SY 2023-2024

B174 Rizal’s Life and Works 1st SEMESTER

GEC 108 MIDTERMS REVIEWER

THE RIZAL ANCESTRY 
FM – 2A
At the age of eight, he lost his father
and grew up to manhood under the
JOSE PROTACIO MERCADO ALONZO Y
care of his mother.
REALONDA
 He studied Latin and Philosophy in the
 He was a product of the mixture of College of San Jose in Manila.
races.  Born on May 11, 1818, in Binan,
 In his veins flowed the blood of both Laguna.
East and West.  He moved to Calamba to become a
 A Malayan and was a magnificent tenant-farmer of a hacienda owned by
specimen of Asian manhood. the Dominicans.
 He was born on June 19, 1861.  He died at the age of 80, January 5,
 Wednesday evening, Calamba Laguna 1898, in Manila.
and his mother nearly died in the
process.  “Model of Fathers”
 He was baptized on June 22, three
days after being born. TEODORA ALONSO REALONDA
 Fr. Rufino Collantes – Parish Priest of  Wife of Francisco Mercado, mother of
the Catholic church in his town, from Jose Rizal.
Batangas.  They got married on June 28, 1848.
 Fr. Pedro Casanas – Rizal’s godfather,  They settled down in Calamba.
a close family friend.  They engaged in farming and business
 He was named after St. Joseph. and reared a big family.
 Her family descended from Lakandula,
DOMINGO LAMCO – MERCADO the last native king Tondo.
(FATHER SIDE)  Born on November 8, 1826, in Manila.
 Rizal’s great-great grandfather  She was a graduate of the College of
 A Chinese immigrant from the Fukien Santa Rosa.
City of Changchow  She died at the age of 85, August 16,
 Arrived in Manila in about 1690 1911, in Manila.
 He became a Christian.
 Ines de la Rosa – well-to-do Chinese  "My mother is a woman of more
Christian Girl of Manila than ordinary culture; she knows
 Mercado – 1731, appropriate for him literature and speaks Spanish
because he was a merchant. better than I. She corrected my
 Spanish term mercado means market poems and gave me good advice
in English. when I was studying rhetoric. She
is a mathematician and has read
FRANCISCO MERCADO many books."
 He resided in Binan.
 Cirila Bernacha – Chinese Filipino EUGENIO URSUA (MOTHER SIDE)
Mestiza  Teodora’s great-grandfather.
 He was elected as gobernadorcillo of  Rizal’s maternal great-great-
the town. grandfather
 Japan ancestry
JUAN MERCADO  Benigna (unknown surname) – Filipino
 Rizal’s grandfather
 Cirila Alejandro – Chinese Filipino REGINA URSUA
Mestiza  Daughter of Eugenio and Benigna
 He was also elected as  Manuel de Quintos – Filipino Chinese
gobernadorcillo like his father. Lawyer from Pangasinan.
 Capitan Juan and Capitana Cirila had
thirteen children. BRIGIDA QUINTOS
 Lorenzo Alberto Alonso – prominent
FRANCISCO MERCADO - RIZAL Spanish-Filipino mestizo of Binan.
 Rizal’s father.

REVIEWER BY: LYKA BELGICA

 SY 2023-2024
B174 Rizal’s Life and Works 1st SEMESTER

GEC
 108Teodora
Narcisa, MIDTERMS REVIEWER
(Rizal’s mother),
FM – 2A
learned at the age of three the alphabet
Gregorio, Manuel, and Jose. and the prayers.

Rizal is the seventh of the eleven "My mother," wrote Rizal in his student
children: memoirs, "taught me how to read and to
1) Saturnina say haltingly the humble prayers which I
2) Paciano – second father raised fervently to God."
3) Narcisa
4) Olimpia As tutor, Doña Teodora was patient,
5) Lucia conscientious, and understanding. It was
6) Maria she who first discovered that her son had a
7) Jose talent for poetry. Accordingly, she
8) Concepcion – Concha (First encouraged him to write poems. To
Sorrow) lighten the monotony of memorizing the
9) Josefa ABC’s and to stimulate her son’s
10) Trinidad imagination, she related many stories.
11) Soledad
As Jose grew older, his parents employed
Rizal's family was a mixture of races. They private tutors to give him lessons at home.
were a combination of Negrito, Malay,  First – Maestro Celestino
Indonesian, Japanese, Chinese, and  Second – Maestro Lucas Padua
Spanish, though Jose was predominantly  Leon Monroy – old man, a former
Malayan. Mercado was the original classmate of Rizal’s father.
surname of the Rizal family. Domingo  He lived at Rizal’s home.
Lamco, Jose's great-great-grandfather,  Instructed Jose in Spanish and
adopted the name Rizal in 1731 and it Latin
became a second surname of the family.  He died five months after.
After a Monroy’s death, the hero’s parents
EARLY EDUCATION decided to send their gifted son to a private
school in Biñan.
CALAMBA AND BINAN
It was a typical schooling that a son of an JOSE GOES TO BINAN
ilustrado family received during his time,
 June 1869 – Sunday, Afternoon
characterized by the four R’s- reading,
 Paciano – rode in carromata – one
writing, arithmetic, and religion.
and one-half hours’ drive.
Instruction was rigid and strict. Knowledge
 Aunt’s house – Jose was to lodge.
was forced into the minds of the pupils by
 Leandro – they went sightseeing in the
means of the tedious memory method
town.
aided by the teacher’s whip.
 Instead of enjoying the sights, Jose
Despite the defects of the Spanish system became depressed because of
of elementary education, Rizal was able to homesickness.
acquire the necessary instruction
 "In the moonlight," he recounted,
preparatory for college work in Manila. It
"I remembered my hometown, my
may be said that Rizal, who was born a
idolized mother, and my solicitous
physical weakling, rose to become an
sisters. Ah, how sweet to me was
intellectual giant not because of, but rather
Calamba, my own town, in spite
in spite of, the outmoded and backward
of the fact that was not as wealthy
system of instruction obtaining in the
as Biñan."
Philippines during the last decades of
Spanish regime.
FIRST DAY IN BIÑAN SCHOOL
THE HERO’S FIRST TEACHER  Monday – went to the school of
Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz.
The first teacher of Rizal was his mother,
who was a remarkable woman of good
character and fine culture. On her lap, he

REVIEWER BY: LYKA BELGICA

 SY 2023-2024
B174 Rizal’s Life and Works 1st SEMESTER

GEC
 108– houseMIDTERMS
School REVIEWER
of the teacher, small
FM – 2A
a fight outside the school, and even told
nipa hut about 30 meters from the lies to discredit him before the teacher’s
home of Jose’s aunt. eyes. Consequently, the teacher had to
 Immediately, Jose was assigned his punish Jose.
seat in the class. The teacher asked
him: EARLY SCHOOLING IN BIÑAN
Jose had a very vivid imagination and a
"Do you know Spanish?" very keen sense of observation.
"A little, sir," replied the Calamba lad. 7 years old – traveled with his father for the
"Do you know Latin?" first time to Manila and Antipolo.
"A little, sir."  To fulfill the promise of a
pilgrimage made by his mother at
The boys in the class, especially Pedro, the the time of his birth.
teacher’s son laughed at Jose’s answers.  They embarked in a casco, a very
Jose described his teacher in Biñan as ponderous vessel commonly
follows: used in the Philippines.
"He was tall, thin, long necked, with  It was the first trip on the lake.
sharp nose and a body slightly bent  As darkness fell, he spent the
forward, and he used to wear a sinamay hours by the katig.
shirt, woven by the skilled hands of the  Although he was seized with a
women of Batangas. He knew by the superstitious fear when he saw a
heart the grammars by Nebrija and water snake entwine itself around
Gainza. Add to this severity that in my the bamboo beams of the katig.
judgement was exaggerated and you Antipolo
have a picture, perhaps vague, that I  He experienced the sweetest
have made of him, but I remember only emotions upon seeing the gay
this." banks of the Pasig and the
towns of Cainta and Taytay.
FIRST SCHOOL BRAWL  He prayed, kneeling before the
 Monday, Afternoon – teacher was image of the Virgin of Peace and
having his siesta. Good Voyage.
 Jose met the bully, Pedro.  He would later in sing in elegant
 Jose challenged Pedro to fight. verses.
 Jose, having learned the art of Manila
wrestling from his athletic Tio Manuel,  He saw the great metropolis, with
defeated the bigger boy. its Chinese sores and European
 Jose then became popular among his bazaars.
classmates.  He then visited his elder sister,
 Andres Salandanan – challenged Jose Saturnina, in Santa Ana, who was
to arm wrestle. boarding student in the Concordia
 Jose lost and nearly cracked his head College.
on the sidewalk.
 In succeeding days, he had fights with HIGHER EDUCATION AND LIFE ABROAD
the boys in Binan.
ATENEO DE MANILA
 He was not quarrelsome by nature, but
he never ran away from a fight.  It was known to be the most
prestigious college for boys because
BEST STUDENT IN SCHOOL of its great teachings.
 Rizal took and passed the examination
In academic studies, Jose beat all Biñan
in COLLEGE OF SAN JUAN DE
boys. He surpassed them all in Spanish,
LETRAN, but he enrolled in ATENEO
Latin, and other subjects.
when he came back to Manila.
Some of his older classmates were jealous
of his intellectual superiority. They wickedly ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
squealed to the teacher whenever Jose had

REVIEWER BY: LYKA BELGICA

 SY 2023-2024
B174 Rizal’s Life and Works 1st SEMESTER

GEC 108
According to Ambeth MIDTERMS REVIEWER
Ocampo, there were  ARETHMETIC – Excellent
FM – 2A
only 12 students in a class, nine of which,  ALGEBRA – Excellent
including Jose Rizal, graduated  GREEK – Excellent
sobresaliente with the same excellence
mark in all their subjects in school year 4TH YEAR IN ATENEO
1876-77.  RHETORIC & POETRY- Excellent
 FRENCH- Excellent
 16 yrs. old – Rizal graduated with  GEOMETRIC &
highest honors. TRIGONOMETRY- Excellent
 He took a post-graduated course there
 5th Year in Ateneo
in land surveying.
 PHILOSOPHY- Excellent
 1877 – completed his surveyor’s
training.  PHILOSOPHY 2- Excellent
 May 1878 – passed the licensing  MINERALOGY & CHEMISTRY-
exam. Excellent
 1881 – granted a license in 1881.  PHYSICS- Excellent
 June 10, 1872 – accompanied by  BOTANY & ZOOLOGY- Excellent
Paciano.
 He took the entrance examinations at UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS 1877 –
the College of San Juan de Letran 1882
which was first wish by his father but Jose Rizal, having completed his Bachiller
change to Ateneo instead. en Artes at the Ateneo Municipal, was now
 Fr. Magin Fernando refuse to admit eligible for higher education at a university.
him because: His mother, Doña Teodora, had second
 Late registration thoughts about sending her son to school
 Sickly and undersized for his age because of the previous incident involving
 Fr. Manuel Xerez – Burgos (Nephew the execution of friars Gomez, Burgos and
of Fr. Burgos) interceded. Zamora.

HIS ACTIVITIES IN ATENEO However, it was Don Francisco who

decided his son should to the University of
 Study and reading until 4PM.
Santo Tomas, a prestigious institution run
 Some of the books read by Rizal:
by the Dominican order.
 The Count of Monte Cristo by
Alexander Dumas Rizal, upon entering the university, was not
 Travels in the Philippines by Dr. certain which course of study he wanted to
Feodor (Fyodor) Jagor pursue. The Jesuit priests who had been his
 4 – 5 Exercise former mentors had advised him to take up
 5 – 6 Social and Misc. Obligations. farming, or to join the order and be a man
of the cloth. However, his tastes went
1ST YEAR IN ATENEO towards law, literature, or medicine. In the
 Latin – Excellent end, he decided to sign up for Philosophy
 Spanish – Excellent and Letters during his freshman year
 Greek – Excellent because of the following reasons:
2ND YEAR IN ATENEO
 Spanish – Excellent
 Greek – Excellent 1. It was what his father would have
 World Geography – Excellent wanted for him.
2. He had failed to seek the advice of the
3RD YEAR IN ATENEO rector of the Ateneo, Father Ramon
 LATIN – Excellent Pablo.
 SPANISH – Excellent As part of the course, he had to complete
 WORLD HISTORY – Excellent units in the following subjects:
 HISTORY OF SPAIN & PHIL. –  Cosmology and Metaphysics
Excellent  Theodicy

REVIEWER BY: LYKA BELGICA

 SY 2023-2024
B174 Rizal’s Life and Works 1st SEMESTER

GEC 108

MIDTERMS REVIEWER
History of Philosophy
FM – 2A
His report card was very impressive.

SHIFTING TO MEDICINE
 After completing his first year, Rizal
decided to take up medicine as his
university course. This change of heart
was due to two factors:
 Father Ramon Pablo, rector of
the Ateneo, had advised him to
pursue the course.
 Rizal's mother had failing
eyesight and he thought he owed
it to her to become a doctor and
cure her condition.
 Rizal's performance at the University
of Santo Tomas was not as excellent
as his time at the Ateneo. His grades
after shifting to medicine had suffered
as well.
 Unfortunately, Rizal was not happy at
UST, and this was reflected on his
grades (Zaide & Zaide, 1999).
 There were three main factors that
contributed to his unhappiness at the
university, namely:
1. The Dominican professors were
hostile to him.
2. Filipino students suffered
discrimination.
3. The method of instruction at UST
was obsolete and repressive.

Likewise, there were three main reasons

for his struggling academic performance
(Guerrero, 1998):
1. Rizal was not satisfied with the
system of education at the
university.
2. There were plenty of things to
distract a young man in the peak
of his youth.
3. Medicine was not Rizal's true
vocation.

He would later find out that his real calling

was in the arts, not in medicine.

REVIEWER BY: LYKA BELGICA