Reflections

SOCIO-POLITICAL DURING RIZAL’S TIME
Arturo Bumanlag
During the time of our national hero Jose Rizal, our country Philippines is under the Spanish colony. Where, the government is controlled by priest rather than officials like the “governador-heneral” who appointed by the king of the Spain. There are calling the Filipinos “indio” which means that are naughty and ignorance. They are making us fanatic in all their beliefs. They are treating us like a slave. They are abusing their power by forcing us to work even though we are not ready to it and if you will not follow their want they will punished you either imprisonment or killed this is called a military service. The children are also force to work in order to pay taxes. The good thing about the Filipinos during Jose Rizal time is that there was unity among them. They fight for are freedom. Jose Rizal was also fight back but not on the way of weapon or guns, he fights by the way of pen. He wrote the two famous novels which is the “Nole Me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo”. These two novels help our country to realize what is happening to our country Philippines. He inspires us to revolutionize against the Spaniards. For me, I am proud that our ancestry fought back in order to get our freedom and I’m also amaze for the Filipinos who help the revolutionary group to become successful most especially the women.
Ancestry and Family of Rizal
Mhonross Rebuya
Running in Rizal’s blood were mixtures of different races. The incestors of Rizal father who was born in china and his mother had known as of Japanese ancestry. There is a proficy that in the time that Rizal will be born her mother will feel hard because the head of rizal ws big that is according to our discussion. Rizal belongs to one of the affluent families in Calamba. He is the 7th son of Teodora Alonso and Francisco Mercado. Paciano Rizal and Jose Rizal is the only son. Rizal was 13 member family siblings. The eldest child of the Rizal-Alonso marriage was Saturtina and the youngest child married of their parents was Soledad Rizal. Dona teodora was the first teacher of Rizal who taught him how to read and how to write. His favorite teacher was Father Sanchez. Maestro Celestino and Maestro Lucas Padua served as his private tutor. Aquino Cruz continues his childhood education. On June 19 1861 it is the year of rizal birth. The Russian tsar Alexander II officially proclaimed the emancipations of millions of Russian surfs. While Rizal in schooling he is smart but his teacher is so strict his teacher didn’t accept any answer of students if it not surely and not really complete. The teacher of Rizal they hurt them if didn’t answer a question of teacher. Rizal was of mixed racial origin. He descended from a hard working and intelligence Chinese merchant, Doming Lamco, who married Inez Dela Rosa, a Chinese mestiza. From the Chinese community in manila, the family migrated to Biñan and became tenants of the Dominican friars. Lam-co’s son, Francisco, who was to be Rizal’s great grandfather, was appointed municipal captain of binan in 1783. The family adopted the surname Mercado (market place) complying with the claveria decree, which mandated that all Filipinos use Spanish surnames. Francisco Mercado and his wife, Bernarda Monicha had two children: Juan and Clemente. Juan married Cirila Alejandra, also a Chinese mistiza. They bore 14 children, one of whom was Francisco, rizal’s father. The family of teodora Alonzo, rizal’s mother, was prominent than that of the Mercado’s. The Alonzos had engineers, lawyers, priests and government officials.

Educational Background of Rizal during Childhood
Conrad Anthony A. Resoso
Rizal had his early education in Calamba and Biñan in Laguna. The first teacher of Rizal was his mother, Teodora Alonzo. Teodora was a woman of good character. Her mother taught him the alphabet and as a religious woman, Tedora taught Rizal the prayers. Teodora was the first one who discovered Jose’s talent for poetry. Thus, she encouraged her son to write poems. She also taught Rizal many different stories so Rizal can develop his imagination.
His parents hired private tutors to give him lessons at home. His tutors were Maestro Celestino, Maestro Lucas Padua, and Leon Monroy, the former classmate of Francisco Mercado, Rizal’s father. Rizal continued his studies in Biñan. He was accompanied by his older brother Paciano. They rode a carromata on their way to their aunt’s house where Rizal would stay.
A day after their arrival, his older brother Paciano accompanied Rizal to the school of Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz. The school was in the house of the teacher, which was a small nipa hut not far away from the house of their aunt. Paciano knew Maestro Cruz quite well because he became his pupil before. He introduced Rizal to the Maestro and after that he went to Calamba.
He was immediately assigned his seat in the class. Then he was asked by the Maestro if he know how to speak Spanish. He answered that he knew a little. Because he had a little knowledge in speaking Spanish and Latin, his classmates laughed at him.
On the afternoon of his first day of school, during their break, Jose met the bully Pedro, the son of Maestro Cruz. He challenged Pedro to a fight. And since Rizal was smaller and younger, Pedro accepted the challenge. With Jose having learned the art of wrestling from his athletic uncle Tio Manuel, he defeated Pedro, who is much bigger than him.
Near his school was the house of an old painter, Juancho, the father-in-law of Maestro Cruz. Jose, with his love for painting, he spent his idle time at the painter’s studio. Old Juancho, impressed of the artistic talent of Jose, gave him free lessons in drawing and painting.
Because of his exceptional knowledge, Jose beat all his classmates in academic studies. He surpassed them in Spanish, Latin, and in other subjects.
Before the start of Christmas season, Jose received a letter from his sister Saturnina, informing of the arrival of the steamer Talim which would take him from Biñan to Calamba. After reading his letter, he knew that he would not return to Biñan, so he became sad. He went to the town church to pray, collected pebbles as souvenirs, and bade farewell to his teacher and classmates.

Educational Background of Rizal during His Studies in Ateneo de Manila
Conrad Anthony A. Resoso, After his studies in Biñan and Calamba, Jose with his brother Paciano went to Manila. There, he took the entrance exam at the College of San Juan de Letran and passed it. His father wanted him to study in Letran but decided to send Jose to Ateneo instead. In his enrollment in Ateneo, at first the college registrar refused to admit Jose because he was late for the registration and he was undersized for his age. However, with the help of Manuel Xeres Burgos, nephew of Father Burgos, he was admitted to Ateneo. On his enrollment, Jose registered under the name “Rizal” because their family name “Mercado” had come under suspicion of Spanish authorities. Rizal’s first professor in Ateneo was Father Jose Bech. Because he was a newcomer and knew only little Spanish, Rizal was placed at the bottom of the class. After his first week, he progressed rapidly. He was the brightest student in the whole class and he was awarded a prize. He was proud of it because it was his first ever prize in Ateneo. In order to improve his knowledge in Spanish, Rizal took private lessons in Santa Isabel College during the noon recesses. In his second half of his first year in Ateneo, Rizal did not try hard enough to maintain his academic excellence which he did during the first half of the term. It was because he resented some remarks of his professor. He placed second at the end of the year although his grades were still excellent. At the end of the school year, he returned to Calamba for his summer vacation. He didn’t enjoy his vacation because his mother was still in prison. So, without the knowledge of his father, Rizal went to Santa Cruz to visit her mother in prison. He told her mother about his excellent grades at Ateneo. At the end of the school year, Rizal achieved brilliant grades in all of his subjects and also a gold medal. He visited his mother again in prison. He also told his mother about his scholastic triumphs in Ateneo in order to cheer her up. Rizal predicted that her mother would be released in prison in three month’s time based from his interpretation on his mother’s dream. Rizal’s prophecy became true. After three months, his mother was set free. Rizal then returned to Ateneo for his junior year. After the opening of the classes, his mother arrived and gladly told him that she was released from jail, just as he predicted during his last visit to his mother. But despite of the release of his beloved mother, Rizal did not make an excellent performance in his studies as in the previous year. On his fourth year, one of his professor was Father Francisco de Paula Sanchez, a great teacher and scholar. Father Sanchez inspired Rizal to study harder and write poetry. He was amazed of Rizal. He was considered by Rizal as his best professor in Ateneo.

Educational Background of Rizal during His Studies in Madrid
Mhonross Rebuya
After his childhood education in calamba and binan he was sent to ateneo de manila to continue his education. After this he admitted to ust by the teachings of Spanish Dominican. He just continue its education in mardrid to get the degree of licentiate in medicine and traveled again to paris. He was known as lazy student. He enrolled at the central university of Madrid for licentiate in medicine. To activate and update his artistic skils, he took up lessons in painting and sculpture at the academia de bellas artes de san Fernando. Other schedules also included the study of French and german at the ateneo de Madrid. During his free time, he frequented the theatre. By june 1884, he completed his course for licentiate in philosophy and letters that would have entitled him to a university professorship. He tried all legal means to seek justice for his family and the calamba tenants, but to no avail. He almost fought to duels – one with Antonio Luna and the other to Wenceslao E. Retana. Leonor Rivera married a British Engineer. Upon arrival in Madrid, Rizal immediately sought the help of the Filipino Colony, the Asociacion Hispano – Filipina, and the Liberal Spanish newspapers (La Justicia, El Globo, La Republica, El resumen).marcelo H. del pilar– acted as his lawyer.dr. dominador gomez– secretary of Asociacion Hispano – Filipina. From Silvestre Ubaldo, he received a copy of the ejectment order by the Dominicans against Francisco Rizal and other calamba tenants. From Saturnina, he learned of the deportation of Paciano, Antonio Lopez, Silvestre Ubaldo, Teong, and Dandoy to Mindoro. His parents were forcibly ejected from their home and were then living in the house of Narcisa.

Educational Background of Rizal during His Studies in Paris
Arturo Bumanlag After he went to Madrid Spain to study and specialize the field of medicine especially on the field of ophthalmology, our national hero went on Paris, France where he studied and excelled at martial arts, fencing, sculpture, painting teaching, anthropology and journalism in University of Heidelberg where he also earned a second doctorate in the field Ophthalmology. In Berlin he was inducted as a member of the Berlin Ethnological Society and the Berlin Anthropological Society under the patronage of the famous pathologist Rudolf Virchow. While in Europe, Jose Rizal impressed everyone who met him with his charm, his intelligence, and his bravery in the field of studies. He stayed in Paris for 10 years and he feels home seek because he did not see his family for a long period of time. He also started to write here in Paris the famous novel “Noli Me Tangere”. He finished this novel in Wilhemsfeld with the Reverend Karl Ullmer. He can also speak in more than 10 different language.
I am amaze to Jose Rizal because he sacrificed his own happiness just to study in other country. I am also proud that he excelled in any field he tried. As a Filipinos I am happy that there is someone like Jose Rizal who is brave enough, too excelled in any problem that he encountered even though the Spaniards treat us an “indio”. He rise and prove that Filipinos are not ignorant and naughty. As a Filipino I’m proud that Jose Rizal accomplished all of that.
To The Young Women of Malolos
Dave Wilson Bolado
This letter, written by Rizal in response to the request of M.H. del Pilar, while he was residing in Paris, was about the courageous actions of twenty young women of Malolos. This is the story; During the time of Governor-General Weyler, twenty young women of Malolos petitioned the governor-general to open a night school so they can study Spanish under Teodoro Sandiko. rizal’s letter to the Malolos young women is his way of recognition for them as brave Filipinas who are no longer blinded by the fraud religious believes brought by the friars. Rizal even though a young fellow believe that they would listen to his advises because not by the wrinkles in his face a person is known to be experienced. Under his letter he mentioned about our own freedom as individual human beings that we must have our own judgement of what is right and wrong. As a young lady soon to be a mother of her sons and daughters would set as an example to her children. As the saying goes a fruit would grow the same as of its tree. Women are fragile and can be easily influence because of ignorance and lacked of knowledge of her rights. The friars take advantage of the kindness and meekness of this youth and brag about it with its fellow Spaniards. If only the Filipinas were like the women of Spartan who have power over their men, maybe no one would dare to touched or harassed a woman. Rizal wanted to make his people open their eyes and to avoid ignorance of freedom. Ignorance is the cause of slavery during their time and this is what we must not let to happen again. He did not want its people to live without a religious belief but he just wants them apprehend not to be deceived by the exploitations done by the friars under their robes. Now a Days women’s are equally treated by men’s, and also women’s now a days can also do the jobs of a male so the bottom line is women can also be productive and more skilled person just like men and also they should not under estimate by others because they have their own strength to be proud of and the personality of being a brave women Filipinas.