COLEGIO DE SANTA CATALINA DE ALEJANDRIA

Bishop Epifanio B. Surban St., Dumaguete City

THE LIFE AND WORKS OF JOSE RIZAL

MODULE 2
I. The Rizal, Law,

Overview

Republic Act No. 1425, known as the Rizal Law, mandates all educational institutions in the Philippines
to offer courses about José Rizal. The full name of the law is An Act to Include in the Curricula of All Public and
Private Schools, Colleges and Universities Courses On the Life, Works and Writings of Jose Rizal, Particularly His
Novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, Authorizing the Printing and Distribution Thereof, and for Other
Purposes.

This module focuses on the issues and interests at stake on the debate over the bill and be more critical
in analyzing the contrasting views of those in favor and against the Rizal Law.

Objectives

(1) Determine the issues and interests at stake in the debate over the Rizal Bill
(2) Relate the issues to present-day Philippines
(3) Explain the history of the Rizal law and its important provisions

Pretest

Select the best response that best answers the statement or questions. (Short Bond Paper)
 1. Rizal law is also known as _______
a. R.A. 1425 b. R.A1245 c. R.A 1542 d. R.A 1452
2. The Rizal Law was signed on ________
a. June 12, 1956 b. June 19, 1951 c. June 24, 1952 d. June 30, 1969
3. Before it became the Rizal law it was called
a. House Bill 5561 and Senate Bill 438 c. House Bill 6155 and Senate Bill 348
b. Senate Bill 364 and House Bill 6551 d. Senate Bill 384 and House Bill 5165
4. The Rizal law was authored by
a. Claro M. Recto b. Jose P. Laure c. Fr. Horacio De la Costa d. Isagani Arcilla
5. In the law, it is one of the novels of Rizal which the readings should be mandatory
a. Noli Me Tangere b. Mi Ultimo Adios c. la Juventud Filipina d.Kundiman
6. Who sent the pastoral letter representing the stand of the church towards the proposal of making the reading of
Rizal’s novels a requirement in college?
a. Bishop Rufino Santos b. Fr. Horacio Dela Costa c. Fr. Jesus Cavanna d. Fr. Florentino
7. When did the 19th century started and ended
a. 1801-1900 b. 1900-1999 c. 1800-1900 d. 1901-2000

ACTIVITY 1
Read the following sources of information and answer the guide questions. Write your answers in your notebook for
Soc. Sci.

1. Compare and contrast the views of those in favor and against RA 1425, considering the context of the
1950s, what issues and interest were at stake in the debate over Rizal bill?
2. Do these issues remain important in the present day?
3. Why is there a need to study the life works and writings of Rizal?

THE RIZAL BILL was as controversial as Jose Rizal himself.

The mandatory Rizal subject in the Philippines was the upshot of this bill which later became a law in 1956.
The bill involves mandating educational institutions in the country to offer a course on the hero’s life, works, and
writings, especially the ‘Noli Me Tangere’ and ‘El Filibusterismo’. The transition from being a bill to becoming a
republic act was however not easy as the proposal was met with intense opposition particularly from the Catholic
Church.

Largely because of the issue, the then senator Claro M. Recto—the main proponent of the Rizal Bill—was
even dubbed as a communist and an anti-Catholic. Catholic schools threatened to stop operation if the bill was
passed, though Recto calmly countered the threat, stating that if that happened, then the schools would be
nationalized. Afterward threatened to be punished in future elections, Recto remained undeterred.

Concerning the suggestion to use instead the expurgated (edited) version of Rizal’s novels as mandatory
readings, Recto explained his firm support for the unexpurgated version, exclaiming: “The people who would
eliminate the books of Rizal from the schools would blot out from our minds the memory of the national hero. This
is not a fight against Recto but a fight against Rizal.” (Ocampo, 2012, p. 23)

T he bill was eventually passed, but with a clause that would allow exemptions to students who think that
reading the Noli and Fili would ruin their faith. In other words, one can apply to the Department of Education for
exemption from reading Rizal’s novels—though not from taking the Rizal subject. The bill was enacted on June 12,
1956.

RA 1425 and other Rizal laws

The Rizal Bill became the Republic Act No. 1425, known as the ‘Rizal Law’. The full name of the law is “An
Act to Include in the Curricula of All Public and Private Schools, Colleges and Universities Courses on the Life,
Works and Writings of Jose Rizal, Particularly His Novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, Authorizing the
Printing and Distribution Thereof, and for Other Purposes.“

The first section of the law concerns mandating the students to read Rizal’s novels. The last two sections
involve making Rizal’s writings accessible to the general public—they require the schools to have a sufficient number
of copies in their libraries and mandate the publication of the works in major Philippine languages.

Jose P. Laurel, then senator who co-wrote the law, explained that since Jose Rizal was the founder of the
country’s nationalism and had significantly contributed to the current condition of the nation, it is only right that
Filipinos, especially the youth, know about and learn to imbibe the great ideals for which the hero died. Accordingly,
the Rizal Law aims to accomplish the following goals:
1. To rededicate the lives of youth to the ideals of freedom and nationalism, for which our heroes lived and died

2. To pay tribute to our national hero for devoting his life and works in shaping the Filipino character

3. To gain an inspiring source of patriotism through the study of Rizal’s life, works, and writings.

So far, no student has yet officially applied for exemption from reading Rizal’s novels. Correspondingly, former
President Fidel V. Ramos in 1994, through Memorandum Order No. 247, directed the Secretary of Education,
Culture and Sports and the Chairman of the Commission on Higher Education to fully implement the RA 1425 as
there had been reports that the law had still not been totally carried out. In 1995, CHED Memorandum No. 3 was
issued enforcing strict compliance to Memorandum Order No. 247. Not known to many, there is another republic
act that concerns the national hero. Republic Act No. 229 is an act prohibiting cockfighting, horse racing, and jai-alai
on the thirtieth day of December of each year and to create a committee to take charge of the proper celebration of
Rizal day in every municipality and chartered city, and for other purposes.

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1425

AN ACT TO INCLUDE IN THE CURRICULA OF ALL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS, COLLEGES AND
UNIVERSITIES COURSES ON THE LIFE, WORKS AND WRITINGS OF JOSE RIZAL, PARTICULARLY
HIS NOVELS NOLI ME TANGERE AND EL FILIBUSTERISMO, AUTHORIZING THE PRINTING AND
DISTRIBUTION THEREOF, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

WHEREAS, today, more than any other period of our history, there is a need for a re-dedication to the ideals of
freedom and nationalism for which our heroes lived and died;

WHEREAS, it is meet that in honoring them, particularly the national hero and patriot, Jose Rizal, we
remember with special fondness and devotion their lives and works that have shaped the national character;

WHEREAS, the life, works and writing of Jose Rizal, particularly his novels Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo, are a constant and inspiring source of patriotism with which the minds of the youth, especially
during their formative and decisive years in school, should be suffused;

WHEREAS, all educational institutions are under the supervision of, and subject to regulation by the State, and
all schools are enjoined to develop moral character, personal discipline, civic conscience and to teach the duties
of citizenship; Now, therefore,

SECTION 1. Courses on the life, works and writings of Jose Rizal, particularly his novel Noli Me Tangere and
El Filibusterismo, shall be included in the curricula of all schools, colleges and universities, public or private:
Provided, That in the collegiate courses, the original or unexpurgated editions of the Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo or their English translation shall be used as basic texts.

The Board of National Education is hereby authorized and directed to adopt forthwith measures to implement
and carry out the provisions of this Section, including the writing and printing of appropriate primers, readers
and textbooks. The Board shall, within sixty (60) days from the effectivity of this Act, promulgate rules and
regulations, including those of a disciplinary nature, to carry out and enforce the provisions of this Act. The
Board shall promulgate rules and regulations providing for the exemption of students for reasons of religious
belief stated in a sworn written statement, from the requirement of the provision contained in the second part of
the first paragraph of this section; but not from taking the course provided for in the first part of said paragraph.
Said rules and regulations shall take effect thirty (30) days after their publication in the Official Gazette.

SECTION 2. It shall be obligatory on all schools, colleges and universities to keep in their libraries an adequate
number of copies of the original and unexpurgated editions of the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, as
well as of Rizal’s other works and biography. The said unexpurgated editions of the Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo or their translations in English as well as other writings of Rizal shall be included in the list of
approved books for required reading in all public or private schools, colleges and universities.

The Board of National Education shall determine the adequacy of the number of books, depending upon the
enrollment of the school, college or university.

SECTION 3. The Board of National Education shall cause the translation of the Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo, as well as other writings of Jose Rizal into English, Tagalog and the principal Philippine
dialects; cause them to be printed in cheap, popular editions; and cause them to be distributed, free of charge, to
persons desiring to read them, through the Purok organizations and Barrio Councils throughout the country.
SECTION 4. Nothing in this Act shall be construed as amendment or repealing section nine hundred twenty-
seven of the Administrative Code, prohibiting the discussion of religious doctrines by public school teachers
and other person engaged in any public school.

SECTION 5. The sum of three hundred thousand pesos is hereby authorized to be appropriated out of any fund
not otherwise appropriated in the National Treasury to carry out the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: June 12, 1956

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 52, No. 6, p. 2971 in June 1956.

The Importance of Studying Rizal

The academic subject on the life, works, and writings of Jose Rizal was not mandated by law for nothing. Far from
being impractical, the course interestingly offers many benefits that some contemporary academicians declare that
the subject, especially when taught properly, is more beneficial than many subjects in various curricula.

The following are just some of the significance of the academic subject:

1. The subject provides insights on how to deal with current problems

There is a dictum, “He who controls the past controls the future.” Our view of history forms the manner we perceive
the present, and therefore influences the kind of solutions we provide for existing problems. Jose Rizal course, as a
history subject, is full of historical information from which one could base his decisions in life. In various ways, the
subject, for instance, teaches that being educated is a vital ingredient for a person or country to be really free and
successful.

2. It helps us understand better ourselves as Filipinos

The past helps us understand who we are. We comprehensively define ourselves not only in terms of where we are
going, but also where we come from. Our heredity, past behaviors, and old habits as a nation are all significant clues
and determinants to our present situation. Interestingly, the life of a very important national historical figure like
Jose Rizal contributes much to shedding light on our collective experience and identity as Filipino. The good grasp of
the past offered by this subject would help us in dealing wisely with the present.

3. It teaches nationalism and patriotism

Nationalism involves the desire to attain freedom and political independence, especially by a country under foreign
power, while patriotism denotes proud devotion and loyalty to one’s nation. Jose Rizal’s life, works, and writings—
especially his novels—essentially, if not perfectly, radiate these traits. For one thing, the subject helps us to
understand our country better.

4. It provides various essential life lessons

We can learn much from the way Rizal faced various challenges in life. As a controversial figure in his time, he
encountered serious dilemmas and predicaments but responded decently and high-mindedly. Through the crucial
decisions he made in his life, we can sense his priorities and convictions which manifest how noble, selfless, and
great the national hero was. For example, his many resolutions exemplified the aphorism that in this life there are
things more important than personal feeling and happiness

5. It helps in developing logical and critical thinking

Critical Thinking refers to discerning, evaluative, and analytical thinking. A Philosophy major, Jose Rizal
unsurprisingly demonstrated his critical thinking skills in his argumentative essays, satires, novels, speeches, and
written debates. In deciding what to believe or do, Rizal also proved his being a reasonably reflective thinker, never
succumbing to the irrational whims and baseless opinions of anyone. In fact, he indiscriminately evaluated and
criticized even the doctrines of the dominant religion of his time. A course on Rizal’s life, works, and writings
therefore is also a lesson in critical thinking.

6. Rizal can serve as a worthwhile model and inspiration to every Filipino

If one is looking for someone to imitate, then Rizal is a very viable choice. The hero’s philosophies, life principles,
convictions, thoughts, ideals, aspirations, and dreams are a good influence to anyone. Throughout his life, he valued
nationalism and patriotism, respect for parents, love for siblings, and loyalty to friends, and maintained a sense of
chivalry. As a man of education, he highly regarded academic excellence, logical and critical thinking, philosophical
and scientific inquiry, linguistic study, and cultural research. As a person, he manifested versatility and flexibility
while sustaining a strong sense of moral uprightness.
7. The subject is a rich source of entertaining narratives

People love fictions and are even willing to spend for books or movie tickets just to be entertained by made-up tales.
But only a few perhaps know that Rizal’s life is full of fascinating non-fictional accounts.

For instance, it is rarely known that (1) Rizal was involved in a love triangle with Antonio Luna as also part of the
romantic equation; (2) Rizal was a model in some of Juan Luna’s paintings; (3) Rizal’s common-law wife Josephine
Bracken was ‘remarried’ to a man from Cebu and had tutored former President Sergio Osmeña; (4) Leonor Rivera
(‘Maria Clara’), Rizal’s ‘true love’, had a son who married the sister of the former President of the United Nations
General Assembly Carlos P. Romulo; (5) the Filipina beauty queen Gemma Cruz Araneta is a descendant of Rizal’s
sister, Maria; (6) the sportscaster Chino Trinidad is a descendant of Rizal’s ‘first love’ (Segunda Katigbak); and (7)
the original manuscripts of Rizal’s novel (Noli and Fili) were once stolen for ransom, but Alejandro Roces had
retrieved them without paying even a single centavo.

Readings:
1. Republic of the Philippines. 1956. Republic Act 1425. Available online,
http://www.gov.ph/ 1956/06/12/republic-act-no-1425/.

2. Laurel, Jose B. Jr. 1960. The trials of the Rizal Bill. Historical Bulletin 4(2): 130–39.

3. Constantino, Renato. 1969. The Rizal Law and the Catholic hierarchy. In The making
of a Filipino: A story of Philippine colonial politics, 244–47. Quezon City: The
Author.
4. Schumacher, John. 2011. The Rizal Bill of 1956: Horacio de la Costa and the bishops.
Philippine Studies 59(4): 529–53.

III. Rizal’s Life : Family, Childhood and Early Education

Learning Outcomes:

1. Analyze Rizal’s family, childhood and early education

2. Evaluate the people and events and their influence on Rizal’s early life.
3. Create a timeline of Rizal’s childhood and early education.

Activity 2

1. Create a timeline of Rizal’s Childhood and early education.

Timeline a graphic representation of the passage of time as a line. Example

2. Write a short biographical essay that compare the student’s early childhood with Rizal’s
early childhood.

,
This is the student memoirs or reminiscences of José Rizal. He wrote it from 1879 to 1881, from the age of 17 to
20. The English translation is by the José Rizal National Centennial Commission. It is taken from the book José
Rizal: Life, Works, and Writings of a Genius, Writer, Scientist, and National Hero by Gregorio F. Zaide and
Sonia M Zaide (Metro-Manila: National Book Store Publishers).

Chapter 1: My Birth – Early Years

I was born in Calamba on 19 June 1861, between eleven and midnight, a few days before full moon. It was a
Wednesday and my coming out in this vale of tears would have cost my mother her life had she not vowed to
the Virgin of Antipolo to take me to her sanctuary by way of pilgrimage. (02) All I remember of my early days
is I don’t know how I found myself in a town with some scanty notions of the morning sun, of my parents, etc.
The education that I received since my earliest infancy was perhaps what has shaped my habits, like a jar that
retains the odor of the body that it first held.

I still remember the first melancholy nights that I spent on the terrace [azotea - Zaide] of our house as if they
happened only yesterday -- nights full of the saddest poem that made impression of my mind, the stronger the
more tempestuous my present situation is. I had a nurse [aya - Zaide] who loved me very much and who, in
order to make me take supper (which I had on the terrace on moonlit nights), frightened me with the sudden
apparition of some formidable asuang, [ghosts], of a frightful nuno, or parce-nobis, as she used to call an
imaginary being similar to the Bu of the Europeans. They used to take me for a stroll to the gloomiest places
and at night near the flowing river, in the shade of some tree, in the brightness of the chaste Diana. . . . . Thus
was my heart nourished with somber and melancholic thoughts, which even when I was a child already
wandered on the wings of fantasy in the lofty regions of the unknown. I had nine sisters and one brother. My
father, a model of fathers, had given us an educational commensurate with our small fortune, and through thrift
he was able to build a stone house, buy another, and to erect a little nipa house in the middle of our orchard
under the shade of banana trees and others. There the tasty ate [atis] displays its delicate fruits and bends its
branches to save me the effort of reaching for them; the sweet santol, the fragrant and honeyedtampooy, the
reddish macupa, here contend for supremacy; farther ay are the plum tree, the casuy, harsh and piquant, the
beautiful tamarind, equally gratifying to the eyes and delightful to the palate, here the papaya tree spreads its
broad leaves and attracts the birds with its enormous fruits, yonder at thenangca, the coffee tree, the orange tree,
which perfumes the air with the aroma of its flowers; on this side are the iba, the balimbing, the pomegranate
with its thick foliage and beautiful flowers that enchant the senses; here and there are found elegant and
majestic palm trees loaded with enormous nuts, rocking its proud crown and beautiful fronds, the mistresses of
the forests. Ah! It would be endless if I were to enumerate all our trees and entertain myself in naming them! At
the close of the day numerous birds came from all parts, and I, still a child of thee years at the most, entertained
myself by looking at them with unbelievable joy. The yellow caliauan, the maya of different varieties, the culae,
the maria capra, themartin, all the species of pitpit, joined in a pleasant concert and intoned in varied chorus a
hymn of farewell to the sun that was disappearing behind the tall mountains of my town. Then the clouds,
through a whim of nature, formed a thousand figures that soon dispersed, as such beautiful days passed away
also, leaving behind them only the flimsiest remembrances. Alas! Even now when I look out the window of our
house to the beautiful panorama at twilight, my past impressions come back to my mind with painful eagerness!
Afterwards comes night; it extends its mantle, sometimes gloomy through starred, when the chaste Delia (03)
does not scour the sky in pursuit of her brother Apollo. But if she appears in the clouds, a vague brightness is
delineated. Afterwards, as the clouds break up, so to speak, little by little, she is seen beautiful, sad, and hushed,
rising like an immense globe, as if an omnipotent and invisible hand is pulling her through the spaces. Then my
mother would make us recite the rosary all together. Afterward we would go to the terrace or to some window
from which the moon can be seen and my nurse would tell us stories, sometimes mournful, sometimes gay, in
which the dead, gold plants that bloomed diamonds were in confused mixtures, all of them born of an entirely
oriental imagination. Sometimes she would tell us that men lived in the moon and the specks that we observed
on it were nothing else but a woman who was continuously spinning. When I was four years old I lost my little
sister (Concha) and then for the first time I shed tears caused by love and grief, for until then I had shed them
only because of my stubbornness that my loving proving mother so well knew how to correct. Ah! Without her
what would have become of my education and what would have been my fate? Oh, yes! After God the mother
is everything to man. She taught me how to read, she taught me how to stammer the humble prayers that I
addressed fervently to God, and now that I’m a young man, ah, where is that simplicity, that innocence of my
early days?
In my own town I learned how to write, and my father, who looked after my education, paid an old man (who
had been his classmate) to give me the first lessons in Latin and he stayed at our house. After some five months
he died, having almost foretold his death when he was still in good health. I remember that I came to Manila
with my father after the birth of the third girl (Trinidad) who followed me, and it was on 6 June 1868. We
boarded a casco, (04) a very heavy craft. I had never yet gone through the lake of La Laguna consciously and
the first time. I did, I spent the whole night near the catig, (04) admiring the grandeur of the liquid element, the
quietness of the night, while at the same time a superstitious fear took hold of me when I saw a water snake
twine itself on the bamboo canes of the outriggers. With what joy I saw the sunrise; for the first time I saw how
the luminous rays shone, producing a brilliant effort on the ruffled surface of the wide lake. With what joy I
spoke to my father for I had not uttered a single word during the night. Afterward we went to Antipolo. I’m
going to stop to relate the sweetest emotions that I felt at every step on the banks of he Pasig (that a few years
later would be the witness of my grief), in Cainta, Taytay, Antipolo, Manila, Santa Ana, where we visited my
eldest sister (Saturnina) who was at that time a boarding student at La Concordia. (05) I returned to my town
and I stayed in it until 1870, the first year that marked my separation from my family. This is what I remember
of those times that figure in the forefront of my life like the dawn of the day. Alas, when shall the night come to
shelter me so that I may rest in deep slumber? God knows it! In the meantime, now that I’m in the spring of life,
separated from the beings whom I love and most in the world, now that sad, I write these pages. . . let us leave
Providence to act, and let us give time to time, awaiting from the will of God the future, good or bad, so that
with this I may succeed to expiate my sins. 8 Dulambayan, (06) Sta. Cruz, Manila, 11 September 1878. (01) P.
Jacinto was the first pen name used by Rizal in his writings. His other pen names were Laong-Laan and Dimas
Alang. (02) Filipinos, Spaniards, and Chinese venerated the Virgin of Antipolo since Spanish colonial days. The
month of May is the time of pilgrimage to her shrine. She is also called Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage,
the patron saint of travelers. One legend says her image saved from shipwreck the crew of a ship that bore her
from Acapulco to Manila many years ago. (03) The name of Diana, goddess of the moon and of hunting. (04)
Casco is a Philippine river craft, made of wood, used for passengers and freight. The catig is the vessel’s
outriggers made of bamboo canes. (05) A well-known boarding school for girls, the Sisters of Charity
administered La Concordia College. It was founded in 1868 by Margarita Roxas de Ayala, a wealthy Filipino
woman, who gave her country home called La Concordia in Sta Ana, Manila to the school and hence its popular
designation. Its official name is Colegio de la Immaculada Concepcion. (06) Rizal Avenue, named for the
national hero, absorbed this old street. At that point its name was dropped.

Chapter 2: My Life Away from My Parents / My Sufferings

It is true that the memory of past days is like a gentle balm that pours over the heart a melancholy sweetness, so
much sweeter and sadder the more depressed the one remembering it is. Turning my eyes, my memory, and my
imagination towards the days past, that I don’t wish to remember for being very painful, the first that I
discovered is Biñan, a town more or less an hour and a half distant from mine. This is my father’s birthplace
and to which he sent me to continue the study of the rudiments of Latin that I had begun. One Sunday, my
brother took me to that town after I had bade my family, that is my parents and brothers [sisters -- Zaide]
goodbye, with tears in my eyes. I was nine years old and already I tried to hide my tears. Oh, education, oh,
shame, that obliges us to hide our sentiments and to appear different! How much beauty, how many tender and
pathetic scenes the world would witness without you! We arrived at Biñan at nightfall and we went to the house
of an aunt where I was to stay. The moon was beginning to peep, and in the company of Leandro, her grandson,
I walked through the town that seemed to me large and rich but ugly and gloomy. My brother left me
afterwards, not without having first introduced me to the teacher who was going to teach me. It seemed to me
that he had also been his. He was tall, thin, long-necked, with a sharp nose and body slightly bent forward, and
he used o wear a sinamay shirt, woven by the skilled hands of the women of Batangas. He knew by heart the
grammars by Nebrija and Gainza. Add to this his severity that in my judgment was exaggerated and you have a
picture, perhaps vague, that I have made of him, but I remember only this. When I entered his class for the first
time, that is, in his house, which was of nipa and low, about thirty meters away from my aunt’s (for one had
only to pass through a portion of the street and a little corner cooled by an apple tree,) (07) he spoke to me in
these words: “Do you know Spanish?” “A little sir,” I replied. “Do you know Latin? “A little sir,” I answered
again. For these replies the teacher’s son Pedro, the naughtiest boy in the class, began to sneer at me. He was a
few years older than I and was taller than I. We fought, but I don’t know by what accident I defeated him,
throwing him down some benches in the classroom. I released him quite mortified. He wanted a return match,
but as the teacher had already awakened, I was afraid to expose myself to punishment and I refused. After this I
acquired fame among my classmates, perhaps because of my smallness so that after class, a boy invited me to a
fight. He was called Andres Salandanan. He offered me one arm to twist and I lost, and almost dashed my head
against the sidewalk of a house. I don’t want to amuse myself by narrating the whacks that I suffered nor
describe what I felt when I received the first beating on the hand.
Some envied me and others pitied me. Sometimes they accused me wrongly, sometimes rightly, and always the
accusation cost me half a dozen or three lashes. I used to win in the gangs, for no one defeated me. I succeeded
to pass over many, excelling them, and despite the reputation I had (good boy) rare was the day when I was not
whipped or given five or six beatings on the hand. When I went in the company of my classmates, I got from
them more sneers, nicknames, and they called me Calambeño, (08) but when only one went with me, he
behaved so well that I forgot his insults. Some were good and treated me very well, like Marcos Rizal, son of a
cousin of mine, and others. Some of them, much later, became by classmates in Manila, and we found ourselves
in very changed situations. Beside the house of my teacher, who was Justiniano Aquino Cruz, stood that of his
father-in-law, one Juancho, an old painter who amused me with his paintings. I already had such an inclination
for this art that a classmate of mine, called José Guevara and I were the “fashionable painters” of the class. How
my aunt treated me can be easily deduced from the following facts: We were many in the house: My aunt, two
cousins, two nieces, Arcadia and Florentina, and a nephew, Leandro, son of a cousin. My aunt was an old
woman who must be seventy or so years old. She used to read the Bible in Tagalog, lying down on the floor.
Margarita (Itay), my cousin, was single, very much addicted to confessing and doing penance. Her brother
Gabriel was a widower. Arcadia was a tomboy, of an inflexible character and irritable, though she had a simple
and frank nature. The other, Florentina, was a little girl of vulgar qualities. As to Leandro, he was a capricious,
papered little boy, a flatterer when it suited him, of an ingenious talent, a rascal in the full meaning of the term.
One day when we went to the river, which was only a few steps from our house, inasmuch as we passed beside
an orchard, while we were bathing on the stone landing, for I did not dare go down as it was too deep for my
height, the little boy pushed me so hard that had not one of my feet been caught, without doubt I would have
been drowned for the current was already pulling me. This cost him some lashes with a slipper (09) and a good
reprimand by my aunt. Sometimes we played in the street at night for we were not allowed to do so instead the
house. Arcadia, who was two or three years older than I, taught me games, treating me like a brother; only she
called me “Uncle José”! In the moonlight I remembered my hometown and I thought, with tears in my eyes, of
my beloved father, my idolized mother, and my solicitous sisters. Ah, how sweet to me was Calamba, in spite of
the fact that it was not as wealthy as Biñan! I would feel sad and when, least expected, I stopped to reflect. Here
was my life. I heard the four o’clock Mass, if there was any, or I studied my lesson at that hour and I went to
Mass afterwards. I returned home and I went to the orchard to look for a mabolo (10) to eat. Then I took
breakfast, which consisted generally of a dish of rice and two dried small fish, and I went to class from which I
came out at ten o’clock. I went home at once. If there was some special dish, Leandro and I took some of it to
the house of her children (which I never did at home nor would I ever do it), and I returned without saying a
word. I ate with them and afterwards I studied. I went to school at two and came out at fie. I played a short
while with some nice cousins and I returned home. I studied my lesson, I drew a little, and afterwards I took my
supper consisting of one or two dishes of rice with an ayungin. (11) We prayed and when there was a moon, my
nieces invited me to play in the street together with others. Thank God that I never got sick away from my
parents.
From time to time I went to Calamba, my hometown. Ah, how long the way home seemed to me and how short
the way back was! When I sighted from afar the roof of our house, I don’t know what secret joy filled my heart.
Moreover I used to leave Biñan early in the morning before sunrise and I reached my hometown when its rays
already were shining obliquely over the broad meadows. And I used to return to Biñan in the afternoon with the
sad spectacle of the disappearance of the sun king. How I looked for pretexts to stay longer in my town; one
more day seemed to be a day in heaven, and how I cried -- though silently and secretly -- when I would see the
calesa (12) that was going to take me. Then everything seemed to me sad, that I might not see them again upon
my return. It was a new kind of melancholy, a sad pain, but gentle and calm that I felt during my early years.
Many things that are of no importance to the reader happening to me until one day I received a letter from my
sister Saturnina advising me of the arrival of the steamer Talim that was to take me on a certain day. It seemed
that I had a presentiment that I would never come back so that I went very often and sadly to the chapel of the
Virgin of Peace. I went to the river and gathered little stones to keep as a souvenir. I made paper fish and
readied everything for my departure. I bade my friends and my teacher farewell with a pleasant and profound
sadness, for even sufferings, when they have been frequent and continuous, became so dear to the heart, so to
speak, that one feels pain upon leaving them. I left Biñan, then, on 17 December 1870 [sic. 1871 - Zaide]. I was
nine years old at one o’clock on the afternoon of Saturday. For the first time I saw a steamer. It seemed to me
very beautiful and admirable when I heard the conversation of my cousin, who took me, with the boatman on its
manner of running. It was the only one they were waiting for.
Two sailors put my things in a cabin and I went to see it. I thought I was going alone, without a companion, but
a Frenchman called Arturo Camps, my father’s friend, was in charge of accompanying me. The trip seemed to
me very long, according to my beliefs with regard to a steamer. At sea, I remember I spilled the chocolate.
Finally we arrived at Calamba. Oh, my joy on seeing the beach! I wanted to jump at once into a banca, but a
crewman took me in his arms and put me in the captain’s boat. Afterwards the Frenchman came and four sailors
rowed us to the beach. It was impossible to describe my happiness when I saw the servant with the carriage
waiting for us. I jumped and here I’m again in my house with the love of my family. Everything was for me joy,
days of happiness. I found a little house with lie rabbits, well decorated and painted for the pre-Christmas
Masses. My brothers [brother and sisters -- Zaide] did not stop talking to me. This is the end of my
remembrance of that sad and gay time during which I tasted strange food for the first time. . . Alas, it seems that
I was born destined to painful and equally bitter scenes! I have withheld nothing important. My situation, how
different from that one! Salcedo Street, No. 22 Monday, 28 October 1878 (01) This so-called “apple” tree is
locally named manzanitas for it bears very tiny apples. (02) That is a native (masculine) of Calamba.
(03) In Spanish, chinelazos, literally, lashes administered with a slipper with a leather sole, a common way of
punishing children in Filipino homes. (04) Mabolo or mabulo (Diospyros discolor, Wild.) is a tree that bears
fruits of the same name. When ripe, it is fragrant, fleshy, sweet, and satisfying. (05) Ayungin is the name of a
small (about 12 centimeters long), fresh water, inexpensive fish (Therapon plumbeus Kner). (06) A horse-drawn
vehicle, light and airy.

[NOTE: In his letter to Blumentritt, written at Geneva, June 10, 1887, Rizal said that he stayed in Biñan for “a
year and a half.” (The Rizal-Blumentritt Correspondence, Part 1, p 100. Rizal began his studies in Biñan in June
1870 and returned to Calamba in December 1871 -- really one year and a half.]

I don’t know how to describe to you my past days. I would not have been able to furnish you with anything
notable had not something occurred that was truly unpleasant and sad that I could not forget it. Have you ever
felt your honor outraged, your name tarnished, by persons who owed you many favors? My pen refuses and
would have refused forever to put on paper some remembrances that I should like to forget if my purpose were
not to make a succinct narration of my joys and misfortunes. I will tell you that a few days after my arrival at
my town, it was decided to make me stay there and send me to Manila later. The day came when I had desired
to study under a teacher of the town. Of course, I learned nothing more than the multiplication table. During this
time an uncle of mine (Mr. José Alberto) arrived from Europe. During his absence his wife failed lamentably in
her duties as mother and wife. He found his house empty and his children abandoned two or three days before
by the culprit. Frantic the poor man set out to look for the whereabouts of his wife until at last he found her. He
thought of divorcing her but at my mother’s pleading, he agreed to live with her again. He passed through
Calamba on his way to Biñan, where he resided. A few days later the infamous woman, in connivance with a
lieutenant of the civil guard, who was a friend of our family, accused her husband of being a poisoner and my
mother as his accomplice for which my mother was imprisoned by Mr. Antonio Vivencio del Rosario, a
fanatical mayor, (13) a servant of the friar. I don’t want to tell you our resentment and profound sorrow. Since
then, though still a child, I have distrusted friendship and doubted men. We were nine brothers [brother and
sisters - Zaide] and our mother was unjustly snatched away from us and by whom? By some men who had been
our friends and whom we had treated as sacred guests. We learned later that our mother got sick, far from us
and at an advanced age. Oh, God. I admire and respect your most sacred will! The mayor, at the beginning,
deluded by the accusations, and cautioned against everything that is noble, treated my mother rudely, not to say
brutally, and later made her confess what they wanted her to confess, promising to release her and to let her see
her children if she would say what they wanted her to say. What mother could resist, what mother would not
sacrifice her life for her children? My mother, like all mothers, deceived and frightened (because they told her
that if she did not say what they wanted her to say, they would declare her guilty) submitted to the will of her
enemies and weakened. The question became complicated until, oh, Providence! The mayor himself asked my
mother for pardon, but when? When the case was already in the Supreme Court, (14) he asked for forgiveness
because he suffered remorse and he was horrified by his vileness. Messrs. Francisco de Marcaida and Manuel
Marzan, the most famous lawyers of Manila, defended my mother. She finally succeeded to be acquitted and
vindicated in the eyes of her judges, accusers, and even her enemies, but after how long? After two and a half
years. In the meantime they discussed my career and they decided that I should go to Manila with my brother
Panciano to take the entrance examinations and study the secondary course at the Ateneo Municipal. (15) I
therefore went down to Manila on June 10, 1872 and took an examination on the Christian Doctrine, arithmetic,
and reading at the College of San Juan de Letran. They gave me a grade of “Approved” and with this I returned
to my hometown happy, having for the first time experienced what examinations were.
A few days later the town feast was celebrated, after which I went down to Manila, but with sad feelings that I
would again become unhappy. 22 Salcedo Street 1 November 1872 (01) In Spanish, alcalde who exercised the
combined functions of town executive and judge. (02) This was called the Real Audiencia de Manila. (03) This
was the famous school conducted by the Jesuit Fathers, renowned for their educational work.
Chapter 4: 1872 – 1875

Today I’m going to relate to you my studies. As I had expected, I was introduced at the Ateneo Municipal to the
Rev. Father Miniter [administrator - Zaide] who at that time was Father Magin Ferrando. At first he did not
want to admit me either because I had come after the period of admission was over or because of my rather
weak constitution and short stature: I was then eleven years old. But later, at the request of Mr. Manuel Jerez
[Manuel Xeres Burgos - Zaide], nephew of the ill-fated Father Burgos (16) and now Licentiate in Medicine, the
difficulties were removed and I was admitted. I dressed like the rest, that is, I put on a coat with a ready-made
necktie. With what fervor I entered the chapel of the Jesuit Fathers to hear Mass, what most fervent prayers I
addressed to God, for in my sadness I didn’t know whom else to invoke. After Mass, I went to class were I saw
a great number of children, Spaniards, mestizos, (17) and Filipinos, and a Jesuit who was the professor. He was
called Father José Bech. He was a tall man, thin, with a body slightly bent forward, with hasty pace, an ascetic,
severe and inspired physiognomy, sunken, small eyes, sharp Grecian nose, fine lips forming an arch whose ends
turned towards his beard. The Father was somewhat a lunatic so that one should not be surprised to find him
sometimes disgusted himself, playing like a child. Among my classmates I should mention to you some were
quite interesting and perhaps would be mentioned by me frequently. One boy or young man of my own
province called Florencio Gavino Oliva had an excellent mind but was of ordinary studiousness. One Joaquin
Garrido, a Spanish mestizo, with poor memory but bright and studious. Resembling him very much was one
Moises Santiago, mathematician and penman. One was Gonzalo Marzano, who then occupied the canopied
throne of a Roman Emperor. You should know that in the Jesuit colleges, in order to stimulate students, they put
up two empires, one Roman and the other Carthaginian or Greek, constantly at war, and in which the highest
positions were won through challenges, the winner being the one who made three mistakes less than his rival.
They put me at the tail end. I scarcely knew Spanish but I already understood it. After retreat (18) I left and I
found my brother waiting for me to take me home, which I was about twenty-five minutes from the college for I
didn’t want to stay in the walled city (19) which seemed to me very gloomy. I found a companion called Pastor
Millena, a boy of my own age. The house was small, located at Caraballo Street. A river ran alongside two
corners. The house consisted of a dining room, a drawing room, a sleeping room, and kitchen. A bower covered
the small space between the gate and the stairs. My landlady was an unmarried woman called Titay, who owed
us over 300. Her mother lived with us, a good old woman, almost harmless insane, and some young Spanish
mestizos, the fruits of frail love affairs. I shall not tell you how much I suffered, nor shall I tell you of my
displeasures and joys. I will only tell you what happened to me in the class during that year. At the end of one
week, I was promoted and I stayed at noon at the Colegio de Sta. Isabel, (20) paying three pesos there. I lived
with Pastor. A month later I was already the emperor. Ah, how happy I was when for the first time I got a
religious print for a prize! In the first quarter I won a first prize with the grade of excellent, but afterwards I was
disgusted on account of some words uttered by my professor, and I did not want to study hard any more, so that
at the end of the year, to my misfortune, I obtained only accessit (21) in all my subjects, grade of excellent
without getting any first prize. I spent my vacation in my hometown and I accompanied my elder sister Neneng
to Tanauan for the town feast. This happened in 1873. But my happiness was never complete for my mother
was not yet with us. I went to visit her then alone without telling my father about it. This was after the school
term and I told her that I received accessit. With what delight I surprised her! But afterwards we embraced each
other weeping. It was almost more than a year that we had not seen each other. Even now I remember with sad
pleasure the mute scene that occurred between us. Ah, how cruel men are towards their fellow men! I visited
her again. When vacation was over, I had to return to Manila to enroll for the second year course and to look for
a landlady inside the walled city, for I was tired living outside the city. I found one on Magallanes Street,
number 6, where lived an old lady called Doña Pepay, widow, with her daughter, also a widow, called Doña
Encarnacion with four sons. José, Rafael, Ignacio, and Ramon. Nothing extraordinary happened to me this year.
I only had other classmates, or rather, I encountered again three who were my classmates in Biñan. They were
called Justiniano Sao-jono, Angel and Santiago Carrillo. At the end of the year I won a metal and I returned to
my hometown. I visited my mother again alone and there, like another Joseph, I predicted, interpreting a dream
of hers, that within three months, she would be released, a prediction that was realized by accident. But this
time I began to devote myself to my leisure hours to the reading of novels, though years before I h ad already
read El Ultimo Abencerraje, (22) but I didn’t read it with ardor. Imagine a boy of twelve years reading the
Count of Montecristo, (23) enjoying sustained dialogues and delighting in its beauties and following step by
step its
hero in his revenge.
Under the pretext that I had to study universal history, I importuned my father to buy me Cesare Cantu’s work,
(24) and God alone knows the benefit I got from its perusal, for despite my average studiousness and my little
practice in the Castilian tongue, in the following year I was able to win prizes in the quarterly examinations and
I would have won the medal were it not for some mistakes in Spanish, that unfortunately I spoke badly, which
enabled the young man M. G., a European, to have an advantage over me in this regard. Thus, in order to study
the third year course, I had to return to Manila and found Doña Pepay without a room for boarders. I had to stay
at the house of D. P. M. together with a rich fellow townsman called Quintero. I was discontented because they
were strict with me but I kept regular hours, which was good for me. I prayed and played with the landlord’s
children. My mother was not delayed in coming out free, acquitted, and vindicated, and as soon as she was out
she came to embrace me. I wept. . . . After two months and a half, I left that house and returned to the recently
vacated room in the house of my landlady, Doña Pepay, and returned also to the same life as before. As a result
of what happened to me in my studies, as I have already narrated, I received only the first prize in Latin, that is,
a medal, not like last year, so that I returned to my hometown discontented, though I knew that many would
have danced with joy for less. My family resolved to put me in the college as a boarder. Indeed it was time for I
was giving very little attention to my studies. I was already approaching thirteen years and I had not yet made
any brilliant showing to my classmates. Until here lasted my happiest days, though short; but what does it
matter if they were short? Calamba, 7 April 1879. (01) Father José A. Burgos (1837-1872) and two other
Filipino clergymen Jacinto Zamora (1835-1872) and Mariano Gomez (1799-1872) were garroted on the 17th of
February 1872 on Bagumbayan Field Manila falsely charged of complicity in the mutiny at the Cavite Arsenal
in 1872. (02) Mestizo in the Philippines to Filipinos of mixed parentage; hence, Spanish mestizo is the offspring
of a Spaniard and a Filipino; a Chinese mestizo, of a Chinese and a Filipino; American mestizo, of an American
and Filipino, etc. A Catholic practice consisting of a certain number of days devoted to religious meditation and
exercises. This is the Walled City of Manila or intramuros where many churches and convents and government
buildings were found. This was a large boarding school for girls in front of the Ateneo. Apparently it then
admitted boys as day boarders. Second prize. Spanish version of Le Denier des Abencer ages a novel by
Viscount Francios Rene de Chateaubriand (1768-1848) A novel of Alexander Dumas, father (1802-1870) (03)
(04) (05) (06) (07) (08)
(09) Cantu’s book was entitled Universal History.

Chapter 5: Two Years in College

Soon to become eighteen years old and disillusioned, scarcely have I stepped on life’s threshold, I direct my
glance toward the first time the breath of the tempest, already engulfed, turns his glance toward the shore and
reminds him of his peaceful hours. Ah, I weep for you, placid hours that disappeared from the scene of my life
more rapidly and fugaciously than lightning that shines on the dark road of the traveler. So sad is my situation
that I doubt if I had ever been happy at all for I doubt if those days had ever existed. During vacation my sisters
made clothes for me and during that time also my sister made clothes for me and during that time also my sister
Narcisa married . . . I cannot portray here what I felt on seeing the separation of a sister whom I loved so much .
. . and notwithstanding it had to be thus. I entered college then on 16 June 1875. My classmates received me
well. The brother wardrobe-keeper assigned to me an alcove located in the corner of the dormitory looking out
to the sea and the embankment. It consisted of a space of about two square varas, (25) an iron bedstead on
which they placed my bedding, a small table with a basin, which a servant filled with water, a chair and a
clothes rack. I forgot to say that in the little table I had a drawer with soap, comb, brushes for the hair and for
the teeth, powder, etc. My little money that amounted to some eight pesos, I kept under my pillow. We didn’t
go to the alcove but twice a day regularly, once at siesta to wash and again at night to sleep. On holidays, in the
afternoons, we dressed and we went out for a stroll. The rest of the time we spent in the study hall, at recess, in
the classes, in the dining room, and in the chapel. In spite of my thirteen years to fourteen, I was still very small,
and as it is known that new students, especially the small ones, are received by the big ones with jokes, so it was
on my first day, my pranks having attracted their attention. In a chorus they teased me and when they calmed
down I told them in a tranquil voice: “Gentlemen, thanks.” Since then they respected me and they didn’t tease
me maliciously. Excepting a few, all my companions were good, simple, pious, just, and amiable. There was no
one among us who would want to control the rest by force, for power is achieved through skill. I had the luck to
win if not the love at last the esteem of all of them. The names of some of my classmates shall never be eased
from my memory; among them that of one Jovellanos, of one Lete (Enrique) and of others whose enumeration
would be very pleasant for me but I foresee will be vexing to the reader. Our Professor was a model of
uprightness, earnestness, and love of the advancement of his pupils; and so much was his zeal that I, who
scarcely spoke very ordinary Spanish, at the end of a short time, succeeded already to write it moderately well.
His name was Francisco de Paula Sanchez. With his aid I studied mathematics, rhetoric, and Greek with some
advantage. Often I got sick with fever despite the gymnastic exercises that we had, in which I was very much
behind, though not so in drawing under a teacher worthy of his name and under whose guidance I still continue
to study. I’m proud to tell you, reader, that I spent this year better than anybody else as a student, as a man, and
as a Christian. Ten months passed that I haven’t written anything in my diary because I don’t want to relate to
you inspired occurrences, and
thank God I won five medals with an immense pleasure for with them I could somewhat repay my father for his
sacrifices. What sentiments of gratitude did not then spring from my heart and wit what sad delight I kept them
still! After having bidden farewell to my superiors, teachers, and companions, I left. . . Who has not felt the
vague melancholy that seizes the heart upon separating from one’s companions? Who, at the age of fourteen
years, if he has enjoyed the favor of the Muses, does not shed tears on the transition from childhood to young
manhood? My arrival at my hometown in the company of a father who idolized me mitigated somewhat my
sorrow, and I spent my vacation in the best way possible. I retained to college after three months and I began to
study again, though the subject that I took was different. I was in the fifth year and already I was a philosopher.
I had other professors, called Fathers Vilaclara and Minoves, the first one of whom liked me very much and to
whom I was somewhat ungrateful. Although I was studying philosophy, physics, chemistry, and natural history
and in spite of the fact that Father Vilaclara had told me to give up the society of the Muses and give them a last
goodbye (which made me cry), in my leisure hours, I continued speaking and cultivating the beautiful language
of Olympus under the direction of Father Sanchez. So sweet is their society that after having tasted it, I cannot
conceive how a young heart can abandon it. What matters, I said to myself, the poverty that is the eternal
companion of the Muses? Is there anything sweeter than poetry and sadder than the prosaic positivism of
metallic hearts? Thus I dreamed then! I studied the fifth year course with the same success as the previous one,
though under other circumstances. Upright, severe philosophy, inquiring into the why of things attracted also
my attention as did poetry, beautiful as she alone can be, playing with the charms of nature and leaving traces
that breathe sublimity and tenderness. Physics, lifting up the veil that covers many things, showed me a wide
stage where the divine drama of nature was performed. The movement, sound, warmth, light, electricity, a
thousand varied phenomena, the most beautiful colors and delicate beauties entertained me during my free
hours. Polarization plunged me into a world of mysteries from which I have not yet emerged. Ah, how beautiful
is science when the one teaching it knows how to embellish it! Natural history seemed to me somewhat
antipathetic. Why, I asked myself, if the perusal of history and the description of the birds and flowers, of
animals and of crystals captivate me so much, why do I loathe seeing them reduced to a harsh order and wild
animals mixed with tame ones? Shells pleased me very much for their beauty and because I knew that they
inhabited the beaches of which my innocent imagination dreamed and treading on them I imagined the most
beautiful waters of the seas and lakes lapping my feet. Sometimes I seemed to see a goddess with a shell that I
saw in the shelf. At last the end of the term came and the same thing happened to me. I carried away another
five medals due to the indulgence with which my superiors treated me and to my no little luck in winning them.
The day before the distribution of prizes, a feeling tormented me, the saddest and most melancholy that I had
ever felt. On thinking that I had to leave that asylum of peace in which was somewhat opened my mind and my
heart began to have better sentiments, I fell into a profound sadness. The last night on going to my dormitory
and considering that night would be the last I would spend in my peaceful alcove, because, according to what
they said, the world was waiting for me, I had a cruel presentiment which unfortunately was realized. The moon
shone mournfully,
illuminating the lighthouse and the sea, presenting a silent and grand spectacle that seemed to tell me that the
next day another life awaited me. I was unable to sleep until one o’clock in the morning. It dawned and I
dressed. I prayed fervently in the chapel and commended my life to the Virgin so that when I should step into
that world which inspired me with so much terror, she would protect me. The prizes were distributed, they gave
me the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and I believe that any young man who was fifteen years old, loved by his
companions and professors, with five medals and the degree of Bachelor of Arts, the dream of the student of the
secondary course, should be very much contented. (26) But, alas, it did not turn out that way! I was sad, cold,
and pensive. Two or three tears rolled down my cheeks, tears offered as in farewell to the time past, to my good
luck that would never come back, to my peace that soared to heaven leaving me alone on earth. Imagine it and
you will feel if, if you have a heart. Now it remains for me to evaluate the two years that I consider the happiest
of my life, if happiness consists in living without vexatious cares. In what way have I advanced, that is, what
had I learned during the first year of my residence in college? What did I get from what I had learned? I entered
college still a child with very little knowledge of Spanish, with a moderately developed mind, and almost
without refined sentiments. By force of study, of analyzing myself, of aspiring higher, of a thousand
corrections, I was little by little transformed thanks to the beneficent influence of a zealous professor. My
mortality of that time makes me now sigh on remembering that state of sweetest tranquility of my spirit. By
cultivating poetry and rhetoric, my sentiments were further elevated and Virgil, Horace, Cicero, and other
authors showed me another road through which I could walk to attain one of my aspirations. I don’t know if my
present state makes me see the beauty of the past and the sadness of the present, but the truth is that when I was
a college student, I never wanted to leave college and that now I would give anything to get over this terrible
age of youth. Had I been perchance like the brook that, while following its delightful way amidst willows and
dense flowers smiles and frolics and upon being converted into a torrent angrily and turbulently flings itself
until it is buried in the sea? My second year in college resembled the first with the difference that patriotic
sentiments as an exquisite sensibility had been greatly developed in me.
It passed like the first among principles of logic, physics, and poetical compositions. I had advanced somewhat
in the cultivation of the Muses so much that I had composed a legend that suffered very slight correction by my
professor and a dialogue that was staged for the first time at the end of the school term, alluding to the students’
farewell. Goodbye then, beautiful, unforgettable period of my life, brief twilight that will not shine again! If my
eyes no longer shed tears upon recalling you, my heart melts and seems to be oppressed! I have your memory
here in my heart, in my mind, in my whole being. Farewell fortunate hours of my lost childhood; fly to the
bosom of pure Innocence that created you to sweeten the moments of tender hearts. Manila, 1 December 1879.
(01) A vara is a measure of length, about 32 inches. (02) W. E. Retana, Rizal’s Spanish biographer, writes in his
Vida y escritos del Dr. José Rizal(Madrid, 1907, p. 30) “. . . Rizal at the age of scarcely sixteen years, or rather
when he left the Ateneo with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in his pocket, was studious, very
studious; reflective, modest, of great moral honesty; and besides having passed with the grade of excellent in all
subjects and won through competition almost all the prizes, had shown signs of being a poet, and designer. In
truth, the same cannot be said of all men.

IV. Rizal’s Life Higher education and Life abroad

Learning Outcomes:

1. Evaluate what the propaganda movement is and what it stood for

2. Distinguish Rizal’s Involvement in the movement
3. Explain the principle of assimilation advocated by the propaganda movement
4. Analyze Rizal’s growth as a Propagandist and disavowal of assimilation

Activity 3 Answer the following questions

1. Why do you think this document was written?

2. Write two paragraphs summarizing this document.
3. List two things the document tells you about

a. Jose Rizal
b. Propaganda Movement
c. Disavowal of assimilation

Rise of the Propaganda Movement

The conditions in the Philippines after 1872 worsened – the Filipino leaders were deported to Spanish
disciplinary districts and the intellectuals were put on the trails. As the assaults done by Spanish became
unstoppable, many Filipino students gathered in different places all around the world, such as London,
Singapore and Madrid. Their established goal was to bring happiness to their homeland and encourage social
security. The campaign, called “Propaganda Movement”, which they had created, fought aggressively, but
peacefully at the same time, with the Spanish system, by the use of words in form of speeches as well as pieces
of writing. It has begun in 1872, at the time when 3 men – Burgos, Zamora and Gomez were killed and lasted
for 24 years.

Goals of the Propaganda Movement

The main goals of the Propaganda Movement was to create reforms in the Philippines. Students, who
created the movement, wanted the Philippines to be acknowledged as a province of Spain and to be represented
in the Spanish Cortes. Status of the Filipinos and Spaniards was supposed to be equal – as well as the human
rights, for example freedom of speech and press. One of the main goals was also to secularize parishes of the
Philippines.

The Propagandists

The Propagandists, who consisted of upper-class Filipinos, created the movement not only for the
political purposes, but the most importantly for the cultural reasons. They aimed to open Spaniard’s eyes to the
needs of their country and to bind together both countries more closely. The Propagandists were students with a
good education, an “ideal examples of Filipino manhood” – with patriotic minds and brave souls. One of the
most influential members of the Propaganda Movement consisted of José Rizal, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Marcelo
H. del Pilar of Bulacan and many more.
 However, the most remarkable of the members is claimed to be José Rizal – writer, ophthalmologist,
scholar, and scientist. He was born in 1861 into a Chinese family and from the beginning he shown a substantial
intelligence. After graduating from the University of Madrid, his career stretched onto two dimensions – one
was becoming a leader and a spokesperson of the society created among Filipino students in many cities of
Europe. The second one was creating close relationships with scientists, mostly the ones from Germany. Rizal
was very interested in anthropology – he wanted to prove wrong the stereotypes of Filipinos, which were
created among many people, by presenting his scientific arguments. However, his two novels “Noli Me
Tangere” from 1886 and “El Filibusterismo” from 1891, were the factors that influenced the Filipino evolution
of national consciousness. Even though both novels were banned, some of the copies spread among Filipino
people and gained a broad range of readers in no time.

The second influential Propagandists also worth mentioning is Graciano Lopez Jaena. The journalist,
after publishing his novel "Fray Botod", left for Spain in 1880. However, while being there, he had not stopped
his actions – Lopez Jaena started to publish "La Solidaridad". This newspaper became one of the main organs of
the Propaganda Movement and had a large number of audiences in both Spain and the Philippines.
Weakening of the Propaganda Movement

The arrest of Rizal as well as the fall down of the Liga Filipina began the weakening process of the
Propaganda Movement. Shortly after that, in 1895, La Solidaridad stopped to be published and Lopez Jaena
died. Moreover, even though some people tried to reestablish Liga Filipina, their actions ended in failure.

Filipinos used the Propaganda Movement as a medium in their pursuit for independence from Spain. The
whole movement began as gentle actions and advices created by students from the Philippines, who attended
universities in Europe. Because of the fact that the level of education provided at that time in the Philippines
was low and offered mostly in Spanish (which Filipino did not know that well), many young people followed
their education path abroad. After seeing what is happening in other countries, how free people seem to be in
Europe, they wanted to do something about the bad conditions in their homeland. This is how the Propaganda
Movement was created. The Propagandist used literature to create change and in this way provide people with
knowledge.

Between 1872 and 1892, a national consciousness was growing among the Filipino émigrés who had settled in
Europe. In the freer atmosphere of Europe, these émigrés--liberals exiled in 1872 and students attending
European universities--formed the Propaganda Movement. Organized for literary and cultural purposes more
than for political ends, the Propagandists, who included upper-class Filipinos from all the lowland Christian
areas, strove to "awaken the sleeping intellect of the Spaniard to the needs of our country" and to create a closer,
more equal association of the islands and the motherland. Among their specific goals were representation of the
Philippines in the Cortes, or Spanish parliament; secularization of the clergy; legalization of Spanish and
Filipino equality; creation of a public school system independent of the friars; abolition of the polo (labor
service) and vandala (forced sale of local products to the government); guarantee of basic freedoms of speech
and association; and equal opportunity for Filipinos and Spanish to enter government service.

The most outstanding Propagandist was José Rizal, a physician, scholar, scientist, and writer. Born in 1861 into
a prosperous Chinese mestizo family in Laguna Province, he displayed great intelligence at an early age. After
several years of medical study at the University of Santo Tomás, he went to Spain in 1882 to finish his studies
at the University of Madrid. During the decade that followed, Rizal's career spanned two worlds: Among small
communities of Filipino students in Madrid and other European cities, he became a leader and eloquent
spokesman, and in the wider world of European science and scholarship--particularly in Germany--he formed
close relationships with prominent natural and social scientists. The new discipline of anthropology was of
special interest to him; he was committed to refuting the friars' stereotypes of Filipino racial inferiority with
scientific arguments. His greatest impact on the development of a Filipino national consciousness, however,
was his publication of two novels--Noli Me Tangere (Touch me not) in 1886 and El Filibusterismo (The reign
of greed) in 1891. Rizal drew on his personal experiences and depicted the conditions of Spanish rule in the
islands, particularly the abuses of the friars. Although the friars had Rizal's books banned, they were smuggled
into the Philippines and rapidly gained a wide readership.

Other important Propagandists included Graciano Lopez Jaena, a noted orator and pamphleteer who had left the
islands for Spain in 1880 after the publication of his satirical short novel, Fray Botod (Brother Fatso), an
unflattering portrait of a provincial friar. In 1889 he established a biweekly newspaper in Barcelona, La
Solidaridad (Solidarity), which became the principal organ of the Propaganda Movement, having audiences
both in Spain and in the islands. Its contributors included Rizal; Dr. Ferdinand Blumentritt, an Austrian
geographer and ethnologist whom Rizal had met in Germany; and Marcelo del Pilar, a reformminded lawyer.
Del Pilar was active in the antifriar movement in the islands until obliged to flee to Spain in 1888, where he
became editor of La Solidaridad and assumed leadership of the Filipino community in Spain.
In 1887 Rizal returned briefly to the islands, but because of the furor surrounding the appearance of Noli Me
Tangere the previous year, he was advised by the governor to leave. He returned to Europe by way of Japan and
North America to complete his second novel and an edition of Antonio de Morga's seventeenth-century work,
Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (History of the Philippine Islands). The latter project stemmed from an
ethnological interest in the cultural connections between the peoples of the pre-Spanish Philippines and those of
the larger Malay region (including modern Malaysia and Indonesia) and the closely related political objective of
encouraging national pride. De Morga provided positive information about the islands' early inhabitants, and
reliable accounts of pre-Christian religion and social customs.

After a stay in Europe and Hong Kong, Rizal returned to the Philippines in June 1892, partly because the
Dominicans had evicted his father and sisters from the land they leased from the friars' estate at Calamba, in
Laguna Province. He also was convinced that the struggle for reform could no longer be conducted effectively
from overseas. In July he established the Liga Filipina (Philippine League), designed to be a truly national,
nonviolent organization. It was dissolved, however, following his arrest and exile to the remote town of Dapitan
in northwestern Mindanao.

The Propaganda Movement languished after Rizal's arrest and the collapse of the Liga Filipina. La Solidaridad
went out of business in November 1895, and in 1896 both del Pilar and Lopez Jaena died in Barcelona, worn
down by poverty and disappointment. An attempt was made to reestablish the Liga Filipina, but the national
movement had become split between ilustrado advocates of reform and peaceful evolution (the
compromisarios, or compromisers) and a plebeian constituency that wanted revolution and national
independence. Because the Spanish refused to allow genuine reform, the initiative quickly passed from the
former group to the latter.

V. RIZAL’S LIFE: EXILE, TRIAL AND DEATH

Learning Outcomes

1. Analyze the factors that led to Rizal’s execution

2. Analyze the effects of Rizal’s execution on Spanish colonial rule and the Philippine Revolution.

Activity 4
1. Formulate 10 Questions about the Readings.
2. Write a reflection learned from the Readings.(at least 500 words)

La Liga Filipina
Jose Rizal established this civic association in the house of Doroteo Ongjunco at Ilaya Street, Tondo, Manila on
July 3, 1892. Though it was Jose Ma. Basa who conceived the establishment of ‘La Liga Filipina’ (The
Philippine League), his friend and namesake Jose Rizal was the one who wrote its constitution in Hong Kong
and actually founded it upon his return in the Philippines in 1892.

Considered an indirect upshot and subsidiary of the Propaganda, the La Liga aimed to directly involve the
patriotic Filipinos, especially those based in the country, in the reform movement. Intending to uplift the life of
the Filipinos, the society would promote mutual aids through projects like establishing cooperatives to provide
supports like legal assistance, scholarship grants, and economic loans. The La Liga aspired, among others, to:

(1) unite the whole archipelago into one strong and united organization;

(2) have mutual protection in every need and want;

(3) serve as a defense against all violence and injustices;

(4) encourage education, agriculture, and commerce; and

(5) study the application of reforms.

The meeting in the house of Doroteo Ongjunco was attended by at least 20 Filipinos, including Andres
Bonifacio and Apolinario Mabini. Rizal explained the aims of the ‘La Liga Filipina’ and officers were
afterward elected, having Ambrosio Salvador as the president and Deodato Arellano as secretary.

Three days after the meeting though, Rizal was arrested, imprisoned, and later deported to Dapitan. The society
thus became inactive, but was immediately reorganized through the active efforts of Andres Bonifacio and
Domingo Franco. The revived organization expressed its support for the Propaganda Movement and its cause
and vowed to raise funds for its operations.

However, disagreements on how reform should be attained soon emerged as some members wanted armed
revolution whereas others wanted to preserve La Liga’s principle of a peaceful reform. The La Liga was thus
dissolved before long and its membership split into two groups: (1) the ‘Cuerpo de Compromisarios’ which
comprised the conservatives who aimed to continue supporting the La Solidaridad, and (2) the ‘Katipunan’
which consisted of the radicals led by Bonifacio. The ‘Cuerpo’ ultimately died out while the Katipunan
attracted many Filipinos. Historically therefore, Rizal’s La Liga gave birth to Bonifacio’s Katipunan.

THE TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF DR.JOSE RIZAL”

Martyrs are rare stars in the vast firmament of humanity. Every

Instance of martyrdom is distinct in magnitude and direction.
Indeed martyrs are the meteors of history, they flash across the
sky and light the world and in the process consume themselves .
They are the person who is put to death or made suffer greatly or
other beliefs because of religion. Other elements of martyrdom
are usefulness of life and dedication to a high purpose.

Rizal’s death was an emotional event in our history as it produced

A “martyr” and resulted in some form of social change or transformation in our lives as a people. Rizal was put to death
for
“subversion” by the dominant political forces. He presented a sector
Of society which had begun to trouble and therefore constituted a real
Threat to the existing social order.

“ THE TRIAL OF DR. JOSE RIZAL”

The spanish colonial government accused Rizal of three crimes:

(a) The founding of La Liga Filipina, an “illegal organization”
Whose single aim was to “Perpetrate the crime of rebellion”.
(b) Rebellion which he promoted through his previous activities.
(c)ILLegal association

-The penalty for for those accusation is life imprisonment to death

And correctional imprisonment and a charge of 325 to 3,250 Pesetas.

The prosecution drew information from the dossier on Rizal which

Detailed his” subervise activities” some of which are the following:
1.The writing and publication of “Noli me Tangere”, the Annotations
to Morga’s History of the Philippines, “El Filibusterismo”, and the
various articles which criticized the friars and suggested their
expulsion in order to win independence. The El Filibusterismo was
dedicated to the three martyr priests who were executed as traitors
to the Fatherland in 1872 because they were the moving spirit of the
uprising of that year.
2.The establishment of masonic lodges which became the propaganda
and fund raising center to support subvervise activities and the
establishment of centers in Madrithe ,Hongkong and Manila to propa-
gate his ideas.

After finishing as much evidence as possible on November 20, 1896

the preliminary on Rizal began. During the five-day investigation,Rizal
was informed of the charges against him before Judge advocate Colonel Francisco Olive.

·Two kinds of Evidences Endorsed By Colonel Olive to Governor

Ramon Blanco:
Two kinds of Evidences Endorsed By Colonel Olive to Governor

Ramon Blanco:
1.Documentary
-fifteen exhibits
2.Testimonial
-Provide by Martin Constantino, Aguedo del Rosario, Jose Reyes,
Moises Salvador, Jose Dizon,Domingo Franco, Deodato Arellano,
Pio Valenzuela , Antonio Salazar, Francisco Quison, and Timoteo Paez.
The Judge Rafael Dominguez advocate assigned with the task of deciding what corresponding action should be
done.After a brief

Review transmitted the records to Don Nicolas de la Pena.

Pena’s recommendations were as follows:

- Rizal must be immediately sent to trial
·He must be held in prison under necessary security
· His properties must be issued with order of attachment
And as indemnity,Rizal had to pay one million pesos
·Instead of a civilian lawyer,only an army officer is allowed
To defend Rizal.
The lawyer of Rizal is Lt. Luis Taviel de Andrade Brother of Lt. Jose
Traviel de Andrade who worked as Rizal’s personal body guard in
Calamba in 1887.In the presence of his Spanish Counsel on December
11, 1896, charges against Rizal were read in the presence of his Spanish counsel.
When they asked regarding his sentiments or reaction on the charges,
Rizal replied that in his defense.
-He does not question the jurisdiction of the court.
-He has nothing to amend except that during his exile in Dapitan in
1892, he had not dealt in political matters.
-He has nothing to admit on the charges against him.
-He had nothing to admit on the declarations of the witnesses,he had not met nor knew,against him.

The Execution Of Dr.Jose Rizal

Despite all valid pleadings the military court,vindictive as it was
Unanimous voted for the sentence of death. Polavieja affirmed
The decision of the court martial and ordered to be shot at
7:00 in the morning of December 30 1896 at Bagumbayan field.
Rizal was heavily guarded and was accompanied by the Jesuits as
He walked from Fort Santiago to Bagumbayan. He wore a black woolen suit and a derby hat and his arms were
tied behind him.
During the walked, he recalled his youth and his student days
At the Ateneo. And in Bagumbayan itself, the Spanish troops held
Back the crowd while the artillery group stood on alert to prevent any attempt to rescue Rizal. His brother
Paciano who had joined the
Revolution forces was said to have discouraged groups who might
Want to save Rizal since thay would not be able to match Spanish
Firepower. The captain in charge of the execution instructed Rizal
Were to position himself, to turn his back against the squad and the

Face the sea. However, Rizal requested to face the firing squad, as such position instructed was only taken by
traitors and he was not one of them. The captain could not do anything for he was only following orders.Hence,
failing to have his request granted, he asked to be shot at the back instead of the head so that he may, at the end ,
turn his head and body sidewise and fall with his face upward.The captain agreed,he also asked if he would like
to kneek but Rizal refused nor did he agree to be blindfolded. A Jesuit priest now came running and
Asked Rizal to kiss the cruffix that he held.Rizal turned his back on the cruffix and thus,against the firing squad.
He was ready for the execution.

“ DR.JOSE RIZAL LAST DAY AND HIS EXECUTION”

Rizal spent his 24 hours in his death cell where he received members
Of his family and writes his letter,the first one to his “second brother”
Ferdinand Blumentritt. He gave his sisters,Trinidad and old petroleum
lamp and whispered to her in English that there is something inside
The lamp .Thus is Rizal’s famous Farewell poem. “Ultimo Adios”, (Last Farewell” was found. Rizal was said
to have married his Irish girlfriend
according to Catholic rited in the very last hours of his life, after living
with her for sometime in Dapitan. They were previously married civilly. On the morning of December
30,1896.Rizal set on his walk from
Fort Santiago to the Bagumbayan square, the same place where the three priest had been killed in 1872, now
Luneta Park, in the center of

Manila at 6:30 O’clock. And when the time to march to Bagumbayan Rizal he was ready to face his ultimate
death came, he was seen as
A man of peace and bravery. At exactly 7:03 am RIZAL shouted “Consummatum Est” before the shot run out.
The hero’s life ended. In
In the background could be heard, “Viva Espna! Death to traitors!.
Rizal’s Family was not able to take old of his body. The military had
secretly buried the body of Rizal at the Paco cemetery. Her sister
Narcisa looked for the cadaver everywhere but could not find it.
She passed by the unused Paco cemetery and saw through the open
Gate some civil guards. Finding this uncommon, she entered the cemetery and searched the place. She saw a
grave with freshly turned

earth and knew at once his was her brother’s body. With a little money,she asked the gravedigger to place a
plaque on it with her
brother’s initial reverse.That is R.P.J. for Protacio Jose.That afternoon the books, letter, and alcohol burner were
delivered

To Rizal’s family. At the base of the alcohol burner they found Rizal’s
last masterpiece the MI ULTIMO ADIOS. The copies were given to each family member and some are to the
Cavite insurgents.
After the Americans had taken Manila, Narcisa requested the new government to grant her permission to
exhume the body of his brother.
They found out that the body was never placed in a coffin, nor even
Wrapped by anything. Rizal’s family had possession of the body the remains were instituted at the base of the
Rizal monument which was
erected at the center of the Luneta.

B. FILM VIEWING

Option 1: Jose Rizal, GMA films, directed by Marilou Diaz Abaya

Option 2: Rizal sa Dapitan, directed by Tikoy Aguiluz

Activity 5

Reflection paper about the film. Guide Questions:

1. Describe the life of Jose Rizal as represented in the film

2. What can you say about the film’s representation of Jose Rizal?
3. What is the main question that the film seeks to answer?
4. What is your own reflection based on the film and your understanding?