CHAPTER V:
Medical Studies at the University of
Santo Tomas (1877 - 1882)
Objectives:
At the end of the chapter the student can:
● Illustrate the university life of Rizal
● Recall the brutality Rizal received from the Spaniards
● Discuss Rizal’s secret mission
● Explain Rizal’s life in Spain
Mother’s Opposition to Higher Education
● After graduating with the highest honors from the Ateneo, Rizal had to go to the
University of Santo Tomas for higher studies. The Bachelor of Arts course during
Spanish times was equivalent only to the high school and junior college courses today. It
merely qualified its graduates to enter a university. Both Don Francisco and Paciano
wanted Jose to pursue higher learning in the university. But Doña Teodora, who knew
what happened to Gom-Bur-Za, vigorously opposed the idea and told her husband: "Don't
send him to Manila again; he knows enough. If he gets to know more, the Spaniards will
cut off his head."¹ Don Francisco kept quiet and told Paciano to accompany his younger
brother to Manila, despite their mother's tears.
● Jose Rizal himself was surprised why his mother, who was a woman of education and
culture, should object to his desire for a university education. Years later he wrote in his
journal: "Did my mother perhaps have a foreboding of what would happen to me? Does a
mother's heart really have a second sight?”
Rizal Enters the University
● In April 1877, Rizal who was then, nearly 16 years old, matriculated in the University of
Santo Tomas, taking the course on Philosophy and Letters. He enrolled in this course for
two reasons:
(1) his father liked it and
(2) he was "still uncertain as to what career to pursue". He had written to Father Pablo
Ramon, Rector of the Ateneo, who had been good to him during his student days in that
college, asking for advice on the choice of a career. But the Father Rector was then in
Mindanao so that he was unable to advise Rizal. Con- sequently, during his first-year
term (1877-78) in the University of Santo Tomas, Rizal studied Cosmology, Metaphysics,
Theod- icy, and History of Philosophy.
● It was during the following term (1878-79) that Rizal, having received the Ateneo
Rector's advice to study medicine, took up the medical course, enrolling simultaneously
in the preparatory medical course and the regular first year medical course. Another
reason why he chose medicine for a career was to be able to cure his mother's growing
blindness.
Finishes Surveying Course in Ateneo
● Finished Surveying Course in Ateneo (1878). During his first school term in the
University of Santo Tomas (1877-78), Rizal- also studied in the Ateneo. He took the
vocational course leading to the title of perito agrimensor (expert surveyor). In those
days, it should be remembered, the colleges for boys in Manila offered vocational courses
in agriculture, commerce, mechanics, and surveying.
● Rizal, as usual, excelled in all subjects in the surveying course in the Ateneo, obtaining
gold medals in agriculture and topography. At the age of 17, he passed the final
examination in the surveying course, but he could not be granted the title as surveyor
because he was below age. The title was issued to him on November 25, 1881.
● Although Rizal was then a Thomasian, he frequently visited Ateneo. It was due not only
to his surveying course, but more because of his loyalty to the Ateneo, where he had so
many beautiful memories and whose Jesuit professors, unlike the Dominicans, loved him
and inspired him to ascend to greater heights of knowledge. He continued to participate
actively in Ateneo's extra-curricular activities. He was president of the Academy of
Spanish Literature and secretary of the Academy of Natural Sciences. He also continued
his membership in the Marian Congregation, of which he was the secretary.
Romances with Other Girls
● Notwithstanding his academic studies in the University of Santo Tomas and
extra-curricular activities in the Ateneo, Rizal had ample time for love. He was a
romantic dreamer who liked to sip the "nectar of love". His sad experience with his first
love had made him wiser in the ways of romance.
● Shortly after losing Segunda Katigbak, he paid court to a young woman in Calamba. In
his student memoirs, he called her simply "Miss L," describing her as "fair with seductive
and attractive eyes". After visiting her in her house several times, he suddenly stopped his
wooing, and the romance died a natural death. Nobody today knows who this woman
was. Rizal himself did not give her name. Hence, her identity is lost to history. However,
he gave two reasons for his change of heart, namely: (1) the sweet memory of Segunda
was still fresh in his heart and (2) his father did not like the family of "Miss L".
● Several months later, during his sophomore year at the University of Santo Tomas, he
boarded in the house of Doña Concha Leyva in Intramuros. The next-door neighbors of
Doña Concha were Capitan Juan and Capitana Sanday Valenzuela from Pagsanjan,
Laguna, who had a charming daughter named Leonor. Rizal, the medical student from
Calamba, was a welcome visitor in the Valenzuela home, where he was the life of the
social parties because of his clever sleight-of-hand tricks. He courted Leonor Valenzuela,
who was a tall girl with a regal bearing. He sent her love notes written in invisible ink.
This ink consisted of common table salt and water. It left no trace on the paper. Rizal,
who knew his chemistry, taught Orang (pet name of Leonor Valenzuela) the secret of
reading any note written in the invisible ink by heating it over a candle or lamp so that the
words may appear. But, as with Segunda, he stopped short of proposing marriage to
Orang.
● Rizal's next romance was with another Leonor, Leonor Rivera, his cousin from Camiling.
In 1879, at the start of his junior year at the university, he lived in "Casa Tomasina," at
No. 6 Calle Santo Tomas, Intramuros. His landlord-uncle. Antonio Rivera had a pretty
daughter, Leonor, a student at La Concordia College, where Soledad (Rizal's youngest
sister) was then studying. Leonor, born in Camiling, Tarlac, on April 11, 1867, was a
frail, pretty girl "tender as a budding flower with kindly, wistful eyes". Between Jose and
Leonor sprang a beautiful romance. They became engaged. In her letters to Rizal, Leonor
signed her name as "Taimis," in order to camouflage their intimate relationship from their
parents and friends.
Victim of Spanish Officer’s Brutality
● When Rizal was a freshman medical student at the University of Santo Tomas, he got his
first taste of Spanish brutality. One dark night in Calamba, during his summer vacation in
1880, he was walking in the street. He dimly perceived the figure of a man while passing
him. Not knowing the person due to darkness, he did not salute or say a courteous “Good
Evening.” The vague figure was a lieutenant of the Guardia Civil. With a snarl, he turned
upon Rizal, whipped out a sword and brutally slashed the latter on the back.
● The wound was not serious, but it was painful. When he recovered, Rizal reported the
incident to General Primo de Rivera, the Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines at
that time. But nothing came out of his complaint, because he was an indio, and the
abusive lieutenant was a Spaniard. In a letter to Blumentritt, dated March 21, 1887, he
related: “I went to the Captain-General but I could not obtain any Justice; my wound
lasted two weeks.
Literary Works
● “To the Filipino Youth” (1879). In the year 1879 the Liceo Artistico-Literario
(Artistic-Literary Lyceum) of Manila, a society of literary men and artists, held a literary
contest. It offered a prize for the best poem by a native or a mestizo. Rizal, who was then
eighteen years old, submitted his poem entitled A La Juventud Filipina (To The Filipino
Youth).
● The Board of Judges, composed of Spaniards, was impressed by Rizal's poem and gave it
the first prize which consisted of a silver pen, feather-shaped and decorated with a gold
ribbon. Young Rizal was happy to win the poetry contest. He was sincerely congratulated
by the Jesuits, especially his former professors at the Ateneo, and by his friends and
relatives.
● The prize-winning poem, A La Juventud Filipina (To the Filipino Youth), is an
inspiring poem of flawless form. In exquisite verses, Rizal beseeched the Filipino youth
to rise from lethargy, to let their genius fly swifter than the wind and descend with art and
science to break the chains that have long bound the spirit of the people.
● This winning poem of Rizal is a classic in Philippine literature for two reasons: First, it
was the first great poem in Spanish written by a Filipino, whose merit was recognized by
Spanish literary authorities, and secondly, it expressed for the first time the nationalistic
concept that the Filipinos, and not the foreigners, were the "fair hope of the Fatherland".
● “The Council of the Gods”. In 1880, the Artistic-Literary Lyceum opened a literary
contest to commemorate the fourth centennial of the death of Cervantes, Spain's glorified
man-of-letters and famous author of Don Quixote. Many writers participated, including
Rizal, who submitted an allegorical drama called "El Consejo de los Dioses". The
judges were all Spaniards, and Rizal was awarded the first prize due to his literary
superiority. Despite objections from the Spanish community in Manila, Rizal won the
prize, which included a gold ring with the bust of Cervantes.
● An Indio, Rizal, was the first Filipino medical student to excel in a national literary
contest, defeating several Spanish writers of his time in Manila. His winning allegory, "El
Consejo de los Dioses" was based on Greek classics and established a parallel among
Homer, Virgil, and Cervantes. The gods discuss their merits, and the allegory ends with
the gods dancing and gathering laurels for Cervantes.
● “Beside the Pasig”. In addition to his literary works, Rizal produced other poems and a
zarzuela, Junto al Pasig, which was staged by the Ateneans on December 8, 1880, on the
occasion of the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception, Patroness of the Ateneo.
Although Junto al Pasig is mediocre, it contains passages that satire the author's
nationalist ideas.
● In the same year (1880), he wrote a sonnet entitled A Filipinas for the album of the
Society of Sculptors. In this sonnet, he urged all Filipino artists to glorify the Philippines.
● The year before, in 1879, he composed a poem entitled Abdel-Aziz y Mahoma, which
was declared by an Atenean. Manuel-Fernandez, on the night of December 8, 1879 in
honor of the Ateneo's Patroness.
● Later, in 1881, he composed a poem entitled Al M.R.P Pablo Ramon. He wrote this
poem as an expression of affection to Father Pablo Ramon, the Ateneo rector, who had
been so kind and helpful to him.
Rizal’s Visit to Pakil and Pagsanjan
● In Pakil Rizal was infatuated by a pretty girl colegiala, Vicenta Ybardolaza, who
skillfully played the harp at the Regalado home. From Pakil, Rizal and his party made a
side trip to the neighboring town of Pagsanjan for two reasons was the native town of
Leonor Valenzuela, one of Rizal's girl friends in Manila, and to see the world famed
Pagsanjan Falls,
● Years later Rizal mentioned the Turumba in Chapter VI of Noli Me Tangere and
Pagsanjan Falls in his travel diary (United Saturday, May 12, 1888), where he said that
Niagara Falls was the "greatest cascades I ever saw" but "not so beautiful nor fine as the
falls at Los Baños, (sic) Pagsanjan".
Champion of Filipino Students
● Champion of Filipino Students. Rizal was the champion of the Filipino students in their
frequent fights against the arrogant Spanish students, who were often surpassed by the
Filipinos in class work and who insultingly called their brown classmates "Indio,
chongo!" In retaliation, the Filipino students called them "Kastila, bangus!" Hostility
between these two groups of students often exploded in angry street rumbles.
● Rizal participated in these student brawls. Owing to his skill in fencing, his prowess in
wrestling, and his indomitable courage, he distinguished himself in these student
skirmishes. In 1880 he founded a secret society of Filipino students in the University of
Santo Tomas called Compañerismo (Comradeship), whose members were called
"Companions of Jehu," after the valiant Hebrew general who fought the Armaeans and
ruled the King- dom of Israel for 28 years (843-816 B.C.). He was the chief of this secret
student society, with his cousin from Batangas, Galicano Apacible, as secretary. As chief,
he led the Filipino students into combat against the Spanish students in various street
fights.
● In one of the fierce encounters between the Filipino students and their pale-skinned
detractors near the Escolta in Manila, Rizal was wounded on the head. His friends
brought him bleeding and covered with dust to his boarding house, "Casa Tomasina".
Leonor Rivera tenderly washed and dressed his wound.
Unhappy Days at the UST
● Ateneo's boy wonder, found the atmosphere at the University of Santo Tomas suffocat-
ing to his sensitive spirit. He was unhappy at this Dominican institution of higher
learning because;
○ (1) the Dominican professors were hostile to him,
(2) the Filipino students were racially discriminated against by the Spaniards, and
(3) the method of instruction was obsolete and repressive.
● In his novel, El Filibusterismo, he described how the Filipino students were humiliated
and insulted by their Dominican professors and how backward the method of instruction
was, especially in the teaching of the natural sciences. He related in Chapter XIII, "The
Class in Physics," that his science subject was taught without laboratory experiments.
The microscope and other laboratory apparatuses were kept inside the showcases to be
seen by visitors, but the students could not even touch them.
● Because of the unfriendly attitude of his professors, Rizal, the most brilliant graduate of
Ateneo, failed to win high scholastic honors. Although his grades in the first year of the
philosophy course were all "excellent," they were not impressive in the four years of his
medical course. His scholastic records in the University of Santo Tomas (1879-82) were
as follows
1877-78 (Philosophy & Letters)
Cosmology & Metaphysics……………….Excellent
Theodicy…………………………...……….Excellent
History of Philosophy……………………...Excellent
1878-1879 (Medicine) - 1st Year
Physics….………………………………….Fair
Chemistry……………………………….….Excellent
Natural History…………………………….Good
Anatomy I…………………………………..Good
Dissection I………………………………...Good
1879-1880 (Medicine) -2nd Year
Anatomy 2…………………………………………………..Good
Dissection 2………………………………………………..Good
Physiology…………………………………………………..Good
Private Hygiene…………………………………………..Good
Public Hygiene…………………………………………….Good
1880-1881 (Medicine) -3rd Year
General Pathology…………………………….………..Fair
Therapeutics……………………………………………….Excellent
Surgery…………………………………………………….... Good
1881-1882 (Medicine) -4th Year
Medical Pathology……………………………………..Very Good
Surgical Pathology…………………………………….Very Good
Obstetrics……………………………………………………Very Good
Decision to Study Abroad
● 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 hostility in the
University of Santo Tomas. His older brother readily approved his going to Spain and so
did his two sisters Saturnina (Neneng) and Lucia, Uncle Antonio Rivera, the Valenzuela
family, and some friends.
● For the first time, Rizal did not seek his parents' permission and blessings to go abroad,
because he knew that they, especially his mother, would disapprove of it . He did not
bring his beloved Leonor into his confidence either. He had enough common sense to
know that Leonor, being a woman, young and romantic at that, could not keep a secret.
Thus Rizal's parents, Leonor, and the Spanish authorities knew nothing of his decision to
go abroad in order to finish his medical studies in Spain, where the professors were more
liberal than those of the University of Santo Tomas.
REFERENCE:
Chapter 6 - life of jose rizal - Chapter 6 Rizal wrote mainly in Spanish which was the lingua
franca - Studocu
https://www.scribd.com/presentation/171549886/Works-of-Rizal-while-in-UST-ppt
LIFE AND WORKS OF RIZAL
QUIZ #5
1. Who objects to the idea of his desire to pursue higher learning in a University?
A. Don Francisco
B. Paciano
C. Doña Teodora
2. Who accompanied Rizal to Manila, despite their mother's tears?
A. Don Francisco
B. Paciano
C. Doña Teodora
3. How old was Rizal when he matriculated in the University of Santo Tomas,taking the
course on Philosophy and Letters?
A. 17
B. 18
C. 16
4. Who did he ask for advice on the choice of a career?
A. Father Pablo Ramon
B. Father Burgos
C. Father Zamora
5. What is the English translation of perito agrimensor?
A. Expert surveyor
B. Expert Navigator
C. Expert Savior
6. When was the title surveyor issued to him?
A. November 10, 1881
B. November 17, 1881
C. November 25, 1881
7. Who is Rizal’s first love?
A. Segunda Kabitbit
B. Segunda Katigbak
C. Segunda Mano
8. What is the pet name of Leonor Valenzuela?
A. Oyang
B. Oring
C. Orang
9. When was Leonor Rivera born?
A. April 11, 1867
B. April 22, 1876
C. April 28, 1868
10.When did Rizal first taste of Spanish brutality?
A. 1860
B. 1870
C. 1880
11.~ 15. Give 5 literary works of Rizal that was mentioned in the discussion
● To the Filipino Youth (1879)
● The Council of the Gods (1880)
● Beside the Pasig
● A Filipinas
● Abdel-Aziz y Mahoma
● Al M.R.P Pablo Ramon
FALSE 16. In Pagsanjan Rizal was infatuated by a pretty girl colegiala, Vicenta Ybardolaza,
who skillfully played the harp at the Regalado home.
TRUE 17. Years later Rizal mentioned the Turumba in Chapter VI of Noli Me Tangere and
Pagsanjan Falls in his travel diary (United Saturday, May 12, 1888)
FALSE 18. In retaliation, the Filipino students called them "Kastila, chongo!"
FALSE 19. He was happy at this Dominican institution of higher learning.
FALSE 20. After finishing the fourth year of his medical course, Rizal decided to study in
Portugal.
