, for
which our heroes lived and died
2. To pay tribute to our national hero for
devoting his life and works in shaping the
Filipino character
3. To gain an inspiring source of patriotism
through the study of Rizal’s life, works, and
writings.
• There are other reasons for teaching the
Rizal course in Philippine schools:
1. To recognize the importance of Rizal’s
ideals and teachings in relation to present
conditions and situations in the society.
2. To encourage the application of such
ideals in current social and personal
problems and issues.
3. To develop an appreciation, deeper
understanding of all that Rizal fought/ died
for.
WEEK 5: RIZAL'S LIFE: FAMILY, CHILDHOOD
AND EARLY EDUCATION
INSTRUCTION TO THE LEARNERS:
1. This module is designed to help you in
your study and learning.
2. Any of its content is based on
information gathered in connection with
GNED09 course or The Life and Works of
Jose Rizal, but the concepts and ideas here
will be more sufficient if you do more
research which will help you learn more
knowledge.
3. If you encounter problems in doing this
module, feel free to ask your instructor.
4. May you do your best to complete your
course.
A. Meanings of Name
1. Jose - was chosen by his mother who
was a devotee of a Christian Saint (San
Jose).
2. Protacio - from Gervacio P. which come
from a Christian calendar
3. Mercado - adopted in 1731 by Domigo
Lamco (the paternal great-
greatgrandfather of Jose Rizal) which the
Spanish term mercado means ‘market’ in
English
4. Rizal - from the word ‘Ricial’ in Spanish
means a field where wheat, cut while still
green, sprouts again
5. Alonzo - old surname of his mother
6. Y- and
7. Realonda - it was used by Doña Teodora
from the surname of her godmother based
on the culture by that time
B. Birth
1. June 19, 1861 - when he was born in
Calamba, Laguna
2. June 22, 1861 - when he was baptized in
a Catholic Church
3. Fr. Rufino Collantes - a Batangueño, the
parish priest who baptized Rizal
4. Fr. Pedro Casañas - Rizal’s godfather,
native of Calamba and close friend of the
Rizal family
5. Lieutenant-General Jose Lemery - the
governor general of the Philippines when
Rizal was born
C. Rizal’s Parents
1. Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado y
Alejandro (1818–1898)
✓ He was an independent-minded, taciturn
but dynamic gentleman from whom Jose
inherited his ‘free soul.’
✓ Don Francisco became ‘tiniente
gobernadorcillo’ (lieutenant governor) in
Calamba and was thus nicknamed ‘Tiniente
Kiko’. Students’ comical conjecture that the
fictional character ‘Kikong Matsing’
of‘Batibot’ was named after Don Francisco
is, of course, unfounded.
2. Teodora Morales Alonzo Realonda de
Rizal y Quintos
✓ On November 9, 1827, Teodora Morales
Alonzo Realonda de Rizal y Quintos, the
mother of Philippine national hero Jose
Rizal, was born in Meisik, Tondo, Manila.
✓ She was known for being a disciplinarian
as well as a dedicated, courteous and hard-
working mother. As the young Rizal's first
teacher, she had a profound influence on
his development and was his inspiration in
taking up medicine.
D. Rizal’s Ancestry
• Like all Filipinos, Jose Rizal is of Malay
descent. However, he also has Negrito,
Indones, Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish
blood in him.
Domingo Lam-co - On his father's side, his
grandfather was a Chinese from the Fukien
City of Changchow, a businessman living in
the Philippines.
Ines dela Rosa – His grandmother, a
Christian woman
Francisco Mercado – Lam-co and Ines’ son
Cirila Bernacha – Mercado’s wife
Juan Mercado - Jose Rizal's grandfather
Cirila Alejandro – Juan’s wife
Captain Juan and Captain Cirila had thirteen
children; the youngest was Francisco
Mercado, Jose Rizal’s father.
• Francisco Mercado's father died when he
was only eight years old so he was left with
the care of his mother. He studied Latin and
Philosophy at San Jose College in Manila.
While studying, he met Teodora Alonso
Realonda whom he fell in love with and
married on June 28, 1848. The couple lived
in Calamba. They lived on a farm in Calamba
where they raised their large family.
• Meanwhile, Donya Teodora’s family was
believed to have come from the last
indigenous king of Tundo, Lakandula His
ancestor Eugenio Ursua, of Japanese
descent, married a Filipino named Benigna.
Their daughter Regina married Manuel de
Quintos, a Chinese lawyer from in the
province of Pangasinan. One of their
children was Brigada, Jose Rizal's
grandmother. He married Lorenzo Alberto,
a Spanish-Filipino mestizo from Biñan. They
had five children: Narcisa, Teodora (the
mother by Jose Rizal), Gregorio, Manuel,
and Jose. Because from a prominent family,
Teodora studied in Manila if where he met
and married Francisco Mercado.
• The real surname of the Rizal family is
Mercado, but there are many other with
the same surname in the Philippines. It is
said that a Mayor friend of their family
added Rizal in their surname for perhaps
distinction or identity.
• As for the surname Mercado changed as
Rizal, it can be said: at that time, the
Filipinos used native surnames that are E. Rizal’s Children
difficult to pronounce for the Spaniards.
Jose Rizal came from a 13-member family
Other Filipinos used surnames that are
consisting of his parents, Francisco Mercado
similar to those of the Spaniards such as de
II and Teodora Alonso Realonda, and nine
los Reyes, de la Cruz, and Santos. So to
sisters and one brother.
avoid clutter,Governor-General Narciso
1. SATURNINA RIZAL (1850-1913)
Claveria ordered the selection of new
She is the eldest child of the Rizal-
surnames from the list. Don Francisco,
Alonzo marriage and has a nickname,
allegedly chose “Rizal”, although it is not on
“Neneng”.
the list, because Rizal was said to come
She was married to Manuel Timoteo
from the word “ricial” that means “luntiang
Hidalgo of Tanauan,Batangas.
kabukiran”, much better than Mercado
which means market (Corpuzet al., 1988).
2. PACIANO RIZAL (1851-1930)
• Jose was the first to use the surname
Only brother of Jose Rizal and the
Rizal when he enrolled at the Ateneo
second child. Studied at San Jose College in
Municipal. He did that because his brother
Manila; became a farmer and later a
Paciano who uses Mercado is suspected to
general of the Philippine Revolution.
be related to Priest Jose Burgos. But in his
passport to Spain, the name he used was
3. NARCISA RIZAL (1852-1939)
Jose Mercado.
The third child. “Sisa” was her
nickname. Married Antonio Lopez at
RIZAL'S FAMILY TREE AND ANCESTRY Morong, Rizal; a teacher and musician.
4. OLYMPIA RIZAL (1855-1887)
The fourth child. “Ypia” was her
nickname. Married Silvestre Ubaldo; died
in 1887 from childbirth.
5. LUCIA RIZAL (1857-1919)
The fifth child. Married Matriano
Herbosa
6. MARIA RIZAL (1859-1945)
The sixth child. “Biang” was her
nickname. Married Daniel Faustino Cruz
of Biñan, Laguna.
7. JOSE RIZAL (1861-1896)
The second son and the seventh
child. He was executed by the
Spaniards on December 30,1896. Married
with
Josephine Bracken, Irish girl from
Hong Kong
8. CONCEPCION RIZAL (1862-1865)
The eight child. “Concha” was her
nickname. Died at the age of three
(Rizal’s 1st sorrow in life).
9. JOSEFA RIZAL (1865-1945)
The ninth child. “Panggoy” was her
pet name. An epileptic, died a spinster.
10. TRINIDAD RIZAL (1868-1951)
The tenth child. “Trining” was her
nickname. Died a spinster and the last
of the family to die.
11. SOLEDAD RIZAL (1870-1929)
“Choleng” was her nickname. The
youngest child and was married to
Pantaleon Quintero.
F. The Rizal Home
• Rizal’s house was one of the
distinguished stone houses in Calamba
during the Spanish times.
• It was a two-storey building, rectangular
in shape, built of adobe stones and hard-
woods and roofed with red tiles.
• By day, it hummed with the noises of
children at play and the songs of the birds
in the garden; by night, it echoed with the
dulcet notes of family prayers.
• The Rizal family belonged to the
principalia, a town aristocracy in Spanish
Philippines.
G. Childhood Years In Calamba
• The first memory of Rizal, in his infancy,
was his happy days in the family garden
when he was three years old
• Another childhood memory was the daily
Angelus prayer. By nightfall, Rizal related,
his mother gathered all the children at the
house to pray the Angelus
• The death of little Concha brought Rizal
his first sorrow.
• When Rizal was five years old, he was
able to read haltingly the Spanish family
bible
• The Story of the Moth - made the
profoundest impression on Rizal -“died a
martyr to its illusions”
• Sa Aking Mga Kabata (To My Fellow
Children) - Rizal’s first poem in native
language at the age of eight; reveals Rizal’s
earliest nationalist sentiment
• At the age of eight, Rizal wrote his first
dramatic work which was a Tagalog
comedy.
H. Early Education
Rizal had his early education in Calamba
and Biñan. It was a typical schooling that a
son of an ilustrado family received during
his time.
Instruction was rigid and strict. Knowledge
was forced into the minds of pupil. By
means of tedious memory method aided by
teachers whips.
1. The Heroes First Teacher
√ The first teacher of Rizal was his mother,
who was remarkable woman of good
character and fine culture.
√ Rizal at the age of 3 learned the alphabet
and prayers.
√ Doña Teodora discovered Jose’s talent for
poetry and encourages him to write.
√ Maestro Celestino was Jose’s first private
tutor. Private tutors of Rizal.
√ Maestro Lucas Padua was second private
tutor.
√ Maestro Leon Monroy became the hero’s
tutor in Spanish and Latin. He was the
classmate of DonFrancisco.
√ When Don Leon died; Jose’s parents
decided to send him to a private school in
Biñan
2. Jose Goes to Biñan
√ June 1869 – Jose goes to Biñan with
Paciano
√ Carromata – the mode transportation
√ Lodged at her aunt’s house
3. First Day in Biñan
√ School of Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz
– formal teacher
√ The school was in maestro’s house
√ Pedro - the teacher’s son which Rizal
challenged to a fight
√ Andres Salandanan - challenged Rizal to
an arm-wrestling match
√ Juancho - an old painter who was the
father-in-law of the school teacher; freely
give Rizal lessons in drawing and painting
√ Jose Guevara- Rizal’s classmate who also
loved painting, became apprentices of the
old painter“ the favorite painters of the
class”- because of his artistic talent.
RIZAL’S LIFE: EXILE, TRIAL AND DEATH
In 1896, the last time Rizal returned to the
Philippines. This is also the year of his trial at
the hands of oppressive Spanish. It can be said
that this is his saddest return to his homeland.
A. Exile in Dapitan
Upon his return to Manila in 1892, he formed a
civic movement called La Liga Filipina. The
league advocated these moderate social
reforms through legal means but was disbanded
by the governor. At that time, he had already
been declared an enemy of the state by the
Spanish authorities because of the publication
of his novel.
Rizal was implicated in the activities of the
nascent rebellion and in July 1892, was
deported to Dapitan in the province of
Zamboanga, a peninsula of Mindanao. There he
built a school, a hospital and a water supply
system, and taught and engaged in farming and
horticulture. Abaca, then the vital raw material
for cordage and which Rizal and his students
planted in the thousands, was a memorial.
The boys' school, which taught in Spanish, and
included English as a foreign language
(considered a prescient if unusual option then)
was conceived by Rizal and antedated
Gordonstoun with its aims of inculcating
resourcefulness and self-sufficiency in young
men. They would later enjoy successful lives as
farmers and honest government officials. One, a
Muslim, became a datu, and another, José
Aseniero, who was with Rizal throughout the
life of the school, became Governor of
Zamboanga.
In Dapitan, the Jesuits mounted a great effort to
secure his return to the fold led by Fray
Francisco de Paula Sánchez, his former
professor, who failed in his mission. The task
was resumed by Fray Pastells, a prominent
member of the Order. In a letter to Pastells,
Rizal sails close to the deism familiar to us
today.
“We are entirely in accord in
admitting the existence of God.
How can I doubt His when I am
convinced of mine? Who so
recognizes the effect recognizes
the cause? To doubt God is to
doubt one's own conscience,
and in consequence, it would
be to doubt everything; and
then what is life for? Now
then, my faith in God, if the
result of ratiocination may be
called faith, is blind, blind in
the sense of knowing nothing. I
neither believe nor disbelieve
the qualities which many
attributes to Him; before
theologians' and philosophers'
definitions and lucubration of
this ineffable and inscrutable
being I find myself smiling.
Faced with the conviction of
seeing myself confronting the
supreme Problem, which
confused voices seek to explain
to me, I cannot but reply: ‘It
could be’; but the God that I
foreknow is far more grand, far
more good: Plus Supra!...I
believe in (revelation); but not
in revelation or revelations
which each religion or religions
claim to possess. Examining
them impartially, comparing
them and scrutinizing them,
one cannot avoid discerning
the human 'fingernail' and the
stamp of the time in which
they were written... No, let us
not make God in our image,
poor inhabitants that we are of
a distant planet lost in infinite
space. However, brilliant and
sublime our intelligence may
be, it is scarcely more than a
small spark which shines and in
an instant is extinguished, and
it alone can give us no idea of
that blaze, that conflagration,
that ocean of light. I believe in
revelation, but in that living
revelation which surrounds us
on every side, in that voice,
mighty, eternal, unceasing,
incorruptible, clear, distinct,
universal as is the being from
whom it proceeds, in that
revelation which speaks to us
and penetrates us from the
 moment we are born until we
die. What books can better
reveal to us the goodness of
God, His love, His providence,
His eternity, His glory, His
wisdom? ‘The heavens declare
the glory of God, and the
firmament showed his
handiwork.”
His best friend, Professor Ferdinand
Blumentritt, kept him in touch with European
friends and fellow-scientists who wrote a
stream of letters which arrived in Dutch, French,
German and English and which baffled the
censors, delaying their transmittal. Those four
years of his exile coincided with the
development of the Philippine Revolution from
inception and to its final breakout, which, from
the viewpoint of the court which was to try
him, suggested his complicity in it. He
condemned the uprising, although all the
members of the Katipunan had made him their
honorary president and had used his name as a
cry for war, unity, and liberty.
He is known to making the resolution of bearing
personal sacrifice instead of the incoming
revolution, believing that a peaceful stand is
the best way to avoid further suffering in the
country and loss of Filipino lives. In Rizal's own
words, "I consider myself happy for being able
to suffer a little for a cause which I believe to
be sacred [...]. I believe further that in any
undertaking, the more one suffers for it, the
surer its success. If this be fanaticism may God
pardon me, but my poor judgment does not see
it as such.
In Dapitan, Rizal wrote "Haec Est Sibylla
Cumana", a parlor-game for his students, with
questions and answers for which a wooden top
was used. In 2004, Jean Paul Verstraeten traced
this book and the wooden top, as well as Rizal's
personal watch, spoon and salter.
B. Rizal Arrested and Trial
By 1896, the rebellion fomented by the
Katipunan, a militant secret society, had
become a full-blown revolution, proving to be a
nationwide uprising. Rizal had earlier
volunteered his services as a doctor in Cuba
and was given leave by Governor-General
Ramón Blanco to serve in Cuba to minister to
victims of yellow fever. Rizal and Josephine left
Dapitan on August 1, 1896, with letter of
recommendation from Blanco.
Rizal was arrested en route to Cuba via Spain
and was imprisoned in Barcelona on October 6,
1896. He was sent back the same day to Manila
to stand trial as he was implicated in the
revolution through his association with
members of the Katipunan. During the entire
passage, he was unchained; no Spaniard laid a
hand on him, and had many opportunities to
escape but refused to do so.
While imprisoned in Fort Santiago, he issued a
manifesto disavowing the current revolution in
its present state and declaring that the
education of Filipinos and their achievement of
a national identity were prerequisites to
freedom.
Rizal was tried before a court-martial for
rebellion, sedition, and conspiracy, and was
convicted on all three charges and sentenced
to death. Blanco, who was sympathetic to Rizal,
had been forced out of office. The friars, led by
then-Archbishop of Manila Bernardino Nozaleda
had 'intercalated' Camilo de Polavieja in his
stead as the new Spanish Governor-General of
the Philippines after pressuring Queen-Regent
Maria Cristina of Spain, thus sealing Rizal's fate.
C. Rizal’s Execution
Moments before his execution on December
30, 1896 by a squad of Filipino soldiers of the
Spanish Army, a backup force of regular
Spanish Army troops stood ready to shoot the
executioners should they fail to obey orders.
The Spanish Army Surgeon General requested
to take his pulse: it was normal. Aware of this
the sergeant commanding the backup force
hushed his men to silence when they began
raising "vivas" with the
highly partisan crowd of Peninsular and Mestizo
Spaniards. His last words were those of Jesus
Christ: "consummatum est" – "it is finished.”
He was secretly buried in Pacò Cemetery in
Manila with no identification on his grave. His
sister Narcisa toured all possible gravesites and
found freshly turned earth at the cemetery with
guards posted at the gate. Assuming this could
be the most likely spot, there never having been
any ground burials, she made a gift to the
caretaker to mark the site "RPJ", Rizal's initials
in reverse.
His undated poem Mi último adiós, believed to
have been written a few days before his
execution, was hidden in an alcohol stove,
which was later handed to his family with his
few remaining possessions, including the final
letters and his last bequests. During their visit,
Rizal reminded his sisters in English, "There is
something inside it", referring to the alcohol
stove given by the Pardo de Taveras which was
to be returned after his execution, thereby
emphasizing the importance of the poem. This
instruction was followed by another, "Look in
my shoes", in which another item was secreted.
Exhumation of his remains in August 1898,
under American rule, revealed that he had
been uncoffined, his burial was not on
sanctified ground granted to the 'confessed'
faithful, and whatever was in his shoes had
disintegrated. He is now buried in the Rizal
Monument in Manila.
In his letter to his family he wrote: "Treat our
aged parents as you would wish to be
treated...Love them greatly in memory of
me...December 30, 1896." He gave his family
instructions for his burial: "Bury me in the
ground. Place a stone and a cross over it. My
name, the date of my birth and of my death.
Nothing more. If later you wish to surround my
grave with a fence, you can do it. No
anniversaries."
In his final letter, to Blumentritt – Tomorrow at
7, I shall be shot; but I am innocent of the crime
of rebellion. I am going to die with a tranquil
conscience. Rizal is believed to be the first
Filipino revolutionary whose death is attributed
entirely to his work as a writer; and through
dissent and civil disobedience enabled him to
successfully destroy Spain's moral primacy to
rule. He also bequeathed a book personally
bound by him in Dapitan to his 'best and
dearest friend'. When Blumentritt received it in
his hometown of Litoměřice (Leitmeritz), he
broke down and wept.
D. Summary/ Essential Learning
EXILE: Dr. Rizal was exiled in Dapitan in July
1892 after being implicated in nascent
rebellion. Through his shared lottery winnings,
he was able to procure a parcel of land near the
shore of Talisay in March 1983. During his exile,
he was a farmer, entrepreneur, educator,
inventor, painter, sculptor, archaeologist,
linguist, grammarian, architect, poet, biologist,
composer, surveyor, environmentalist, and
most importantly, a practicing physician.
TRIAL: Rizal was arrested en route to Cuba via
Spain and was imprisoned in Barcelona on
October 6, 1896. He was sent back the same
day to Manila to stand trial as he was
implicated in the revolution through his
association with members of the Katipunan.
DEATH: On December 30, 1896, at around
seven in the morning, Dr. Rizal was shot, as
described above, in Bagumbayan, which was
later known as Luneta. His remains were initially
buried in Paco Cemetery, pictured above, with
no identification but was later exhumed to be
properly and honorably interred under the
mighty bronze and granite Rizal Monument in
what is now known as Rizal Park. This was made
possible by virtue of Philippine Commission Act
No. 243 passed on September 28, 1901 under
American rule.