CHAPTER 3

RIZAL’S LIFE , CHILDHOOD AND EARLY EDUCATION

Introduction
Jose Rizal was a man of incredible intellectual power, with amazing artistic talent as well. He
excelled at anything that he put his mind to-medicine, poetry, sketching, architecture;
sociology……The list seems nearly endless. Thus, Rizal’s martyrdom by the Spanish colonial
authorities while he was still quite young was a huge loss to the Philippines, and to the world at
large. Rizal’s is considered one of the biggest families during their time. Researchers revealed
that the Mercado-Rizal family had also traces of Japanese, Spanish, Malay and Even Negrito
blood aside from Chinese.

Learning outcomes:
Analyze Rizal’s Family, childhood and early education. Evaluate the people and events and their
influence on Rizal’s life.

The Rizal Family was known to be well-off family in calamba, Laguna and they were considered as one of
the biggest families in those times. They lived a life of comfort and prosperity, then considered that his
family belonged to the principalia class or the ruling elite of their town. Jose Rizal came from a 13
member family, consisted to his father Don Francisco Mercado II and his mother Teodora Alonso
Realonda. Jose Rizal had nine sisters and one brother. Saturnina Rizal was the eldest child among the
siblings, followed by paciano, Narsisa Olympia, Lucia, Maria, Jose, Conception, Josefa and the youngest
was Soledad.

Rizal came from a mixture of races, his paternal ascendant was Domingo Lomco, a full-blooded Chinese.
He married a wealthy Chinese mestiza, Ines de la Rosa. Domingo Lamco adopted the surname Mercado,
which means “market in keeping the gubernatorial decree of narciso Claveria on the use of Spanish
surnames :From the parian in manila, the coupled move to Binan, Laguna and became tenants in the
Dominican hacienda.

Rizal’s father is one of the 14 children of Juan Mercado, paternal grandfather and his grandmother was
Cirila Alejandrino of binon Laguna. Rizal’s maternal great grandfather was manuel de Quintos, a Chinese
mestizo from lingayen, Pangasinan. Manuel married Regina ursub, with a Japanese ancestry to whom
they bore the grandmother of Rizal, Brigada who married Lorenzo Alberto Alonso, one of their.

DON FRANCISCO RIZAL MERCADO (1818-1898)

 Rizal’s Father was born on May 11, 1818 and was the youngest of his 13 siblings Mercado was a well-
respected man in their home town of Calamba in which citizens made him the their ‘cabeza de
barangay’ (head of town.) he was of port Chinese descent, having been related to a Chinese
entrepreneur by the name of Domingo Lamco, Mercado die shortly after Rizal in the home of his
daughter, Narcisa Rizal in Binondo, Manila on January 5,1898.

TEODORA ALONSO (1827- 1913)

Done Teodora Alonso was born on November 14, 1827 in Santa Cruz Manila. Her parents were Alonso,
a municipal captain and Brijida de Quintos, an educated housewife and had four other siblings. It is said
that her great grandfather, Eugenio . Ursua was of Japanese ancestry making her of Japanese descent.
When Teodora was 20 years old, she married Francisco Mercado, a native from Binan, Laguna.Together
they prospered in Calamba after involving themselves in business and agriculture. She was known to be
hardworking, intelligent, business minded woman. She died in 1913 in Manila.

SATURNINA RIZAL (1850-1913)

Saturnina Mercado Rizal Hidalgo was born in 1818 and was the eldest sister of Jose Rizal. She had five
children together with husband Manuel T. Hidalgo and died the same year as her mother in 1913.

PACIANO RIZAL (1951-1930)

General Paciano Mercado Rizal aka “ Lolo Ciano “ was the only brother of Jose Rizal . He was born in
1851 and studied in Binan later attending school at the Colegio de San Jose in Manila .After the
execution of his brother, he joined in the Philippine Revolution where he rose up to the ranks of a
General. He later married Severina Decena of los Banos and had two children of which one died at an
early age. Paciano passed away in 1930.

NARCISA RIZAL (1852-1939)

Narcisa Rizal Lopez was born in 1852 and was the one who found the unmarked grave of her brother,
Jose in the abandoned Old Paco Cemetery. Narcisa married Antonio Lopez who was a teacher and
musician from Morong, Rizal. She died in 1938.

OLYMPIA RIZAL (1855-1887)

Olympia Rizal Ubaldo was born in 1855. She married Silvestre Ubaldo and together they had three
children. She died in 1887 from childbirth when she was only 32 years old.

Lucio Rizal Herbosa was born in 1857. She married Mariano Herbosa and had 5 children together. In
1889 Mariano died due to an epidemic but was denied a Cristian burial. This was due to the fact that he
was the brother in law of Jose Rizal. This showed the beginning of the persecution of the Rizal family by
Spanish friars.

MARIA RIZAL (1859-1945)

Maria Cruz Rizal was born in 1855. She mamed Daniel Faustino Cruz of Binan, Laguna and together they
had 5 children. Mauricio Cruz, one of maria’s children became a student of Jose Rizal in Dapitan and was
known to be one of his uncle’s favorites. Maria was a known recipient of many od jose’s letters during
his lifetime. Maria died in 1945.

JOSE RIZAL

Jose Protacio Rizal was the second son and the eleventh child. He was executed by the Spaniards an
December 30,1896.

CONCEPTION RIZAL (1862-1865)

Conception Rizal was born in 1862.Conception did not live very long as she died of the age of 3 in 1865.

JOSEFA RIZAL (1865-1945)

Josefa Rizal was born in 1865. She was unmarried lived together with sister Trinidad until death.
Josefa was said to have suffered from epilepsy. She died in 1945.

TRINIDAD RIZAL (1868-1951)

Trinidad Rizal was born in 1868. She remained unmarried and lived together with her sister Josefa.
Trinidad was the one who received an alcohol lamp from brother Jose , in which he secretly hid the
“Last Farewell better known as “Mi Ultimo Adios, a poem Rizal wrote on the eve of his death in 1896.
Trinidad died in 1951, outliving all her siblings.

SOLEDAD RIZAL (1870-1929)

Soledad Rizal Quintero was born in 1870 making her. The youngest of the Rizal siblings. She married
Pantaleon Quintero and together they had 5 children. Soledad died in 1929.

RIZAL’S CHILDHOOD AND EARLY EDUCATION

Jose Rizal (Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal y Alonso Realondo) was born on June 19 ,1861 at Calamba,
Laguna. According to some readings, his mother nearly died during his delivery because of his big head.
Three days after his birth, Rizal was baptized on June 22 of the said year with the name Jose Rizal
Mercado at catholic church of Calamba by the parish priest Rev. Rufino Collantes. He was the seventh
child of Francisco Mercado Rizal and Teodora Alonso y Quintos. During 1865-1867, his mother taught
him how to read and write. At the age of three, Rizal mastered and learn the alphabet taught by his
mother. At a very young age, he has shown great interest in reading. He enjoyed reading books in their
library at home, with his mother who act as his reading teacher and a critic. At this time, he also learned
how to pray and even read the bible.

When Jose Rizal grew older, his parents acquired private tutors to give him lesson at home in
preparation for his formal education, one of them was Leon Monroy, a classmate of his father who
taught him the nudiments of lotion. At about this time, his mother’s cousin, uncle Manuel Alberto, who
frequently visited the family in Calamba, was worried about his nepheui’s physical development. He
then taught Rizal to develop the skills in swimming. Fencing, wrestling and other sports, while Uncle Jose
taught him to love and admire the beauty of nature. On the hand, Uncle Gregoria, a scholar, has instilled
in Rizal’s mind the love for education and its importance, the value of hard work to think for himself, and
to observe his surroundings carefully.

When he was four years old, his sister Conception, the eighth child in Rizal family, died at the age of
three. This was the first time he cried as a young boy. As sad as he was, the parish priest of calamba,
Father Leoncio Lopez, helped Rizal understand the philosophy of life and learned the value of
scholarship and intellectual honesty.

Rizal, in this childhood, used to take long rides through all the surrounding country by riding his pony
that his father gave him. Among his pets were doves and a dog. Owing to the continuous teaching of
Dona Teodora, Rizal was persuaded to express his feelings through verse. He was able to write his first
poem when he was eight years old. The poem was entitled “Sa Aking Mga kababata (To My Fellow
Children), which showed that Rizal even of a young age, already had love for his country. Here, he
similarly incorporates the love for the native language with God’s gift of freedom. He compared his
native language or tagalog to latin, English and Spanish. Tagalog, like any other languages, had its own
alphabet and system writing, which according to Rizal disappeared because they were neglected or
ignored. With this, he encourage his fellow children to love their native tongue.

Then, after Rizal’s tutor Leon Monroy died, his parents decided to transfer Rizal to a private school in
Binan, Laguna. He was accompanied by his older brother Paciano, who acted as his second father during
his school days in Binan the school was then supervised by Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz.

Rizal first day of class in the school was not easy. The maestro asked him if he knows how to speak latin
or Spanish, but in response, he only know a little of the languages. As a result, one of his classmate
named pedro, the son of the maestro, laughed at him. Pedro was always bullying him that eventually
resulted to a browl but knowing Rizal’s acquired knowledge and skills in the art of wrestling from his Tio
Manuel, he defeated Pedro. After the said incident, Rizal became popular in his class.Here, Rizal was
able to show his intellectual superiority.

He excelled in his class in Latin, Spanish and other subject in the curriculum for elementary pupils.
Because of this, many of the students became jealous to him and do everything to destroy Rizal’s name
to maestro Cruz. While Rizal’s interest in painting was nurtured early on by an old painter named
Juancho of Binan. During this time, knowledge was taught in the minds of the students by doing tedious
memorization method. Despite some lack of the elementary education in Spanish system, Rizal was able
to have the needed instruction preparatory for college work in Manila.
 Q and A

1. Identify the grandfather of Rizal to his father side.

A. Domingo Lam-co
B. Francisco Lam-co
C. Juan Lam-co
D. Clemente Lam-co
2. Rizal's mother, Teodora Alonzo, studied in one of these schools:
A. Ateneo Municipal del Manila
B. Colegio de Santa Rosa
C. University of santo Tomas
D. Sta. Catalina college
3. Who was the eldest sisters of Jose Rizal?
A. Saturnina
B. Choleng
C. Concha
D. Soledad
4. Who is Jose Rizal's Father?
A. Francisco Realonda Rizal
B. Francisco Mercado Rizal
C. Francisco Protacio Rizal
D. Francisco Alonzo Rizal
5. Rizal's mother, Teodora Alonzo Y Quintos, was born in Meisic, Manila in 1825 while is
father Francisco Mercado, a son of a well to do family engaged in agriculture, was born in
1818. In what town of Laguna was the father of Jose Rizal born?
A. Calamba
B. Los Baños
C. Santa Rosa
D. Biñan
6. Siblings of Jose Rizal who looked for the resting place and put a signage(R.P.J) after his
death.
A. Narcisa
B. Paciano
C. Lucia
D. Saturnina
7. Who was the older brother of Dr, Jose Rizal?
A. Pedro Paterno
B. Paciano Rizal
C. Francisco Mercado
D. Pilosopo Tasyo
8. Who's sister of Jose Rizal that married to Mariano Herbosa, who died of cholera in 1889
and was denied Christian burial because he was a brother- in law of Rizal?
A. Olimpia
B. Soledad
C. Trinidad
D. Lucia
9. Who had her pet's name Ypia?
A. Soledad
B. Maria
C. Olimpia
D. Josefa
10. From whom does Jose Rizal got his environmental influence of love of freedom and
justice?
A. Sister, Saturnina
B. Mother, Teodora
C. Father, Francisco
D. Brother, Paciano
11. According to his birth certificate what was the registered complete name of Jose Rizal?
A. Jose Rizal Mercado Y Alonzo
B. José Protacio Rizal Mercado Y Alonso Realonda
C. Jose Protacio Rizal Alonzo Y Mercado
D. Jose Mercado Rizal y Alonzo
12. Rizal was the___ of the eleven children born of the marriage of Francisco and Teodora.
A. 5th
B. 7th
C. 9th
D. 11th
13. What is the exact date of birth of Jose Rizal?
A. June 19, 1858
B. June 19, 1860
C. June 19, 1861
D. June 19, 1862
14. Based on the earlier question, to whom did Rizal give his last poem?
A. Trinidad
B. Soledad
C. Josefa
D. Saturnina
15. Her death brought Rizal's first sorrow.
A. Narcisa
B. Olimpia
C. Trinidad
D. Concepcion
Answer key
1. C
2. B
3. A
4. B
5. D
6. A
7. B
8. D
9. C
10. D
11. B
12. B
13. C
14. A
15. D