Advent of A Hero

Chapter 1

Advent of a National Hero

The Birth of a Hero
Dr. Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado Y Alonso Realonda
was born on the moonlit night of Wednesday,
June 19, 1861, in the
lakeshore town of
Calamba, Laguna
Province Philippines. His
mother almost died
during the delivery
because of his big head.
He was baptized in the Catholic church of his town
on June 22, aged three days old, by the parish priest
Father Rufino Collantes, who was a Batangueño. His
godfather was Father Pedro Casanas, native of
Calamba and close friend of the Rizal family.
During the christening
ceremony Father Collantes
was impressed by the
baby’s big head, and told
the members of the family
who were present: “Take
good care of this child, for
someday he will become a
great man.” His words
proved to be prophetic, as
confirmed by subsequent
events.
The baptismal certificate of Rizal reads as follows:
“I, the undersigned parish priest of Calamba, certify that
from the investigation made with proper authority, for
replacing the parish books which were burned September
28, 1862, to be found in Docket No. 1 of Baptisms, p. 49, it
appears by the sworn testimony of competent witnesses
that JOSE RIZAL MERCADO is the legitimate son, and of
lawful wedlock, of Don Francisco Rizal Mercado and Doña
Teodora Realonda, having been baptized in this parish on
the 22nd day of June in the year 1861, by the parish priest
Rev. Rufino Collantes, Rev. Pedro Casanas being his
godfather. – Witness my signature.
(Signed): Leoncio Lopez

It should be noted that
at the time Rizal was
born, the governor-
general of the
Philippines was
Lieutenant-General
Jose Lemery, former
senator of Spain. He
governed the
Philippines from Feb.
2, 1861 – July 7, 1862.
Rizal’s Parents
Jose Rizal was the seventh
of the eleven children of
Francisco Engracio Rizal
Mercado y Alejandro and
Teodora Morales Alonzo
Realonda y Quintos.
The hero’s father,
Francisco (1818-1898)
was born in Biñan,
Laguna on May 11,
1818.
He studied Latin and Philosophy at the College of
San Jose in Manila. In early manhood, following his
parent’s death, he moved to Calamba and became a
tenant-farmer of the Dominican-owned hacienda.
He was a hardly and independent-minded
man, who talked less and worked more, and was
strong in body and valiant in spirit. He died in
Manila on January 5, 1898, at the age of 80. In
his student memoirs, Rizal affectionately called
him “a model of fathers”.
Doña Teodora (1826-
1911), the hero’s
mother, was born in
Manila on Nov. 8,
1826 and was
educated at the
College of Santa Rosa,
a well known college
for girls in the city.
She was a remarkable
woman, possessing
refined culture,
literary talent,
business ability, and
the fortitude of
Spartan women.
Rizal lovingly said: “My mother is a woman of
more than ordinary culture; she knows literature
and speaks Spanish better than I. She corrected my
poems and gave me good advice when I was
studying rhetoric. She is a mathematician and has
read many books.”
Doña Teodora died in Manila on
August 16, 1911 at the age of 85.
Shortly before her death, the
Philippine government offered her
a life pension. She courteously
rejected it saying, “My family has
never been patriotic for money. If
the government has plenty of
funds and does not know what to
do with them, better reduce the
taxes.” Such remarks truly befitted
her as a worthy mother of a
national hero.
The Rizal Children
God blessed the marriage of Francisco and Teodora
with eleven children – two boys and nine girls.
1. Saturnina (1850-1913)
• oldest of the Rizal children

• nicknamed Neneng
• married Manuel T. Hidalgo
of Tanauan, Batangas
• older brother and confidant of
2. Paciano (1851- Jose Rizal
1930) • joined the Philippine
revolution and became
combat general after his
younger brother’s execution
• retired to his farm in Los
Baños where he lived as a
gentleman farmer and died on
April 13, 1930, an old bachelor
aged 79.
• had two children by his
mistress Severina Decena – a
boy and a girl
3. Narcisa (1852-1939)
• nicknamed Sisa
• married Antonio Lopez
(nephew of Father
Leoncio Lopez), a school
teacher of Morong
4. Olimpia (1855-1887)
• nicknamed Ypia
• married Silvestre
Ubaldo, a telegraph
operator from Manila
5. Lucia (1857-1919)
• married Mariano
Herbosa of Calamba,
(nephew of Father
Casanas), who died of
cholera in 1889 and
was denied Christian
burial because he was
a brother-in-law of Dr.
Rizal.
6. Maria (1859-1945)
• nicknamed Biang
• married Daniel
Faustino Cruz of
Biñan, Laguna
7. Jose Protacio (1861-1896)
• nicknamed Pepe
• one of the greatest Filipino
heroes and peerless genius
• lived with Josephine
Bracken, Irish girl from
Hong Kong, during his
exile in Dapitan
• had a son with Bracken but
the baby boy died a few
hours after birth
Pepe was named Jose
Protacio, in honor of two
saints. His mother was a
devotee of Saint Joseph
while Saint Protacio is the
patron saint for June 19.
Why Pepe?
In the book In Excelsis, writer Felice Prudente
Santa Maria explained how Rizal got his nickname.
“Saint Joseph was the putative (commonly

accepted) father of Jesus Christ. In Latin, San Jose’s
name is always followed by the letters ‘P.P’
for pater putativus. In Spanish, the letter ‘P’ is
pronounced as ‘peh’ giving rise to the nickname
Pepe for Jose.”
8. Concepcion (1862-1865)
• nicknamed Concha
• died of sickness at the
age of 3
• her death was Dr.
Rizal’s first sorrow in
life
9. Josefa (1865-1945)
• nicknamed Panggoy
• one of the original
members of Katipunan
despite being epileptic
• died as spinster at the age
of 80
10. Trinidad (1868-
1951)
• nicknamed Trining
• died unmarried at the
age of 83
• died the last in the Rizal
family
11. Soledad (1870-
1929)
• nicknamed Choleng
• youngest of the Rizal
children
• married Pantaleon
Quintero of Calamba
• most controversial
child in the family
Sibling relationship
among the Rizal children
was affectionately
cordial. As a little boy,
Rizal used to play games
with his sisters.
Although he had boyish
quarrels with them, he
respected them.
Years later when he grew to manhood, he
always called them Doña or Señora (if married)
and Señorita (if single). For instance, he called
his older sister “Doña Ypia,” his oldest sister
“Señora Saturnina,” and his unmarried sisters
“Señorita Josefa” and “Señorita Trinidad.”
Rizal’s relation with his only brother Paciano, who
was ten years his senior, was more than that of
younger to older brother. Paciano was a second father
to him.
Throughout his life,
Rizal respected him and
greatly valued his
sagacious advice. He
immortalized him in his
first novel Noli Me
Tangere as the wise
Pilosopo Tasio.
In a letter to Blumentritt, written in London
on June 23, 1888, he regarded Paciano as the
“most noble of Filipinos” and “though an Indio,
more generous and noble than all the
Spaniards put together”.
In a subsequent letter also
written to Blumentritt and
dated London, Oct. 12,
1888, he spoke of his
beloved brother, as follows:
“He is much finer and
more serious than I am; he
is bigger and more slim; he
is not so dark; his nose is
fine. Beautiful and sharp;
but he is bow-legged.”
Rizal’s Ancestry
As a typical Filipino, Rizal
was a product of the
mixture of races. In his
veins flowed the blood of
both East and West –
Negrito, Indonesian, Malay,
Chinese, Japanese, and
Spanish. Predominantly, he
was a Malayan and was a
magnificent specimen of
Asian manhood.
Rizal’s great-great
grandfather on his
father’s side was
Domingo Lameo
(Domingo Lam Co in
some references), a
Chinese immigrant from
the Fukien City of
Changchow, who arrived
in Manila about 1690.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcC-lZeVh6s
He became a Christian,
married a well-to-do
Chinese Christian girl of
Manila named Ines de la
Rosa, and assumed in 1731
the surname Mercado
which was appropriate for
him because he was a
merchant. The Spanish
term mercado means
“market” in English.
Domingo Mercado and
Ines de la Rosa had a
son, Francisco Mercado,
who resided in Biñan,
married a Chinese-
Filipino mestiza, Cirila
Bernacha, and was
elected gobernadorcillo
(municipal mayor) of the
town. They had two sons
named Juan and
Clemente.
One of their sons, Juan
Mercado (Rizal’s
grandfather), married
Cirila Alejandro, a
Chinese-Filipino mestiza.
Like his father, he was
elected gobernadorcillo of
Biñan. Capitan Juan and
Capitana Cirila had
thirteen children, the
youngest being Francisco
Mercado, Rizal’s father.
At the age of eight, Francisco
Mercado lost his father and
grew up to manhood under
the care of his mother. While
studying in Manila, he met
and fell in love with Teodora
Alonso Realonda. They were
married on June 28, 1848,
after which they settled down
in Calamba, where they
engaged in farming and
business and reared a big
family.
It is said that Doña
Teodora’s family
descended from
Lakandula, the last
native king of Tondo.
Her great-grandfather
(Rizal’s maternal great-
great-grandfather) was
Eugenio Ursua (of Japanese
ancestry), who married a
Filipina named Benigna
(surname unknown).
Their daughter Regina married Manuel de
Quintos, a Filipino-Chinese lawyer from
Pangasinan. One of the daughters of Atty.
Quintos and Regina was Brigida, who married
Lorenzo Alberto Alonso, a prominent Spanish-
Filipino mestizo of Biñan. Their children were
Narcisa, Teodora (Rizal’s mother), Gregorio,
Manuel, and Jose.
The Surname Rizal
The real surname of the Rizal family was
Mercado, which was adopted in 1731 by
Domingo Lam Co, who was a full-blooded
Chinese.
In 1849, Governor
General Narciso
Claveria Y Zaldua issued
a decree directing all
Filipino families to
choose and adopt new
surnames from a list of
Spanish family names.
It should be noted that
the purpose of this
decree was to Hispanize
the Filipino surnames.
Rizal’s father scrutinized carefully the list of
surnames sent to Calamba such as Cruz, Diaz,
Guzman, Luna, Ramos, Reyes, Rivera, Santos and
Trinidad. They chose the unlisted name Rizal,
although they continued to use the name
Mercado. Their original application was for the
name Ricial (meaning “the green of young
growth” or “green fields”), which was connected
to their livelihood, but this was denied for no
apparent reason.
In 1865 during his studies in
Ateneo Municipal de Manila, Jose
Protacio Rizal Mercado dropped his
second last name to disassociate
himself from his brother Paciano
who was then under surveillance of
Spanish authorities because of his
links
with the martyred Filipino priests Mariano Gomez,
Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora. Rizal also needed a
fresh identity so he could travel freely abroad without
the hassles of Spanish inquisition.
The Rizal Home
The house of the Rizal family, where the hero
was born, was one of the distinguished stone
houses in Calamba during Spanish times.
It was a two-storey building, rectangular in
shape, made of solid and massive earthquake
proof structures with sliding wide window shutters
with capiz shells. Thick walls of lime and stone
bounded the first floor; the second floor was made
entirely of hard wood except fot the roof which
was of red tile, in the style of the imposing
buildings in Manila and other big and progressive
towns at that time.
At the back, there was an azotea overlooking the
garden and orchard and a wide, deep cistern tank
for storing water or hold rain during the rainy
season for home use.
Behind the house were the poultry yard full of
turkeys and chicken and a big garden of tropical
fruit trees – atis, balimbing, chico, macopa,
papaya, santol, duhat, etc.
A Good and Middle Class Family
The Rizal family belonged to the principalia, a
town aristocracy in Spanish Philippines. It was
one of the distinguished families in Calamba. By
dint of honest and hard work and frugal living,
Rizal’s parents were able to live well.
As evidence of their
affluence, they were able
to build a large stone
house which was situated
near the town church and
to buy another one. They
owned a carriage
(carjuahe), which was a
status symbol of the
ilustrados in the Spanish
Philippines.
The Rizal family also
owned a private library
(the largest in Calamba)
which consisted of
more than 1,000
volumes.
They sent their children to the colleges in
Manila. Combining affluence and culture,
hospitality and courtesy, they participated
prominently in all social and religious affairs in
the community. Beneath their roof, all guests
irrespective of their color, rank, social position,
and economic status, were welcome.
Home Life of the Rizals
The Rizal family had a simple, contented, and

happy life. In consonance with Filipino custom,
family ties among the Rizals were intimately
close.
Don Francisco and Doña Teodora loved their
children, but they never spoiled them. They were
strict parents and they trained their children to
love God, to behave well, to be obedient, and to
respect people especially the old folks.
Whenever the
children, including Jose
Rizal, got into mischief,
they were given a
sound spanking.
Everyday, the Rizal family heard Mass in the town
church, particularly during Sundays and Christian
holidays. They prayed together daily at home – the
Angelus at sunset and the Rosary before retiring to bed
at night. After the family prayers, all the children kissed
the hands of their parents.
Life was not, however, all
prayers and church services
for the Rizal children. They
were given ample time and
freedom to play by their
strict and religious parents.
They played merrily in the
azotea or in the garden by
themselves. The older ones
were allowed to play with
the children of other
families.
Thank You!
References:
• http://nhcp.gov.ph/rizals-paternal-lineage/
• http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2013/12/30/1273342/co-mercado-why-
tsinoy-jose-became-rizal
• http://www.filipinaslibrary.org.ph/filipiniana-library/filipiniana/70-
features/120-jose-protacio-alonso-realonda-mercado-rizal
• https://www.rappler.com/nation/7259-why-rizal-nickname-pepe
• Zaide, Gregorio F. at Zaide, Sonia M. 2015. Jose Rizal: Life, Works and
Writings of a Genius, Writer, Scientist and National Hero. Quezon City:
ALL NATIONS Publishing Co., Inc.
• Zulueta, Francisco M. Rizal: Life, Works, and Ideals. Mandaluyong City.
National Book Store

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Chapter 1

Advent of a National Hero

(Signed): Leoncio Lopez

• oldest of the Rizal children

“Saint Joseph was the putative (commonly

The Rizal family had a simple, contented, and

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