CHAPTER IV- RIZAL’S LIFE: HIGHER EDUCATION AND LIFE ABROAD
Introduction
This chapter focuses on the life of Rizal as a student and his experiences as a foreigner living
outside the Philippines. To fully understand Dr. Jose Rizal, it is important to describe his formal
schooling, which contributed much to shaping his values and character as well as his travels to
other countries in Europe that expose him to liberal ideas which later on, he would apply in his
campaign for reforms in the Philippines.
Intended Learning Outcome
At the end of the lesson, the students will be able to;
1. Describe the life of Rizal in Ateneo and in UST
2. Explain the principle of assimilation advocated by the propaganda movement.
3. Appraise Rizal’s relationship with other propagandists.
4. Analyse Rizal’s growth as a propagandist and disavowal of assimilation.
Stimulating Learning (Motivation)
1. Do you have any idea where these buildings are as seen in these pictures?
2. What comes into your mind when you hear the word “propaganda?” How do you define
it?
Inculcating Concepts (Lesson Proper)
Student of Manila
(In Ateneo Municipal, 1872-1877)
Rizal was sent by his father to Ateneo Municipal, formerly known as Escuela Pia, for a six-year
program, Bachiller en Artes. He took the entrance exam on June 10, 1872, four months after the
execution of GOMBURZA. At first, the college registrar refused to admit Rizal because he was
undersize for his age and late for registration. But with the help of Manuel Xeres Burgos
(nephew of Fr. Burgos) Rizal was admitted to Ateneo. He followed the advice of his brother,
Paciano, to use the name Jose Rizal instead of Jose Mercado. He feared that Rizal might run into
trouble if it was known openly that they were brothers since Paciano was known to have links to
Jose Burgos, one of the leaders of the secularization movement and one of the three priests
executed.
During this time, Ateneo Municipal was known to offer the best education for boys. Like all
colleges in Manila, Ateneo was managed by priests, but with an important difference in the sense
that these religious were not friars but Jesuit Fathers.
Ateneo was also known for its rigid discipline and religious instruction that trained student’s
character.
Students in Ateneo were divided into two groups, the Romans, and the Carthaginians. The
Roman Empire was composed of students boarding at Ateneo while the Carthaginian Empire
was composed of non-boarding students. This grouping was done to stimulate the spirit of
competition among the students. The best student in each group was called as the Emperor, the
second best was the Tribune, the third best was the Decurion, the fourth best was the Centurion
and the fifth best was the Standard Bearer (Zaide, 1994).
At the start, Rizal lagged behind his classmates but because of his perseverance and seriousness
in studies, he became the ‘’emperor,’’ a title given to most outstanding student in class, in just a
month’s time.
Rizal studied at Ateneo from 1872-1877. In those years, he consistently showed excellence in his
academic performance. He passed the oral examination on March 14, 1877 and graduated with a
degree Bachiller en Artes, with the highest honors (sobresaliente).
Fr. Francisco Paula y Sanchez was one of Rizal’s beloved mentors in Ateneo. He was the one
responsible in honing the boy’s skills in poetry.
Extra-Curricular Activities at Ateneo
Aside from the academics, Jose also engaged into various extra-curricualar activities like he was
part of the literary group under the guidance of Fr. Sanchez, a member of a Marian Congregation
who were devoted to Virgin Mary, a member of the club of Natural Sciences. He also continued
his painting lessons under Agustin Saez, and he also studied sculpture under the guidance of
Romualdo de Jesus.
His literary skills were also sharpened because of his passion in reading. During his Ateneo days,
he was able to read and understand complicated novels like the Count of Monte Cristo written by
Alexander Dumas. He also read books in different areas; Cesar Cantu’s Universal History and
Travels in the Philippines by Dr. Feodor Jagor.
Literary Works of Jose Rizal in Ateneo
Along with his success in academics, he also had various achievements in writing poems, essays
and drama in Ateneo.
Mi Primera Inspiracion (My first Inspiration) - a poem dedicated for his mother and the first
literary work he had as a student of Ateneo.
Un Recuerdo a Mi Pueblo (In memory of my town) - a poem written in honor of his birthplace.
Por La Educacion Recibe Lustre la Patria (Through Education the Country Receives Light) - A
poem of Rizal that gives the importance of education for the development of a country.
Alianza Intima Entra la Religion y la Buena Educacion (Intimate Alliance between Religion and
Good Education) - the connection between education and religion.
Student of Manila
(Universidad de Santo Tomas 1877-1882)
After finishing Bachiller en Artes, Rizal was sent by Don Francisco to the University of Santo
Tomas. Initially, Doña Teodora opposed the idea for fear of what had happened to
GOMBURZA. Despite this, Rizal still pursued university education and enrolled in UST. During
his freshman year (1877-1878), he attended the course Philosophy and Letters. Also, in the same
year, he took up a vocational course in Ateneo that gave him the title Perito Agrimensor (expert
surveyor) issued on November 25, 1881.
In his second year at UST, Rizal shifted his course to Medicine. He felt the need to take up this
course after learning about his mother’s failing eyesight.
Rizal’s academic performance in UST was not as impressive as that in Ateneo. He was a good
student in medicine but not as gifted as he was in Arts and Letters. Despite this, he was still one
of the seven students who remained in the course in his last year at UST out of the original batch
of twenty-four.
Some of the historians who ventured in the life of Jose Rizal commented that Rizal had lower
grades in UST than when he studied in Ateneo and they attributed his low grades to the
discrimination that he experienced in UST. However, according to Villaroel and De Viana, Jose
Rizal was not discriminated in UST because first among other students, he was able to get higher
grades. Second the story of Placido Penitente in Physics class did not happen in UST because
personally Rizal took Ampliacion so he did not take physics in UST, third, the reason why Rizal
got lower grades in UST was the different distraction that he experienced while studying in UST
like his love life and group that he established (Compadrenismo).
The Literary Triumph of Rizal in UST
Like in Ateneo, Jose Rizal also had various literary works in UST. In 1879, Rizal joined the
Liceo Artistico-Literario of Manila and won the competition. He wrote the La Juventud Filipina
(To the Filipino Youth), this poem encouraged and inspired the Filipino youth to stand up and
work harder to attain the highest objectives.
In April 1880, Jose joined the competition which commemorated the 400th death anniversary of
Miguel Cervantes. He wrote a play entitled, El Consejo de los Dioses (The council of the god’s),
a play which recognized Cervantes as equal to Homer and Virgil and even if the jury was
composed of Spaniards, they awarded Rizal the highest prize. Rizal’s triumph on the said literary
award was contested by the Spaniards who could not accept that the winner came from the
natives but the judges stood by their decision and on the time of the awarding the crowd which
was composed of the Spaniards did not applaud Rizal.
In 1882, Rizal and Paciano made a secret pact- Rizal would go to Europe to complete his
medical studies there and prepare himself for the great task of liberating the country from
Spanish Tyranny.
There were two reasons as to why Rizal decided to leave the country upon the advice of his
brother Paciano; 1.) To pursue his medical course and 2.) To observe the political situation in
Madrid.
The Loves of Rizal during his Teenage Years
Segunda Katigbak- Rizal experienced his first sweet poison of love in the personality of Segunda
Katigbak. He first met Segunda in Manila; she was with her fiancée and cousin Manuel Luz.
Because Segunda came from the richest family in Lipa, she was destined to marry her cousin
manuel who was also part of the wealthiest family of Lipa. In their first meeting, Rizal noticed
the charming personality of Segunda and to justify the feelings of Rizal to Segunda in spite of his
knowledge that she was already engaged, he said that Segunda showed to him her provocative
smile. For a year Rizal visited Segunda in her dormitory and she would make flower roses for
him. Jose could not express his true feeling for Segunda because of her engagement. When the
parents of Segunda found out about the constant visit of Rizal to their daughter they asked
Segunda to go back to Lipa. According to the Rizal diary, he bore the heartache that Segunda
brought him for two years-the feelings that he had no courage to admit.
Ms. L- another girl that Rizal courted after Segunda. The girl’s identity is not known even until
today. She was described by Rizal as having fair and seductive eyes.
Leonor Valenzuela- Jose also had a girl best friend named Leonor “Orang” Valenzuela which
according to Rizal “She is more of a friend”. However, the intriguing thing about Orang and Jose
was that they used invisible ink in their letters. And during the departure of Rizal going to
Europe, Orang knew of his departure while Leonor Rivera was not aware that Jose would leave
for Europe.
Leonor Rivera- During his education in UST, he and his other friends used to live in Casa
Tomasina at No. 6 Calle Santo Tomas, Intramuros. This place was owned by his uncle Antonio
Rivera, the father of Leonor Rivera. Jose Rizal fell in love with his thirteen-year-old cousin. He
used the name Taimis to call Leonor who, according to Rizal, had an oval face, charming and
had a sweet voice. In one conflict that they had against the Spaniards, Jose got hurt and Leonor
nursed him. Leonor and Jose were engaged and the reason why Jose did not have a serious
relationship with other women when he travelled to Europe was because he was committed to
Leonor. For eight years, Leonor waited for Jose and because her mother did not want Jose for
Leonor, she intercepted the letters of Leonor to Jose and the letters of Jose to Leonor. Leonor
thought that Jose had forgotten her, and Jose also thought of the same thing. She decided to
marry an Englishman named Charles Kipping because of her mother but she had never forgotten
Rizal.
Rizal in Europe
(1882-1887)
Rizal in Europe (Barcelona and Madrid) (1882-1887)
On May 3, 1882, Rizal left the Philippines for Spain. In his first trip abroad, Rizal was very
excited to learn new things. He was only twenty years old and as a young man, he was very
observant and eager to interact with foreign nationals. He made sketches of his fellow passengers
and of the things that he saw during his travels.
He rode the cruise Salvadora from Manila until it reached Singapore on May 8, 1882. Then on
the 11th of May, he rode the cruise Djemnah that will take him to Europe.
On June 11, 1882, the Djemnah reached Naples in Italy. He toured the city and after three days,
he travelled to Barcelona using Train.
Rizal reached Barcelona on June 16, 1882. He arrived during the summer vacation, so he was
able to meet up with former classmates in Ateneo. These classmates organized a welcome party
for Rizal at a coffee house in Plaza de Cataluña. They toured Rizal around the city and brought
him to the famous historical sites in Barcelona. In this city, Rizal found time to write an essay
entitled ‘’ El Amor Patrio’’ (Love of Country). This essay was published on August 20, 1882 in
Diariong Tagalog where he used the pen name Laong Laan.
After the summer vacation, Rizal decided to move to Madrid where he enrolled in medicine and
Philosophy and Letters at the Universidad Central de Madrid (presently the Universidad
Complutense de Madrid) on November 3, 1882.
He also took lessons in painting and sculpture at the Academia de San Fernando, and classes in
French, English, and German at the Madrid Ateneo. Not content with these activities, he still
managed to enroll in fencing class at the schools of Sanz and Carbonell.
Rizal was awarded with the degree and title of Licentiate in medicine for passing the medical
examinations in June 1884. With this title, Rizal was able to practice medicine. He continued
enrolling in courses that would have led to a Doctorate in medicine, but the degree was not given
to him because he failed to pay the fee required to defend his thesis.
Rizal also took examinations in Greek, Latin, and world history. He won the first prize in Greek
and a grade of “excellent’’ in history. He also obtained the degree Licenciado en Filosofia y
Letras (Licentiate in Philosophy and Letters) from the Universidad Central de Madrid on June
19, 1885 with a rating of sobresaliente.
In between his studies, Rizal made time for meeting fellow Filipinos in Madrid. Known as
illustrados, these Filipinos (enlightened ones) formed the Circulo Hispano-Filipino which held
informal programs with activities like poetry-reading and debates. As a prolific writer and poet,
Rizal was asked to write a poem. As a result, he wrote Mi Piden Versos (They Ask Me for
Verses), a poem which showed the sadness of the son of art who lived on a place away from his
origin.
In one of the Filipino reunions at the house of Pedro Paterno in Madrid on January 2, 1884, Rizal
proposed the writing of a novel about the Philippine society. The group approved the project, but
this plan did not materialize. His fellow Filipinos who agreed to help him did not write anything,
so he drafted the novel alone. It was in Madrid that he was able to write the first half of his
novel, Noli Me Tangere.
While in Madrid, Rizal was exposed to liberal ideas through the masons that he met. He was
impressed with the mason’s view about knowledge and reasoning and how they value
brotherhood. He joined the Masonry and became a Master Mason at the Lodge Solidaridad on
November 15, 1890.
The toast for Luna and Hidalgo (Brindis Speech) - On June 25, 1884, the Filipinos in Madrid had
a gathering to celebrate Juan Luna’s success because his painting Spolarium gained gold medal
and Felix Resurrecion Hidalgo’s Christian Virgin’s Exposed to Populace received a silver medal
on a prestigious painting competition in Madrid. And Jose Rizal, who was not able to take his
meal for the whole day was requested to deliver an impromptu speech that would be a salute for
the two Filipino painters.
The Concept of Brindis
The independence of the Philippines in the future because the Filipinos already had education
from Spain and their achievements was recognized abroad.
The genius could come from any nations so the people in a particular race should not treat
themselves as superior.
The talents and intelligence of the Filipinos are innate, and Spain gave them education which
polished their capabilities.
The Filipinos are ready for the reforms that the Spanish government will give.
The union of Spain and the Philippines is not impossible, and he recognized the contributions of
Spain for our country.
The credit should be given to Juan Luna, Felix Hidalgo, to the students who choose to be apart
from their families to continue their education and to the parents who worked hard and bore the
longing for their children for the sake of their education.
Rizal in Europe (In Paris and Germany) (1882-1887)
Rizal specialized in ophthalmology and trained under the leading ophthalmologists in Europe
like Dr. Louis de Weckert of Paris for whom he worked as an assistant from October 1885 to
March 1886. In Germany, he also worked with expert ophthalmologists Dr. Javier Galezowsky
and Dr. Otto Becker in Heidelberg in 1886 and Dr. R. Schulzer and Dr. Schwiegger in 1887.
While in Heidelberg, He wrote the poem, “To the flowers of Heidelberg.” And spent his summer
vacation in 1886 in Wilhelmsfeld where he lived with Protestant pastor Karl Ulmer to perfect his
ability to speak German.
He started his correspondence with Prof. Ferdinand Blumentritt, the Director of Ateneo of
Leitmeritz, Austria. He sent a book to prof. Blumentritt, Aritmetica by Rufino Baltazar.
During his stay in Germany, Rizal befriended different scholars like Fredrich Ratzel, a German
historian. Through his friend, Ferdinand Blumentritt, Rizal was also able to meet Feodor Jagor
and Hans Virchow, anthropologists who were doing studies on Philippine culture. Rizal mastered
the German language and wrote a paper entitled Tagalische Verkunst (Tagalog Metrical Art). He
also translated Schiller’s William Tell into Tagalog in 1886. It was also in Berlin where he
finished Noli Me Tangere which was published on March 21, 1887 with financial help from his
friend Maximo Viola.
The Noli Me Tangere of Jose Rizal
The Noli Me Tangere was Rizal’s first novel which tackled the society and government in the
Philippines during the Spanish colonization. He used cancer as the metaphor of the Philippine
society since like a cancer; the sickness of our society was untouched, growing to be chronic
malady and incurable. In his novel, he discussed how the friars deceived the Filipinos and made
them blindly believe in the practices of religion.
The title of the novel (Noli Me Tangere) was a Latin word which means “Touch Me Not”. This
was taken from the gospel of St. John from the New Testament.
He used San Diego as the epitome of the Philippines, the events in San Diego were based on his
observation in political situations and society in our country and also there were influences of the
books that he had read while he was in Europe like the book of Harriet Beecher Stowe entitled
“Uncle Tom’s Cabin’’ which described the abuses experienced by the Africans under their
American masters and the book written by Eugene Sue entitled “The Wandering Jew.”
Rizal’s 1st Homecoming
After five years in Europe, Rizal went home to Calamba on August 8, 1887. He spent time with
the members of his family who were delighted to see him again. He also kept himself busy by
opening a medical clinic and curing the sick. He came to be known as Doctor Uliman as he was
mistaken for a German. His vacation however was cut short because he was targeted by the friars
who were portrayed negatively in his novel Noli Me Tangere. He was called to Malacañang by
Gov. Gen. Emilio Terrero due to the controversy raised by Noli Me Tangere. The first copies had
arrived in Manila. Lt. Jose Taviel de Andrade was assigned to watch over Rizal. After a review
of the Noli Me Tangere, it was found out that the book was heretic, impious, unpatriotic,
subversive, and injurious to the government of Spain in the Philippines. It was recommended that
the importation, reproduction, and distribution of the book should be prohibited.
While Rizal was staying in Calamba, Governor General Emilio Terrero ordered an investigation
of the friar landholdings. The colonial government suspected that the Calamba estate might be
evading the full payment of taxes, and the public treasury department decided to check on its
returns by asking how much they were paying to the administrators of the estate.
Rizal was involved in this investigation by helping to draft an informative report on the agrarian
situation in Calamba. The tenants reported that they were losing money to the advantage of the
Dominican administrators.
The tenant’s report was followed by a petition to the government questioningthe legitimacy of
the landholdings of the Dominicans or at least parts of it.
While still in Calamba, Rizal was a troublemaker and a rabble-rouser. His family received threats
on his life. Gov. Gen. Terrero requested Jose Rizal to leave the country.
Just before leaving Calamba, he composed a poem entitled “Himno al Trabajo” ( Hymn to
Labor) which commemorated the elevation of Lipa, Batangas into the status of a villa under the
Becerra Law of 1888. He left the country for the second time on February 16, 1888.
Rizal’s Second Trip to Europe
In his second trip, Rizal became more active in the Propaganda movement with fellow ilustrados
like Marcelo H. Del Pilar, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Antonio Luna, Mariano Ponce, and Trinidad
Pardo de Tavera. The propaganda movement campaigned for reforms such as: 1) For the
Philippines to be made a province of Spain so that native Filipinos would have equal rights
accorded to Spaniards, 2) Representation of the Philippines in the Spanish Cortes, and 3)
Secularization of parishes.
Rizal became preoccupied with writing articles and essays which were published in the
propaganda movement’s newspaper, La Solidaridad. Among his intellectual works in Europe is
his annotation of Antonio Morga’s Sucesos delas Islas Filipinas (1890) in which Rizal showed
that even before the coming of the Spaniards, the Filipinos already had a developed culture. He
also wrote an essay entitled “Sobre La Indolencia de los Filipinos’’ (On the Indolence of the
Filipinos) published in 1890 in which he attributed the Filipinos “indolence’’ to different factors
such as climate and social disorders. Another essay he wrote strongly called for reforms; it was
called “Filipinas Dentro de cien Años’’ (The Philippines a Century hence) published I parts from
1889 to 1890.
The El Filibusterismo (1891)
By July 1891, while in Brussels, Rizal completed his second novel, El Filibusterismo, which was
published on September 18, 1891 through the help of his friend, Valentin Ventura. Compared
with his Noli, Rizal’s El Fili was more radical with its narrative portrayed of a society on the
verge of a revolution.
The El Fili was published by the F. Meyer Van Loo Press in Ghent, Belgium. The second novel
of Jose Rizal was full of revenge and anger. This novel encouraged the people who experienced
abuse to revenge and seek for justice using violent means. This novel was written in the memory
of GOMBURZA, the three priests who experienced injustice and executed in 1872. If Noli Me
Tangere described the society during the Spanish colonization in the Philippines, El
Filibusterismo encouraged the people to rise and unite to assert reform even with violent means.
The other women linked to Rizal
Consuelo Ortega Y Perez- The daughter of Don Pablo whom Rizal visited his home in Madrid.
Rizal chose not to court her because of her engagement to Leonor Rivera and his friend Eduardo
de Lete who was courting Consuelo. He then expressed his feelings to Consuelo by writing a
poem for her entitled “A La Señoriat C, O, y, P.
Seiko Usui (O Sei San) - is one of the reasons why Jose Rizal wanted to stay in Japan. He met O
Sei San when he stayed in the Spanish legation office in Japan. The 23-year-old girl was a
descendant of a samurai. She was intelligent and could speak French. She also became Rizal’s
translator while he was in Japan.
Nelly Bousted- was the reason that Jose Rizal and Antonio Luna almost had a duel. She was the
eldest daughter of a very rich Englishman and a Filipina mestiza. Rizal did much later, and the
romance blossomed and became serious. Nelly, however, was a devout Protestant and considered
Roman Catholics non-Christians. Moreover, her mother thought of Rizal as “a medical doctor
without a patient, and a dangerous man without a country.” Her mother even suspected that Rizal
was only after the family’s money.
Gertrude Becket- was an English woman who became romantically involved with Rizal when he
was in England in 1889. She was the daughter of the landlord of the room in London where Rizal
stayed. She fell in love with Rizal, but he broke the relationship because he needed time to write
his second novel.
Application/Integration
1. Make a reflection paper about the value of education in the life of an individual and how
it influences other people.
2. With the recent events and controversial issues that shook our consciousness as a nation
(Corruption in the Phil health, denial to issue a franchise renewal for ABS-CBN, and the
state of health of Pres. Duterte), make your own propaganda in the form of an essay to
disseminate accurate information to those who have not fully understood the problems
our country is facing today.
Enrichment
Observe your surroundings (example your municipality) and write what you have observed that
best describes the present situation particularly problems or issues that your place/municipality
are experiencing and haven’t been addressed by your local government. What are the solutions
that you want to recommend addressing these problems?
References
1. Francisco, Virlyn and Francisco, Paul Micah (2018). Rizal, A modular Approach Based
on the New CHED Curriculum. Intramuros, Manila. Mindshapers Co. Inc.
2. Obias, Rhodalyn O, Mallari, Aaron A, and Estella, Janet R (2018). The Life and Works
of Jose Rizal. Quezon, City. C & E Publishing Inc.
3. De Viana, Augusto V. Cabrera, Helena Ma F., et al. (2018) Jose Rizal: Social Reformer
and Patriot, A Study of His Life and Times. Manila. Rex Book Store.
