RizalSource: Jose RizalGregorio Zaide and Sonia Zaide

There are a lot of events that happened not just in the Philippines but also in the other parts of the world.

RECALL THAT:

During the times of Rizal, the Filipino people agonized beneath the yoke of the Spanish misrule.

1. Instability of colonial administration- The political instability in Spain adversely

affected Philippine affairs because it brought about periodic shifts in colonial policies and periodic rigodon of colonial officials.

The frequent change in colonial officials hampered the political and economic development of the Philippines.

No chief executive, no matter how able and energetic he was, could accomplish much for the colony

2. Corrupt Colonial Officials Many colonial officials became rich by

illegal means or by marrying the heiresses of rich Filipino families.

Mostly ignorant and profligate, they conducted themselves with arrogance because of their alien white skin and tall noses.

3. Philippine Representation in Spanish Cortes

Motive of Spain -gain the support of

her overseas colonies

However, it was abolished in 1837 and the Philippine conditions worsened because there was no means b which the Filipino people could expose the anomalies perpetrated by the colonial officials

4. Human rights denied to Filipinos Filipinos did not enjoy the freedom of

speech, freedom of the press, freedom of association, and other human rights.

5. No Equality before the law

To the imperialist way of thinking, brown Filipinos and white Spaniards may be equal to God, but not before the law and certainly not in practice.

6. Maladministration of Justice- The courts of justice in the Philippines

during Rizal’s time is notoriously corrupt.

Justice was costly, partial, and slow.

Wealth, social prestige, and color of skin were predominant factors in winning a case in court.

7. Racial Discrimination- During Rizal’s time a white skin, high

nose and Castilian lineage were a badge of vaunted superiority.

8. Frailocracy- “ a government owned by friars”

The colonial authorities, from governor general down to the alcaldes mayores, were under control of the friars.

9.Forced Labor- known as polo; it was compulsory labor imposed by the Spanish colonial authorities on adult Filipino males in the construction of churches, schools, hospitals, and etc.

Originally : 16-60, 40 days a year Later: 18-60, 15 days

10. Haciendas owned by friars- During Rizal’s times the Spanish friars were the richest landlords, for they owned the best haciendas.

The rural folks (including Rizal’s family) who have been living in the haciendas and cultivating them generation after generation became tenants.

11. The Guardia Civil-

Role: Maintaining internal peace and order in the Philippines

They become infamous for their rampant abuses.

Unlike Bonifacio and Aguinaldo, Rizal waged a non-violent crusade against the oppressors and proved that, “Pen is mightier than the sword.” Not even the armies of Spain and America can stop the Ideas Rizal fought and died for.

Recall that:

Aside from the park being built in Australia, he said there are monuments in Rizal’s honor in Madrid, Spain; Wilhelmsfeld, Germany; Jinjiang, Fujian, China; Cherry Hill Township, New Jersey; San Diego, California; and Seattle, Washington; Reforma Avenue in Mexico City, Mexico; La Molina in Lima, Peru; Litomerice, Czech Republic; and Singapore. Source:globalnation.inquirer.net/

Monument in Hawai

Monument in Wilhelmsfeld,Germany

Monument in Seattle, Washington

Monument in Madrid

Monument in Chicago, Illinois

In Singapore

Dr. Rizal is a unique example of a many splendored hero of a nation.

Physician Poet Dramatist Essayist Novelist Historian Architect

CHAPTER 1: ADVENT OF A NATIONAL HERO

Painter Sculptor Educator Linguist Musician Naturalist Ethnologist Surveyor Engineer

The Birth of a Hero: Rizal was born on a moonlit of Wednesday,

June 19, 1861, in the lakeshore town of Calamba, Laguna Province, Philipppines.

His mother almost died during the delivery because of his big head.

He was baptized in the catholic church of his town on June 22, aged three days old, by the parish priest, Father Rufino Collantes.

His godfather was Father Pedto Casanas.

His name “Jose” was chosen by his mother who was a devotee of the Christian saint San Jose.

“ Take care of this child, for someday he will become a great man.”

Jose Rizal was the seventh of the eleven children of Francisco Mercado Rizal and Teodora Alonso Realonda.

The hero’s father, Francisco (1818-1898) was born in Biñan, Laguna.

He studied Latin and Philosophy at the College of San Jose in Manila.

Rizal Parents.

Following his parent’s death, he moved to Calamba and become a tenant-farmer of the Dominican owned hacienda

Rizal affectionately called him “a model of fathers”.

Doña Teodora, the hero’s mother was born in Manila and was educated at the College of Santa Ana, a well-known college for girls in the city.

She was a remarkable woman possessing refined culture, literary talent, business ability, the fortitude of Spartan women.

Rizal lovingly said of her: My mother is a woman of more than ordinary culture; she knows literature and speaks in Spanish better than I. She corrected my poems and gave me good advice when I was studying rhetoric. She is a mathematician and has read many books.

1. Saturnina (1850-1913)- oldest of the Rizal children, nicknamed Neneng

2. Paciano (1851-1930)- older brother and confidant of Jose Rizal.

3. Narcisa- her pet name was Sisa and she married Antonio Lopez

4. Olimpia (1855-1887) – Ypia was her pet name; she married Silvestre Ubaldo

The Rizal Children

5. Lucia (1857- 1919)- She married Mariano Herbosa of calamba, who was a nephew of Father Casanas.

6. Maria (1859-1945)- Biang was her nickname; she married Daniel Faustino.

7. Jose (1861-1896)- The greatest Filipino hero and peerless genius; his nickname is Pepe.

8. Concepcion (1862-1865)- her pet name was Concha; she died of sickness at the age of 3; her death was Rizal’s first sorrow.

9. Josefa (1865- 1945)- Her nickname is Panggoy; she died an old maid at the age of 80.

10. Trinidad (1868-1951)- Trinidad was her pet name; she also died an old maid.

11. Soledad (1870- 1929)- youngest of the Rizal children; her pet name is Choleng.

Sibling relationship among the Rizal children was affectionately cordial.

Years later when he grew to manhood, he always called them Doña of Señora(if married) and Señorita ( if single).

Rizal relation with his only brother Paciano, who was ten years his senior, was more than that of younger to older brother.

In his letter to Blumentritt on June 23, 1888, he regarded Paciano as the “most notable of Filipinos”

As a typical Filipino, Rizal was a product of mixture races.

In his veins flowed the blood of both East and West- Negrito, Indonesian, Malay, Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish.

Rizal’s Ancestry

Predominantly, he was a Malayan and was a magnificent specimen of Asian manhood.

Rizal’s great-great grandfather on his father’s side was Domingo Lameo, a Chinese immigrant from Fukien city of Changchow, who arrived in Manila about 1690.

He married a well-to-do Chinese Christian girl of Manila named Ines de la Rosa, and assumed in 1731 the surname Mercado which was appropriated for him because he was a merchant.

One of their sons, Juan Mercado (Rizal’s grandfather), married to Cirila Alejandro, a Chinese-Filipina mestiza.

It is said that Doña Teodora’s family descended from Lakan-Dula, the last native king of Tondo.

Her great-grandfather was Eugenio Ursua (of Japanese ancestry), who married a Filipina named Benigna.

Their daughter Brigida, who married Manuel de Quintos, a Filipino-Chinese lawyer of Pangasinan.

One of the daughters of Attorney Quintos and Brigida was Regina, who married Lorenzo Alberto Alonso, a prominent Spanish-Filipino mestizo of Biñan. Their children were Narcisa, Teodora, Gregorio, Manuel and Jose.

In 1849, Governor Claveria issued a decree directing all Filipino families to choose new names from a list of Spanish names.

Don Francisco chose his own surname, Rizal.The term Rizal came the Spanish word ricial

which means “green field” or “new pasture”

The Name Rizal

The Rizal family was one of the richest families in Calamba during the times prior to its persecution by the friars.

Rizal’s parents, by their industry and frugality, were able to honestly build a large fortune.

The Rizal Family

They were the first to build a large stone house in Calamba, the first carruaje , the first to have a home library, and the first to educate their children in the colleges of Manila.

The Rizal family raised rice, corn, and sugar on large tracts of land rented from the Dominican estate of Calamba.

It operated a sugar mill, a flour mill, a home-made ham press. It engaged successfully in the dye and sugar business and in the barter trade.

Teodora, the hero’s mother, owned a store in town and sold many articles of trade needed by the people.

She was a successful businesswoman, and the profits of her store augmented the family income.

Not only was the Rizal family one of Calamba’s richest families, it was, highly esteemed and respected.

Don Francisco and Dona Teodora were gracious hosts to all visitors.

Beneath the Rizal roof, all guests, irrespective of their color, social position, or economics status, were treated equally- with all courtesy and hospitality.

The house of the Rizal family was one of the distinguished stone housed in Calamba during the Spanish times.

It was rectangular in shape, “of adobe stone and hardwood with a red-tiled roof.

The Rizal Home

Behind it were the poultry yard full of turkeys and chickens and the garden of tropical fruit trees.

It was a happy home where parental affection and children’s laughter reigned.

By day, it hummed with the jubilant noises of the children at play. By night, it echoed with the dulcet notes of family prayers.