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• What is a hero?

  • A mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability
  • An illustrious warrior
  • A man admired for his achievements and noble qualities
  • One who shows great courage
  • The principal male character in a literary or dramatic work
  • The central figure in an event, period, or movement
  • A person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities
  • A person who is greatly admired
• Hero


  • A mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability
  • An illustrious warrior
  • A man admired for his achievements and noble qualities
  • One who shows great courage
  • The principal male character in a literary or dramatic work
  • The central figure in an event, period, or movement
  • A person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities
  • A person who is greatly admired
• Rizal became the National hero because he fought for freedom in a silent but powerful way, expressed his love for the Philippines through his novels, essays, articles & poems rather than a force of aggression, was humble, fighting for reforms through his writings instead of through a revolution, and used his intelligence, talents and skills in a for more peaceful way
• Criteria for Rizal to be the National hero during the American period

  • He must be Filipino
  • He is already dead
  • He displayed unconditional love for his country
  • He was a low temper
  • He had died dramatically
• During Rizal's time, colonizers forced us to accept foreign culture that are new & advanced from Mexico & Europe, we became Catholics that we never completely understood by that time, we lost our ancestral lands through Encomienda System, and we lost our freedom / independence
• Social system during Rizal's time

  • PENINSULARES were pure-blooded Spaniards occupying the highest positions in the government
  • INSULARES were the Philippine born Spaniards, given lower administrative positions in the bureaucracy
  • SPANISH MESTIZOS or KASTILA those born of Spanish and native parentage were discriminated against by full-blooded Spaniards
  • TOWN RULING CLASS was composed of gobernadorcillos, cabezas de barangay & native families of means
  • CHINESE MESTIZOS were children of Chinese & Indio parents controlled the local economy, they were the landowners, artisan, merchants, masons, retailers wholesales, etc.
  • INDIOS or MASSES were the landless peasants & poor tenants. Mistreated & were called "barbaros", "bastos", "sin verguenza" & "ignorante"
• Frailocracia


  • An invisible government, meaning "rule of friars"
  • The rulers of political unit
  • Supervisor of local elections
  • Administrators of schools
  • Chairman of the board of taxation, health, charity
  • Registrar for census taking
• Parochial schools with Spanish missionaries, Friars decided what to teach, Students were required to memorize the contents of the book even without understanding, Filipinos were instructed in the vernacular, Classes held on the ground floor of the convent
• Jose Rizal


  • A unique example of a many-splendored genius who became the greatest hero of a nation
  • Physician (ophthalmic surgeon), poet, dramatist, essayist, novelist, historian, architect, painter, sculptor, educator linguist, musician, naturalist, ethnologist, surveyor, engineer, farmer businessman, economist, geographer, cartographer, bibliophile, philologist, grammarian, folklorist, philosopher, translator, inventor, magician, humorist, satirist, polemicist, sportsman, traveler and prophet
  • Hero and a Political Martyr
• Jose Rizal was born on a moonlit night Wednesday of June 19, 1861 in the lakeshore town of Calamba, Laguna. His mother almost died during the delivery because of his big head.
• Rizal was baptized in the Catholic church on June 22, aged 3 days old. His name "Jose" was chosen by his mother who was a devotee of the Christian saint San Jose (St. Joseph). The parish priest Father Collantes was impressed by the baby's big head and told: "Take good care of this child, for someday he will become a great man."
• The Rizal Children


  • Saturnina (1850-1913)
  • Paciano (1851-1930)
  • Narcisa (1852-1939)
  • Olimpia (1855-1887)
  • Lucia (1857-1919)
  • Maria (1859-1945)
  • Jose (1861-1896)
  • Concepcion (1862-1865)
  • Josefa (1865-1945)
  • Trinidad (1868-1951)
  • Soledad (1870-1929)
• The sibling relationship among the Rizal children was affectionately cordial. As a little boy, Rizal played games with his sisters. When he grew to manhood, he called them Doña or Señora (if married) and Señorita (if single). Paciano was a second father to him (10 years senior) and he immortalized him in his first novel as the wise PilosopoTasio.
• Rizal was a product of a mixture of races both east and west - Negrito, Indonesian, Malay, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish. His great-great grandfather (father side) was a Chinese Immigrant named Domingo Lamco from Fukien city who arrived in Manila about 1690. Doña Teodora's family descended from LakanDula (King of Tondo).
• The real surname of Rizal family was Mercado which was adopted in 1731 by Domingo Lamco (paternal great-great grandfather of Jose Rizal) who was a full blooded Chinese. The second surname – RIZAL – was given by a Spanish alcalde mayor of Laguna, who was a family friend.
• The Rizal home was a two storey building, rectangular in shape, built in adobe stones and hard wood and roofed with red tiles. Behind the house was a poultry yard full of turkeys and chickens and a big garden of tropical fruits. It was a happy home.
• The Rizal family belonged to the Principalia, a town aristocracy in Spanish Philippines. They were one of the distinguished families in Calamba. From the farms, which were rented from Dominican Order, they harvested rice, corn and sugarcane. They owned a carriage, which was a status symbol of the illustrados in Spanish Philippines. They also had a private library (the largest in Calamba which consisted of more then 1,000 volumes).
• The Rizal family had a simple, contented, and happy life. Both parents never spoiled their children. They were strict parents and they trained their children to love God, behave well, to be obedient, and to respect people especially old folks. They believed in the maxim: "Spare the rod and spoil the child". They heard Mass in the town church particularly Sundays and they prayed together daily at home then after the prayer all the children kiss the hands of their parents.
• Calamba


  The hero's town, an hacienda town which belonged to the Dominican Order
• Calamba


  • South looms Mount Makiling
  • Beyond this mountain is the province of Batangas
  • East of the town is the Laguna de Bay
  • North is the distant Antipolo
• Rizal loved Calamba with all his heart and soul
• Rizal's age


  15 years old - student in Ateneo de Manila
• Rizal: 'Wrote a poem: "Un Recuerdo A Mi Pueblo" (In Memory of My Town)'
• Rizal's earliest childhood memory


  His happy days in the family garden when he was 3 years old
• Aya


  Nurse maid employed to look after Rizal's comfort because he was a frail, sickly and undersized child
• Stories aya related to Rizal children

  • Fairies
  • Legends
  • Folklore like asuang, the nuno, the tigbalang
• Another childhood memory was the daily Angelus prayers
• Another memory of his infancy was the walk in the town especially when there was a moon
• Rizal's sister Concha


  Jose loved her most
• Concha died of sickness in 1865 when she was only three years old
• The death of little Concha brought him his first sorrow in life
• Rizal's age


  At the age of 3, he began to take part of in the family prayers
• Rizal's age


  When he was 5 years old, he was able to read the Spanish Family Bible
• He was so seriously devoted that he was called Manong Jose
• Father Leoncio Lopez


  The town priest in Calamba that Rizal respected
• Rizal's pilgrimage to Antipolo

  1. On June 6, 1868, Rizal and his father left Calamba to go on a pilgrimage to Antipolo in order to fulfill his mother's vow

  2. After praying, he and his father went to Manila to visit Saturnina at La Concordia College
• His mother gave birth to Trinidad
• It was his first trip across Laguna de Bay and his first Pilgrimage to Antipolo
• The story of the moth


  • The tragic fate of the young moth which "died a martyr to its illusions" left a deep impress on Rizal's mind
  • "to sacrifice one's life for it" meaning for an ideal, is worthwhile
  • Like the young moth, Rizal was fated to die as a martyr for a noble ideal
• Rizal's age


  At the age of 5, he began to make sketches with his pencil and to mould in clay and wax objects