WWW - Debesmscat.edu - PH: Republic of The Philippines

Republic of the Philippines
DR. EMILIO B. ESPINOSA, SR. MEMORIAL STATE COLLEGE

OF AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY
(Masbate State College)
www.debesmscat.edu.ph
Mandaon, Masbate
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
MODULE #01
Subject: GE 9- The Life and Works of Rizal

Course : BSCS
Course Description: As mandated by Republic Act 1425, this course covers the life and works of the country’s national
hero, Jose Rizal. Among the covered topics are Rizal’s biography and his writings, particularly the novels Noli Me
Tangere and El Filibusterismo, some of his essays, and various correspondences.
Topic: Preliminaries
 Orientation to the course
 Orientation of the vision, mission, quality policy, goals and objectives.
 Course overview and requirements.
 Presentation of the policy of the course and other classroom rules
Week: #1
Hours: 3hrs
Learning Objectives:
At the end of the unit, the students must have:
 Comprehend the VMGOQP
 Gained the familiarity on the policy of the course and other classroom rules.
 Familiarized and understand the meaning and significance of the subject to their course; the course requirements and
grading system.
Content
VISION: The DEBESMSCAT as a center of social transformation in Masbate by 2025.

MISSION: The DEBESMSCAT shall produce holistically developed work force through inclusive quality education for
sustainable society.
QUALITY POLICY: Dr. Emilio B. Espinosa Sr. Memorial State College of Agriculture and Technology is committed to
sustain excellent service delivery for clientele satisfaction by adhering to quality standards, compliance to legal
requirements and continual improvement thereby producing transformed ASEAN communities.
CAS GOALS:
1. Provide support to student’s activities geared towards academic excellence.
2. Strengthen student’s participation in extension and linkages in line with Arts and Sciences.
3. Conduct research in line with arts, humanities, science and languages.
4. Produce graduates with excellent work ethics and entrepreneurial skills.
5. Promote an academic environment where stakeholders can showcase their unique talents and skills in the
field of Arts and Sciences.
CAS Objectives:
1 Compiled and edited by Zaldy C. Ibaňez Jr. LPT& L.Agr.

1. Provide trainings to students in Computer Science concepts and applications relevant to business, industry
and academe.
2. Provide the students an opportunity to exercise their creativity and skills in algorithm and system analysis,
design, development and solutions.
3. Require students to undertake ICT researches and disseminate its results to target clienteles.
4. Provide target clienteles with literacy trainings and technical assistance in the area of information and
communications technology.
5. Produce skilled and trained students that will serve as workforce and entrepreneurs in ICT.
6. Provide intra and extracurricular activities that will serve as an avenue for the stakeholders to discover,
participate, and enhance their talents and skills. .
Course Requirements:
Meet the passing rating for Oral and Written Examinations
Observe submission of all requirements.
Midterm Project: Literary Piece about Rizal
Final Project: Comic Strip
Course Policy Information: Missed Quizzes/Exams/Projects/ Absences/Cheating/Plagiarism Policies, Uniforms

are stipulated in the College Student Handbook.
Subject Policy Information:

Checking of attendance will depend upon the class schedule.
Wearing an appropriate/presentable outfit when presenting outputs during online classes.
Assess and evaluate the course content after the end of the semester.
Grading System & Evaluation Procedures:
A. CIT GENERAL RELATED SUBJECT
MIDTERM/FINAL EXAM ___________________40%

ORAL PARTICIPATION
ATTENDANCE/ASSIGNMENT _____________ 25%
QUIZZES ________________________________ 20%
PROJECTS____________________________________15%
Total 100%

Mandaon, Masbate
MODULE #02

Course : BSCS
hero, Jose Rizal. Among the covered topics are Rizal’s Biography and his writings, particularly the novels Noli Me
Topic: Introduction to Rizal Life and Works, Spanish Colonization In The Philippines
 Introduction to the course Republic Act 1425 (Why Study the life and works of Rizal?)
 The Rizal Bill of 1956 by John Schumacher
Week: #2-3
Hours: 6 hrs.
Upon completion of this module, you should be able to:
 Explained the history of the Rizal Law and its important provisions.
 Assessed critically the effectiveness of the Rizal Course.
Content
Introduction to Rizal Life and Works
A HERO IS BORN, 1861

“I was born in Kalamba on the 19th of June 1861 between eleven and twelve o’clock at night, a few days before the full of
the moon.”
--Jose Rizal
DR. JOSE RIZAL, the greatest hero of the Philippines, was a “many splendored” genius. He was richly dowered by
God with superb intellectual, moral, and physical qualities. Truly, he ranks with the world’s geniuses. He was an
anthropologist, botanist, businessman, cartographer, dramatist, economist, educator, engineer, essayist, entomologist,
ethnologist, farmer, folklorist, geographer, grammarian, historian, horticulturist, humorist, lexicographer, linguist,
musician, novelist, painter, physician, poet, philologist, philosopher, polemist, psychologist satirist, sculptor, sportsman,
sociologist, surveyor, traveler, and zoologist. More than all of these, he was a patriot, a hero, and martyr. Unlike many
geniuses, he consecrated his God-given talents, and even sacrificed his own life, for the redemption and welfare of his
people. Verily, a man of his heroism and versatility appears but once in the history of any nation.
Why Study the Life and Works of Rizal?
Because it is mandated by Law through Republic Act No. 1425 or the “Rizal Law.” The Rizal bill was authored by
Senator Claro M. Recto and sponsored by Jose P. Laurel Sr., who was then the Chairman of the Committee on Education,
in the Senate. Both of them were known for their great sense of nationalism.
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 Controversy Over the Rizal Law

Groups such as Catholic Action of the Philippines, the Congregation of the Mission, the Knights of Columbus, and
the Catholic Teachers Guild organized opposition to the bill. Horacio dela Costa was asked to draft for the Church a
pastoral letter on the writings of Jose Rizal (particularly Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo).
Several drafts of a pastoral letter, written by Horacio de la Costa for the bishops in 1952, survive. De la Costa's Rizal
emerges as an outstanding moral figure whose devotion to the truth made his novels a source of moral as well as social
and political wisdom for Filipinos. Although subsequent drafts show he was forced by an unknown interlocutor to temper
this view, he retained an essentially positive reading of the novels. In the face of Recto's 1956 bill imposing the novels,
however, Abp. Rufino J. Santos commissioned Fr. Jesus Cavanna to draft a new "Statement." Beginning with a few
positive paragraphs from De la Costa, the "Statement" then absolutely condemned the novels and forbade their reading, a
prohibition that proved quite ineffective. The drafts of De la Costa show that there was within the Catholic Church a
totally different attitude toward Rizal, whose legacy the church could embrace.
Important Prepositions of Horacio de la Costa’s Initial Draft Letter

1. Rizal by universal consent, is first among Filipinos who have distinguished themselves for service to their country.
2. He devoted himself to dispelling the ignorance of his people, raising their moral standards, and combating the injustices
and inequality under which they labored.
3. His love for his country did not blame all ills on strangers, but proclaimed that the Filipino people were also victims of
their own vices and defects.
4. We must applaud in principle that the writings of Rizal be more read and even introduced into our schools.
5. We must not allow the enemies of the Catholic Church to tear texts from their context to imply the opposite.
6. There is nothing in the novel that constitutes a danger to the faith and morals of a mature, well-instructed Catholic.
7. Rather, they contain much that is in conformity with the Gospel and right reason, and will serve to develop in our
people a wise and generous love of their native land.
8. Rizal declared that his intention is not to attack the Catholic Church itself, but the abuses in it.
Fr. Jesus Cavanna’s “Statement”
Cavanna choose to interpret Rizal’s novels as an attack on the church itself. He says:
“Furthermore, there are passages in the two books where it is not anymore the novel’s characters but the author
himself who speaks. And among the passages, there are many which are derogatory to Catholic beliefs and practices
such as, aside from the criticisms leveled upon unworthy priests.”
Cavanna then proceeds to give over 120 references to passages that either “are against the Catholic dogma and morals”
or disparage divine worship” or make light of ecclesiastical discipline.” The rest of the “Statement” dealt with the
unreasonableness and injustice of the Senate bill, making it obligatory for Catholic students to read attacks on their faith.
Such as law, under the guise of nationalism, violate “one of the fundamental freedoms of our country, viz., their freedom
of conscience” (Philippine Hierarchy, 1956)
References:
Zaide, Gregorio F. (1984). José Rizal: life, works and writings of a genius, writer, scientist and national hero. Metro
Manila, Philippines: National Book Store
SCHUMACHER, J. (2011). The Rizal Bill of 1956 Horacio de la Costa and the Bishops. Philippine Studies, 59(4),
529-553. Retrieved September 1, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/42634695
Republic Act No. 1425: GOVPH. (1956, June 12). Retrieved from
https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1956/06/12/republic-act-no-1425/
Francisco, J. M. (2014). People of God, People of the Nation: Official Catholic Discourse on Nation and
Nationalism. Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints, 62(3-4), 341-375. doi:10.1353/phs.2014.0028
****

Mandaon, Masbate
MODULE #03

Course : BSCS
Topic: The Philippines in the 19th century as Rizal’s Context
 Brief Summary of the Spanish Colonization of the Philippines

 19th century as a century of change
Week : #4-5
Hours: 6 hrs
 Appraised the link between the individual and the society

 Analyzed the various social, political, economic and cultural changes that occurred in the 19 th century
 Appreciated Jose Rizal in the context of his time
Content
Early Spanish expeditions
Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the Philippines in 1521. The Philippine islands first came to the attention of
Europeans with the Spanish expedition around the world led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1521.
Magellan landed on the island of Cebu, claiming the lands for Spain and naming them Islas de San Lazaro. He set up
friendly relations with some of the local chieftains and converted some of them to Roman Catholicism. However,
Magellan was killed by natives, led by a local chief named Lapu-Lapu, who go up against foreign domination. Over the
next several decades, other Spanish expeditions were send off to the islands. In 1543, Ruy López de Villalobos led an
expedition to the islands and gave the name Las Islas Filipinas (after Philip II of Spain) to the islands of Samar and Leyte.
The name would later be given to the entire archipelago.
Spanish colonization (1521-1898)
1565 Miguel López de Legazpi, the first Governor-General of the Philippines, arrived in Cebu from New Spain
and established permanent Spanish settlement.
1571 Legazpi established Manila as a capital and Philippines became a province of New Spain (Mexico)
1580 The Spaniards institute forced labor on all male natives aged 16 to 60.
1589 The Spaniards founded the College of San Ignacio, the first school in the Philippines.
1600 The Galleon trade between Manila and Acapulco, Mexico started.

1744 One of the most successful revolts in Philippine history breaks out, once more in Bohol, and provides the
island a kind of independence from the Spaniards for the following 85 years. The first leader of the revolt is
Francisco Dagohoy.
1762 A revolt under the leadership of Diego Silang (Dec 16, 1730 - May 28, 1763) breaks out in the Ilocos region.
1812 The Spanish Cortes promulgates the Cadiz Constitution. It is a liberal constitution, vesting sovereignty in the
people, recognizing the equality of all men and the individual liberty of the citizen, and granting the right of
suffrage, but providing for a hereditary monarchy and for Catholicism as the state religion.
1872 Three martyr priests are publicly garroted as alleged leaders of the Cavite Conspiracy, a movement for
secularization and nationalism, which is distasteful to the Spanish friars.
1882 In Madrid, Rizal begins writing his political novel, Noli me tangere.
1887 Rizal begins writing the novel El Filibusterismo.

Filipinos in Barcelona establish the organization La Solidaridad. It demands for the Philippines freedom of
press, speech and assembly, equality before the law, participation in governmental affairs, social and
political freedom and representation in the Spanish Cortes.
1894 Andres Bonifacio forms the Katipunan.

Spanish authorities discover the Katipunan when one of its members, Teodoro Paterno, betrays the to an
Agustinian priest, Fr. Mariano Gil.
A revolution dubbed as the Cry of Balintawak is proclaimed by Bonifacio.
1896 The Spaniards executed Jose Rizal in Dapitan and a revolution began in the province of Cavite following his
execution.
1898 The Spanish-American War broke out , defeating Spain and finally ending the Spanish rule.
The 19th Century As A Century Of Change
The Philippines and Filipinos experienced various social, political, economic, and cultural changes during the 19th
century.
 The Manila–Acapulco Trade, commonly known as the "Galleon Trade" which lasted for 250 years finally ended in
1815.
 The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 cut travel time to Spain. This development allowed many young Filipinos to
study in Europe which prompted the rise of the ilustrados, an enlightened Filipino upper class. It allowed the influx
of new ideas as well as the influx of more goods into the colony .
 The opening of Philippine ports to global trade triggered the rise of the country’s economy. Philippine agricultural
products like sugar, abaka and cigars became in demand. There was a remarkable transformation in the lives of some
Filipinos and their way of living have improved.
 The rise of the export crop economy with the Philippines being the major exporter of sugar, tobacco, abaka, and
coffee.
 The expansion of the fiscal monopolies intensified Spanish colonial rule over the Philippines during the 19th century.
 The friars controlled the educational system in the Philippines and owned different schools in the primary level to the
tertiary levels of education.
 In the mid-19th century, there was 240,000 Chinese mestizos, but only about 7,000 to 10,000 Spanish mestizos. They
are Filipinos with Chinese blood and they occupied important positions in the highest levels of the government.

 Philippine liberalism emerged through the creole intellectuals.
 The Bourbon Reforms encompassed political, economic, and administrative modernization, centralizing power that
had once been more diffusely distributed. Monopolies and trading companies, such as the mining company in the
Philippines were formed to rationalize and improve the efficiency of production.
 The Cadiz Constitution was approved. It is one of the first constitutions that allowed universal male suffrage, with
some exceptions, through a complex indirect electoral system.
Seeing the Life of an Individual in Society and Society in the Life of an Individual
Human cannot survive without society and societies cannot exist without members. Still there may be conflicts
between the individual and society; one can imagine that social systems function better when they have considerable
control over their individual members, but that this is a mixed blessing for the system’s members. Likewise can
competition with other societies strengthen the social system, while wearing out its constituent members? This idea was
voiced by Rousseau (1769) who believed that we lived better in the original state of nature than under civilization, and
who was for that reason less positive about classic Greek civilization than his contemporaries. The relation between
individual and society has been an interesting and a complex problem at the same time. It can be stated more or less that it
has defied all solutions so far. No sociologist has been able to give a solution of the relation between the two that will be
fully satisfactory and convincing by reducing the conflict between the two to the minimum and by showing a way in
which both will tend to bring about a healthy growth of each other. Aristotle has treated of the individual only from the
point of view of the state and he wants the individual to fit in the mechanism of the state and the society. It is very clear
that relation between individual and society are very close.
In reality, it is not society or individual but it is society and individual which helps in understanding the total reality.
The extreme view of individual or society has long been abandoned. Sociologists from Cooley to the present have
recognized that neither society nor the individual can exist without each other. This view was laid down mainly by
Margaret Mead, Kardiner and others who maintained that society’s culture affects personality (individual) and, in turn,
personality helps in the formation of society’s culture. These anthropologists have studied how society shapes or controls
individuals and how, in turn, individuals create and change society. Thus, to conclude, it can be stated that the relationship
between society and individual is not one-sided. Both are essential for the comprehension of either. Both go hand in hand,
each is essentially dependent on the other. Both are interdependent on each, other.
The individual should be subordinated to society and the individual should sacrifice their welfare at the cost of
society. Both these views are extreme which see the relationship between individual and society from merely the one or
the other side. But surely all is not harmonious between individual and society. The individual and society interact on one
another and depend on one another. Social integration is never complete and harmonious.
References:
Romero Ma Corona, Sta Romana Julita,Santos Lourdes. Rizal and the Development of National Consciousness.
http://www.mrtredinnick.com/uploads/7/2/1/5/7215292/colonization_of_the_philippines.pdf
https://www.philippine-history.org/galleon-trade.htm
https://www.manilatimes.net/2017/03/03/opinion/analysis/manila-galleon-trade-events-effects-lesson
s/315101/
https://eh.net/book_reviews/after-the-galleons-foreign-trade-economic-change-and-entrepreneurship-
in-the-nineteenth-century-philippines/
https://file.scirp.org/Html/8-1760197_49227.htm#:~:text=The%20ultimate%20goal%20of%20society,their
%20occasional%20conflicts%20and%20tensions.
***

Mandaon, Masbate
MODULE #04

Course : BSCS 4 and BSIS 3
Topic: Rizal’s Life
 Family, Childhood and Early Education

 Higher Education and Life Abroad
 Exile, Trial and Death
Week: #6-8
Hours: 9 hrs.
 Analyzed Rizal’s Family, Childhood and early Education

 Judged the people and events and their influence on Rizal’s early life
 Explained the principle of assimilation advocated by the Propaganda Movement
 Described Rizal’s growth as a propagandist and disavowal of assimilation
 Identified the factors that led to Rizal’s execution
 Discussed the effects of Rizal’s execution on Spanish colonial rule in the Philippine Revolution
Rizal’s Life: Family, Childhood, and Early Education
The Mercado - Rizal Family
The Rizal Family is considered one of the biggest and richest families in
Calamba during their time. Domingo Lam-co, the family's paternal ascendant
was a full-blooded Chinese who came to the Philippines from Amoy, China in
the closing years of the 17th century and married a Chinese half-breed by the
name of Ines de la Rosa.Researchers revealed that the Mercado-Rizal family
had also traces of Japanese, Spanish, Malay and even Negrito blood aside from
Chinese.Jose Rizal came from a 13-member family consisting of his parents,
Francisco Mercado II and Teodora Alonso Realonda, and nine sisters and one
brother. He was baptized in a Catholic church in Calamba, Laguna on June 22,
1861, by the parish priest Rev. Rufino Collantes with Rev. Pedro Casañas as the
sponsor.
Rizal’s Parents
FRANCISCO MERCADO (1818-1898) Father of Jose Rizal who was the
youngest of 13 offsprings of Juan and Cirila Mercado. Born in Biñan, Laguna
on April 18, 1818; studied in San Jose College, Manila; and died in Manila.

TEODORA ALONSO (1827-1913) Mother of Jose Rizal who was the second child of Lorenzo Alonso and Brijida de
Quintos. She studied at the Colegio de Santa Rosa. She was a business-minded woman, courteous, religious, hard-working
and well-read. She was born in Santa Cruz, Manila on November 14, 1827 and died in 1913 in Manila.
The Rizal Children

1. Saturnina (1850-1913)Eldest child of the Rizal-Alonzo marriage. Married Manuel Timoteo Hidalgo of Tanauan,
Batangas.
2. Paciano (1851-1930) Only brother of Jose Rizal and the second child. Studied at San Jose College in Manila; became a
farmer and later a general of the Philippine Revolution.
3. Narcisa (1852-1939) Married Antonio Lopez at Morong, Rizal; a teacher and musician.
4. Olympia (1855-1887)Married Silvestre Ubaldo; died in 1887 from childbirth.
5. Lucia (1857-1919) Married Matriano Herbosa.
6. Maria (1859-1945)Married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Biñan, Laguna.
7. Jose (1861-1896)The second son and the seventh child. He was executed by the Spaniards on December 30,1896.
8. Concepcion (1862-1865) Died at the age of three.
9. Josefa (1865-1945) An epileptic, died a spinster.
10. Trinidad (1868-1951)The tenth child. Died a spinster and the last of the family to die.
11. Soledad (1870-1929)The youngest child married Pantaleon Quintero.
The Name "Rizal”. The original name of the Rizal family was “Mercado." It was a surname adopted in 1731
by Domingo Lam-co, the paternal Chinese ancestor. In English, it means "market". Evidently, Lam-co liked it
because it appealed to his business nature and also because it reminded him of his Chinchew ancestors who were mostly
merchants.
In the year 1849, Governor Claveria issued a decree directing all Filipino families to choose new surnames from a list
of Spanish family names. The purpose of this gubernatorial decree was to Hispanize the Filipino surnames which were
difficult for the Spanish authorities to pronounce, much less to remember.
Jose's father, Francisco, scanned the list of Spanish surnames sent to Calamba, such as "Cruz", "Santos," "Ramos",
"Rivera", etc. He did not like these surnames. Being a man of independent character, he chose his own surname Rizal,
which was not in the list recommended by the Spanish authorities. He considered this new family name as more fitting for
his farming clan than Mercado which signifies "market”.
The term "Rizal'" came from the Spanish word ricial which means ""green field" or "new pasture."
Childhood Day’s in Calamba. Jose Rizal, like many Filipino boys, had many beautiful memories of childhood. His was
a happy home, filled with parental affection, impregnated with family joys, and sanctified by prayers. In the midst of such
peaceful, refined, God-loving family, he spent the early years of his childhood. The beauties of Calamba impressed him as
a growing child and deeply influenced his mind and character. The happiest period of his life was truly his childhood days
in his natal town.
Calamba, "Cradle of a Genius" The town of Calamba is situated on a verdant plain by the rippling Laguna de Bay. A
few kilometers to the south looms the legendary Mt. Makiling, and beyond this mountain lies the coffee-producing
Batangas. North of the town spreads the Laguna de Bay, "a lake of poems and songs", with many sailboats gliding by the

somnolent Talim island and numerous birds flying in the azure skies. Beyond the lake, to the far distance in the north is
Antipolo, the famous mountain shrine of the miraculous Lady of Peace and Good Voyage.
Calamba, with its fertile fields of rice and sugarcane, its evermore green meadows of innumerable fruit trees and
bananas, its singing birds abounding in lake, river, and fields, its starry nights "filled with the poetry of sadness," its lovely
sunrises over lake and mountains, and its charming panoramic views, is a fit place to nurture a growing child. So it came
to pass that it became the "cradle of a genius."
Rizal loved Calamba with all his heart and soul. In 1876, when he was 15 years old and was a student in the Ateneo,
he remembered his beloved town. Accordingly, he wrote a poem Un Recuerdo A Mi Pueblo (In Memory of My Town)
Riza in tribute to his birthplace, which in effect had inspired him to love nature and to have trust and confidence in the
Almighty God.
Influences on Hero's Boyhood. On the night Rizal was born, other children were born in Calamba and
hundreds of other children were also born all over the Philippines. But why is it that out of all these children, only one boy
- JOSE RIZAL rose to fame and greatness?

In the lives of all men there are influences which cause some to be great and others not. In the case of Rizal, he had
all the favorable influences, which no other child in our country had enjoyed. These influences are the following: (1
hereditary influence, (2) environmental influence, and (3) aid of Divine Providence.
1. Hereditary Influence: According to biological science, there are inherent traits or qualities which a person inherits from
his ancestors and parents. From his Malayan ancestors, Rizal, evidently, inherited his passionate love for freedom and his
serenity of life's outlook. From his Chinese ancestors he derived his serious nature, frugality, patience, and love for
children. Fróm his Spanish ancestors, he got his elegance of bearing, sensitivity to insult, and gallantry to ladies. From his
father, he inherited a profound sense of self-respect, the love for work, and the habit of independent thinking. And from
his mother, he inherited his religious nature, the spirit of self-sacrifice, and the passion for arts and literature.
2. Environmental Influence: According to psychologists, environment, as well as heredity, affects the nature
of a person. Environmental influence includes places, associates, and events. The scenic beauties of Calamba and the
beautiful garden of the Rizal family stimulated the inborn artistic and literary talents of Jose Rizal. The religious
atmosphere at his home fortified his religious nature.. His brother, Paciano, instilled in his mind the value of brotherly
love. From his sisters, he learned to be courteous and kind to women. The fairy tales told by his aya during his early
childhood awakened his interest in folklore and legends. His Uncle Gregorio taught him to love books. His Uncle Jose
inspired him to develop his artistic ability. From his Uncle Manuel, he learned the importance of good health and sports.
And from Father Leoncio Lopez, párish priest of Calamba, he acquired the value of intellectual honesty and the love for
scholarship.
His first sorrow as a little boy which was the death of Concepcion in 1865 and his first taste of injustice which was
the imprisonment of his mother in 1872-74, contributed to his melancholy temperament. But such sorrows helped to
strengthen his character enabling him to resist blows of adversity in later years. The Spanish abuses and cruelties which he
witnessed in his boyhood, such as the brutal acts of the lieutenant of the Guardia Civil and the alcalde, the unjust tortures
inflicted on innocent Filipinos, and the execution of Fathers Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora, awakened his spirit of
patriotism and inspired him to dedicate his life to redeem his oppressed people.
3. Aid of Divine Providence: Greater than heredity and environment in the fate of man is the aid of Divine
Providence. A person may have everything in life- brains,wealth, and power- but, without the aid of Divine Providence,
he cannot attain greatness in the annals of the nation.. Rizal was providentially destined to be the pride and glory of our
people. God had endowed him with the versatile talents of a rare genius, the unsurpassed spirit of nationalism, and the
valiant heart to sacrifice him himself for a noble cause. He gave us this particular genius and hero during the darkest
period of our history in order that our suffering people might be emancipated from Spanish tyranny.
Rizal’s Early Education
School Days In Biñan.

This is the town where my father first saw the light of day, and where he sent me to continue studying the
rudiments of Latin, which I had started to learn."
-Jose Rizal
The first formal schooling of Rizal was in Biñan, the natal town of his father. This town is near Calamba. He attended
a private school under Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz, who was reputed to be a good teacher. Rizal studied in this school
from 1870 to 1871, a brief interlude in his boyhood which was full of significant memories. His account of his school
days in Biñan gives us a vivid glimpse of the kind of elementary education which Filipino boys obtained during that time.
It was an education with much religion and overly strict discipline. A pupil had to study the hard way. He was whipped by
the teacher to make him learn hiş lessons or to behave well.
Early Schooling. The first teacher of Rizal was his mother. On her lap, he learned the Latin alphabet and the
Catholic prayers. He was given further instruction by private tutors, such as Maestro Celestino and later Maestro Lucas
Padua. Later his father hired an old man, Leon Monroy, who had been his classmate, to give Rizal, the first lessons in
Latin. This old Latin teacher lived in the Rizal home, but he died five
months later. His death cut short Jose's instruction in Latin.
Don Francisco was not discouraged by the loss of the private tutor. He heard of a good teacher, who was running a private
school in Biñan, and, being eager to give his son a good education, he decided to send Jose to that town. Doña Teodora
agreed to his decision. Little Jose was then nine years old.

Jose Goes to Biñan. One Sunday afternoon in June, 1870, Jose, after kissing the hands of his parents and a tearful
parting from his sisters, left Calamba for Biñan. He was accompanied by Paciano, who acted as his second father. The two
brothers rode in a carromata, reaching their destination after one and one-half hours' drive.
First Day in Biñan School. The next morning (Monday) Paciano brought his younger brother to the school of
Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz. The school was in the house of the teacher, which was
a small nipa hut about 30 meters from the home of Jose's aunt. Paciano knew the teacher quite well because he had been a
pupil under him before. He introduced Jose to the teacher, after which he departed to return to Calamba.
Best Student in School. In school studies, Jose beat all Biñan boys. He surpassed them all in Spanish, Latin, and
other subjects.
Some of his older classmates were jealous of his intellectual superiority. They wickedly squealed to the teacher
whenever Jose had a fight outside the school, and even told lies to discredit him before the teacher's eyes. Consequently,
the teacher had to punish Jose. Thus Rizal, years later, said that 'in spite of the reputation I had of being a good boy, the
day was unusual when I was not laid out on a bench and given five or six blows."
End of Biñan Schooling. Time came when Jose learned all that Maestro Justiniano could teach him. Accordingly,
the teacher informed his parents that he should be sent to college in Manila. In December, 1871, Jose received a letter
from his sister Saturnina, informing him of the arrival of the steamer Talim which would take him from Biñan to Calamba.
Upon reading the letter, he had a premonition that he would not return to Biñan, so that he became sad. He prayed in the
town church, collected pebbles in the river for souvenirs, and regretfully bade farewell to his teacher and classmates.
He left Biñan on Saturday afternoon, December 17, 1871. He was thrilled to take passage on the steamer Talim, for it
was the first time he ever rode on a steamer. On board a Frenchman named Arturo Camps, a friend of his father, took care
of him.
Upon arrival in Calamba, Jose was welcomed home by his parents, brother, and sisters. The Christmas of 1871 was a
joyous and memorable one for him. He was home, and he regaled his brother and sisters with numerous tales of his fights,
escapades, and school triumphs in Biñan.
Injustice to Hero's Mother. After the happy Christmas holiday in 1871, Don Francisco thought of sending Jose to
Manila to study. Before June came, tragedy struck the Rízal family. Doña Teodora was arrested on malicious charge that
she aided her brother, Jose Alberto, in trying to poison Alberto's wife. Jose Alberto, a rich Biñan landowner, had
encouraged the artistic development of his talented nephew,
Jose Rizal. He had gone to Europe on a business trip. During his absence his wife abandoned their home and children.
When he returned to Biñan, he found her living with another man. Enraged by her infidelity, he planned to divorce her.
Doña Teodora, to avert family scandal, persuaded him to forgive his erring wife. The family trouble was amicably settled,
and Jose Alberto lived again with his wife. However, the unfaithful wife connived with the lieutenant of the Guardia Civil
to fabricate evidence that her husband attempted to poison her, with Doña Teodora as an accomplice.
This lieutenant had an ax to grind against the Rizal family because at one time Rizal's father refused to give him
fodder for his horse. Taking the opportunity to avenge himself against Don Francisco, he arrested Doña Teodora He was
so brutal in placing her under arrest, forgetting that many times he had been a guest in the Rizal home. Ordinarily, Doña
Teodora, the accused, should have been confined in the Calamba jail. The judge, who had also been a guest many times at
the Rizal home, was vengeful. Like the lieutenant, he nursed a grudge against the Rizal family because he imagined that
he was not accorded greater respect than the Filipino guests in the Rizal home. He ordered that Doña Teodora be sent to
the provincial jail in Santa Cruz, capital of Laguna. The lieutenant forced the hero's mother to walk on foot from Calamba
to Santa Cruz, a distance of more than 50 kilometers. She languished in jail, for her case dragged on until it reached the
Supreme Court (Royal Audiencia).
Doña Teodora, as a worthy mother of a hero, endured her cruel fate with Christian resignation and courage. While
her own family was in despair, she was confident that someday, with God's help, her innocence would be recognized by
the court and justice would be done.

The Martyrdom of Gom-Bur-Za. The Rizal family had not
yet recovered from the painful shock of the mother's imprisonment
when another calamity occurred. On January 20, 1872, the Cavite
Mutiny flared up, followed by the execution of Fathers Gomez,
Burgos, and Zamora on February 17th.
Jose's older brother, Paciano, then a student in the College of

San Jose, was boarding with Father Burgos, his beloved professor
and friend. He was a trusted assistant of Burgos in the fight for the
Filipinization of the parishes.
After the execution of Fathers Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora,

Paciano quit college. He returned to Calamba and related the story
of Burgos' martyrdom to his younger brother, Jose. Years later, Dr.
Jose Rizal wrote of Burgos:
"He awakened my intellect and made me understand goodness and

justice. His farewell words I shall always, remember have tried to
pass on to you what I received from my teachers. Do the same for those who come after you."
Jose Rizal was nearly eleven years old when the tragic martyrdom of Gom-Bur-Za took place. Despite his tender age,
he was deeply affected. It was another Spanish injustice, like that done to his own mother. It further buttressed his
determination to consecrate his life to combat the evil forces of his times.
Rizal’s Life: Higher Education and Life Abroad
TRIUMPHS IN ATENEO, 1872-77. Four months

after the
martyrdom of Gom-Bur-Za and with Doña Teodora
still in prison, Jose, who had not yet celebrated his
eleventh birthday, was sent to Manila. He studied in
the Ateneo Municipal, a college under the supervision
of the Spanish Jesuits. This college was a bitter rival
of the Dominican-owned College of San Juan de
Letran. It was formerly the Escuela Pia. (Charity
School),a school for poor boys in Manila which was
established by the city government in 1817.
When the Jesuits, who had been expelled from

the Philippines in 1768, returned to Manila in 1859,
they were given the management of the Escuela Pia,
whose name was changed to Ateneo Municipal and
later became the Ateneo de Manila. They had lost all
their properties during the period of their exile, hence
they were given splendid educators, so that within a
few years Ateneo acquired wide prestige as an
excellent college for boys.
Rizal enters the Ateneo, On June 10, 1872, Jose,

accompanied by Paciano, went to Manila. He took the
entrance examinations on Christian doctrine, arithmetic, and reading at the College of San Juan de Letran, and passed
them all.On Commencement Day, March 23, 1877, Rizal, who was 16 years old, received from his Alma Mater, Ateneo
Municipal, the degree of Bachelor of Arts, with highest honors. During his days in Ateneo, he wrote one of his first poems
as a student, “Mi Primera Inspiracion (My First Inspiration) “which was dedicated to his mother on her birthday.

AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS, 1877-82. After finishing the first year of the course in Philosophy and
Letters (1877-78), he transferred to the medical course. During the years of his studies in the university, which was under
the Dominicans, rival educators of the Jesuits, he remained loyal to Ateneo, where he continued to participate in
extracurricular activities and where he completed the vocation course in surveying. As a Thomasian, he won more literary
laurels, had more romances with girls, and fought against Spanish students.
After finishing his fourth year on his medical course, Rizal secretly left Manila for Spain. On May 3, 1882, with
passport of a cousin, he took at Singapore a French mail steamer for Marseilles and entered Spain at Port Bou by railroad.
Money was furnished by his brother, Paciano Mercado.
RIZAL’S LIFE ABROAD. To prove his point and refute the accusations of prejudiced Spanish writers against his race,
Rizal annotated the book, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, written by the Spaniard Antonio Morga. The book was an
unbiased presentation of 16th century Filipino culture. Rizal through his annotation showed that Filipinos had developed
culture even before the coming of the Spaniards.
While annotating Morga’s book, he began writing the sequel to the Noli, the El Filibusterismo. He completed the Fili
in July 1891 while he was in Brussels, Belgium. As in the printing of the Noli, Rizal could not published the sequel for the
lack of finances. Fortunately, Valentin Ventura gave him financial assistance and the Fili came out of the printing press on
September 1891.
The El Filibusterismo indicated Spanish colonial policies and attacked the Filipino collaborators of such system. The
novel pictured a society on the brink of a revolution.
To buttress his defense of the native’s pride and dignity as people, Rizal wrote three significant essays while abroad:
The Philippines a Century hence, the Indolence of the Filipinos and the Letter to the Women of Malolos. These writings
were his brilliant responses to the vicious attacks against the Indio and his culture.
While in Hongkong, Rizal planned the founding of the Liga Filipina, a civil organization and the establishment of a
Filipino colony in Borneo. The colony was to be under the protectorate of the North Borneo Company, he was granted
permission by the British Governor to establish a settlement on a 190,000 acre property in North Borneo. The colony was
to be under the protectorate of the North Borneo Company, with the "same privileges and conditions at those given in the
treaty with local Bornean rulers".
Governor Eulogio Despujol disapproved the project for obvious and self-serving reasons. He considered the plan
impractical and improper that Filipinos would settle and develop foreign territories while the colony
itself badly needed such developments.
RIZAL AND THE PROPAGANDA MOVEMENT. 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, who 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.
Rizal’s Life: Exile, Trial, and Death
EXILE IN DAPITAN (1892-1896). Jose Rizal's arrival in Manila on June 26, 1892 had become very sensational among
the Filipinos. His popularity feared the Spaniards, and as such, payed careful attention to his every moves – all houses
where he had been were searched and the Filipinos seen in his company were suspected. As he had planned, on July 3,
1892 he founded the La Liga Filipina in the house of Doroteo Ongjunco in Tondo, Manila.
Four days after the civic organization's foundation, Jose Rizal was arrested by the Spanish authorities on four grounds:
1. for publishing anti-Catholic and anti-friar books and articles;
2. for having in possession a bundle of handbills, the Pobres Frailes (Poor Friars), in which advocacies were in violation
of the Spanish orders;
3. for dedicating his novel, El Filibusterismo to the three “traitors” (Gomez, Burgos and Zamora) and for emphasizing on
the novel's title page that “the only salvation for the Philippines was separation from the mother country (referring to
Spain)”; and
4. for criticizing the religion and aiming for its exclusion from the Filipino culture.

Jose Rizal live at commandant’s residence they called “Casa Real.” The commandant, Captain Ricardo Carnicero and
Rizal became good friends. Rizal wrote a poem “A Don Ricardo Carnicero” honoring the kind commandant on the
occasion of his birthday on August 26, 1892.
In September 1892, Rizal and Carnicerowon in a lottery.

The Manila Lottery ticket no. 9736 jointly owned by Rizal, Carnicero,and a Spanish resident of Dipolog won the second
prize of Php20, 0000. Rizal used some part of his share (Php 6, 200) in procuring a parcel of land near the coast of Talisay,
a barrio near Dapitan.
THE TRIAL. During the early years of the Katipunan, Rizal remained in exile at Dapitan. He had promised the Spanish
governor that he would not attempt an escape, which, in that remote part of the country, would have been relatively easy.
Such a course of action, however, would have both compromised the moderate reform policy that he still advocated and
confirmed the suspicions of the reactionary Spanish. Whether he came to support Philippine independence during his
period of exile is difficult to determine.
He retained, to the very end, a faith in the decency of Spanish "men

of honor," which made it difficult for him to accept the revolutionary
course of the Katipunan. Prior to the outbreak of the revolution,
the Katipunan leader, Andres Bonifacio, seek the advise of Jose Rizal.
In a secret meeting on May 2, 1896 at Bitukang Manok river in Pasig,
the group agreed to send Dr. Pio Valenzuela as a representative to
Dapitan who will inform Rizal of their plan to launch a revolution
against the Spaniards. On board the steamer Venus, Valenzuala left
Manila on June 15, 1892 and in 6 days, arrived at Dapitan with a blind
companion, Raymundo Mata. At night, Rizal and Valenzuela had a talk
in the former's garden. There, Valenzuela told him of the Katipunan's
plan. Regarding this, Rizal outspokenly objected Bonifacio's
“premature” idea for two reasons:
1. the Filipinos were still unready for such bloody revolution; and
2. the Katipunan lacked machinery – before plotting a revolution, there

must be sufficient arms and funds collected.
Valenzuela also told Rizal of their plan to rescue him in Dapitan.

Again, the exiled hero disagreed because he had no plan of breaking his
word of honor to the Spanish authorities.
Revolution had broken out in Cuba in February 1895, and Rizal applied to the governor to be sent to that yellow
fever-infested island as an army doctor to compromise with the shortage of physicians in the said country. He believed
that volunteering in Cuba was the only way he could keep his word to the governor and yet get out of his exile. It was his
friend Ferdinand Blumentritt who informed him of the situation in Cuba and suggested that he volunteer himself as army
doctor. On December 17, 1895, Rizal sent a letter to Governor General Ramon Blanco rendering his service for Cuba. But
for months Rizal awaited in vain for the governor's reply, and loss hope that his request will be granted. It was only on
July 30, 1896 when Rizal received a letter from Governor Blanco, dated July 2, 1896, accepting his offer. The letter also

stated that Rizal will be given a pass so that he can go to Manila, then to Spain where its Minister of War will assign him
to the Army of Operations in Cuba.
He was preparing to leave for Cuba when the Katipunan revolt broke out in August 1896. An informer had tipped off
a Spanish friar about the society's existence, and Bonifacio, his hand forced, proclaimed the revolution, attacking Spanish
military installations on August 29, 1896. Rizal was allowed to leave Manila on a Spanish steamship. The governor,
however, apparently forced by reactionary elements, ordered Rizal's arrest en route, and he was sent back to Manila to be
tried by a military court as an accomplice of the insurrection.
The rebels were poorly led and had few successes against colonial troops. Only in Cavite Province did they make any
headway. Commanded by Emilio Aguinaldo, the twenty-seven-year-old mayor of the town of Cavite who had been a
member of the Katipunan since 1895, the rebels defeated Civil Guard and regular colonial troops between August and
November 1896 and made the province the center of the revolution.
Under a new governor, who apparently had been sponsored as a hard-line candidate by the religious orders, Rizal was
brought before a military court on fabricated charges of involvement with the Katipunan.
A brief trial was held on December 26. In the beginning there was nothing remarkable about the speed of the
proceedings of the trial of Rizal. The process began with what might be called (to borrow a phrase from the United States
Supreme Court) deliberate speed. Arrested on board ship on his way to Spain and shipped back to the Philippines, Rizal
arrived in Manila on 3 November 1896 and was confined incommunicado in Fort Santiago. There he was to remain until
his death. It was not until three weeks after his arrival that, on the twentieth and twentyfirst of November, he was
subjected to a preliminary investigation. The investigating officer (Francisco Oliva) took four days before sending the
transcript of the investigation, together with supporting "evidence," to Governor and Captain General Ramon Blanco.
Blanco took a week before endorsing the case to a juez instructor (Rafael Dominguez) for the formal beginning of the
judicial process proper. This was on 2 December 1896. The pace, though not lagging, had not been over-hasty. But at this
point there was a change of pace, and Blanco gave the cue. He instructed Dominguez to begin the judicial process "with
all possible speed" [con la mayor actividad].' Why the change of pace? We can only conjecture. The revolt that had begun
in August 18% in the outskirts of Manila had now spread to the province of Cavite, necessitating the sending of military
reinforcements from Spain. A whole division of some eleven thousand soldiers was arriving in early December, and with
them a new governor to replace Blanco. Was this change of pace in the trial of Rizal related to those events? Did
Governor Blanco feel the need to dispose of the Rizal case before being 'relieved of office? That is merely a conjecture,
but perhaps not an implausible one.
.
In any case, there was now a greater urgency in the proceedings. Taking the cue, Rafael Dominguez as juez instructor
formally opened the case against Rizal on 3 December, the day after he had received the documents. Two days later he
submitted his report (5 December). He noted that certain documents were not yet available but that, "because of the need
for haste," he was submitting his report without them. He also noted (perhaps apologetically) that his report was
somewhat hurried because he had had little time to prepare it.
A look at the chronology will show the almost breakneck speed with which the proceedings were rushed from that
point onwards:
2 December Blanco endorses the case to Dominguez.

3 December Dominguez formally opens the case.
5 December Dominguez submits his report.
5 December (Same day). Blanco endorses the case to the Auditor General de Guerra Nicolas
de la Peña.
7 December Peña submits his dictamen.
8 December (Feast of the Immaculate Conception: official and religious holiday). Blanco
appoints Enrique de Alcocer' fiscal (prosecutor).
9 December Alcocer submits his judgment on the merits of the case.
9 December (Same day). The fiscal instructs the juez instructor to prepare all materials for the
trial.
9 December (Same day). A list is drawn up of 106 officers below the rank of captain who are
considered eligible to become Rizal's defense counsel
10 December The list is shown to Rizal who chooses Luis de Taviel.
10 December (Same day). Taviel accepts.

11 December The juez instructor (Dominguez) decides that it is "unnecessary" for Rizal to
confront his accusers.
11 December (Same day). Rizal is formally arraigned.
11 December (Same day). The procedure begins for the confiscation of Rizal's properties and
other assets to "reimburse" the government in the amount of one million pesos for
the "damage" that Rizal had inflicted on the nation.
12 December The juez instructor declares the case ready for trial.
At this point there was a change of administration. Blanco was relieved of his post and the new governor and captain
general assumed office. This was the newly arrived Camilo de Polavieja, Marquis of Tenerife and former governor of
Cuba. But the change of governors did not break the speed with which Rizal's case was rushed through. On the same day
that he assumed office (12 December 1896) Polavieja endorsed the case to Auditor General de Guerra Nicolas de la Peña
for final action. The remaining events were as follows:
17 December Peña’s decision

21 December Alcocer (fiscal) submits his Brief for the Prosecution.
22 December The prosecutofs Brief is shown to Rizal and his defense counsel.
24 December Christmas Eve). The judges of the court martial are appointed.
25 December (Christmas Day). Rizal is shown the list of judges.
26 December The court martial is held. The judges listened to .the prosecutor's Brief, the
defense counsel's Brief, and Rizal's "Adiciones a mi defensa."
26 December (Same day). Sentence of death is pronounced.
26 December The death sentence is communicated to Polavieja.
26 December (Same day). Polavieja endorses the death sentence to Auditor General de Guerra
Nicolas de la Peña for comment.
27 December Peh recommends approval of death sentence.
28 December Polavieja orders the death sentence to be carried out.He specifies the day, the
hour, the place, and the manner of death. (30 December at 7 a.m. in Bagumbayan
field, by firing squad.)
29 December The death sentence is read to Rizal. He is placed "en capilia."
30 December Rizal is shot.
On 10 December 1896, one day before he was to be arraigned, Rizal sent a petition from Fort Santiago to the juez
instructor (Dominguez). In it he stated that he had learned (doubtless from the preliminary investigation) that his name
had been used as a rallying cry for the Katipunan and the armed revolt. This to him was a grave injustice not only to
himself but to those who were thus deceived. He had expressed very clearly his opposition to an armed revolt which he
considered self-defeating. He was therefore not only indignant at the unauthorized use of his name, but he also felt it his
duty to tell people that he was in no way urging them to take up arms. Hence his request to be allowed to issue a
manifesto publicly disavowing such an unauthorized use of his name.
Rizal was informed that he was allowed to write a manifesto, and he wrote one, dated 15 December. But it was never
published. De la Peiia (the auditor general de guerra) rejected it as unsatisfactory. His reason was that the proposed
manifesto lacked the ardent expression of loyalty to Spain that all true sons of Spain should show. Rizal condemned the
armed revolt as premature and bound to fail or lack of the necessary means to insure success, but he failed to condemn all
future efforts to obtain Philippine independence. The manifesto's publication was therefore forbidden, not because it did
not prove that Rizal was not behind the present rebellion, but because Rizal seemed sympathetic to the idea of future
independence from Spain. But Rizal was being tried, and the penalty of death was being demanded, precisely because,
allegedly, he was the "primary cause" of the present rebellion, yet he was not allowed to prove that he did not approve of
it.

With little chance to defend himself--Rizal was found guilty and sentenced to death. On December 30, 1896, he was
brought out to Luneta and executed by a firing squad. His execution breathed new life into the insurrection, and
the Philippine Revolution spread to the provinces of Pangasinan, Zambales, and Ilocos. With the destruction of the U.S.
battleship Maine on February 15, 1898, in the harbour of Havana, Cuba, and the subsequent wave of public
indignation, hostilities erupted between Spain and the United States. The
exiled Aguinaldo returned to
the Philippines on May 19 and
announced renewal of the
struggle with Spain. The
Philippines declared
independence from Spain on
June 12 and proclaimed a
provisional republic with
Aguinaldo as president. With
the conclusion of the
Spanish-American War, the
Philippines, along with Puerto
Rico and Guam, were ceded by
Spain to the U.S. by the Treaty
of Paris, on December 10,
1898.
The first Rizal Monument

was built in February 1899 at
Rizal Park in Daet, Camarines
Norte, Bicol Region. It is in correspondence to the decree by the
first president of the Republic of the Philippines, Emilio Aguinaldo to proclaim December 30, 1898 as the National Day
of Mourning to commemorate the death of Jose Rizal in the hands of Spaniards
RIZAL’S LAST LETTERS. Rizal wrote letters to his family and close friend, Blumentritt.
To Paciano, he said:
It has been four years a half that we have not seen each other, addressed each other in writing or orally. I don't think this
is due to a lack of affection on my part or yours but, knowing each other so well, we have no need of words to understand
each other.
... I think of how you have worked to enable me to have a career. I believe I have not tried to waste my time. Brother, if the
fruit has been bitter, it's not my fault, it is the fault of circumstances. I know that you have suffered much because of me, I
am so sorry.
I assure you that I am innocent of this crime of rebellion. If my former writings had contributed this, I should not deny it
but then I believe I have cleansed myself of this with my exile.
Tell our father I remember him, but how? I remember my whole childhood, his tenderness, his love. Ask him to forgive me
for the pain I caused him unwillingly.
Rizal bids his family farewell through a letter:
To my family,
I ask you for forgiveness for the pain I cause you, but some day I shall have to die and it is better that I die now in the
plentitude of my conscience.
Dear parents and brothers: give thanks to God that I may preserve my tranquility before my death. I die resigned, hoping
that with my death you will be left in peace. Ah! It is better to die than to live suffering. Console yourselves.
I enjoin you to forgive one another the little meanness of life and try to live united in peace and good harmony. Treat your
old parents as you would like to be treated by your children later. Love them very much in my memory.

Bury me in the ground. Place a stone and a cross over it. My name, the date of my birth and of my death. Nothing more. If
later you wish to surround my grave with a fence, you can do it. No anniversaries. I prefer Paang Bundok.
Have pity on poor Josephine.
Rizal wrote his last letter to his good friend, Ferdinand Blumentritt which read:
My dear Brother, When you receive this letter, I shall be dead by then. Tomorrow at seven, I shall be shot; but I am
innocent of the crime of rebellion. I am going to die with a tranquil conscience. Adieu, my best, my dearest friend, and
never think ill of me! Fort Santiago, 29 December 1896 José Rizal Regards to the whole family, to Sra. Rosa, Loleng,
Conradito, and Federico. I leave a book for you as my remembrance.
REFERENCES
Bernad, Miguel A. “The Trial of Rizal.” Philippine Studies, vol. 46, no. 1, 1998, pp. 46–72. JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/42633622. Accessed 30 Sep. 2020.
CHAPTER Eight: JOSE P. RIZAL'S EXILE IN DAPITAN (1892-1896). Jose Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonzo
Realonda.
https://bshmjoserizal.weebly.com/our-hero-jose-rizal/chapter-eight-jose-p-rizals-exile-in-dapitan-1892-1 896.
First Rizal monument is not in Luneta but in Bicol. Inquirer Lifestyle.

https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/249304/first-rizal-monument-not-luneta-bicol/.
Hays, J. JOSE RIZAL'S EXECUTION AND FILIPINO REBELLIONS AGAINST SPAIN. Facts and Details.
http://factsanddetails.com/southeast-asia/Philippines/sub5_6a/entry-3839.html.
Jose Rizal [Rizal and the Propaganda Movement]. http://www.joserizal.ph/pr01.html.
Philippines - The 1896 Uprising and Rizal's Execution. http://countrystudies.us/philippines/12.htm.
Rizal, J. Rizal's Own Story of His Life. External link. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/48438/48438-h/48438-h.htm.
Zaide, Gregorio F. (1984). José Rizal: life, works and writings of a genius, writer, scientist and national hero. Metro
Manila, Philippines: National Book Store
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Republic of the Philippines

DR. EMILIO B. ESPINOSA, SR. MEMORIAL STATE COLLEGE

Subject: GE 9- The Life and Works of Rizal

VISION: The DEBESMSCAT as a center of social transformation in Masbate by 2025.

1 Compiled and edited by Zaldy C. Ibaňez Jr. LPT& L.Agr.

Course Policy Information: Missed Quizzes/Exams/Projects/ Absences/Cheating/Plagiarism Policies, Uniforms

Subject Policy Information:

Grading System & Evaluation Procedures:

A. CIT GENERAL RELATED SUBJECT

MIDTERM/FINAL EXAM ___________________40%

2 Compiled and edited by Zaldy C. Ibaňez Jr. LPT& L.Agr.

Subject: GE 9- The Life and Works of Rizal

Introduction to Rizal Life and Works

A HERO IS BORN, 1861

Why Study the Life and Works of Rizal?

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1425

3 Compiled and edited by Zaldy C. Ibaňez Jr. LPT& L.Agr.

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

Approved: June 12, 1956

The Controversy Over the Rizal Law

4 Compiled and edited by Zaldy C. Ibaňez Jr. LPT& L.Agr.

Important Prepositions of Horacio de la Costa’s Initial Draft Letter

5 Compiled and edited by Zaldy C. Ibaňez Jr. LPT& L.Agr.

Subject: GE 9- The Life and Works of Rizal

 Brief Summary of the Spanish Colonization of the Philippines

 Appraised the link between the individual and the society

Early Spanish expeditions

Spanish colonization (1521-1898)

6 Compiled and edited by Zaldy C. Ibaňez Jr. LPT& L.Agr.

1887 Rizal begins writing the novel El Filibusterismo.

1894 Andres Bonifacio forms the Katipunan.

The 19th Century As A Century Of Change

7 Compiled and edited by Zaldy C. Ibaňez Jr. LPT& L.Agr.

8 Compiled and edited by Zaldy C. Ibaňez Jr. LPT& L.Agr.

Subject: GE 9- The Life and Works of Rizal

Topic: Rizal’s Life

 Family, Childhood and Early Education

Upon completion of this module, you should be able to:

 Analyzed Rizal’s Family, Childhood and early Education

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

The Mercado - Rizal Family

9 Compiled and edited by Zaldy C. Ibaňez Jr. LPT& L.Agr.

The Rizal Children

4. Olympia (1855-1887)Married Silvestre Ubaldo; died in 1887 from childbirth.

5. Lucia (1857-1919) Married Matriano Herbosa.

6. Maria (1859-1945)Married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Biñan, Laguna.

8. Concepcion (1862-1865) Died at the age of three.

9. Josefa (1865-1945) An epileptic, died a spinster.

11. Soledad (1870-1929)The youngest child married Pantaleon Quintero.

10 Compiled and edited by Zaldy C. Ibaňez Jr. LPT& L.Agr.

11 Compiled and edited by Zaldy C. Ibaňez Jr. LPT& L.Agr.

Rizal’s Early Education

School Days In Biñan.

12 Compiled and edited by Zaldy C. Ibaňez Jr. LPT& L.Agr.

13 Compiled and edited by Zaldy C. Ibaňez Jr. LPT& L.Agr.

Jose's older brother, Paciano, then a student in the College of

After the execution of Fathers Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora,

"He awakened my intellect and made me understand goodness and

Rizal’s Life: Higher Education and Life Abroad