The Life and Works of Rizal

Disclaimer: This is a repost.     Article by:  Fred Lamar Pearson, Jr., 33 ° The life and death of Brother Jose Rizal were central to his fame as the "George Washington of the Philippines." Dr. Jose P. Rizal, a Philippine national born on June 19, 1861, died before a firing squad on December 30, 1896. Thus came to an inglorious end the life of a remarkable man and Mason. Martyr, patriot, poet, novelist, physician, Mason’he was all of these and more. In fact, he squeezed into a very few years, 35, an incredible array of activities. Further, he traveled extensively and affected profoundly lives far removed from his native land. As is often the case with great men, controversy surrounded his life and continues to surface today. In this article for the Journal, I am pleased to comment on a biography of Bro. Rizal by Reynold S. Fajardo. Titled Dimasalang: The Masonic Life of Dr. Jose Rizal, this book will be more thoroughly reviewed and excerpted from in a f...

Disclaimer: This is a repost.  To visit the original article, click here . One of the least known facets of  the life of national hero Dr. Jose Rizal, whose 111th death anniversary is being commemorated today, was his being a member of a worldwide fraternity called Freemasonry. According to Filipino historian Reynold Fajardo, in his book “Dimasalang: The Masonic Life of Dr. Jose Rizal,” Rizal was not only a mason, he was the only one among the leaders of the revolutionary movement during the Spanish era who “deserved to be called an international Mason since he was a member of various Masonic lodges in Spain, Germany,  France and possibly, England.” Born to educated and middle-class parents— Francisco Mercado and Teodora Alonso Realonda—in June 19, 1861 in Calamba, Laguna, Rizal was seventh of 11 children. He started  his schooling in the neighboring town of Biñan. He later went to Manila and attended the Ateneo Municipal de Manila where he ear...

BY: ESTEBAN A. DE OCAMPO Dr. Jose Rizal Mercado y Alonso, or simply Jose Rizal (1861-1896), is unquestionably the greatest hero & martyr of our nation. The day of his birth & the day of his execution are fittingly commemorated by all classes of our people throughout the length & breadth of this country & even by Filipinos & their friends abroad. His name is a byword in every Filipino home while his picture adorns the postage stamp & paper money of widest circulation. No other Filipino hero can surpass Rizal in the number of towns, barrios, & streets named after him; in the number of educational institutions, societies, & trade names that bear his name; in the number of persons, both Filipinos & foreigners, who were named "Rizal" or "Rizalina" because of their parents’ admiration for the Great Malayan; & in the number of laws, Executive Orders & Proclamations of the Chief Executive, & bulletins, memoranda, & circ...

By BERNARDO M. VILLEGAS December 19, 2011, 12:16am Disclaimer: This is a repost.  To view the original article, click here . MANILA, Philippines — As my small contribution to celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of our National Hero Jose Rizal, let me speculate on what could have happened if he had not been executed on December 30, 1896 and had lived long enough to influence the development policies adopted by the American regime in the first three decades of the twentieth century. Revealing my bias for rural and agricultural development, I would venture to say that he would have been very active in bringing development to the small farmers and to the rural dwellers. We would have avoided the lack of inclusive growth (to use today's parlance) and the technological dualism in which advanced technology was employed in the large plantations for export-oriented crops while the rest of the agricultural sector (especially rice, corn and coconut) stagnated at the carabao-and-p...

November 2, 1896 Monday, 2 November -- Today, they returned to me this notebook which they took away on the 11th of last month before reaching Port Said.  For this reason my diary was interrupted. They searched me and inspected thoroughly my luggage.  They took away all my papers and afterward they put me behind bars and they did not take me out until we reached the Red Sea.  That was what they did to me in 16 hours before our arrival.  Also twice they put me in four or six hours before and they take me out when we are already in the high seas.  However, at Singapore they put me in 16 hours before our arrival. Also twice they put handcuffs on me.

  December 19, 1893 I shall tell you how we live here.  I have three houses: one square, another hexagonal, and a third octagonal, all of bamboo, wood, and nipa.  In the square house we live, my mother, sister Trinidad, a nephew and I; in the octagonal live my boys or some good youngsters whim I teach arithmetic, Spanish and English; and in the hexagonal live my chickens.  From my house I hear the murmur of a crystal, clear brook which comes from the high rocks; I see the seashore, the sea where I have small boats, two canoes or barotos, as they say here.  I have many fruit trees, mangoes, lanzones, guyabanos, baluno, nanka, etc.  I have rabbits, dogs, cats, etc. I rise early -- at five -- visit my plants, feed the chickens, awaken my people and put them in movement.  At half-past seven we breakfast with tea, pastries, cheese, sweetmeats, etc.  Later I treat my poor patients who come to my land; I dress, go to the town in my baroto, treat the pe...

July 6, 1892 They assigned me a fairly furnished room with a bed, a dozen chairs, one table, a wash basin, and a mirror. The room had three windows; one without grill which opens on a patio, another with grills which looks out on the city walls and the beach and another which was the door closed with a padlock.  Two artillery men as sentinels guarded it. They had orders to fire on anyone who might signal from the beach.  I could not write nor speak with anyone except the officer on duty.

Not all of the text contained in the original manuscript of the El Filibusterismo was included in the printed book.  Two such texts are the Foreword and the Warning.   These portions of the book were eliminated to save on printing cost. The Foreword reads: We have so often been frightened by the phantom of filibusterism that from only a nurse's narration it has become a positive and real being whose name alone (in depriving us of our serenity) makes us commit the greatest myths in order not to meet the feared reality.  Instead of fleeing, we shall look at its face, and with determined, if inexpert, hand we shall raise the veil to uncover before the multitude the mechanism of its skeleton. If, upon seeing it, our country and its government reflect, we shall consider ourselves happy no matter whether they censure us for the audacity, no matter whether we pay for it like the young student of Sais who wished to penetrate the secret of the priestly imposure.  (On th...

To the memory of the priests, Don Mariano Gomez (85 years old), Don Jose Burgos (30 years old), and Don Jacinto Zamora (35 years old).  Executed in Bagumbayan Field on the 28th of February, 1872. The Church, by refusing to degrade you, has placed in doubt the crime that has been imputed to you; the Government, by surrounding your trials with mystery and shadows, causes the belief that there was some error, committed in fatal moments; and all the Philippines, by worshiping your memory and calling you martyrs, in no sense recognizes your culpability. In so far, therefore, as your complicity in the Cavite mutiny is not clearly proved, as you may or may not have been patriots, and as you may or may not have cherished sentiments for justice and for liberty, I have the right to dedicate my work to you as victims of the evil which I undertake to combat.  And while we wait expectantly upon Spain some day to restore your good name and cease to be answerable for your death, let these ...

I have finished my book! Oh no, I have not written it in my idea of revenge against my enemies by only what is for the good of those who are suffering, for the rights of the Tagalog race, though brown and may not have good features! Surely I will leave tomorrow for Paris, and from there I don't know where I am going.

Madrid is one of the gayest cities of the world which combines the spirit of Europe and the East, which has adopted the orderliness, the convenience, the bon ton of civilized Europe without disdaining, without repelling, the brilliant colors, the ardent passions, the primitive customs of the African tribes, of the chivalrous Arabs whose traces are still recognizable everywhere, in the look, feelings, and prejudices of the people, and even in their laws.

July 18, 1890 I want to go back to the Philippines, and although I know it would be daring and imprudent, what does that matter? The Filipinos are all very prudent, and that is why our country is going the way she is.  As it seems to me that we are not making any progress by following prudence, I am going to look for another pathway! The only thing that can detain me is a doubt whether my parents agree. I am afraid to disturb their last years.  In case they should object to my homecoming, I would work for a livelihood in some other part of the world.

May 28, 1890 Luna in Paris complains of the gambling of the Filipinos in Madrid, so does Ventura. They say that, according to news from the Philippines, the parents are very much disgusted... I am afraid we are serving the friars' scheme. There is nothing at home to remind them that the Filipino does not come to Europe to gamble or amuse himself, but to work for his liberty and for the dignity of his race. It is not necessary to leave the Philippines to gamble, for there they already gamble very much. If we who are called upon to do something, if we in whom the poor people place their modest hopes, spend our time in these things precisely when the years of youth should be employed in something more noble and lofty for the reason that youth is noble and lofty, I fear much that we are fighting for a useless illusion and that, instead of being worthy of liberty, we are worthy of slavery.

To The Filipinos In the Noli Me Tangere I started to sketch the present state of our Fatherland: the effect which my attempt produced made me realize, before proceeding to develop before your eyes other pictures to follow, the necessity of first giving an understanding of the past in order the better to judge the present and measure the path traversed during the tree centuries. Born and reared in ignorance of our past like almost all of you: without voice nor authority to speak of what we have not seen nor studied I deemed it necessary to invoke the testimony of an illustrious Spaniard who controlled the destinies of the Philippines at the beginning of its new era and personally witnessed the last days of our ancient nationality. It is, therefore, the shadow of our ancestors' civilization which the author now shall call before you. I transmit to you faithfully his words without changing them nor mutilating them, adapting, only in so far as possible, to modern orthography and ...

May 16, 1889 My daily life in Paris is spent in the following manner: one or two hours in the gymnasium and in fencing, three or four hours in the library, the rest I use up in writing and visiting friends... Every other night from 8:00 to 11:00 we meet in a cafe where we play chess. On Saturdays I am invited to eat at Luna's house, on Sundays at Mrs. Juliana's, and on Fridays I visit the family of Boustead (also a Filipino) where sometimes I take tea.

Monday, May 7 . I saw an Indian attired in semi-European suit, and semi-Indian suit, leaning against a wall.  Wide deserts without plants nor trees. Unpopulated. Lonely place. Bare mountains. Sands. A big extension of white land, like chalk. Far from this desert can be seen some blue mountains. It was a fine day. It was warm, and there was still snow on the top of some mountains. Tuesday, May 8. This is a beautiful morning.  We stop from place to place.  We are near Ogden. I believe with a good system of irrigation this place could be cultivated.  We are at Utah state, the 3rd state we passed over.  In approaching Ogden the fields are seen with horses, oxen, and trees.  Some small houses are seen from a distance. From Ogden to Denver. The clock is set one hour ahead of time. We are now beginning to see flowers with yellow color on the way. The mountains at a distance are covered with snow. The banks of Salt Lake are more beautiful than other things we sa...

Japan has enchanted me.  The beautiful scenery, the flowers, the trees, the inhabitants -- so peaceful, so courteous, and so pleasant.  O-Sei-San, Sayonara, Sayonara! I have spent a happy golden month; I do not know if I can have another one like that in all my life.  Love, money, friendship, appreciation, honors -- these have not been wanting. To think that I am leaving this life for the uncertain, the unknown. There I was offered an easy way to life, beloved and esteemed... To you I dedicate the final chapter of these memoirs of my youth. No woman, like you, has ever loved me.  No woman, like you has ever sacrificed for me.  Like the flower of the chodji that falls from the stem fresh and whole without falling leaves or without withering -- with poetry still despite its fall -- thus you fell.  Neither have you lost your purity nor have the delicate petals of your innocence faded -- Sayonara, Sayonara! You shall never return to know that I have once mor...

June 27, 1887 I am in Rome! Everything I step on is the dust of heroes.  Here I breathe the same air which the Roman heroes have breathed.  I salute every statue with reverence, and to me, a humble native of a small island, it seems that I am in a sanctuary.  I have already seen the Capitolium, the Tarpeian Rock, the Palatinum, the Forum Romanum, the Amphitheatre, etc.  Everything here is glorious except the cafes and the cafe singers.  I do not enter these [cafes] because I loathe to hear their French songs or see modern industries.  My favorite places are the Amphitheatre and the Roman Forum; there I remain seated for hours, contemplating everything and restoring life to the ruins... I have also visited some churches and museums, like the Capitoline Museum and the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, which is also grandiose.

August 6, 1886 For its fifth centenary the famous University of Heidelberg celebrated its Festung this morning, and we attended.  I liked the picture better than the original itself.  There were, however, many elegant and brilliant costumes; Bugmuller, the famous student of Heidelberg, was dressed as Frederick the Victorious; Lieberman, as a gentleman of the seventeenth century; Gregoire, wolf of Schwahen, etc.  Last night was Schlorsfest.  When will these gaieties enjoyed in this poetic and beautiful city come back?  When will the foreigners return there?  When shall I return after I shall have left?  Inquire the fate of the molecules of water that the sun evaporates..  Some fall as dew on the bosoms of the flowers; others are converted to ice and snow; others into mud or swamp or torrential cascade -- they are not lost but continue to live in nature.  Will my soul have the fate of water -- never being lost into nothingness?

When the new Rector went to assume office next day [November 21,1884], feelings were much irritated, we were still seeing red, it was resolved not to return to classes as long as they did not give us satisfaction, and remove the Rector.  There were repeated shouts of "Down with Creus!" I was there also.  On that day there were new encounters, new fights, wounded, cane blows, imprisonment, etc.  It was on this same day, the 21st, when a police lieutenant and a secret service man wanted to seize Ventura and me, but he and I escaped.  Two Filipinos were taken prisoners. On the third day, Saturday, the 22nd, the new Rector Creus called the police to occupy the University, to the great disgust of the professors and the great indignation of the students.  On this day, because the agent of the law were staring very much at me, and I do not know why, I had to disguise myself three times.  None entered the classes.  More blows, wounded, etc.  More than 8...

But as God has not made anything useless in this world, as all beings fulfill obligations or a role in the sublime drama of Creation, I cannot exempt myself from this duty, and small though it be, I too have a mission to fulfill, as for example: alleviating the sufferings of my fellow-men. I realize that all this means sacrifices, and terrible ones.  I imagine the pain which I must give you (parents), but I feel something that obliges and impels me to leave.  I shall strive with fate, and I shall win or lose... God's will be done.

  Without 1872 there would not be now either a Plaridel or Jaena, or Sanciangco, nor would there exist brave and generous Filipino colonies in Europe; without 1872 Rizal would be a Jesuit now and, instead of writing Noli Me Tangere, would have written the opposite.  At the sight of those injustices and cruelties while still a child my imagination was awakened and I swore to devote myself to avenge one day so many victims and with this idea in mind I have been studying, and this can be read in all my works and writings.  God will someday give me an opportunity to carry out my promise.

Education in Binan During the time of Rizal, education was characterized by the 4Rs: reading writing, arithmetic, and religion. Rizal, although he was born a physical weakling, became an intellectual giant. His first teacher was his mother. At the age of 3, Rizal learned to recite the alphabet and prayers. Jose had private tutors to teach him lessons at home:  Maestro Celestino, then Maestro Lucas Padua. Leon Monroy, who as a former classmate of Jose's father, taught the young boy Spanish and Latin. When Leon Monroy died, Jose's parents decided to send him to a private school in Binan. When Jose left for Binan, he was accompanied by his brother Paciano. Jose lodged at his aunt's house in Binan. Rizal's school in Binan was in the house of his teacher, Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz. Pedro, the teacher's son, was not very fond of Jose.  He bullied Rizal, and this led to Jose's first school brawl. Jose also took painting lessons in Binan, and was taugh...