Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

Lesson 1. 1 The Rizal Law

Objectives:
1. Know and understand Republic Act 1425, the Rizal Law
2. Analyze the importance of the Rizal Law

Republic Act No. 1425, otherwise known as the Rizal Law, was promulgated on June 12,
1956 by Senator Claro N. Recto. It requires the curricula of private and public schools,
colleges and university courses to include the life, works, and writings of our national hero,
Dr. Jose Rizal, particularly his novels, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. Jose P.
Laurel was responsible for passing the bill. The law was approved on June 12, 1956 and
took effect immediately.

Lesson 1. 2 Biography of Jose Rizal

Objectives:
1. Gain knowledge about the birth of the hero and trace his family roots/background
2. Know and appreciate his character traits and the values he had shown
3. Apply the good qualities of being a Filipino

Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonzo Realonda was born June 19, 1861, near midnight
of Wednesday at Calamba, Laguna after a painful and difficult labor on the part of his
mother, to use his own words “into the valley of tears”. He was the seventh child in a family
of 11 children-two bots and nine girls.

He was baptized, three days after his birth in the Catholic church of Calamba by Rev. Rufino
Collantes with Rev. Pedro Casanas as the sponsor. He was named “Jose” and his nickname
was Pepe which has been given to him by his mother in honor of the Christian Saint, San
Jose. (Saint Joseph).

His father, Francisco Mercado Rizal, was the youngest of 13 offsprings of Juan and Cirila
Mercado. Born in Binan, Laguna on May 11, 1818, he was an educated farmer having studies
in Latin and Philosophy at the College of San Jose in Manila. Jose Rizal affectionately
called him a “model of fathers”. He died in Manila on January 5, 1898.

His mother, Teodora Alonzo Realonda, was the second child of Lorenzo Alonso and
Brigida de Quintos. She studied at the Colegio de Santa Rosa, a business-minded and
well-read woman. She was corteous, religious and hardworking that she was born in Santa
Cruz, Manila on Novermber 8, 1826 and died in Manila on August 16, 1911.

The Mercado – Rizal couple was blessed with eleven (11) children, namely,

1. Saturnina (1850 – 1913) – She was the eldest and married Manuel Timoteo Hidalgo
of Tanuan, Batangas.
2. Paciano (1851 – 1930) – He was the only brother of Jose. He studied at San Jose
College in Manila, became a farmer and later a general of the Philippine Revolution.
He had two children by his mistress, Severina Decena.
3. Narcisa (1852 – 1939) – she married Antonio Lopez of Morong, a teacher and a
musician.
4. Olympia (1855 – 1887) – She married Silvester Ubando. She died in 1887 of
childbirth.
5. Lucia (1857 – 1919) – She married Mariano Herbosa of Calamba.
6. Maria (1858 – 1945) – She married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Binan, Laguna.
7. Jose (1861 – 1896) – The greatest Filipino here peerless genius. He lived with
Josephine Bracken, a pretty Irish from Hong Kong during his exile in Dapitan. He had
a son by her but this baby boy died a few hours after birth. Rizal named him Francisco
after his father and buried him in Dapitan.
8. Concepcion (1862 – 1865) – She died at the age of 4.
9. Josefa (1865 – 1945) – She was an epileptic and died an old maid.
10. Trinidad (1868 – 1951) – She died as a spinster and the last of the family to die.
11. Soledad (1870 – 1929) – She married Pantaleon Quintero of Camlamba.

Jose Rizal was of mixed racial origin. In his veins flowed the bloods of both east and west.
(Chinese, Japanese, Malay and Spanish) Rizal’s paternal great-great-grandfather was
Domingo Lamco, a Chinese merchant, who married Ynez Dela Rosa, a Chinese mestiza.
Lamco’s son, Francisco, Rizal’s great-grandfather, was appointed municipal captain of Binan
in 1783.
Lesson 1.3 Rediscovering the Real Jose Rizal

Objectives:
1. Understand, appreciate and rediscover the real Jose Rizal
2. Enumerate quality questions to the descendants of Jose Rizal

Jose Rizal was truly an amazing man. He was a unique example of a many splendored
geniuses who became the greatest hero of a nation. He was an anthropologist, a botanist, a
businessman, a cartographer, a dramatist, an economist, an educator, an engineer, an
essayist, an entomologist.

While he was in Dapitan, he used to send plants, animals, and insects to Europe. He was a
farmer, a folklorist, a geographer, a grammarian, a historian, a horticulturist, a humorist, a
lexicographer, a linguist. He could speak with ease 22 languages and was able to write letters
and poetry. He was a musician, a novelist, a painter, a physician (including a specialist
ophthalmologist), a poet, a philosopher, a polemist, a psychologist, a satirist, a sculptor, a
sportsman, a sociologist, a surveyor, a traveler and a zoologist. Rizal and his legacy are for all
times, for all ages and for all classes of people. We greatly believe that we should have a hero
in our lives, somebody that we should emulate – and there is no better to have as a hero and
to try to emulate than Jose Rizal.

Many of us know Rizal only from the textbooks. Worst, students often leave a classroom
with a dislike of Rizal. He is best understood on a printed page. If Filipinos get to known
Rizal, they will also get to know themselves better.

Lesson 1.4 The World and the Philippines in Rizal’s Time

Objectives:
1. Know the historical condition of the world and the Philippines prior to and during
his time
2. Identify and analyze the effects of colonialism during the time of Rizal in the
political, economic and educational aspects among the people Rizal included
3. Identify and analyze the effects/manifestations of colonialism among the Filipino
people in the contemporary times
To learn and appreciate the life of Dr.
Rizal, it is necessary to learn about the
historical conditions of the world and
of the Philippines during his time.
After all, heroes are said to be the
products of their own settings and the
conditions of their times.

Rizal was born and raised in the 19th

century, a period of massive changes
in Europe, Spain and the Philippines.
During this era, the glory and power of
Spain had waned in both in her
colonies and in the world. The birth of
modernity was precipitated by three
great revolutions around the world: the
Industrial Revolution in England,
the French Revolution in France and
the American Revolution.

Aside from the three great revolutions,

the birth of social sciences such as
sociology, history and anthropology
also had a significant influence to the
intellectual tradition of the 19th
century. The reliance on human reason
and science rather on dogmas of the
Catholic Church has its roots in the
intellectual movement called “the Enlightenment”.

The Philippines During Rizal’s Time

These are the relevant events and conditions of the Philippines before, during and after
Rizal’s time which contributed to the development of Filipino nationalism.

Social System

Before the Spanish conquest in 1565, Filipinos had their own indigenous culture, their own
government, and also their own religion. The Spanish colonizers forced them to accept
foreign culture and Catholicism that they never completely understood. The Spaniards
brought with them their doctrine “limpieza de sangre” (purity of blood) into the
Philippines, thereby creating a social ranking among various groups, namely: Spanish
peninsulares, insulares, Spanish mestizos, the town ruling class, the native elites, the Chinese
mestizos and the indios referring to the natives.
Political System
Spain governed the Philippines through the Ministry of the Colonies (Ministro de
Ultramar) absed in Madrid. The Ministry helped the Spanish king manage the afairs of the
colonies and administer the Philippines through a control government in Manila.
The Governor-general headed the central government who was appointed by the King of
Spain. He was the King’s representative in governmental matters and was the Vice Royal
Patron over religious affairs. Next to the central government was the Alcadia or provincial
government who was headed by an alcalde mayor. The pueblo, composed of the barangays
was the local government unit. The gobernadorcillo was the chief executive and chief judge.
The smallest political unit was the barangay (barrio) headed by a cabeza de barangay. The
guardia civil was a corps of native police led by Spanish officers.

Educational System
The first schools established were parochial schools with the Spanish missionaries as
teachers. Fear of God was emphasized and obedience to the friars was instilled in the minds
of the people. The friars decide what to teach to the children. Teacher discrimination against
Filipinos was present in the higher levels of learning.
Paradoxically, the majority of the friars assigned to implement the Educational Decree of
1863 were against the teaching of Spanish in the colony. The believed that the knowledge of
the language would develop and political awareness among the natives and they might be
inspired by the liberal ideas about freedom and independence. The friars thwarted whatever
noble purposes the mother country had for improving colonial education to protect and
perpetuate their vested interests.

Frailrocracia
The principle of the union of church and state was practiced by almost absolute monarchial
states spawned in the colony an invincible government called “frailrocracia” – meaning rule
of friars. From 1849 to 1898, 45 governor-generals had been assigned to the colony and each
one of them sought the counsel of the friars who had been permanently residing in the
country. since the friars were found in each town, they gradually became the ruler of that
political unit. They became very influential and so powerful that the Spanish civil authorities,
including the governor-general, feared them.

Opening of the Philippines to World Commerce

In 1834, Spain, following the economic policy of other European countries, officially opened
Manila to world commerce. From 1834 to 1873, more ports were opened to foreign trading
like Sual, Iloilo, Zamboanga, Cebu and Legazpi. This stimulated vigorous economic activity
in the colony that brought prosperity to some Filipinos, mostly Spanish and Chinese
mestizos. As a result, there emerged a new class: the Filipino middle class. They did not only
acquire material wealth but also improve their social standing and influence. Consequently,
with the newly found prosperity and growing influence, the middle class Filipinos clamored
and agitated for social and political equality and from their children emerged the initial
propagators of the reform movement.

Opening of the Suez Canal

Suez Canal was opened to international shipping on November 17, 1869. This canal, 103
miles long, connects the Mediterranean to the Gulf of Suez and also to the Red Sea and the
Indian Ocean. With the opening of this canal, the distance of travel between Europe and the
Philippines was significantly shortened bringing the country closer to Spain.
The opening of the Suez Canal facilitated the importation of books, magazines and
newspapers with liberal ideas from Europe and America which eventually influenced the
minds of Jose Rizal and other Filipino reformists.

The Secularization Movement

Since 1565, the religious orders took possession of the parishes for conversion of the natives
to Catholicism. This was a violation of the decision of the Council of Trent (1545-1563) that
parishes were to be administered by secular priests. But there were few available secular
priests since many of them were earlier sent to other Spanish colonies in the Americas.by the
19th century, many Filipinos had become secular priests, but the regular priests called friar
curates did not want to relinquish their parishes to the seculars. The movement gradually
became a racial and national conflict with the friar curates on one side and the Filipino clergy
on the other.

The Democratic Rule of Gov. Den. Dela Torre

The first-hand experience of what it is to be liberal came from the role modeling of the first
liberal governor-general in the Philippines – Governor-General Carlos Maria Dela Torre. The
political instability in Spain resulted in frequent changes of Spanish officials in the
Philippines which caused further confusion and increased social and political discontent in
the country. but when the liberals deposed Queen Isabela II in the 1868 mutiny, a provisional
government was set up and the new government extended to the colonies the reforms they
adopted in Spain. These reforms included the grant of universal suffrage and the recognition
of freedom and conscience, the press, association and public assembly. General De la Torre
was appointed by the provisional government in Spain as Governor-General of the
Philippines in 1869.
The Cavite Mutiny and the Martyrdom of GOMBURZA

Two historical events in the late 19th century that hastened the growth of nationalism in the
minds of Rizal, the reformists and the Filipino people were the Cavite mutiny and the
martyrdom of Father Gomez, Burgos and Zamora, popularly known as GOMBURZA. The
Cavite mutiny was a failed uprising against the Spaniards due to miscommunication between
Sgt. Lamadrid and the Filipino soldiers in Manila on January 20, 1872. This unfortunate
event in Cavite became an opportunity, however, for the Spaniards to implicate the three
Filipino priests who had been campaigning for Filipino rights, particularly the rights of
Filipino priests to become parish priests – the “Filipinization” of the parishes in the country.
They magnified the event and made it appear as a “revolt” against the government.
The three priest were arrested and charged falsely with treason and mutiny under a military
court. With a farcial trial, a biased court and a weak defense from their government-hired
lawyers, the three priests were convicted of a crime they did not commit. Governor Rafael
Izquierdo approved their death sentence and at sunrise of February 17, 1872, Fathers Gomez,
Burgos and Zamora were escorted under heavy guard to Luneta and were executed by garrote
before a vast crown of Filipino foreigners.

The execution of GOMBURZA hastened not only the downfall of the Spanish government
but also the growth of Filipino nationalism. Among those in the crowd who resented the
execution was Paciano, the older brother of Jose Rizal, who inspired the national hero the
cause of the three priests. Rizal dedicated his novel, “El Filibusterismo” to GOMBURZA to
show his appreciation of the latter’s courage, dedication to Filipino rights and sense of
nationalism.\

Discontent with Spanish Institutions

Spain introduced in the country mechanisms (institutions) to enable the colonial government
in the country to comply with the obligations of supporting the Church’s mission of
Christianizing the natives and to contribute to the Spanish King’s welfare. These institutions
include the encomienda, the polo (forced labor) and the tribute (tribute).

Union of Church and State

During the Spanish period, there were a union of Church and State. The Catholic religion
became the state religion. Both civil and ecclesiastical authorities served God and King.
Thus, functions of the government officials oftentimes overlapped with those of the clergy in
the Church. Under the arrangements between the Pope and the Spanish King called the
“Patronato Read de las Indias”, civil and church authorities must coordinate to Christianize
the natives in the colony.
With vast powers, both spiritual and political, in their hands, Spanish friars and clergy held
absolute powers in the country. This attracted the attention of the reformists and illustrados
led by Jose Rizal resulting in a nationalist desire for reforms in the country and eventually
independence from Spain.

Racial Discrimination
Racial discrimination is a form of social exclusion where people are prevented from having
access to public goods by virtue of their physical traits. In the Philippines, the Spanish
authorities regarded the brown Filipino inferior as an inferior people and derisively called
them “indios” or Indians. This racial prejudice against native Filipinos existed in government
offices, in the armed forces, in the universities and colleges, in courts of justice and in high
society.