Rizal

Why did Rizal Studied Abroad?

Jose Rizal was a man of incredible intellectual power, with amazing artistic talent as well. He excelled at anything that he put his mind to - medicine, poetry, sketching, architecture, sociology and many more. Thus, Rizal's martyrdom by the Spanish colonial authorities while he was still quite young was a huge loss to the Philippines, and to the world at large.
Today, the people of the Philippines honor him as their national hero.

On June 19, 1861, Francisco Rizal Mercado and Teodora Alonzo y Quintos welcomed their seventh child into the world at Calamba, Laguna. They named the boy Jose Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda. The Mercado family were wealthy farmers who rented land from the Dominican religious order. Descendants of a Chinese immigrant named Domingo Lam-co, they changed their name to Mercado under the pressure of anti-Chinese feeling amongst the Spanish colonizers. It was Domingo Lamco who adopted the surname "Mercado" while the second surname "Rizal" was given by a Spanish provincial governor who was a family friend.
The mother of Jose Rizal, Teodora Alonso Realonda had a mixed ancestry, which was quite typical of Filipinos. The Rizal family belonged to the middle class of the society and it was one of the most respected families during it’s time.

From an early age, Jose Rizal Mercado showed a precocious intellect. He learned the alphabet from his mother at 3, and could read and write at age 5. He was able to use the pencil as a tool for sketching and show much appreciation to his countryside environment, he was a fast learner with an intense curiosity.
1At the age of eight, Rizal wrote his first poem entitled: “Sa Aking mga Kababata” (“To My Fellow Youth”). The poem contained a line which was to become a famous saying. Wrote Rizal:
“Whoever knows not how to love his native tongue is worse that any beast or evil smelling fish.” (Zaide, 1997)
Tutors hired by the Rizal Family in order to stimulate the mind of young Jose Rizal and to enrich his early education. Maestro Celestino and Lucas Padua was his first tutors, and Don Leon Monroy taught Latin and Spanish language but died five months later.
Jose Rizal entered school in 1869. The school was a private one and it was located in Biñan which was another town in Laguna. In academic studies, Jose beat all the Biñan boys. He surpassed them all in Spanish, Latin, and other subjects. Some of his older classmates were jealous of his intellectual superiority. They wickedly squealed to the teacher whenever Rizal had a fight outside the school, and even told lies to discredit him before the teacher’s eyes. Consequently the teacher had to punish Rizal.
2After the studies in Biñan, in 1872 Jose Rizal enrolled in Ateneo and spent his next five years studying in this private institution. Ateneo De Municipal established by the Jesuits. Rizal, belong to the class composed of Spaniards, Mestizos and Filipinos. He was considered as an inferior and was placed at the bottom of the class, by the end of the month he became the emperor and received a prize, a religious picture. During his 4th year in Ateneo he received 5 medals and graduated as sobresaliente. He graduated on March 23, 1877 and he was 16 years old that time and a degree of Bachelor of Arts with highest honors not a Valedictorian. During his stays in Ateneo, Rizal was able to write many poems, one of these poems was dedicated to her mother and the poem’s title was “Mi Primera Inspiracion” (“My First Inspiration”). The two of the poem’s dealt with education and these were “Por la Educacion Recibe Lustre la Patria” (“Through Education the Country Receives Light”) and “Alianza Intima Entre la Religion y la Buena Educacion” (“Intimate Alliance between Religion and Good Education”).
3Rizal do some curricular activities while studying in Ateneo, like an emperor in the classroom and a campus leader. He also an active member and became a secretary of the Marian Congregation Religious Society, and also a member of the Academy of Spanish Literature and the Academy of Natural Sciences. Studied painting under the famous Spanish Painter, Agustin Saez and improved his sculpture talents under the supervision of Romualdo de Jesus. He also involved to engaged in gymnastics and fencing and continued the physical training under his sports-minded Tio Manuel.
He took a post-graduate course there in Land Surveying. Rizal completed his surveyor’s training in 1877, and passed the licensing exam in May 1878 but could not receive a license to practice because he was only 17 years old. He was granted a license in 1881, when he reached the age of majority.

After graduating, he continued his education at University of Santo Tomas in 1877 and completed in 1882. UST was under the Dominicans, rival of the Jesuits in education. He later quit the school, alleging discrimination against Filipino students by the Dominican Professors. In his novel, El Filibuterismo he described how the Filipino students were humiliated and insulted by their Dominican professors and how backward was the method of instruction, especially in the teaching of natural sciences, they teach science subject without laboratory experiments. The microscope and other laboratory apparatus were kept inside the showcase to be seen by the visitors coming, and the students could not even touch it. While he pursuing his medical course, Rizal joined a literacy contest which he won. His prize-winning poem was entitled “A La Juventud Filipina” (“To the Filipino Youth”). In this poem, Rizal urged his fellow youth to use their talents in nation-building4. Wrote Rizal:
“Hold high the brow serene, O youth, where now you stand, Let the bright sheen Of your grace be seen, Fair hope of my fatherland!” (Zaide, 1997)

During his first term in 1877-1878 in UST, he studied Cosmology, Metaphysics, Theodicy, and History of Philosophy. It was during the school term that Rizal pursued his studies in medicine. The reason behind why Rizal wanted to study Medicine, it’s because he wanted to be a physician so that he could cure his mother’s failing eyesight. Father Pablo Ramon, the Father Rector of Ateneo whom he consulted for a choice of career, finally answered his letter and recommended medicine.

In Rizal’s time, the Filipino thirst for knowledge was not encouraged by Dominican professors in the University of Santo Tomas. Because of the unfriendly attitude of his professors, Rizal, the most brilliant graduate of the Ateneo, failed to win high scholastic honors. Although his grades in the first year of the philosophy course were all “excellent,” they are not impressive in the four years of his medicine. He was the second best student in a decimated class of seven who passed the medicine course.
Rizal took Pre-Medical course, advanced course in Physics, Chemistry and Natural History. Out of 28 young men taking Ampliacion only four including Rizal were granted the privilege of taking simultaneously the preparatory course and the first year of medicine. Rizal also received his four year practical training in medicine at the Hospital de San Juan de Dios in Intramuros.

After finishing the fourth year of his medical course, Rizal decided to study in Spain. He could no longer endure the rampant bigotry, discrimination, and hospitality in the University of Santo Tomas. His uncle, Antonio Rivera, Leonor’s father, encouraged him to go abroad. Both Paciano and Saturnina, whom he contacted secretly, were of similar opinion. For the first time, Rizal did not seek his parent’s permission and blessings to go abroad, because he knew that they, especially his mother, would disapprove into his plan. He did not also tell to his beloved Leonor about go to abroad. He knows that Leonor, being a woman, and young and romantic at that, could not keep a secret. Thus, Rizal’s parent’s, Leonor and the Spanish authorities knew nothing of his decision to go to abroad in order to finish his medical studies in Spain, where the professors were more tolerant and understanding than those of the University of Santo Tomas. In May of 1882, Jose Rizal got on a ship to Spain without informing his parents of his intentions. He really wanted to pursue a medical degree. Rizal had a personal reason as well as an altruistic reason for his decision to study abroad. He wanted to become an eye specialist. He also wanted to study the cultures, laws and governments of European countries in order to help his countrymen.
In his departure to Spain was kept secret from Spanish Authorities, friars and even his parents. To avoid detection, he used the name Jose Mercado. On May 3, 1882 he boarded to Salvador bound for Singapore where he was the Filipino passenger. During the latter part of 1882, Rizal enrolled in the Universidad Central de Madrid (Central University of Madrid) and took up two courses: Medicine and Philosophy and Letters.

While Rizal studying in Spain, there’s a women who awakened the sparks of love in his heart that was Consuelo Ortega y Rey. Rizal used to visit the home of Don Pablo Ortega y Rey every Saturday evening, the father of Consuelo. He and other Filipino students played parlor games with his two daughters, Pilar and Consuelo. Consuelo felt love to Rizal, she wrote in her diary that she knew Rizal loved her, though he did not say it. As the day goes by, Rizal has felt some love to the pretty Madrileña. Knows that he was engaged to Leonor Rivera, but she was far away and Rizal was feel lonely in Madrid. Until one day Rizal, wrote a lovely poem entitled “A la Señorita C.O y R.”. But at the end Rizal did not allow the romance to Consuelo to on because he was still engaged to Leonor Rivera and he would not want to be unfaithful to her and also because his friend Eduardo de Lete was deeply in love to Consuelo and Rizal don’t want to break their friendship just for a wisp of a girl. That was one of the girl of Rizal, while his studying in Madrid Spain.

While Rizal was in Spain, the life of his family and the people in Calamba, Laguna is getting worse by the Dominican Friars or Estate. The rice and sugar cane harvest failed, the price of sugar also went down. The rent on the lands cultivated by the Rizal Family was raised to exorbitant rate by the manager of the Dominican Estate. Due to hard times in Calamba, the regular monthly allowance of Rizal in Madrid Spain decreased and at times no allowance arrived. Until one day, Paciano decided to sell his pony to send money to his brother Rizal.

On June 21, 1884 Rizal completed his medical course in Spain. He conferred the degree of Licentiate in Medicine by the Universidad Central de Madrid. The following academic year (1884-1885) he studies and passed all subjects leading to the degree of doctor medicine. Unfortunately, he was not able to submit the thesis required for graduation nor paid the corresponding fees, he was not awarded his Doctor’s diploma.

Inspired by his mother’s advancing blindness, Rizal next went to the University of Paris and then the University of Heidelberg to complete further the study in the field of Ophthalmology. At Heidelberg, he studied under the famed professor Otto Becker and Wilhelm Kuehne and worked at the University Eye Hospital under the guidance of Doctor Becker. Rizal finished his second doctorate at Heidelberg in 1887. Rizal used to have friends in places where he went, like in Europe he used to be friends with these people: Maximo Viola, Señor Eusebio Corominas, Don Miguel Morayta, and Doctor Louis de Wreckert.

During his stay in Heidelberg, Rizal at one time suffered from homesickness. In his loneliness, he made a poem which he entitled, “A Las Flores de Heidelberg” (“To the flowers of Heidelberg”). Wrote Rizal: “Go to my native land, go, foreign flowers.
Sown by the traveler on his way.
And there, beneath its azure sky, Where all my affections lie;
There from the weary pilgrim say,
What faith is his in that land of ours! .... Bear then, O flowers, love’s message bear;
My love to all the lov’d ones there,
Peace to my country --- fruitful land ---
Faith whereon its sons may stand,
And virtue for its daughters’ care;
All those beloved creatures greet,
That still around home’s altar meet. And when you come unto its shore,
This kiss I now on you bestow,
Fling where the winged breezes blow;
That borne on them it may hover o’er
All that I love, esteem, and adore....” (Zaide, 1997)
On August 14, 1886, Rizal arrived in Leipzig. There, he attended some lectures at the University of Leipzig on history and psychology. The reasons why Rizal choose to reside in Germane longer, because he want to gain further his studies in Science and Languages, and observe the economic and political conditions of the German nation also to associate with the famous scientist and scholars.
Rizal do some jobs to support his financial living in Germany, like being a writer and researcher, Physician, a Community-Builder in Exile and as a Proof-Reader in a publishing company in Leipzig and as a medical assistant in Doctor Schweigger’s clinic in Berlin.

On March 21, 1887, Rizal’s first novel, “Noli Me Tangere” was published in Berlin. Prior to its publication, Rizal suffered from poverty. Through the help of his friend Doctor Maximo Viola, Rizal was able to publish the Noli. Noli Me Tangere was a novel that forever changed the lives of Rizal and countless Filipinos. The characters of the novel were based on real persons living during the time of Rizal. As such, the novel was documentary of the miseries and sufferings of Filipino under Spanish colonial rule during the second half of the 19th century. It advocate for reforms in order to cure the society’s cancer caused by Spanish misrule. By making public his thoughts about reforms in the Philippines, Rizal put his life in danger. Nine years later, he was executed for a crime which he did not commit.
After the Noli came off the press in Berlin, Rizal planned to visit the important places in Europe. Doctor Maximo Viola agreed to be his traveling companion. Rizal had received Paciano’s remittance of 1,000 php which was forwarded by Juan Luna from Paris.

After his journey in studying abroad, Rizal went back to Calamba (1887-188). Using a special passport issued by the Spanish consul-general in Hong Kong. He wanted to continue his fight for reforms not in foreign countries but in the Philippines.
All the alluring beauties of foreign countries and all the beautiful memories of his sojourn in alien lands could not make him forget of home nor turn his back to his own nationality. Rizal was determined to return in the Philippines, after the long studying abroad. Finally he can cure his mother’s eye, and he wanted to serve his fellow Filipino people who had been long oppressed by the Spanish tyrants. Also to find out for himself how the Noli and his writings were affecting Filipinos and Spaniards in the Philippines and finding out why Leonor Rivera had remain silent. In conclusion, after went back to Calamba Rizal go in many countries like Hong Kong, Macao, Japan, America and London he really travel abroad to pursue and acquire more knowledge and skills. Rizal has many reasons why he decided to study abroad, the main reason is he wants to cure the failing eyesight of his mother so he take medicine. And also he want to concentrate in studying and attain a high education, because in Rizal’s time the equality in education during the Spaniards was not equal, they discriminated Filipino students and the methods of teaching and instruction was obsolete and repressive. The one who courage him to study abroad was his brother Paciano, so that he can attain a high standard education. Because in abroad there is a quality education.
Rizal really gives value to education, you can see how he determined to finished his studies and what he want to be. He has a philosophy in Education that the importance of education is clearly enunciated in his work entitled “Instruction” wherein he sought improvements in the schools and in the methods of teaching. He maintained that the backwardness of his country during the Spanish time was not due to the Filipinos’ indifference, apathy or indolence as claimed by the rulers, but to neglect of the Spanish authorities in the islands. For Rizal, the mission of education is elevate the country to the highest seat of glory and to develop the people’s mentality. Since education is the foundation of society and a pre-requisite for social progress, Rizal claimed that only through education could the country be saved from domination.
Rizal’s philosophy of education, therefore, centers on the provision of proper motivation in order to bolster the great social forces that make education a success, to create in the youth an innate desire to cultivate his intelligence and give him life eternal. I really admire Rizal for being brave in fighting his country under the Spaniards. By the use of his skill in writing a poem, he revealed the discrimination and equality treat his fellow Filipino people.

Colegio De Montalban
Kasiglahan Village 1 San Jose, Rodriguez, Rizal
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Computer Engineering

“Why did Rizal Studied Abroad?”

Negad, Maureen B.
BSCPE-5B

Mr. Israel Roxas

2nd Semester / AY 2014-2015