P.I.

100 Lecture Notes

Rona Christina Manalo-Almazan

Rizal’s Early childhood cont…..

The Story of the Moth – From the Book Él Amigo de Los Niños
 It was already late in the evening and every body else was asleep young Pepe coild not sleep. His
mother told him to practice reading. Pepe then followed his mother but then, he wasn’t
concentrating with his reading. Dona Lolay then told him to listen to her story - The Story of the
Moth.
 It was a story of a mother and child moth who refuse to listen to his mother. Despite the
warnings of the mother he still pursued what he wanted and eventually caused its death.
 Like the mother moth Dona Lolay too was fearful for his son’s action, she told him to always
listen to the advise of his parent so as not to have the same fate as that of the moth.

At an early age Rizal had already his talents in the arts and literature.
 At the age of 5 he had already done some sketches, and molded some figures out of clay.
 At 8 he had written a poem “Sa Aking mga Kabata”. In which he stresses love for our own
language.
 It was believe also by this age he had written an drama for the town fiesta, but no documents
were present at the moment.
 He too had known the art of Magic, in which his sisters were very fond of watching him perform
his tricks.
 During free time he would go near the lake to clear his mind together with his dog Usman.

Influences on Rizal
1. Hereditary influences
2. Environmental
3. Divine providence

Environmental Influences
 Uncle Jose Alberto – influence in the arts
 Uncle Manuel – Physical fitness
 Uncle Gregorio – Reading
 Fray Leoncio Lopez – pursue his education
 Conha
 GOMBURZA
 His mother’s arrest.

Chapter 2

Dona Teodora was the first teacher of Rizal

 At 3 he can already recite the rosary
 At 5 he can already read the bible written in Spanish
 When he was of school age his parent sent him to school near their house in Calamba. But then the
parent decided to hire a tutor for him. His first tutor was Maestro Celestino, Lucas Padua and last was
Leon Monroy.

On June of 1869 Don Francisco decided that its time to send Rizal to a proper school the in which he and
Paciano studied, a school in Biñan.

PAciano accompanied Rizal in Biñan and stayed at his Aunt’s house - the older sister of Don Francisco
Mercado.

Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz’ school was 30m away from Tomasa Mercado’s house

The Alberto of Biñan and the Vigan Wife

By Arnaldo Arnáiz

The collapsing centuries old bahay na bato in Biñan reminded me of the curious case of Lorenzo
Alberto of Biñan who married into a prominent family up north but settled back in his home
province – with another woman.

Lorenzo was an educated mestizo that reached the pinnacle of political power of his time –
representing his country in the Spanish cortes. Along with Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, easily, the
greatest and most important Biñenses that ever lived.

(After Lorenzo’s group, there will be no other Filipino that will follow. Even after vigorous calls for
reforms and native representation. The Cadiz constitution that allowed colonies to be represented in
the Spanish cortes was short lived.)

It is said that Lorenzo Alberto of Biñan married a Vigueña, Paula Florentino, who was then12 years
his junior. The controversy has nothing to do with the girl’s age (this was quite common back in the
day) but with how related these people are with each other.
 The Florentino ancestral house in Vigan. It houses the Vigan tourism center and a restaurant. Right in front is the Spanish
Iloco poetess Leona Florentino monument. She’s the mother of Isabelo de los Reyes and relative of Paula.

According to Rizal, his mom, along with Jose Alberto came from the marriage of Joaquinina Brigida
de Quinto and Lorenzo Alberto. The siblings, according to local historians, later claimed legitimacy
by stating that the Vigueña, the legal wife, Paula Florentina, was their lawful mother.

Question is that if they all came from the Alberto-Quinto marriage, whatever happened to this
Florentino girl? are there any Alberto’s in Vigan?

Some more strange family tales…

The former personal secretary of Gerardo Alberto, an Ilocana told me that the version told to her was
that all sibling were from the same mother except Teodora. She adds that this is the reason why
Teodora had always been treated like an outsider. Of all the Alberto siblings she was the only one
that was born and baptized in Manila.

Another interesting account comes from the Philippine Star columnist Barbara Gonzalez, herself a
Rizal descendant. According to her, Jose (Teodora’s brother) had fathered a child with his niece,
Saturnina Rizal and that Soledad Rizal was the fruit of this incestuous affair. This was the reason
why Jose’s wife, Teodora Formoso, developed animosity towards Teodora — and also the reason why
Saturnina was known to be the prettiest of all Rizal sisters.

Talk about a story that TV dramas would run all night!

Biñan is where Rizal’s roots are – both parents are Biñense. And Biñan having quite a big group of
rich chino cristiano families that married into each others families gave the national hero probably
more relatives here than any historian could imagine.

The relocation to Calamba was spearheaded by Lorenzo Alberto. Who according to historians
peacefully retired in his farm with Brijida.

Contrary to historical accounts, Rizal never stayed in the Alberto house. The Rizal’s had nothing but
bitter memory of it. Teodora was convicted for attempted murder and was sent to prison because of
an incident that happened in this house (Spain doesn’t have anything to do with her conviction as is
often claimed in popular history text).

The plaintiff was no less than her sister-in-law.

The story is that Jose Alberto found out that Teodora Formoso (his wife) was having an affair. Back
from a trip, he had her immediately locked in one of the rooms. Jose then requested Teodora (the
sister) to feed her while on locked down.

Jose and Teodora was later punished by civil authority. The latter was charged with attempting to
poison the wife wife. Not clear is how long Jose was imprisoned and what was the case against him.

If only that collapsing house could squeal the secrets it witnessed before it falls down on its own.

Rizal’s Sisters

Jose Rizal and his brother, Paciano, had nine loving and supportive sisters, namely:
Saturnina, Narcisa, Olimpia, Lucia, Maria, Concepcion, Josefa, Trinidad, and Soledad.

Saturnina (1850-1913) married Manuel Hidalgo of Tanauan, Batangas. Their children were Alfredo
(1883-1952), who married Aurora Tiaoqui; Adela (1886-1946), who married Jose Ver; Abelardo; and
Amelia and Augusto, who both died young. In 1909 Doña Saturnina published Pascual Poblete’s Tagalog
translation of the Noli Me Tangere.

Narcisa (1852-1939) married Antonino Lopez, a teacher and musician from Morong, Rizal. Their children
were Emilio; Angelica, who married Benito Abreu; Antonio (1878-1928), who married Emiliana Rizal (the
daughter of Paciano Rizal); Consuelo; Leoncio, who married Natividad Arguelles; and Isabel, Francisco,
Arsenio, and Fidela, all of whom died young. It is said that Doña Narcisa could recite from memory almost
all the poems of Rizal.
Olimpia (1855-1887) married Silvestre Ubaldo, a telegraph operator from Manila. Their children were
Aristeo, who married Leonarda Limjap; Cesario and another boy, both of whom died young.

Lucia (1857-1919) married Mariano Herbosa of Calamba, Laguna. Their children were Delfina, first wife
of Gen. Salvador Natividad and who helped Marcela Agoncillo make the first Filipino flag in Hong Kong;
Concepcion; Patrocinio, who married Jose Battalones; Teodosio, who married Lucina Vitingco;
Estanislao; and Paz, Victoria, and Jose, all of whom died young.

Maria (1859-1945) married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Biñan, Laguna. Their children were Encarnacion, who
married Rosendo Banaad; Mauricio, who married Concepcion Arguelles; and Petrona, Paz, and
Prudencio, who all died young.

Concepcion (1862-1865), who followed Jose, died when Rizal was four.

Josefa (1865-1945) and Trinidad (1868-1951) lived together until their deaths. Both became members of
the Katipunan. Trinidad was the custodian of Rizal’s elegy, “Mi Ultimo Adios.”

Soledad (1870-1929) married Pantaleon Quintero of Calamba, Laguna. Their children were Trinitario,
who married Maria San Mateo; Amelia, who married Bernabe Malvar (son of Gen. Miguel Malvar); Luisa,
who married Jose Arguelles; and Serafin and Felix, both of whom died young. Soledad, who became a
teacher, is said to have been “the best educated” among Rizal’s sisters.

His sisters’ families also became very much involved in Rizal’s life. Saturnina, Narcisa, and Lucia, along
with their parents and Manuel Hidalgo and Mariano Herbosa, were ordered to be deported, charged with
rousing the people to refuse to pay land rent, and with causing the unrest in Calamba. Hidalgo was first
exiled “as a conspirator and representative of Jose Rizal,” and again, as Rizal observed, “without any
accusation, without his knowing any crime of which he was accused, excepting that he was my brother-in-
law.” Herbosa, who died of cholera in 1889, was denied a Christian burial because of his relation to Rizal.
Rizal’s nephews were also known to have traveled with Rizal to Dapitan in 1893 or visited him there.

Rizal’s sisters figured largely in his life as much as his brother Paciano did. With Concepcion, Rizal
shared games and stories made up by their governess. Rizal confided to Olimpia about his first
sweetheart, Segunda Katigbak; and to Maria, he talked about wanting to marry Josephine Bracken, whom
Rizal’s family apparently disapproved of. To support Rizal’s studies in Europe, the two older sisters
pawned their jewelry and peddled clothes. All of Rizal’s sisters wrote to him about their parents and their
own families as well as local occurrences such as the outbreak of cholera or the land taxes being
imposed by the friars. They also visited him when he was exiled in Dapitan and right before his execution
in 1896 (Trinidad had planned Rizal’s escape from Dapitan beforehand). Narcisa painstakingly searched
the cemeteries in Manila for Rizal’s burial place. She had to bribe a gravedigger to place a marker on it,
for she would not be allowed near the body, which had been buried without a box of any kind. Two years
later, Rizal’s sisters dug up the body at the Paco cemetery. They found only the hero’s bones, shoes, and
hat.