TRINIDAD RIZAL MERCADO Y ALONSO REALONDA (June 6, 1868 – May 9, 1951), commonly

known as Trinidad Rizal, was a Filipina feminist leader and co-founder of the Philippines' first
feminist organization, the Asociación Femenista Filipina. She was the younger sister of the
national hero, physician and writer, Dr. José Rizal.
Life and work
Trinidad was born in Calamba, Laguna on June 6, 1868. She was the tenth child of Francisco
Rizal Mercado and Teodora Alonso Realonda. In 1905, Trinidad co-founded the first Filipina
feminist organization, the Asociación Feminista Filipina (AFF), along with Concepción Felix,
Librada Avelino, María Paz Guanzon, and Luisa de Silyar, among others. Trinidad and her sisters
sought information about birth control, breast feeding, and pain reduction during childbirth
from brother, José, while he studied in Europe to become a doctor.
Trinidad visited José the day before his execution, accompanying their mother, Teodora Alonso,
and sisters Lucía, Josefa, María, and Narcisa, to say goodbye and collect his belongings. Several
historical accounts tell that José gave his stove (others call it a lamp) to Trinidad, telling her
something important lay inside. Legend has it that this important something was her brother's
last poem, "Mi último adiós" / "My last farewell. He had hidden the paper so well that his
sisters had to use their hairpins to unfold it.

SOLEDAD RIZAL
Also called ‘Choleng,’ Soledad Rizal (1870-1929) was the youngest child of the Rizal family.
Being a teacher, she was arguably the best educated among Rizal’s sisters. In his long and
meaty letter to Choleng dated June 6, 1890, Jose told her sister that he was proud of her for
becoming a teacher. He thus counseled her to be a model of virtues and good qualities “for the
one who should teach should be better than the persons who need her learning.”
Rizal nonetheless used the topic as leverage in somewhat rebuking her sister for getting
married to Pantaleon Quintero of Calamba without their parents’ consent. “Because of you,” he
wrote, “the peace of our family has been disturbed.”
Some timeless lessons in ethics and good manners can be learned from the letter. For
instance, it reveals that Jose was very much against women who allow themselves to be
courted outside their homes. He said to Choleng, “If you have a sweetheart, behave towards
him nobly and with dignity, instead of resorting to secret meetings and conversations which do
nothing but lower a woman's worth in the eyes of a man… You should value more, esteem
more your honor and you will be more esteemed and valued.”
She married Pantaleon Reyes Quintero in Calamba, Laguna, Philippines. They were the parents
of at least 4 sons and 2 daughters. She died on 26 August 1929, in San Roque, Dasmariñas,
Cavite, Philippines, at the age of 59.