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Course Code and Title: GE 111 – The Life and Works of Rizal
Lesson Number: Lesson 3 (Week 3)
Topic: Rizal’s Life: Family and Childhood
INTRODUCTION:
This module presents the background of Rizal’s life-his family and his childhood years in Calamba.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
 Discuss the family background of Rizal;
 Analyze Rizal’s family and childhood years in Calamba;
 Evaluate the people and events and their influences on Rizal’s early life;
 Interpret the human experience from various perspectives; and
 Use current technology to assist and facilitate learning and research.
LESSON PRESENTATION:

Jose Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda was born on

June 19, 1861, in Calamba, laguna. The seventh of eleven
children born to a relatively well-off family in a Dominican-owned
tenant land in Calamba, Laguna, Jose Rizal lived and died
during the Spanish colonial era in the Philippines.

In his early childhood, Jose had mastered the alphabet and

learned to write and read. His early readings include the
Spanish version of the Vulgate Bible. At a young age, he already
showed inclinations to the arts. He amazed his family with his
pencil drawings, sketches, and moldings of clay. Later in his childhood, he showed special talent in
painting and sculpture, wrote a Tagalog play, which was presented at a town fiesta.

DON FRANCISCO MERCADO, 80 (1818-1898)

Jose’s father Francisco Engracio Mercado, was a productive farmer from Binan, Laguna. He was an
independent-minded, taciturn, but dynamic gentleman from whom Jose inherited his “free soul.” Don
Francisco became Teniente gobernadorcillo (lieutenant governor) in Calamba and was thus nickname
Teniente Kiko.
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Francisco’s great grandfather was Domingo Lam-co, a learned

pro-poor or ‘maka-masa’ Chinese immigrant businessman who
married a sophisticated Chinese mestiza of Manila named Ines de
la Rosa. One of their two children, Francisco (also), resided in
Binan and married Bernarda Monicha. Francisco and Bernarda’s
son, Juan Mercado, became a ‘gobernadorcillo’ (town mayor) of
Biñan, Laguna. He married Cirila Alejandra and they had 12
children, the youngest being Jose Rizal’s father, Francisco.

Jose’s father was born on May 11, 1818, in Biñan, Laguna. When
he was eight years old, he lost his father. He was nonetheless
educated as he took Latin and Philosophy at the College of San Jose in Manila, where he met and fell
in love with Teodora Alonso, a student in the College of Santa Rosa. Married on June 28, 1848, they
settled down in Calamba where they were granted a lease of a rice farm in the Dominican-owned
haciendas.

DOÑA TEODORA ALONSO, 86 (1827-1913)

Jose’s mother Teodora Alonso, was an educated and highly
cultured woman from Sta. Cruz, Manila. Common biographies state
that Doña Teodora Alonso Quintos Realonda, also known as
“Lolay.” was born on November 8, 1826, in Santa Cruz. Strangely,
however, the volume in the church books that supposedly
contained Teodora’s baptismal records was the only one missing
from the otherwise complete records down to the eighteenth
century. Asuncion Rizal-Lopez Bantug, the granddaughter of Jose’s
sister Narcisa, contrarily claims that Lola Lolay and all her siblings
were born in Calamba, but (just) lived in Manila.

Doña Lolay was educated at the College of Santa Rosa, an esteemed school for girls in Manila. She
was usually described as a diligent business-minded woman, very graceful but courageous, well-
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mannered, religious, and well-read. Very dignified, she disliked gossip and vulgar conversation.
Possessing refined culture and literary talents, she influenced her children to love the arts, literature,
and music. Herself an educated woman, Lolay sent her children to colleges in Manila. To help in the
economy of the family, she ran sugar and flour mills and a small store in their home, selling home-
made ham, sausages, jams, jellies, and others. Looking back, her business in a way predated the meat
processing commerce of the Pampangueños today and the ube jam production of some nuns in
Baguio.

It is believed that Doña Teodora’s family descended from Lakandula, the last native king of Tondo. (For
young generations, Lakandula has to be distinguished from the unofficial ‘Hari ng Tondo’, Asiong
Salonga, the Manila kingpin who was immortalized in the movie incidentally by Laguna’s governor E. R.
Ejercito.) Lolay’s great-grandfather was Eugenio Ursua (of Japanese descent) who married a Filipina
named Benigna. Regina, their daughter, married a Filipino-Chinese lawyer of Pangasinan, Manuel de
Quintos. Lorenzo Alberto Alonso, a well-off Spanish-Filipino mestizo of Biñan, took as his ‘significant
other’ Brigida Quintos, daughter of Manuel and Regina Quintos. The Lorenzo-Brigida union produced
five children, the second of them was Jose Rizal’s mother, Teodora Alonso Quintos. Through the
Claveria degree of 1849 which changed the Filipino native surnames, the Alonsos adopted the
surname Realonda. Rizal’s mother thus became Teodora Alonso Quintos Realonda.

JOSE’S SIBLINGS

SATURNINA RIZAL, 63 (1850-1913) is the eldest child of Don Francisco

and Teodora Alonso. She and her mother provided the little Jose with
good basic education that by the age of three, Pepe (Jose’s nickname)
already knew his alphabet.

PACIANO RIZAL, 79 (1851-1930) Jose’s only brother was born on March

7, 1851, in Calamba, Laguna. He was fondly addressed by his siblings as
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Ñor Paciano, short for “Senior Paciano.” The 10-year older brother of Jose studied at San Jose College
in Manila, became a farmer, and later a general of the Philippine Revolution. After Jose’s execution in
December 1896, Paciano joined the Katipuneros in Cavite under General Emilio Aguinaldo, Paciano
was commissioned as general of the revolutionary forces and elected as secretary of finance in the
Department Government of CentralLuzon.

NARCISA RIZAL, 87 (1852-1939), or simply “Sisa” was the third child in

the family. Later in history, Narcisa like Saturnina) would help in financing
Rizal’s studies in Europe, even pawning her jewelry and peddling her
clothes if needed. It was said she could recite from memory almost all of
the poems of our national hero.

OLIMPIA RIZAL, 32 (1855-1887) was the fourth child in the Rizal family.
Jose loved to tease her sometimes good-humored describing her as his stout
sister, Jose’s first love, Segunda Katigbak, was Olympia’s schoolmate at the
La Concordia College. Rizal confided to Olympia about Segunda, and the
sister willingly served as the mediator between the two teenage lovers.

LUCIA RIZAL, 62 (1857-1919) was the fifth in the family. She married
Mariano Herbosa of Calamba, Laguna. Charged with inciting the Calamba
townsfolk not to pay land rent and causing unrest, the couple was once
ordered to be deported along with some Rizal family members. (Lucia’s
husband died during the cholera epidemic in May 1889 and was refused a
Catholic burial for not going to confession
since his marriage to Lucia.

MARIA RIZAL, 86 1859-1945) was the sixth child in the family. It was to
her whom Jose talked about wanting to marry Josephine Bracken when
the majority of the Rizal family was not amenable to the idea. He had
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also brought up to Maria his plans of establishing a Filipino colony in North British Borneo. Jose and
Maria often wrote to each other particularly when Jose was studying abroad.

CONCEPCION RIZAL, 3 (1862-1865) was the eighth child of the Rizal family. She died at the age of
three. Of his sisters, it was said that the young Pepe loved most little Concha who was a year younger
than he. Jose played games and shared children’s stories with her and from her, he felt the beauty of
sisterly love at a young age.

JOSEFA RIZAL, 80 (1865-1945) nickname “Panggoy”. She was the ninth

child in the family, Panggoy died a spinster. After Jose was executed,
Josefa joined the Katipunan. She was one of the original 29 women
admitted to the Katipunan along with Gregoria de Jesus, wife of Andres
Bonifacio. They secured the secret papers and documents of the society.

TRINIDAD RIZAL, 83 (1868-1951) The tenth child. Died a spinster and

the last of the family to die. ”Trining” along with their mother, joined Jose
in Dapitan and resided with him in his square house during his exile. A
day before Jose’s execution, Trining and their mother visited him at Fort
Santiago prison cell. As they were leaving, Jose handed over to Trining an
alcohol cooking stove, a gift from the Pardo de Taveras, whispering to her
in a language which the guards could not understand, “There is something
in it.” That something was Rizal’s elegy now as “Mi Ultimo Adios.” Like Josefa and two nieces Trinidad
joined the Katipunan after Rizal’s death.

SOLEDAD RIZAL, 59 (1870-1929) The youngest child; married Pantaleon

Quintero. She was a teacher and was probably the best-educated among
Jose’s sisters, which made Jose very proud of her. However, Jose
reprimanded her for getting married to Pantaleon Quintero of Calamba
without their parent’s consent. Jose was very much against women who
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allow themselves to be courted outside their homes.

THE SURNAME RIZAL

Their paternal great-great-grandfather, Chinese merchant Domingo Lamco, adopted the name
“Mercado,” which means “market.” But Jose’s father, Francisco, who eventually became primarily a
father, adopted the surname “Rizal” (originally Ricial,” which means “the green young growth” or
“greenfields”). The name was suggested by a provincial governor who was a friend of the family. The
new name, however, confused the commercial affairs of the family, Don Francisco thus settled on the
name “Rizal Mercado” as a compromise, and often just used his more known surname “Mercado.”

When Paciano was a student at the College of San Jose, he used “Mercado” as his last name. but
because he had gained notoriety with his links to Father Burgos of the “Gomburza,” he suggested that
Jose use the surname “Rizal” for Jose’s safety. But this very name suggested by Paciano to be used by
his brother had become so well known by 1891, the year Jose finished his El Filibusterismo.

RIZAL’S BIRTH

Jose Rizal was born in Calamba. In 1848, his parents decided to build a home in this town in Laguna,
southern Luzon. The name Calamba was derived from Kalan-Banga, which means “clay stove” (Kalan”
“water jar” (Banga).

Jose’s adoration of its scenic beauty-punctuated by the sights of the

laguna de Bay, Mount Makiling, palm-covered mountains, curvy hills, and
green fields was recorded in the poem he would later write at Ateneo de
Manila in 1876, Un Recuerdo A Mi Pueblo (In Memory of My Town).

The first massive stone house (or Bahay na Bato) in Calamba was the very
birthplace of our national hero. It was a rectangular two-story building, built
of adobe stones and solid wood, with sliding capiz windows. Its ground
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floor was made of lime and stone, the second floor of hardwood, except for the roof, which was of red
tiles. There were an Azotea and a water reservoir at the back. Its architectural style and proximity to the
church implied the Rizal family’s wealth and political influence.

THE CHILDHOOD OF A PHENOM

A phenom is someone who is exceptionally talented or admired, especially an up-and-comer. Rizal,

especially during his childhood, was none less than a phenom.

Jose Rizal’s first memory, in his infancy, was his happy days in their family
garden when he was three years old. Their courtyard contained tropical fruit
trees, a poultry-yard, a carriage house, and a stable for the ponies. Because
the young Pepe was weak, sickly, and undersized, he was given the fondest
care by his parents, so his father built a nipa cottage for Pepe to play in the
daytime.

The memory of his infancy included the nocturnal walk in the town, especially when there was a moon.
Another childhood memory was the daily Angelus prayer in their home. Rizal recorded in his memoir
that by nightfall, his mother would gather all the children in their home to pray the Angelus. At the early
age of three, he started to take a part in the family prayers.

At the age of five, the young Pepe learned to read the Spanish family Bible, which he would refer to
later in his writings. Rizal himself remarked that perhaps the education he received since his earliest
infancy was what had shaped his habits. As a child, Rizal loved to go to the chapel, pray, participate in
novenas, and join religious processions.

Also, at the age of five, Pepe started to make pencil sketches and mold in clay and wax objects, which
attracted his fancy. When he was about six years old, his sisters once laughed at him for spending
much time making clay and wax images. When Jose was seven years old, his father provided him the
exciting experience of riding a “casco” (a flat-bottomed boat with a roof) on their way to a pilgrimage in
Antipolo. The pilgrimage was to fulfill the vow made by Jose’s mother to take him to the Shine of the
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Virgin of Antipolo should she and her child survive the ordeal of the delivery, which nearly caused her
life.

As a gift, the child Jose received a pony named “Alipato” from his father. As a child, he loved to ride this
pony or take long walks in the meadows and lakeshore with his black dog name “Usman.”

The mother also induced Jose to love the arts, literature, and the classics. Before he was eight years
old, he had written a drama, which was performed at a local festival and for which the municipal captain
rewarded him with two pesos.

The young Rizal was also interested in magic. He read many books on magic. He learned different
tricks, such as making a coin disappear and making a handkerchief vanish in thin air.

Some other influences of Rizal’s childhood involved his three uncles: his Tio Jose Alberto who inspired
him to cultivate his artistic ability; his Tio Manuel who encouraged him to fortify his frail body through
physical exercises; and his Tio Gregorio who intensified Rizal’s avidness to read good books.

GENERALIZATION:

Jose Rizal was born to a wealthy family in Calamba, Laguna. He was the 7 th among the 11children of
Francisco Mercado Rizal and Teodora Alonso Realonda. Paciano, the second to the eldest child in the
family, was the only brother of Jose. His other siblings were Saturnina, Narcisa, Olimpia, Lucia, Maria,
Concepcion, Josefa, Trinidad, and Solidad. Jose had a Chinese ancestor from his father’s side,
Domingo Lam-Co who married a Chinese mestiza Ines de la Rosa. Aside from his Chinese ancestry,
he had Japanese, Spanish, and Malay blood.

Jose’s parents made sure he and his siblings were well taken care of. At an early age, Jose was
already seen as a welcome companion by many adults because he was very respectful and polite. His
family made sure that he was taught the right values for him to grow up as a well-mannered individual.
At home, Rizal spent many of his childhood days in their family garden. His parents also made sure to
watch over him at all times because he was frail and sickly. His father also built him a nipa hunt where
he could play during the day. Since the Rizal family was very religious, Teodora made sure to teach
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Jose all the important prayers, especially the Angelus. Along with his siblings and parents, he recited
the Angelus daily. Through his family, he was exposed to Catholic teachings and values.

Jose Rizal grew up surrounded by influences that have contributed to the development of his
nationalistic sensibilities. From his father, Rizal learned the value of respect, love for work, and
independent thinking. His greatest influence was his mother, it was from her that Jose got his
religiosity, a high sense of self-sacrifice, and love for the arts. His love for freedom and justice was
inculcated in him by Paciano while his sisters taught him to be respectful and kind to women.

REFERENCES:

 Galicia, Reynaldo D. et al. (2019). The Life and Works of Jose Rizal. 2nd Edition. Mandaluyong
City: Azes Publishing Corporation.
 Manebog, Jensen. D. et al. (2019). Life and Works of Rizal. Manila: Mutya Publishing. Inc.
 Clemente, Janet E. et al. (2019). The Life and Works of Rizal. Quezon City: C & E Publishing,
Inc.