Rizal and his Family 1

Rizal and his Family Abidin, Brian T. Jawel, John Melton R. Saluan, Ar-Rafi A. Western Mindanao State University

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Abstract

Jose Protacio Mercado Rizal y Alonso Realondo the Philippine National Hero who was known for his heroic deed for the Philippines. He fought the Spaniards through his pin as his weapon. After his death many people admired him. Statues of him were built. His works, writings and personal things were kept to preserve for historical purposes. Family; the basic social unit of the society. This is where we get to learn our values. With our family beside us, we grow into persons through their guidance. Here in the Philippines, It is important for us to preserve its true meaning. There are two types of family, Nuclear and Extended. Nuclear family is composed of a mother, a father and a child or children. An Extended family is composed of a mother, a father and child/children and there are close relatives living in the same house or in a near residence. The purpose of this paper is to give information and knowledge to the readers about Rizal and his family. This will give a brief description about their family background, and how the people around him treated and encouraged him to be a Hero. The paper will also tackle on how his family contributed to push him towards his goals. Also, the pain and suffering that Jose Rizal caused his family. Without his family, he would be a different person and he would be known as a different man. It would be also a different story to tell.

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Introduction

It was the night of Wednesday, on June 19, 1861. A hero was born. He was seventh of the eleven children of Francisco Mercado Rizal and Teodora Alonso Realonda. His mother almost died during the delivery because of his big head (Gregorio F. Zaide, 1999, p. 1) His baptismal certificate is located on the second page of the Zaides book. And according to Father Rufino Collantes who was the parish priest that baptized Jose Rizal, Take good care of this child for someday he will become a great man (Gregorio F. Zaide, 1999, p. 2) He was named Jose by his mother because of the reason that she was a devotee of the saint San Jose. It was a destiny for Jose Rizal to become successful and become a great man since the day he got out of her mothers womb. Or maybe it was just a mere coincidence that many things happened to him. His father is Francisco Mercado Rizal, the youngest captain of Juan, who was married to Teodora Alonso Realonda. Rizal and his siblings were intimately close with each other. He was really attached with his sisters from his childhood until he grew up as a man. He respects them by calling them Doa or Seniorita. While his only brother, Paciano who was ten years older than him, was rather like a second father to him. He was his best friend, adviser, and the one who gave up his own dreams just to fulfill his brothers. Their family was in a Principalia class. They were able to go to school, they had a good house, farms, and business. They participated in social affairs and they go to mass every Sundays and on Christian holidays. Rizal and his siblings were given the freedom to play. To cut it short, their family led a happy life. You can tell that their family didnt have a hard time, unlike the other Filipinos that were treated differently by the Spanish people.

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Body

The real surname of their family was originally Mercado, which was adopted in 1731 by their great grandfather, Domingo Lamco who was a Chinese immigrant on their fathers side that married a Chinese Christian. Rizals family acquired a second surname which is Rizal. It was given by a Spanish alcalde mayor of Laguna, and a family friend. The Rizal was a product of mixture of races. The blood of both East and West flowed in his veins. The blood of a Negrito, Indonesian, Malay, Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish. From their great grandfather on their fathers side, Domingo Lamco who is a Chinese that also married a Chinese Christian, Ines de la Rosa passed on to their son Fransisco Mercado that also married a Chinese Filipino Mestiza named Cirila Bernacha who was elected as a gobernadorcillo. Next is their son Juan Mercado that is also elected as a gobernadorcilo of Bian that married a Chinese Filipino mestiza named Cirilia Alejandro. They gave birth to Rizals father named Francisco Mercado Rizal. He was born in Bian, Laguna on May 11, 1818. He studied at the College of San Hose in Manila taking Latin and Philosophy. His parents died during his early manhood. He moved to Calamba and became a farmer of the Dominican-owned hacienda. He died in Manila on the 5th of January 1898. On his mothers side, it was Eugenio Ursua a Japanese who have married Benigna. They had a daughter named Regina who married a Fili[inp Chinese named Manuel de Quintos who was a lawyer from pangasinan. Then, their daughter Brigida married a promment ApannishFilipino mestizo named Lorenzo alberto Alonso. They had a daughter named Teodora Alonso Realonda who became Rizals mother. She was born on the 8th of November 1826, in Manila and studied at the College of Santa Rosa. In the book of Zaide, it was said that she was a woman who

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possessed refined culture, literary talent, business ability and fortitude of Spartan women. She died in Manila on August 16, 1911 at the age of 85.

His father Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado y Alejandra II, was the youngest of the thirteen children. He lost his father when he was still eight years of age, and his mother took care of him. When his mother died, he went to Calamba and there he became a tenant and a farmer of a large estate. He has raised Jose Rizal and his siblings by renting lands and producing rice, sugarcanes, and corns. Jose Rizal has called him as a Model of fathers (WikiPilipinas, 2011) He adopted the surname Rizal. It was originally Ricial which means the green of young growth or green fields. It was suggested to him by a provincial governor. The changing of their family name caused Fransico a series of disorder or confusion in his business due to the fact that most of it was under his old name. (Jessica14, 2010)

Teodora Alonso Realonda, Was born in Tondo, Manila. She is well educated and she mastered the Spanish language. She became the first teacher of Rizal. She taught him values so that he would grow up as a good individual. She and her husband desired the best for their children, so they sent them to schools. Teodora was the inspiration of Rizal to take medicine during his college days, so that Rizal will be able to cure her mothers eyes. (Wikipilipinas, 2008)

Francisco had been aiding victims of the Spanish tyranny. The Spanish authority as well as the friars got irritated with Franciscos defiance or rebellious act of not following the laws implemented by the Spanish government. So the Spaniards took Teodora and forced her to walk

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from their town to the town in Sta. Cruz . They have put her into imprisonment just to seek revenge at Francisco. Despite of her innocence of all the crime that was accused on her, she was still put to jail and there wasnt even a trial made. (Philippine Heroes - Doa Teodora Alonzo y Realonda (1827 - 1911))

Saturnina Mercado Alonso Rizal Hidalgo was the eldest daughter among the children of Francisco and Teodora. She was married to Manuel Hidalgo and had five children. She reported daily events that happened in Calamba and told stories about their life. She sends letters which contained stories and events that have happened in Calamba. Saturnina is a very close sister of Jose Rizal, it was stated in one of the 9 letters that they exchanged, she expressed that she was missing her brother when he was in Madrid. (Saturnina Rizal - Wikipilipinas, 2011)

Paciano Rizal was the elder and only brother of Jose Rizal. He supported his brother financially when he was in school. He was able to send him to Europe to study, with only 700 pesos. He was very supportive that he gave up his dreams in studying and gave it to his brother. He was then tortured by the Spaniards when Jose was kept imprisoned in Fort Santiago because he refused to condemn his younger brother. After the execution of Jose Rizal, Paciano joined the revolution. He then died at the age of 79 due to Tuberculosis.

Jose Rizals other sisters namely; Narcisa, Olympia, Lucia, Maria, Concepcion, Josefa, Trinidad, and Soledad, werent really involved too much in Rizals life. Narcisa was a teacher and a musician. It was said that she could recite almost all the poems made by his younger brother. Olympia, was a telegraph operator from Manila. Rizal approaches her and sometimes

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talks about his love life with Segunda Katigbak. Lucia was the fifth child of the Rizal family who was married to Mariano Herbosa. Maria, the sixth child, married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Bian, Laguna. Concepcion, who was the next child after Rizal, died when she was three. She was also known as Concha. Josefa, also called Panggoy by her family, remained a spinster all throughout her life. She was a member of the Katipunan. Lastly, Soledad the youngest of them all was married to Pantaleon Quintero, a native of Calamba. She also became a teacher and it was said that she is the most educated among all of her sisters. (Ayala Foundation, Inc., 2013)

Other than his father, mother, and siblings, there were also other relatives that influenced him during his life. He was greatly influenced by his mothers brothers. His Tio Jose who was the youngest among the siblings of her mother encouraged Rizal to engage in becoming a sculptor. He was the boys inspiration when he paints. Tio Manuel, influenced him to go outdoors and walk with his pet Usman, a black dog. His Tio Gregorio taught him the value of hard work, careful observation of life, and taught him how to think independently. (Rizal's Family - WikiPilipinas, 2012)

There were many people, especially relatives and friends, influenced Rizal to become a great man. Even though he thinks differently unlike most of the normal children around him, he was still taught things that normal people do. He gained and developed different talents like painting, sculpting, writing, etc. He was pushed by his determination to become a successful person and his family supported him.

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Conclusion

Jose Rizal had a happy family before he wrote works against the Spaniards which brought pain and suffering. Despite of all the problems they had faced, Rizal was still able to see a picture of a happy family. Through times of rough ups and downs, they were still there for each other. Though while growing up he experienced many stressful events like the martyrdom of Gomburza and the imprisonment of her mother at his young age. He still grew up as one of the most influential people that the Filipinos looked up for. The last family reunion he had was in Hong Kong during the yuletide season which was one of the happiest moments of his life before he died. (Gregorio F. Zaide, 1999)

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Bibliography
Saturnina Rizal - Wikipilipinas. (2011, July 27). Retrieved from WikiPilipinas: http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Saturnina_Rizal Rizal's Family - WikiPilipinas. (2012, March 6). Retrieved February 24, 2013, from Wikipilipinas.Org: http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Rizal_Family Ayala Foundation, Inc. (2013). Rizal's Sisters. Retrieved February 26, 2013, from filipinaslibrary.org: http://www.filipinaslibrary.org.ph/filipiniana-library/filipiniana/70-features/130-rizals-sisters Gregorio F. Zaide, S. M. (1999). Jose Rizal: Life, Works and Writings of a Genius, Writer, Scientist and National Hero. Quezon City: All-Nations Publishing Co., Inc. Jessica14. (2010, May). Jose Rizal's Family. Retrieved February 25, 2013, from Studymode.Com: http://www.studymode.com/essays/Jose-Rizal-s-Family-321161.html Philippine Heroes - Doa Teodora Alonzo y Realonda (1827 - 1911). (n.d.). Retrieved February 26, 2013, from Etravelpilipinas.Com: http://www.etravelpilipinas.com/about_philippines/teodora_alonzo.htm Wikipilipinas. (2008, March 14). Teodora Alonzo - WikiPilipinas. Retrieved February 24, 2013, from WikiPilipinas: http://fil.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Teodora_Alonzo WikiPilipinas. (2011, June 24). Francisco Mercado - WikiPilipinas. Retrieved February 25, 2013, from WikiPilipinas.Org: http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Francisco_Mercado