Dr. Jose Rizal: National Hero of the Philippines

Dr. Jose Protacio Rizal was born in the town of Calamba, Laguna on June 19, 1861. He was the second son, and the seventh among eleven children, of Francisco Mercado and Teodora Alonso.

With his mother as his first teacher, he began his early education at home and continued in Binan, Laguna. He entered the Jesuit-run Ateneo Municipal de Manila in 1872 and obtained a bachelor's degree with highest honors in 1876. He studied medicine at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, but had to stop because he felt that the Filipino students were being discriminated against by their Dominican tutors. He then went to the Universidad Central de Madrid, in Spain, and in 1885, at the age of 24, he finished his course in Philosophy and Letters with a grade of "Excellent."

He took graduate studies in Paris, France and Heidelberg, Germany. He also studied painting and sculpture. He learned to read and write in at least ten languages.

Rizal's Books Took a Stand That Put Him in Danger

Rizal was a prolific writer. He opposed violence, but battled injustice using his pen. Rizal's two books,"Noli Me Tangere" (Touch Me Not), which he wrote while he was in Berlin, Germany in 1887, and"El Filibusterismo" (The Rebel) in Ghent, Belgium, in 1891 exposed the cruelties of the Spanish friars in the Philippines, the defects of the Spanish administration, and the vices of the clergy. These two books told about the oppression of the Spanish colonial rule, and they made Rizal a marked man to the Spanish friars.

In 1892 when Rizal returned to the Philippines, he formedLa Liga Filipina,a nonviolent society of patriotic citizens. It was a forum for Filipinos to express their hopes for reform and promote progress through commerce, industry, and agriculture. The Spanish authorities perceived theLigaas a threat and arrested Rizal.

On July 6, 1892, he was imprisoned in Fort Santiago, on the charge of instigating unrest against Spain. He was exiled to Dapitan, in northwestern Mindanao. During the four years he remained in political exile in Dapitan, he practiced medicine, established a school for boys, and promoted community development projects. He applied his knowledge in engineering by constructing a system of waterworks to furnish clean water to the townspeople. In Dapitan, he also met, fell in love with, and lived with Josephine Bracken.

 

In 1896, theKatipunan, a nationalist secret society, launched a revolt against the Spaniards. Although Jose Rizal had no connection with the organization, his enemies tried to link him with the revolt. To avoid being involved in the move to start a revolution, he asked Governor Ramon Blanco to send him to Cuba, but instead, he was brought back to Manila and jailed for the second time in Fort Santiago.

 

Executed at the Age of 35

On December 26, 1896, after a trial, Rizal was convicted of rebellion, sedition, and forming an illegal association. He was sentenced to death. On the eve of his execution, while confined in Fort Santiago, Rizal wrote a poem "Mi Ultimo Adios" ("My Last Farewell") and hid it inside a portable alcohol stove. He gave the stove to his sister Trinidad and his wife Josephine.

He was executed on December 30, 1896, at the age of 35 by a firing squad at Bagumbayan, now known as Luneta Park in Manila.

Jose Rizal was a man of many accomplishments—a linguist, a novelist, a poet, a scientist, a doctor, a painter, an educator, a reformer, and a visionary. He left his people his greatest patriotic poem, "Mi Ultimo Adios," to serve as an inspiration for the next generations.

 

Interesting Trivia About Dr. José Rizal

Rizal was multitalented and unique, involved in everything.

Rizal's Contributions to Science

Rizal found Mindanao a rich virgin field for collecting specimens. In hisbaroto(sailboat) and accompanied by his pupils, he explored the jungles and coasts seeking specimens of insects, birds, snakes, lizards, frogs, shells, and plants.

He sent these specimens to the museum of Europe, especially the Dresden Museum. In payment for these valuable specimens, the European scientists sent him scientific books and surgical instruments.

During his four years of exile in Dapitan,Rizal discovered some rare specimenswhich were named in his honor by scientists. Among these were :

• Draco rizali,a flying lizard, later reclassified asDraco guentheri
• Apogonia rizali,a small beetle
• Rhacophorus rizali,a rare frog, later reclassified asRhacophorus pardalis

Manila Lottery Winner

On September 21, 1892 the mail boatButuanarrived in Dapitan carrying lottery Ticket No. 9736 jointly owned by Captain Carnicero, Dr. Jose Rizal, and Francisco Equilior.The ticket won the second prizeof P20,000 in the government-owned Manila Lottery.

Rizal’s share of the winning lottery was P6,200. He gave P2,000 to his father and P200 to his friend Basa in Hong Kong. The rest he invested well by purchasing agricultural lands along the coast of Talisay, about one kilometer away from Dapitan.