Quirks and Sins: The

Humanity of Rizal
Heroes are human too; they laugh, they cry, they make mistakes. Jose Rizal
was no different.

To say he was an invincible champion who could do no wrong would be

tarnishing the man Rizal was, for although he had his fair share of flaws, he
still managed to overcome them all and become someone great.

Rather than thinking of him as the ideal hero, let’s think of Rizal as someone
who was just like us, yet persevered to become the great man we know him to
be.
But ironically, Rizal’s rock star status could just be one of his greatest
“misfortunes.”

 Ambeth Ocampo, a historian mentioned: “Maybe if he wasn’t our national

hero, we would pay more attention to him”

 The portrayal of Rizal in different art pieces and monuments, Ocampo

explained, is a reflection of how we understand our national hero and
ultimately, how we are as a people
But ironically, Rizal’s rock star status could just be one of his greatest
“misfortunes.”

 “When you think of Rizal, you only think about ‘'di marunong magmahal
ng sariling wika’ or ‘masahol pa sa malansang isda’ - which aren’t even
his. The point is, he’s been oversimplified [and] mythologized”

 What we know of Rizal is limited by the teachers we’ve had, the

monuments we’ve seen, and the books we’ve read. And by books, Ocampo
means Rizal’s work and not just books about Rizal
But ironically, Rizal’s rock star status could just be one of his greatest
“misfortunes.”

 The first step to appreciating the heroism of Jose Rizal is to appreciate his
humanity: his limitations, shortcomings, sins, and his quirks.
Reasons Why Rizal Was Just As Human As The Rest Of Us

1. He initially hated his name, Rizal

If you may have disliked using your surname when you were in grade school
because it was awkward, that’s perfectly fine. In fact, that’s quite Rizal-esque.

 Rizal’s family made him drop the last three names Mercado y Alonso
Realonda to protect him from persecution, as his older brother Paciano had
been linked with the martyred Gomburza priests who were activists
Reasons Why Rizal Was Just As Human As The Rest Of Us

1. He initially hated his name, Rizal

This soon changed, however, when his professors recognized his talent in
writing contests and poetry. He also wrote subversive essays and poetry, making
the name Rizal notorious, and effectively rendered useless the protection
afforded him by the name change.

In 1891, after publishing El Filibusterismo, he wrote a friend, “All my family

now carry the name Rizal instead of Mercado because the name Rizal means
persecution! Good! I too want to join them and be worthy of this family
name...”
Reasons Why Rizal Was Just As Human As The Rest Of Us

2. Rizal did not really write “Malansang Isda”

“Ang di magmahal sa sariling tula/mahigit sa hayop at malansang isda.”

This is one of the most quoted lines from a poem attributed to Rizal. The Apo
Hiking Society even used it in one of their popular hits, “Ako’s Isang Pinoy”
where a line reads, “Si Gat Jose Rizal noo’y nagwika, siya ay nagpangaral sa
ating bansa, ang di raw magmahal sa sariling wika ay higit pa ang amoy sa
mabahong isda.”
Reasons Why Rizal Was Just As Human As The Rest Of Us

2. Rizal did not really write “Malansang Isda”

But Ambeth Ocampo, a leading expert on Jose Rizal, has cast doubt on its
authenticity as one of Rizal’s works.

In an article published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Ocampo argues that Rizal
could not have written “Sa Aking mga Kabata” because of his age (8 years old in
the year it was allegedly written); the use of the letter K (it was not until he was an
adult that he adopted the use of the letter K, because common orthography at the
time used the letter C); and the fact that he was unfamiliar with the word
“kalayaan” as evidenced by his letter to Paciano when he was 21.
Reasons Why Rizal Was Just As Human As The Rest Of Us

3. Rizal was stingy yet spent regularly on photographs

While living in Europe, Rizal gained the reputation of a miser due to his
extreme penny-pinching ways (he supposedly lived on only P50 a month).

Before checking into hotels, he would always opt for a room without breakfast
and instead use the savings to buy tea, biscuits, and alcohol. He also rationed his
portions painstakingly. In one incident, he and his roommate Jose Alejandrino
agreed to split a box of biscuits between them for a month. The result? A starved
Alejandrino finished his portion in only 15 days while Rizal managed to make
his own last the entire month.
Reasons Why Rizal Was Just As Human As The Rest Of Us

3. Rizal was stingy yet spent regularly on photographs

Sometimes, Rizal would also neglect personal hygiene. In a letter to his sister,
he revealed that he went without taking a bath for a long time because he found
them too expensive. For all his stinginess, however, Rizal made sure to regularly
allocate money for photographs. The number of photos we have of him today is
proof Rizal loved taking pictures of himself.
Reasons Why Rizal Was Just As Human As The Rest Of Us

4. Rizal was too proud to ask for help

Despite his meticulous budgeting, Rizal’s financial situation did not always go
smoothly. After his family’s estate in Laguna was subjected to a dispute, Rizal’s
allowances became few and far between.

Nevertheless, Rizal’s “Pinoy Pride” would never allow him to seek financial
assistance from anyone. In fact, on the days he was broke and hungry, Rizal
would often go out of his boarding house for a walk while cursing his bad luck.
Reasons Why Rizal Was Just As Human As The Rest Of Us

4. Rizal was too proud to ask for help

He would also go to restaurants, take a whiff and go back home. Due to the
smell of food on him, his companions would then assume he had just eaten out.
Interestingly enough, American writer Ernest Hemingway also used this
technique while he was living in Paris.
Reasons Why Rizal Was Just As Human As The Rest Of Us

4. Rizal experimented with drugs

To be fair, Rizal was NEVER a drug addict. However, that did not stop him
from trying some for the sake of science. While just an 18-year-old, Rizal once
used hashish he bought from a drugstore. At the time, the drug—a hallucinogen
more potent than marijuana—could be easily bought over the counter along
with cocaine, morphine, and heroin.
Reasons Why Rizal Was Just As Human As The Rest Of Us

4. Rizal experimented with drugs

However, Rizal later justified his use of hashish in a letter he wrote to German
scientist Adolf Bernhard Meyer, saying he just tried the drug for “experimental
purposes.” Aside from hashish, Rizal was also known to use mustard plasters
and sudorific (drugs which cause sweating) to treat torticollis (“stiff neck”)
when he was just a boy.
Reasons Why Rizal Was Just As Human As The Rest Of Us

5. Rizal suffered from bouts of depression

Like a normal person, Rizal also suffered from heartbreaks, homesickness and
other feelings of sadness. At one point, when he heard about his family’s land
dispute and persecution in Laguna, Rizal even wrote to Ferdinand Blumentritt
just on the eve of his departure to Brussels that he would have committed “a
great folly” were it not for his faith in God.

While Rizal never explicitly stated what his phrase meant, author Jose Baron
Fernandez postulated Rizal was likely thinking of committing suicide because
he felt guilty about causing his family pain and suffering.
Reasons Why Rizal Was Just As Human As The Rest Of Us

6. Rizal also had an inferiority complex

Probably part of the reason why Jose Rizal became such an overachiever in his
later years can be attributed to the massive inferiority complex he suffered as a
boy. Short, underweight, and born with a big head, Rizal was a frequent target
of bullying in his youth. It also did not help that he was sickly as a child and
spoke with a slight lisp.
Reasons Why Rizal Was Just As Human As The Rest Of Us

6. Rizal also had an inferiority complex

However, Rizal did not cave into the pressure and instead honed his body and
mind to meet the challenges. By adulthood, Rizal’s inferiority complex had
decreased but still reared its ugly head from time to time. He remained sensitive
about his height—he was around 5’2”—and preferred to pose for photographs
while wearing overcoats to hide the fact that his right shoulder was higher than
his left.
Reasons Why Rizal Was Just As Human As The Rest Of Us
7. Rizal WAS torpe
Given the number of women who went in and out of his life, it would seem
counterintuitive to think Rizal was “torpe.” Yet for the Don Juan that he was,
Rizal experienced a case of cold feet in his liaison with his first love Segunda
Katigbak.
Although Katigbak was already engaged to be married to Manuel Luz, Rizal
still fell for her anyway, describing her as “bewitching” and “alluring.” For the
young lovers, it was love at first sight—one that would be doomed from the
start, in part because of Katigbak’s engagement and because of Rizal’s
indecisiveness.
Reasons Why Rizal Was Just As Human As The Rest Of Us

7. Rizal WAS torpe

It happened like this: Sometime in December 1877, Rizal promised to escort the
carriage carrying Katigbak when it passed by Calamba on the way to her
hometown in Lipa. True enough, Rizal did show up riding a white horse and
spotted Katigbak waving a white handkerchief to him from inside the carriage.
Surprisingly, Rizal—instead of following the carriage—turned around and went
home.
The purpose of revisiting these stories is not to ridicule him but to recount and
appreciate his humanity.

In doing so, we realize that Jose Rizal was not a deity to be put on a pedestal,
but someone relatable, a Filipino we can appreciate and emulate because just
like us, he was very human and also made mistakes.

Ocampo mentioned: “I think the secret to Rizal’s greatness is his humanity. If

you are Superman, then the other mortals don’t care because you’re really
separate,” adding that ““What I’d like to show is that in Rizal, you see the
Filipino capacity for greatness. If Rizal can be great, then I can be great also,”