Rizal's ancestry and parents

Running in Rizals blood were mixtures of different races. Austin Craig accounted that Rizal
had a trace of chinese ancestry that came from a businessman named Domingo Lam-Co, the
ancestor of Rizals father, who was born in Chinchew, China. From Amoy, China where he was
residing then, Lam-Co migrated to and invested in the Philippines in the late 17th century and
married a half-breed Chinese-Filipina named Ines dela Rosa.

Rizal apparently came from a Chinese-Filipino descent Francisco Mercado Y Chinco.

Francisco Mercado was born in Bian, Laguna on May 11, 1818. He took up Philosophy and Latin
in the Colegio de San Jose in Manila. After his parents death, he moved to Calamba. There he
became a tenant farmer of the Dominican-owned hacienda and later became one of the towns
wealthiest men. He was able to establish a private library and kept carriage. The name Francisco
was in high honor in Laguna for it had belonged to a famous sea captain who had been given the
ENCOMIENDA of BAY for his services.

Rizals mother Teodora Alonso came from the clan of Lakan Dula, known as the last Malay
king of Tondo. She was also traced to Eugenio Ursua whose ancestors came from Japan. She was
the second daughter of Lorenzo Alberto Alonso who was a former representative of Spanish Cortes
and Brigida de Quintos whose parents were Manuel de Quintos, of a well-known family in
Pangasinan and Regina Ursua who was the daughter of Benigna and Eugene Ursua.

As already noted, Teodora Alonso had a trace of Japanese ancestry. Moreover, she was of
Ilocano-Tagalog-Chinese-Spanish descent. Combining the paternal and maternal ancestry,
therefore Jose Rizal was born with Malay, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish lineages in his blood.
Teodora Alonzo died on August 16, 1911 at the age of 84.

Rizal's surname
Domingo Lam-Co, the great-great-grandfather of Jose Rizal, decided to use Mercado as
his surname in 1731 to match his profession, being a merchant. He used this surname
from 1731 to November 11, 1849 as soon as Governor-General Narciso Claveria posed a
regulation that requires them to make use of Spanish family names. Meanwhile, for
Don Francisco Mercado, Rizals father, Rizal was used, which means new pasture or
greenfield.
 The Rizal Home

The house of the Rizal family, where the hero was

born, was one of the distinguished stone houses in
Calamba during Spanish times. It was a two-storey
building, rectangular in shape, built of adobe stones
and hard-woods, and roofed with red tiles. It is
described by Dr. Rafael Palma, one of Rizals
prestigious biographers, as follows:

The house was high and even sumptuous, a solid and

massive earthquake-proof structure with sliding shell
windows. Thick walls of lime and stone bounded the
first floor; the second floor was made entirely of wood
except for the roof, which was of red tile, in the style of
the buildings in Manila at the time At the back there
was an azotea and a wide, deep cistern to hold rain
water for home use.

Behind the house were the poultry yard full of turkeys

and chickens and a big garden of tropical fruit trees
atis, balimbing, chico, macopa, papaya, santol, tampoy,
etc.

It was happy home where parental affection and

childrens laughter reigned. By day, it hummed with
the noises of children at play and the songs of the
birds in the garden. By night, it echoed with the dulcet
notes of family prayers. Such a wholesome home,
naturally, bred a wholesome family. And such family
was the Rizal family.
Homelife of the Rizals

The Rizal family had a simple, contented, and happy

life. In consonance with Filipino custom, family ties
among the Rizals were intimately close. Don Frincisco
and Doa Teodora loved their children, but they never
spoiled them. They were strict parents and they
trained their children to loved God, to behave well, to
be obedient, and to respect people, especially the old
folks. Whenever the children, including Jose Rizal, got
into mischief, they were given a sound spanking.
Evidently, they believed in the maxim: Spare the rod
and spoil the child.

Everyday the Rizals (parents and children) heard Mass

in the town church, particularly during Sundays and
Christian Holidays. They prayed together daily at
home the Angelus at sunset and the rosary before
retiring to bed at night. After the family prayers, all
the children kissed the hands of their parents.

Life was not, however, all prayers and church services

for the Rizal children. They were given ample time and
freedom to play by their strict and religious parents.
They played merrily in the azotea or in the garden by
themselves. The older ones were allowed to play with
the children of other families.
 Family Traditions
The Rizal familys traditions are bound by spirituality and firm moral ground. Everyday
they used to gather to pray the rosary. Their mother would often tell the children to gather
up so they can say their prayers together.

They were filled with obedience, virtue, as well as mutual respect and love for each other,
especially for their parents. The Rizal children addressed their parents as Tatay and
Nanay.

Hence, when Jose lost his little sister Concha in 1865, he grieved bitterly. For the first time,
according to him, he cried because of sorrow and love.

The children also learned a lot from their first teacher, their mother Dona Teodora. She
was loving, kind, and indulgent, but can be a true disciplinarian. There was actually one
occasion when Jose refused to wear a sinamay camisa since it was rough and coarse.
Because of his disobedience, his mother spanked him. Hence, he learned his lesson so well.

Aside from this, Dona Teodora also taught her children to read the Bible. She translated
those passages they did not understand to inculcate in them the value of spirituality and
goodness out of reading the Holy Scripture.

Family Members
A family of 13, they are paternally of Chinese ancestry and maternally descendants of a maharlika class. Jose Rizal
was a mestizo from both East and West with blood from native, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish races.

Francisco Mercado (b. May 11, 1818 d. January 5, 1898), the father of Jose Rizal and considered the patriarch
of the family, was a native of Bian, Laguna. He was an educated and industrious farmer who studied Latin
and philosophy at Colegio de San Jose in Manila. Of Chinese ancestry, his great grandfather Domingo Lam-
Co was a native of Chinchew (now Quanzhou), China who married the Filipina Ines de la Rosa. One of the
couples' children was Francisco Mercado, who later married Cerila Bernacha. Bernacha gave birth to Juan
Mercado who became Cerila Alejandro's husband and Francisco's father. Both Francisco's father, Juan, and
grandfather, Francisco, became Capitanes or town mayors of Bian. Upon the death of his mother, Francisco
moved to Calamba where he became a tenant and farmer of a large Dominican estate. On 28 June 1848, he
married Teodora Alonzo Realonda. In 1850 he petitioned the court to change the family name to Rizal, with
all their children being surnamed as such.

Teodora Alonzo Realonda (b. November 8, 1826 d. August 16, 1911), a Manilea, was a highly
educated Filipina who graduated from the Colegio de Santa Rosa. Of Spanish and Japanese ancestry, Teodora
was a talented woman whose interests lay in literature, culture, and business, and was well-versed in Spanish.
She helped her husband in farming and in their business. She devoted herself to the children's education and
growth as morally-upright individuals. Teodora's lineage can be traced to Lakandula, the greatest ruler
of Tondo. Her great grandfather, who was of Japanese blood, was Eugenio Ursua (Ochoa). Her maternal
 grandfather was Manuel de Quintos who was a popular lawyer in his time, while her paternal grandfather
was Cipriano Alonso who belonged to Bian's long list of Capitanes. Teodora was second child of Lorenzo
Alberto Alonzo, an engineer and a recipient of the most sought decoration, the Knight of the Grand Order of
Isabela the Catholic and Order of Carlos III; and Brigida de Quintos, a fair and well-educated lady. With her
vision failing in old age, her son took up medicine, specializing in opthalmologoy, in order to cure her.

Saturnina Rizal (1850 1913), also known as Neneng, was the eldest of the Rizal children. She
married Manuel Hidalgo, affectionately called "Maneng" by Rizal, who was a native of Tanauan, Batangas.

Paciano Rizal (b. March 7, 1851 d. 1930) was the elder and only brother of Jose Rizal. Being a decade older
than Rizal, Paciano became a second father to his sibling. He succeeded in sending the young Jose (Pepe) to
Europe to study, giving the latter 700 pesos upon departure. During the younger years Paciano would continue
supporting his brother financially. After the death of Jose, Paciano joined the Revolution and was later
appointed general of the revolutionary forces in Laguna. His common-law wife was Severina Decena. He died
in Los Baos, Laguna on April 13, 1930. Their only child Emiliana Rizal married her first cousin Antonio Rizal
Lopez Jr., the son of Narcisa Rizal with Antonio Lopez Sr.

Narcisa Rizal (1852 1939) was the third child of Francisco and Teodora. She was a teacher and a musician
by profession, and married Antonino Lopez who was a school teacher in Morong, Rizal.

Olympia Rizal (1855 1887) was the fourth child of the brood who married Silvestre Ubaldo, a telegraph
operator from Manila.

Lucia Rizal (1857 1919) was the fifth child of the Rizal family who was married to Mariano Herbosa of
Calamba. She died in 1887.

Maria Rizal (1859 1945) was the sixth of the eleven children who married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Bian,
Laguna.

Concepcion Rizal (1862 1865), also known as Concha, was the eight child of the Rizals, who died at the
age of three.

Josefa Rizal (1865 1945) was the ninth child and affectionately called Panggoy. She remained a spinster
throughout her life.

Jose Rizal (June 19, 1861- December 30, 1896), later to become the Philippine national hero, was the second
son and seventh child.

Trinidad Rizal (1868 1951) was the tenth child who, like Josefa, died without a husband.

Soledad Rizal (1870 1929) was the youngest of the brood who later married Pantaleon Quintero, a native of
Calamba.