Rizal

• Why study Rizal?


  • It is legal/mandated by law (Republic Act 1425)
  • Because of the historical value of Rizal's life
  • To inculcate nationalism and patriotism
• Brief history of RA 1425/ The Rizal Law of 1956

  1. Senator Claro M. Recto authored Senate Bill 438/ Rizal Bill Of 1956

  2. The bill proposes the compulsory teaching of Rizal's life and the unexpurgated form of his novels

  3. It was also to provide a constant source of patriotism for the youth

  4. The bill makes the Rizal course a required subject in all tertiary (public/private) educational institutions
• The said bill was considered an attack to the catholic church
• The opposition


  • Senator Francisco "Soc" Rodrigo, Decoroso Rosales, and Mariano Cuenco
  • Catholic Action of the Philippines
  • Congregation of Missions (CM)
  • Knights of Columbus
  • Catholic Teachers Guild
• Fr. Jesus Cavana, CM; reviewed the 332 paged edition of the Noli; and found 120 pages of anti-Catholic statements and only 25 were patriotic
• The opposition stated that the bill

  • Violated religious freedom
  • Proposed a subject that is anti-Catholic
  • Promotes the reading of novels that are blasphemous
• The proponents side


  • Senator Claro M. Recto
  • Revolutionary Veterans/Spirit Of 1896
  • Alagad Ni Rizal
  • Freemasons (Acacia Lodge)
  • Book Lovers' Society
• The end of the debate

  1. Senator Jose B. Laurel modified the bill to accommodate the objection of the catholic church

  2. The teaching of the Noli and Fili were made optional

  3. On June 12, 1956, senate bill 438 Became R.A 1425 Or the Rizal Law Of 1956. The bill was enacted into law during the reign of Pres. Ramon Magsaysay
• Rizal's historical value is not based on the women he dated, but his writings and significant contribution in societal development
• Noli me tangere (1887) and El Filibusterismo (1891) had a huge impact in the lives of the Filipinos
• Rizal was one of the foremost initiators of national consciousness
• Why is Rizal the foremost national hero?

  • His writings
  • His person
  • Public honor (before and after death)
• Rizal's writings


  • They made him the foremost hero of his compatriots as it was universal analysis of what was really going on in the Philippines
• Rizal's qualities


  • As a child: obedient, courteous, superior yet humble, and kind
  • As a student: serious, studious, intelligent, methodical, and knew how to budget his time
  • As a citizen: had a consuming purpose and passion to serve his country
  • As a man: courageous, well-disciplined, and self-sacrificing
  • As a learned man: humble
• Public honor for Rizal before his death

  • Fernando Acevedo revered Rizal as the model of the Filipinos
  • Tomas Arejola on 1891 (Madrid) stated that Rizal's moral influence was undisputable
  • Ferdinand Blumentritt considered Rizal as the greatest product of the Philippines whose brilliance appears only every other century
  • The Katipunan especially their leader Andres Bonifacio acknowledged the greatness and leadership of Rizal
• Public honor for Rizal after his death

  • Emilio Aguinaldo declared December 30 1898 as Rizal day
  • Leon ma. Guerrero and Cecilio Apostol wrote tributes to Rizal
  • Dr. Camilo Osaias and Wenceslao Retana from the scientific circle paid tribute to Rizal
  • Dr. Rudolph Virchow from the anthropological society also paid tribute to Rizal on November 20, 1897
• There is no law that affirms Rizal as our national hero. There is only one for the study of his life
• Who made Rizal the national hero?

  • The Americans (they promoted him)
  • The people
  • Himself
• Rizal's paternal ancestry


  • Domingo Lamco was Jose's paternal great great grandfather; he was a Chinese merchant who married a Chinese mestiza named Ines De La Rosa
  • They had only one son, Francisco Lamco who became the municipal captain of Binan on 1773
  • Francisco changed his surname to Mercado to avoid discrimination
  • Francisco married Bernarda Monicha, also a Chinese Mestiza
  • They had two sons, Juan and Clemente
  • Juan Mercado married a Chinese mestiza named Cirila Alejandro and they had 14 children one was Jose's father, Francisco Mercado
• Rizal's maternal ancestry


  • Manuel De Quintos was Jose's maternal great grandfather, a Chinese lawyer from Pangasinan
  • He married a Japanese descent woman named regina Ursula
  • They had a daughter named Brigida de Quintos who was a mathematician
  • Brigida married Lorenzo Alonso, an engineer and had five children; one of which was Rizal's mother Teodora Alonso-Realonda
• Francisco Mercado


  Rizal's father, born on May 11, 1818, educated in Colegio de San Jose in Manila taking philosophy and Latin, died on January 5, 1898, described by Rizal as quiet but responsible
• Teodora Alonso-Realonda


  Rizal's mother, born on November 28, 1826, died on August 16, 1911 in Manila, studied in Colegio de Santa Rosa, a mathematician who taught Rizal to pray, write, and speak in Spanish and Latin
• Jose Rizal's siblings


  • Saturnina
  • Paciano
  • Narcissa
  • Olympia
  • Lucia
  • Maria
  • Jose
  • Concepcion
  • Josefa
  • Trinidad
  • Soledad
• Jose Rizal's birth


  Born on June 19, 1861, on a Wednesday in Calamba, Laguna, his mother had a difficult labor because Rizal has a big head, his mother prayed to the "Virgin of Antipolo/Our Lady of Good Voyage" for a safe delivery and vowed to bring Jose to a pilgrimage to her shrine if she survived
• Jose Rizal's baptism


  Named after St. Joseph the Carpenter, baptized on June 22, 1861 by Father Rufino Collantes, Fr. Pedro Casaňas served as his godfather
• Jose Rizal's childhood


  • At the age of 3 he began to participate in religious practices of the family
  • The death of Concepcion became his first sorrow at the age of 4
  • At the age of 5, he began to read the Spanish bible (haltingly), joined processions, began to make sketches and moulded clay to make sculptures
  • Wrote "Sa Aking Mga Kababata" at the age of 8 years old
  • He wrote a poem "A Mother's Birthday" at the age of 9 years old
  • He was known in the family for his inquisitive nature which wasn't completely appreciated by Donya Teodora
• The story that ignited Jose's curiosity and heroism


  1. At the age of 9, he left home schooling to Binan to study in a formal boarding school

  2. His school master, maestro Justiniano Aquino-Cruz liked and disliked him

  3. He was bullied by Andres Salandanan and Pedro, the son of their school master

  4. He won against Pedro in a wrestling like fight while he almost cracked his head in an arm-wrestling match against Andres Salandanan

  5. Jose was described as "frail, weak, and sickly"

  6. He wrote a stage play which the gobernadorcillo from Paete liked, it was later presented during the town fiesta in Calamba when he was 8 years old

  7. He also had great interest in magic tricks such as making coins and handkerchiefs disappear from his hands

  8. On Feb. 17, 1872, Jose was told the death of the Gomburza by his brother Paciano
• Jose in Ateneo (1872-1877)


  1. Rizal entered in Ateneo Municipal (formerly Escuela Pia now Ateneo de Manila) on June 10, 1872

  2. It was during his Ateneo years that his mother was incarcerated/ imprisoned for 2 ½ years

  3. He was originally denied registration at first by Fr. Magin Ferrando for being late, frail, weak, and sickly, and underaged, but was admitted with the help of fr. Manuel Xeres-Burgos

  4. Jose found the Ateneo classroom as a good place to learn as it fostered his potentials, there was no racial discrimination and merit was based on one's brilliance

  5. Students were divided into two empires; the Roman Empire (Interno) and the Carthaginian Empire (Externo) with officials who were the top 5 most intelligent students

  6. Rizal became the emperor of the Carthaginian Empire and none of his classmates took the rank from him

  7. His first professor was fr. Jose Bech, and he eventually became emperor of the roman empire as he moved to his higher years

  8. Rizal was the favorite student of one of his teachers; Fr. Francisco de Paula Sanchez, his 4th year professor

  9. He finished his studies on 1877 with sobresaliente (excellent) marks
• Rizal's interests/past time when he was in high school

  • Reading literature books
  • Carefully budgeting his time and money
  • Writing his experiences through what would eventually become Memorias De Un Estudyantes
  • Fond of The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexander Dumas
  • Wrote mi Premiera Inspiracion (My First Inspiration) at the age of 13 years old
  • Wrote in memory of my town (un recuerdo ami pueblo) at the age of 15 years old as a recollection of his childhood in Calamba
• Jose in Universidad de Santo Tomas (1877-1882)


  1. Jose Rizal enrolled in Unibersidad De Santo Tomas as his father Francisco liked the said school

  2. At first, Jose was uncertain on a course to take, he thought about priesthood, the Jesuits wanted him to take farming, poetry, medicine, his father wanted him to study metaphysics

  3. Rizal enrolled philosophy and letters in Universidad de Santo Tomas from 1877-1878, but said he had little taste for it

  4. He started taking singing lessons for a month and a half in 1878

  5. He took medicine on the second term of 1878 and finished it in 1882, he changed his course due to his mother's failing eyesight

  6. He also took up surveying in Ateneo Municipal and got his license as perito agrimensor

  7. Pepe/Jose was only 13 years old going 14 when he entered college
• Rizal's university life


  • He was far below his usual standards in the pre-medical and medical courses which he took
  • He was given 16 subjects with 3 passing grades, 8 –good-, 3-very good, and 2-excellent
  • Medicine may not have been his real vocation as he was "among corpses and human bones transformed into an inhuman quack and i used to be so squeamish"
  • Jose was also unhappy with the Dominicans who ran the university and taught as their professors, as they played favorites and treated their students with
• Pepe/Jose


  Jose Rizal
• Rizal took singing lessons for a month and a half

  1878
• Rizal took medicine and changed his course due to his mother's failing eyesight


  1878-1882
• Rizal


  • Took up surveying in Ateneo Municipal and got his license as perito agrimensor
  • Was only 13 years old going 14 when he entered college
• Rizal was far below his usual standards in the pre-medical and medical courses which he took
• Rizal was given 16 subjects with 3 passing grades, 8 –good-, 3-very good, and 2-excellent
• Medicine


  May not have been Rizal's real vocation as he was "among corpses and human bones transformed into an inhuman quack and i used to be so squeamish"
• Rizal was unhappy with the Dominicans who ran the university and taught as their professors
• Professors in UST played favorites and treated their students with contempt, addressing them like "good friars" while responded to them in pidgin Spanish