MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY AT NAAWAN

College of Education and Social Sciences

GEC 109 (Life and Works of Rizal)
Module 2

Week: _________
Name: MICKHAIL VINCE M. LAO Score:__________________
Year/Course: BSED M1-A2 Date: __________________

Unit 1 Title: Rizal’s Birth, Ancestry, Childhood and Early Education

Learning Targets: At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1. Recognize the birth of Jose Rizal, his family structure, childhood and early
education;
2. Describe the background of Rizal’s ancestry that might have contributed to his life
and education;
3. Administer the values of the Rizal family during their time to the life of the Filipino
today;
4. Demonstrate owns family structure using Rizal’s family structure as springboard.

HOOK: “Fact or Bluff”

The name of this game is “Fact or Bluff”, identify the following statements about
our national hero “Jose Rizal, the player will answer either “fact or bluff.”

1. Jose Rizal had a big head when he was a child. Answer: Fact
2. Jose Rizal is about 4 feet and 5 inches tall. Answer: Bluff
3. Jose Rizal’s image can be found in Philippine one peso Answer:Fact
4. Jose Rizal used to write his love letter in an invisible ink. Answer: Fact
5. Jose Rizal was the son of Hitler Answer: Bluff

Concepts:
This unit will lead to a better understanding on Jose Rizal’s background, how he was
shaped and nurtured by his parents as a child to the man he was showing his intense devotion
on shaping the Filipino character and his great emphasis on the importance of education.

Rizal’s Birth, Ancestry, Childhood and Early Education

(An excerpt from the book, Rizal and the Development of National Consciousness)
by Ma. Corona S. Romero, Julita R. Sta. Romana, and Lourdes Y. Santos
 
Birth. Rizal was born on 19 June 1861, in Kalamba, Laguna. He was baptized Jose Rizal
Mercado. Kalamba is a small agricultural town nestling at the foot of Mt. Makiling as it slopes
down to Laguna de Bay. In Rizal's time, it was a prosperous town devoted to the production of
sugar. Despite their hardships as tenants of the Dominican friars whose estate covered
practically the whole town, its inhabitants lived well. 

The soil was fertile, its climate favorable. Its scenic beauty gave the young Rizal the right
impetus for his poetic and artistic creativity. Its share of unhappiness also shaped his noble and
heroic spirit. The surroundings of his home opened to him the many wonders of nature Verdant
meadows all around, a fruit-laden orchard, and the splendour of Mt. Makiling in the distance -

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all these enhanced his perceptions. The elegant beauty of the orchard and the gentle atmosphere
of the family's rambling house left a deep impression on the youthful Rizal. 

It was in this atmosphere that Rizal learned the early values of love, affection and
loyalty which blossomed forth in his mature years and won for him the esteem and admiration
of his people. 

Rizal's Ancestors. Like most Filipinos, Rizal was of mixed racial origin. On his father's side he
descended from an industrious and intelligent Chinese merchant, Domingo Lamco who
married a Chinese mestiza, Ines de la Rosa. From the Parian the family migrated to Biñan and
became tenants in the Dominican estate. Lamco's only son, Francisco, who was to be Rizal's
great grandfather, was a keen-witted and liberal young man He became quite well-to-do and
popular enough to be appointed municipal captain of Biñan in 1783. The family adopted the
surname "Mercado" to free the younger generation from the prejudices that followed those with
a Chinese name.

Francisco Mercado and his wife, Bernarda Monicha, a Chinese mestiza, were blessed
with two children: Juan and Clemente. Juan married Cirila Alejandra also a Chinese mestiza.
The couple had 14 children, one of whom was Francisco, Rizal's father.

Francisco Mercado and two of his sisters moved to Kalamba. Starting as a pioneer tenant
farmer at the Dominican estate, he was promoted to overseer with compensation and was soon
sub-leasing his additional allotments. His wife, Teodora Alonso, had a dry goods store. From
these earnings, the fortunes of the Rizal family were built.
 
The family of Teodora Alonso Realonda was more progressive than the family of her
husband. In those days when professionals were scarce, the Alonso clan could be proud of a
number of lawyers, priests, engineers and government officials. Rizal's maternal great
grandfather, Manuel de Quintos, a Chinese mestizo from Lingayen, Pangasinan, was a lawyer.
His wife, Regina Ursua (Ochoa), was of Japanese ancestry. Their daughter Brigida married
Lorenzo Alberto Alonso, an engineer, Lorenzo's mother belonged to a professionally prominent
family from Baliuag, Bulacan, Lorenzo himself was wealthy and had a considerable investment
in two American companies. His wife Brigida was well-educated and a good mathematician.
The couple had five children, including Teodora who was to become Rizal's mother. 

Rizal's Immediate Family. Rizal's parents were more prosperous and more renowned than
their forebears. The industry of the couple raised them to the privileged class, the principalia.
The labors of Rizal's father yielded rather comfortable returns. Only a few families in Rizal's
time could afford a big rectangular house of adobe and hardwood as the Mercados did. Fewer
still could take pride in having a red-tiled roof and owning carriages and horses, symbols of
wealth and respectability among families in the town. They enjoyed the esteem of the local
Spanish officials, too. 

Rizal's father, Don Francisco Mercado, was born in Biñan, Laguna, He studied Latin and
philosophy at the College of San Jose in Manila. Rizal described him as "a model of fathers." He
was a man of "solid shoulders, strong constitution, rather tall than short, of serious and
reflective mien and with prominent forehead and large dark eyes." 
Doña Teodora Alfonso, Rizal's mother, was born in Meisik, Sta. Cruz, Manila. She came
from a distinguished and talented family. Doña Teodora was a remarkable woman. Rizal
always spoke of her with warmth and admiration: 

"My mother is not a woman (of ordinary culture). She knows literature and speaks
Spanish better than I do. She even corrected my poems and gave me wise advice when I
was studying; rhetoric. She is a mathematician and has read many hooks." 

Rizal inherited his mother's literary talent. It is said that one of Rizal's maternal aunts
was a well-known poetess from Vigan. 

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 Both parents greatly influenced Rizal and left their imprint on his character. "From his
father he inherited a profound sense of dignity and self-respect, seriousness and self-possession;
and from his mother the temperament of the poet and the dreamer and bravery for sacrifice." 

Don Francisco and Doña Teodora were blessed with eleven children: two boys and nine girls.
They were, in the order of birth, Saturnina, Paciano, Narcisa, Olimpia, Lucia, Maria, Jose,
Concepcion, Josefa, Trinidad, and Soledad. 

Rizal's only brother, Paciano, was a full ten years older than him. Like his father, he
pursued a college of education in Manila. He was a second father to his younger brother Jose
and gave him wise counsel and advice. He joined General Aguinaldo's revolutionary forces and
rose to the rank of major general. When peace was restored, he retired to his farm in Los Baños
and led a quiet life until his death in 1930. 

Three months before the execution of Rizal, Paciano was arrested, threatened and
tortured by the Spaniards in a futile attempt to force him to sign a confession that his brother
was the leader of the 1896 rebellion. He suffered extreme physical pain but nothing could make
him turn against his younger brother. 

Activity 1: “Look Back”

Listed below are some of the traditional Filipino family values whom the Rizal family
practices. Evaluate if your family still practice these values. Explain your answer.

1. Pagmamano
I was born living with this practices in my life, because we are
taught by our parents and grand mother. We still practice this in
our family for us to be feel respected by a person. It really flatters
our heart if someone is showing us "Pagmamano".

2. Hospitality

Hospitality is always in me and my family because we love

treating our visitors well or entartaining them in a good ways.
Showing generousity to friends or people who came and pass by.
Our family is very respectful that's why we have many friends
who is generous alslo to us.

3. Family- Oriented/ Pagpapahalaga sa Pamilya

Me as I grow up I am family oriented. I am always grateful for

my family. We also practice this until now because we give
importance or value to our family who came up with many
struggles in life, but still going on and fighting for life.

4. God-fearing

As we grow up and understands the spiritual life we realized

that God is greater on us. He deserves to be served and lifted
high that no people can imitate Him. I am born as a Roman

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Catholic and we continue serving God. We fear God for He is the alpha and the omega who
created all of us.

Source: Google.com

Early Manifestations of Innate Talents. Rizal learned his alphabet at the age of three.
As a boy he took avid interest in reading and literature because the family's extensive library
provided him with the necessary incentives. He loved to read books while his mother listened.
In addition to reading, he also manifested skills in sculpture, sketching, and painting. The scenic
beauty of Kalamba, his admiration of his mother, and other people provided themes for his
literary talent and artistry. Recognizing her son's creativity, Doña Teodora encouraged him to
express his thoughts and sentiments in verse. He wrote his first poem, Sa Aking Mga Kabata ("To
My Fellow Children"), when he was only eight years old. 

As a boy, Rizal developed a curious ability to recognize things that were worthwhile.
One of his early memories was a fable his mother had related to him one evening. She read "The
Story of the Moth" from a Spanish reader called El Amigo de los Niños. The mother moth
warned its offspring of the danger of fluttering too close to the flame. The advice was not
heeded and the little moth was burned by the blue flame. The impact of this story that
impressed so much the young Rizal was the moth's daring and its attraction to the dazzling
light. Rizal would never forget this story because it would serve as a constant reminder of the
daring risks that he would take as a young idealist. The flame may singe but Rizal learned later
that one must suffer any consequence if one is to succeed. 

In his diary recorded years after he recounted the incident: 

“My mother finished the fable. I was not listening; all my attention, all my mind,
and all my thoughts were concentrated on the fate of the moth, young, dead, full of
illusions... The light seemed to be more beautiful, dazzling and attractive. I understood
why the moths flutter around lights ... What preoccupied me most was the death of the
moth, but at the bottom of my heart, I didn't blame it.”

Rizal's elder sister Narcisa reflected on his solitude: 

“He was nearly always quiet and very observant... His pastime notions and habits
were more characteristic of the mature than of the young. He liked being alone; he did not
play with ordinary toys. He loved reading and listening to his elders discuss matters of
moment.”

Rizal's youthful observations left lasting impressions that would shape his social and political
ideas. He recalled his boyhood experiences:

"I spent many, many hours of my childhood down on the shore of the lake, Laguna
de Bay. I was thinking of what was beyond. I was dreaming of what might be over on (the
other side of the waves. Almost everyday, in our town, we saw the Guardia Civil
lieutenant caning and injuring some unarmed and inoffensive villager. The villager's only
fault was that while at a distance lie had not taken off his hat and made his bow. The
alcalde treated the poor villagers in the same way whenever he visited us." 

"We saw no restraint put upon brutality. Acts of violence and other excesses were
committed daily. The officers whose duty it was to protect the people and keep the public
peace were the real outlaws. Against such lawbreakers, our authorities were powerless. I
asked myself if, in the lands which lay across the lake, the people lived in this same way. I
wondered if there they tortured any countryman with hard and cruel whips merely on
suspicion. Did they there respect the home? Or over wonder also, in order to live in peace,
would one have to bribe tyrants?” 

Activity 1: Connecting Ideas”

1. “Education is the single most important legacy that we can bestow upon our youth. It opens
doors for countless opportunities that will lead to their further empowerment, greater success and

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 the realization of their individual aspirations,”  President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s statement
during the ceremonial signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the 112 State Universities and Colleges
(SUCs) and 78 Local Universities (LUCs) to launch the implementation of Republic Act
(RA) 10931 or the “Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.”

2. Based on the above statement, is there any similarities on Rizal’s emphasis that
education was key to creating a class of Filipinos that could lead the country to freedom and
self-determination. Explain your answer below.

 Yes, because education is the key for us to attain self-determination and also lead our country
towards success. We need education that leads us to the right path and lift the ones that get
down. President Rodrigo Duterte is one inspiring leaders in this era, because he has the
initiatives to make our country more progressive in different ways. Rizal also is the man and the
Hero of our country that also inspires people and lead people to the better of our country.
That's why it has similarities on the statement of our president.

3. What are the Filipino values that you think your family still practice?
 My family still practices the beliefs, culture, celebrations, values, and traditions. We filipinos
should practice these, becayse it is meaningful to us Filipinos and the "Kasanayan of Ancient
Filipinos" that is the way of believing that Filipinos is one blooded and it is united as one.

FORMAL SEARCH FOR KNOWLEDGE 

Hometown Education. Soon Rizal's passion for knowledge superseded his home studies. At
nine years, he was sent by his parents to study in Biñan. He concentrated on his studies
assiduously and he excelled in all subjects. Besides taking formal lessons in Latin and Spanish,
Rizal developed his painting skills from a local painter. Later, Rizal referred to himself as a
"fashionable" painter. 

Ateneo Education: Refinement of Rizal's Skills. On 10 June 1872, Rizal took the entrance
examination at San Juan de Letran College. Passing all qualifying tests in Christian doctrine,
reading, and arithmetic entitled him to admission at the Ateneo where he studied from 1872 to
1877. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree, with the highest honors, that entitled him to
admission in any university. 

At the start of classes at Ateneo, Rizal was quiet and, being new, observed the activities
of his class. He understood Spanish but could not yet speak the language well. However, in a
week's time, he was promoted and after a month, he became to the top student of his class. He
was a consistent medallist and his grades in all subjects were excellent. 

At the Ateneo, he discovered the wisdom of books and its influences on his search for
knowledge. He pursued history, philosophy, science and the imaginative world of poetry. At 16
after five years of dedicated study, he stepped out of the college halls into a world of intrigue
and challenge that was to give him boundless opportunity to help the oppressed Filipinos. Rizal

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gradually gained proficiency both in the art of rhetoric and in the art of philosophical
independent thinking. Ateneo had taught him that the mind would achieved its purpose as
long as one sought truth in a spirit of love and understanding of one's fellowmen. 

Rizal formal lessons at the Ateneo refined his artistic sensibility, resulting in the further
development of his skills in writing and in sculpture. In the plastic arts, two pieces of beauty are
still preserved at the Ateneo. One is the figure of Our Lady carved in batikulin, and the other is
the image of the Sacred Heart. His literary pieces at this stage of his life were mostly poems
inspired by historical events. 

He expressed his ideals on the value of education in later poems while a Student of the
Ateneo. One Poem, Por La Education Recibe Lustre La Patria ("Through Education the Country
Receives Light") expressed the potential benefits that can be derived from educating the
citizenry. He stressed that responsible education instils in the youth noble ideas and sublime
virtues. Learning infuses truth and discipline brings peace, glory, and tranquility to the nation.
In another poem, Alianza Intima Entire la Religion y la Buena Education ("Intimate Alliance
Between Religion and Good Education"), Rizal elucidated the concept that faith and belief in
truth and love of God are discovered in dedicated study and cultivation of the human mind. 

The academic excellence of Rizal and his literary prowess qualified him for membership
in two exclusive societies at the Ateneo: The Academy of Spanish Literature, and the Academy
of Natural Science. He also joined the Marian Congregation (Sodality of Our Lady) and the
Apostleship of Prayer. He later became the secretary of the Marian Congregation and the
perfect of the Academy of Spanish Literature. 

At the University of Santo Tomas: A Crucial Decision. After graduating from the Ateneo, he
enrolled in courses in philosophy and letters at the University of Santo Tomas. He also took up
surveying and agriculture at the Ateneo. Before he was 21 years old, he completed the surveyor
and expert assessor's course with a grade of "excellent.” 

He finally decided to take up medicine at the University of Santo Tomas because he

wanted to treat the failing eyesight of his mother. The academic freedom that he had enjoyed
while at the Ateneo was damped by prejudicial limitations at the University, His general
average was creditable but he found the classroom inadequate for his academic curiosity. 

Paciano advised him to go to Europe to broaden his perspective and to seek outlets for
his talents. Prodded by his growing sense of nationalism, Rizal had also thought of going to
Europe to seek more knowledge of western wisdom and opportunity. They seemed to have
made a secret agreement on what Rizal was to accomplish abroad with the moral and financial
support of Paciano. In his first letter to his brother, Paciano implied references to their previous
understanding that besides continuing his studies, Jose had an important mission - something
he (Jose) was most interested in and to which Paciano was also committed - to find ways by
which he (Jose) could help the Filipino cause.

Racial Discrimination Inspired a Lifetime Research. His greatest resentment during his
student days that motivated research and hard work was the pervading racial discrimination.
As a boy he knew he was looked upon simply because he was a native, an indio. While at the
Ateneo, he observed and analyzed the source of such discrimination. The Jesuit teachers treated
the student equally. Recognition was achieved through skill. But outside the classroom, the
Spanish boys were arrogant and insolent towards their brown classmates. At times the Filipino
boys were provoked into fights. Rizal felt that such an attitude was the imitation of the
harshness and hubris of their elders the "miserable indio" attitude all over again. 

In spite of his resentment Rizal did not seek to get even through violence, although at
times he was caught in fistfights over racial issues. He sought equality through the mastery of
mental skills. Rizal was second to no European and to no other student at the Ateneo. He
proved that despite the use of Spanish, the language of the white boys, as a medium of
instruction, a brown boy could equal them and still emerge the winner under the same
circumstances. 
While at the University of Santo Tomas he showed his literary prowess. He joined a
literary contest among mestizos and Filipinos sponsored by the Liceo Artistico Literario de Manila

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in 1879. He submitted his poem A La Juventud Filipina ("To the Filipino Youth”) and won the
first prize, feather shaped silver pen decorated with a gold ribbon. The following year the Liceo
sponsored another competition celebrating the centenary of the death of Miguel de Cervantes,
the national poet of Spain. Again, he won the first prize for his play El Consejo de los Dioses ("The
Council of the Gods"). 

These two prize winning works proved that an indio could write as well as a Spaniard,
or even better. A La Juventud Filipina was an open avowal of nationalism that evoked ideas of
freedom and independence for one nation and one people. El Consejo de los Dioses presented
the discussion among the Olympian gods and goddesses as to who the greatest poet was -
Homer, Virgil, or Cervantes. Jupiter was the final judge who measured the values of each poet's
masterpiece. His evaluation that all three works were of equal value. Critics and readers praised
the work lavishly until they discovered that its author was indio. They suddenly turned their
attention and compliments to the second place winner, a Spaniard by birth. Rizal was indignant
at this absurd behavior which was a clear evidence of the irrational racial prejudice at the time. 

Rizal derived a personal satisfaction from his education and he felt proud that he could
prove himself equal, if not superior, in intellectual acumen to the Spaniards. His solemn
determination to use his intelligence to save his people from the quagmire of ignorance made
him believe that educating the masses was the answer to the worsening misery of his
countrymen. The uphill struggle would be long and tedious but he knew that the only way to
emancipate his people was through education. 

The oppressive racial discrimination at the University of Santo Tomas gave Rizal an idea
for his one act play, Junto al Pasig. He had just turned 19 when he wrote it for the Academia de
Literatura Castellana of the Ateneo Municipal. He satirized the priest in the person of the devil
who sought adoration, and he described Spain as impious and pictured him as the cause of the
unhappiness of his once rich and happy country. When the play was staged, the Jesuits simply
laughed at the clever satire, but some friars took it as a grave insult. 

Trace Me Activity
Instruction: Using Jose Rizal’s ancestry as springboard, trace your own family tree
below

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Activity 1: Search and Identify

Mercado 1. The surname used by the Rizal family which means market.
Peciano _2. Who is Rizal’s considered as his second father.
11 including him 3. How many siblings that Jose Rizal have?
Francisco Mercado 4. He was considered as a ‘model Father”.
Sa aking mga kabata 5. A poem written by Jose Rizal at age eight.
Por La Education Recieve Lustre La Patria _6. A poem written by Jose Rizal that expressed the
potential benefits that can be derived from educating the citizenry.
His mother_7. Jose Rizal’s first teacher.
TeodoraAlonza 8. Her death was considered as Jose Rizal’s first sorrow.
At thel of 3 9. What age did Jose Rizal learn to read and write the alphabet?
Philosophy, letters, and medicine 10. The course that Rizal took in UST.

References:

Constantino, Renato. A past Revisited. Volume 1. Twentieth Printing. 1975.

Coates, Austin. Rizal- Filipino Nationalist & Patriots. Manila. Solidaridad Publishing House:
1992

Wani-Obias, Rhodalyn et.al. The Life and Works of Jose Rizal; C & E Publishing, Inc. 2018.

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Zaide, G. and Zaide, S. (1994). Jose Rizal: Life, Works, and Writings of a Genius, Writer,
Scientist and National Hero. Manila, Philippines: All-Nations Publishing Co., Inc.

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