Social Science

RIZAL

Roxani dela Cruz | DR. MICHAEL C. HERMOGENES | AB-PSY Section 1

Reflection Paper
The first thing I noticed in Dr. Jose Rizal’s life was that he lived a simple one. He did not
choose to have a luxurious life like the most of us have wanted. Even before he became
under surveillance by the Spaniards, he had lived his life as simple as possible. I think it
was the work of his parents that made him lived like this. I strongly believe that one’s
lifestyle is influenced mostly by their parents. I learned from the life of Rizal the
importance of taking part of the parents to their children’s morals.

The second thing that I observed from the life of Rizal was his calmness and ability to
think rationally even in the most complicated circumstances. His advocacy of Philippine
Independence is by legal and peaceful way that is why he wrote many books to fire-up the
revolutionary spirit of the Filipinos.

As an educated man…

Rizal’s philosophy of education centers on the provision of proper motivation to

strengthen 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. In this philosophy, I
learned the value of education as a stepping stone towards gaining success for myself and
for my country. Since there is an enough motivation to study and explore by wisdom, I
made this an encouragement to myself that education shall not only stop within the
corners of classrooms but shall also extend until the corners of the world. Rizal’s belief
that waking up the innate desire of every Filipino youth to cultivate his intelligence is such
a great thing that every individual must ponder. His philosophy was affirmed by his
educational attainment, thus giving a strong support of his educational philosophy and
giving him the credibility to talk such path towards educational success.

As a religious man…

Rizal did not believe in the Catholic dogma that salvation was only for Catholics and that
outside Christianity; salvation was not possible even if Catholics composed only a small
minority of the world’s religious groups. Nor did he believe in the Catholic observation of
fasting as a sacrifice, nor in the sale of such religious items as the cross, medals, rosaries
and the like to propagate the Faith and raise church funds. He also lambasted the
superstitious beliefs propagated by the priests in the church and in the schools. It only
shows that Rizal has really taken hold of salvation as a gift to everyone. This also shows
that he opposes the Catholic teaching of money indulgence for the forgiveness of sins.
Though Rizal was born from a closely-knit Catholic Family, he still fought for what is true.
His religious philosophy approves a part of our Wesleyan beliefs and that is a good thing
that we should be happy about. Furthermore, I learned that even though he has gone that
far in his attainments, he did not lose his humility and his faith to God.

As a political man…

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Rizal’s guiding political philosophy proved to be the study and application of reforms, the
extension of human rights, the training for self-government and the arousing of spirit of
discontent over oppression, brutality, inhumanity, sensitiveness and self-love. Rizal cried
out for the independence of his own country and his fellow men. In his cry, he made
reforms, he plead through his writings and he courageously laid his opposition against the
inhumane and brutal management of the Spaniards over the Filipinos. One thing I learned
from his life is that he was not terrified with the strong power of the Spaniards but instead
he let himself shine and speak up on the issue that he and his country is facing. This could
be a strong passion and determination to set free a country that deserves liberty. I also
observed on my readings that Rizal never craved for political power, but instead he served
as a catalyst that silently works great in his own ways. At the end of his life, he has
remained fighting for freedom, and until his last breath, he has fought a good fight even
though it caused him his life.

As a socially-equipped man…

Rizal’s social philosophy dealt with;

1. man in society;
2. influential factors in human life;
3. racial problems;
4. social constant;
5. social justice;
6. social ideal;
7. poverty and wealth;
8. reforms;
9. youth and greatness;
10. history and progress;
11. future Philippines.

Basing on these philosophies, I can say that Rizal is a very humane, compassionate and
benevolent citizen. He has dealt with social problems thru his popular books Noli Me
Tangere and El Filibusterismo. He is an ambassador or social justice and equality, which is
a very good thing that we should follow. If there were only thousands of persons like Rizal,
I believe our society will be at good condition. I always hope I could be like him in some
areas of his life, but I know that it is far from reality to happen. But what I am doing is that
I am performing at my best, making every effort to become a productive individual in
different aspects of life.

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FAMILY AND SIGNIFICANT PEOPLE IN RIZAL’S LIFE

FRANCISCO MERCADO: Jose Rizal's Father

More than one and a half century ago, a far greater ‘superman’, Jose Rizal, was born in the
place. His father, Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado, was an independent-minded, taciturn
but dynamic gentleman from whom Jose inherited his ‘free soul.’ Don Francisco became
‘tiniente gobernadorcillo’ (lieutenant governor) in Calamba and was thus nicknamed
‘Tiniente Kiko’. Students’ comical conjecture that the fictional character ‘Kikong Matsing’
of ‘Batibot’ was named after Don Francisco is, of course, unfounded.

Francisco’s great grandfather is Domingo Lam-co, a learned pro-poor or ‘maka-masa’

Chinese immigrant businessman who married a sophisticated Chinese mestiza of Manila
named Ines de la Rosa. One of their two children, Francisco (also), resided in Biñan and
married Bernarda Monicha. Francisco and Bernarda’s son, Juan Mercado, became a
‘gobernadorcillo’ (town mayor) of Biñan, Laguna. He married Cirila Alejandra and they
had 12 children, the youngest being Jose Rizal’s father, Francisco.

Jose’s father was born on May 11, 1818 in Biñan, Laguna. When he was eight years old, he
lost his father. He was nonetheless educated as he took Latin and Philosophy at the
College of San Jose in Manila, where he met and fell in love with Teodora Alonso, a
student in the College of Santa Rosa. Married on June 28, 1848, they settled down in
Calamba where they were granted lease of a rice farm in the Dominican-owned haciendas.

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TEODORA ALONSO: Jose Rizal's Mother

Unknown to many, Doña Teodora—together with her husband—is buried near the narra
tree about 20 meters away from the shrine’s ‘wishing well.’ For long, this historic Calamba
house was tended and managed by Jose’s mother also known as ‘Lolay’.

Common biographies state that Doña Teodora Alonso Quintos Realonda was born on
November 8, 1826 in Santa Cruz, Manila and baptized in Santa Cruz Church. Strangely
however, the volume in the church books that supposedly contains Teodora’s baptismal
records is the only one missing in the otherwise complete records down to the eighteenth
century (Ocampo, p. 39). Asuncion Rizal-Lopez Bantug, the granddaughter of Jose’s sister
Narcisa, distinctively claims that Lola Lolay and her all siblings were born in Calamba, but
(just) lived in Manila.

Doña Lolay was educated at the College of Santa Rosa, an esteemed school for girls in
Manila. She was usually described as a diligent business-minded woman, very graceful but
courageous, well-mannered, religious, and well-read. Very dignified, she disliked gossip
and vulgar conversation. Possessing refined culture and literary talents, she influenced her
children to love the arts, literature, and music. Herself an educated woman, Lolay sent her
children to colleges in Manila. To help in the economy of the family, she ran sugar and
flourmills and a small store in their home, selling home-made ham, sausages, jams, jellies,
and others. Looking back, her business in a way predated the meat processing commerce
of the Pampangueños today and the ube jam production of some nuns in Baguio.

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SATURNINA HIDALGO: The Hero's Second Mother

Saturnina Rizal (1850-1913) is the eldest child of Don Francisco and Teodora Alonso. She and her mother
provided the little Jose with good basic education that by the age of three, Pepe already knew his alphabet.
The first time Jose experienced to ride a casco (a flat-bottomed boat with a roof) was when he and his father
visited Saturnina at the La Concordia College in Manila.

Saturnina had always been a loving ‘Ate’ Neneng to Jose. When their mother was imprisoned, Saturnina
brought the young Jose to Tanauan during the summer vacation of 1873 just to cheer up the sad little brother.
On his way to Marseilles in May 1882, Rizal—perhaps missing her ‘ate’—dreamed that he was traveling with
Neneng and that their path was blocked by snakes.

On September 26, 1882, Neneng offered a diamond ring to Jose, worrying that he had no enough money to
spend. In June 1885, Saturnina and her husband sent one hundred pesos (P100) to Jose as their contribution to
Jose’s expenses in finishing his doctorate degree.

Saturnina married Manuel Timoteo Hidalgo of Tanauan, Batangas. Hidalgo was also close to his ‘bayaw’ Jose
as the two kept up a correspondence. Through a letter, Hidalgo once informed Rizal of a cholera case in
Manila in 1885 and requested Jose to buy for him a Spanish book by Rousseau. For allegedly being a
conspirator and representative of Jose Rizal, Hidalgo also experienced deportation (to Bohol) during the so-
called Calamba agrarian trouble.

Manuel and Saturnina had five children, all of whom had a name which began with letter A: Alfredo, Adela,
Abelardo, Amelia, and Augusto.

Recent controversial story mentions Saturnina as being with her mother when the latter allegedly tried to
poison Teodora Formoso, the wife of Jose Alberto (Teodora Alonso’s brother).

The story further alleges that Saturnina and her uncle Jose Alberto were the real parents of Soledad, the
supposed youngest sister of Jose.

In 1909, Doña Saturnina published Pascual Poblete’s Tagalog translation of the Noli Me Tangere. Jose Rizal, on
the other hand, immortalized his sister Neneng through the oil painting he made of her, which is now housed
in the Rizal Shrine in Fort Santiago.

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PACIANO RIZAL: Pinoy Hero's Big Brother

ON HIS ADVICE, the national hero dropped the last three names in his full name and
thus enrolled at the Ateneo as ‘Jose Protasio Rizal.’

Paciano, the second of eleven children of Don Francisco and Doña Teodora, is the only
brother of Dr. Jose Rizal. When he was a student at the College of San Jose, Paciano had
used “Mercado” as his last name. But because he had gained notoriety with his links to
Father Burgos of the ‘Gomburza,’ he suggested that Jose use the surname ‘Rizal’ for his
own safety.

Their paternal great-great grandfather, Chinese merchant Domingo Lamco, adopted the
name ‘Mercado’ which means ‘market’. But Jose’s father, Francisco, who eventually
became primarily a farmer, adopted the surname ‘Rizal’ (originally ‘Ricial’, which means
‘the green of young growth’ or ‘green fields’). The name was suggested by a provincial
governor who is a friend of the family. The new name, however, caused confusion in the
commercial affairs of the family. Don Francisco thus settled on the name ‘Rizal Mercado’
as a compromise, and often just used his more known surname ‘Mercado’.

He grew up witnessing the abuses of the clergy and the Spanish colonial government. As a
young student, together with Felipe Buencamino and Gregorio Sancianco, Paciano was a
founding member of La Juventud Liberal, a reformist student organization that worked
under the direction of the Comite de Reformadores, among whose leaders was Padre José
Burgos. Among their tasks was to secretly distribute copies of the reformist paper, El Eco
Filipino, while pretending to be purveyors of horse fodder (zacateros).

Burgos, who was Paciano's friend and teacher, was later implicated in the Cavite Mutiny of
1872 and summarily executed.

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NARCISA RIZAL: The Hospitable Sister of the Hero

Narcisa Rizal (1852-1939) or simply ‘Sisa’ was the third child in the family. Like Saturnina, Narcisa helped in
financing Rizal’s studies in Europe, even pawning her jewelry and peddling her clothes if needed. It is said she
could recite from memory almost all the poems of the national hero.

Narcisa was perhaps the most hospitable among the siblings. When Don Francisco and Doña Teodora were
driven out of their house in Calamba, Narcisa took them in her house. It was with Narcisa also that Josephine
Bracken once stayed, when the rest of Rizal's family were suspicious that Rizal’s girlfriend was a spy for the
Spanish friars. In August 1896, while being kept under arrest aboard the cruiser Castilla anchored off Cavite,
Rizal thanked Narcisa, in a letter, for her hospitality in letting Josephine stay in her home.

It was also Narcisa who painstakingly searched for the place where the authorities secretly buried the dead
Rizal. She found freshly turned earth at the Paco cemetery where a body had been buried without a box of any
kind and with no identification on the grave. She wittingly made a gift to the caretaker to mark the site ‘RPJ’,
Rizal’s initials in reverse. Years later, Narcisa and her other siblings dug up the hero’s remains at the spot.

Sisa married Antonino Lopez, a teacher and musician from Morong, Rizal. For letting the Rizal parents live in
their house, Lopez became the target of Spanish persecution. He was threatened of deportation, his house was
dismantled, and the unsecured belongings were confiscated.

Narcisa and Antonino had eight children. Their son Antonio (1878-1928) married his first cousin Emiliana
Rizal, the daughter of Paciano Rizal by Severina Decena. Narcisa’s daughter Angelica, who had visited Rizal in
Dapitan, joined the Katipunan after her uncle’s martyrdom.

In an interview by Ambeth Ocampo (p. 47), Narcisa’s grandchildren revealed that their lolo, Antonino Lopez
was the son of the priest Leoncio Lopez—the ‘cura parroco’ of Calamba from whom Rizal based the character
of Fr. Florentino in his El Fili. Substantiating the disclosure, they explained that Narcisa and Antonino, after
marriage, lived in Leoncio’s parish house and Antonino inherited all Leoncio’s books and possessions when
the priest died.

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OLYMPIA RIZAL: The Sister Whom the Hero Loves to Tease

Olympia Rizal (1855-1887) is the fourth child in the Rizal family. Jose loved to tease her, sometimes good-humoredly
describing her as his stout sister.

Jose’s first love, Segunda Katigbak, was Olimpia’s schoolmate at the La Concordia College. Rizal confided to Olympia
about Segunda and the sister willingly served as the mediator between the two teenage lovers. It was thus unclear
whether it was Olympia or Segunda whom Jose was frequently visiting at La Concordia at the time.

Olympia married Silvestre Ubaldo, a telegraph operator from Manila. The couple perhaps had no permanent address
for they would stay wherever Silvestre was assigned as telegraph operator. In one of Jose’s letters to his other sisters
in Calamba, he wrote, “Is Sra. Ipia (Señora Olympia) there already? Do her eyes still become small when she laughs?”

Wherever Olympia and Silvestre were, they corresponded with Jose, telling him updates about the family, like about
their son Aristeo. While in Bulacan in October 1882, Olympia wrote Jose about Saturnina’s giving birth and the
cholera epidemic in Bulacan and Laguna. Perhaps missing her brother, she asked Rizal to try to come home as soon
as possible. In January the next year, Ubaldo and Olympia wrote Jose about the ten Baliwag silk handkerchiefs they
sent for his birthday and the unpleasant reactions of friars to Rizal's article in the Diariong Tagalog.

In a letter dated June 12, 1885, Olympia asked Jose to write the priest Federico Faura to transfer them back to
Calamba. The loving brother thus wrote to P. Faura and Sr. Barrantes on June 28, 1885 requesting them to work for
the transfer of his brother-in-law from Albay where the latter was assigned.

In March 1887, Olympia informed Jose that her husband was assigned in Manila and that their parents were in good
health. Paradoxically, Olympia died of hemorrhage while giving birth on September that same year—an event that
spoiled Rizal’s homecoming. Interestingly, about three years before her death, in Jose’s letter to his parents where he
talked about the student agitation in Madrid and the condition of the sugar trade, he suddenly asked about the
condition of Olympia who was then expecting. He even joked about her being a mother, “If her habits haven't
changed yet, I fear very much for the skin of that boy: How many pinchings he will get.”

Like Jose’s other in-laws, Olympia’s husband did not escape the Spaniards’ persecution. With Paciano, Ubaldo was
deported to Mindoro because of the Calamba agrarian trouble. In December 1891, he nonetheless escaped from
further oppression in the Philippines and arrived at Hong Kong with Paciano and Don Francisco to join Dr. Rizal
there.

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LUCIA RIZAL: Partaker of the Hero's Sufferings

Lucia Rizal (1857–1919) is the fifth child in the Rizal family. She married Mariano Herbosa
of Calamba, Laguna. Charged of inciting the Calamba townsfolk not to pay land rent and
causing unrest, the couple was once ordered to be deported along with some Rizal family
members.

Lucia’s husband Mariano died during the cholera epidemic in May 1889. He was refused a
Catholic burial for not going to confession since his marriage to Lucia. In Jose’s article in
La Solidaridad entitled Una profanacion (‘A Profanation’), he scornfully attacked the friars
for declining to bury in ‘sacred ground’ a ‘good Christian’ simply because he was the
“brother-in-law of Rizal”.

In December 1891, the then widowed Lucia was among Rizal’s siblings who were present in
their so-called ‘family reunion’ in Hong Kong. She also accompanied Jose when he
returned to Manila in June the following year. From July 6 to 15, 1892, Jose however was
regrettably imprisoned in Fort Santiago and later deported to Dapitan on a made-up
charge that anti-friar pamphlets were found in Lucia’s luggage on board Don Juan.

Lucia and Mariano’s children were Delfina, Concepcion, Patrocinio, Teodosio, Estanislao,
Paz, Victoria, and Jose. Delfina (1879 –1900) became renowned for being one of the three
women (along with Marcela Agoncillo and her daughter Lorenza) who seamed together
the Philippine flag. She became the first wife of Gen. Salvador Natividad of the Philippine
Revolution. Teodosio (Osio) and Estanislao (Tan) became pupils of their uncle Jose in the
school he established in Dapitan.

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MARIA RIZAL: The Hero's Confidant

Maria Rizal (1859-1945) is the sixth child in the family. It was to her whom Jose talked
about wanting to marry Josephine Bracken when most of the Rizal family was apparently
not amenable to the idea. In his letter dated December 12, 1891, Jose had also brought up
to Maria his plan of establishing a Filipino colony in North British Borneo.

Jose and Maria’s letters to each other contain many interesting information about their
lives. While in Madrid in December 1882, Jose wrote her sister, “since the middle of
August I haven't taken a bath and I haven't perspired either. That is so here. It is very cold,
and a bath is expensive. One pays thirty-five cent for one.” In Maria’s letter dated March
15, 1887, she explained to her slighted (or better yet, ‘nagtatampo’) brother that she got
busy that’s why she had not immediately updated him about her new status as married to
the “very young man from Biñang whose name is Daniel Faustino Cruz.” A caring family
physician, Jose once prescribed through letters a remedy for Maria’s toothache and a
treatment for her son Moris (Mauricio).

In his letter dated December 28, 1891, Jose wrote to Maria, “I'm told that your children are
very pretty.” Today, we have a historical proof that Maria’s progenies were indeed nice-
looking (‘lahing maganda’). Maria and Daniel had five children: Mauricio, Petrona,
Prudencio, Paz and Encarnacion. Their son Mauricio married Conception Arguelles and
the couple had a son named Ismael Arguelles Cruz. Ismael was the father of Gemma Cruz
Araneta, the first Filipina to win the Miss International title, the first Southeast Asian to
win in an international beauty pageant title.

Mauricio ‘Moris’ Cruz became a pupil of his uncle Jose in Dapitan. Updating Maria on the
progress of her son, Jose once sent her a letter interestingly describing the ‘lolo’ of our
Miss International as “stout and dark and he knows how to swim a little.” Moris—Rizal’s
‘favorite’ nephew whom he further described as using a lot of Manila vulgar expressions—
also had a Jesuit priest son, Jose A. Cruz.

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CONCEPCION RIZAL: The Hero's First Grief

Also called ‘Concha’ by her siblings, Concepcion Rizal (1862-1865) was the eightth child of
the Rizal family. She died at the age of three.

Of his sisters, it is said that Pepe loved most the little Concha who was a year younger
than him. Jose played games and shared children stories with her, and from her he felt the
beauty of sisterly love.

When Concha died of sickness in 1865, Jose mournfully wept at losing her. He later wrote
in his memoir, “When I was four years old, I lost my little sister Concha, and then for the
first time I shed tears caused by love and grief.”

From Concha’s life we could learn that not a few children in those times died young. If
records are correct, more than ten of Rizal’s nieces and nephews also died young, not to
mention that Jose’s child himself experienced the same fate.

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JOSEFA RIZAL: The Katipunera

Josefa Rizal’s nickname is Panggoy (1865-1945). She’s the ninth child in the family who
died a spinster.

Among Jose’s letters to Josefa, the one dated October 26, 1893 is perhaps the most
fascinating. Written in English, the letter addressed Josefa as “Miss Josephine Rizal”,
thereby making her the namesake of Rizal’s girlfriend Josephine Bracken. In the letter,
Jose praised her sister for nearly mastering the English language, commenting that the
only fault he found in Josefa’s letter is her apparent confusion between the terms ‘they are’
and ‘there’. Jose also wrote about the 20 pesos he sent, the 10 pesos of the amount was
supposed for a lottery ticket. This indicates that Jose did not stop ‘investing’ in lottery
tickets despite winning 6, 200 pesos in September the previous year. Even when he was in
Madrid, he used to spend at least three pesetas monthly for his ‘only vice’.

After Jose’s martyrdom, the epileptic Josefa joined the Katipunan and is even supposed to
have been elected the president of its women section. She was one of the original 29
women admitted to the Katipunan along with Gregoria de Jesus, wife of Andres Bonifacio.
They safeguarded the secret papers and documents of the society and danced and sang
during sessions so that civil guards would think that the meetings were just harmless
social gatherings.

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TRINIDAD RIZAL: The Custodian of the Hero's Greatest Poem

Trinidad Rizal (1868-1951) or ‘Trining’ was the tenth child and the custodian of Rizal’s last
and greatest poem.

In March 1886, Jose wrote to Trining describing how the German women were serious in
studying. He thus advised her: “now that you are still young, and you have time to learn, it
is necessary that you study by reading and reading attentively.” Perhaps sensing that
studying is not Trinidad’s thing, Jose continued, “It is a pity that you allow yourself to be
dominated by laziness when it takes so little effort to shake it off. It is enough to form only
the habit of study and later everything goes by itself.” Four years later, Trining surprised
Jose by writing him, “Dearest Brother: I left the College two years, one month and a half
ago.”

In August 1893, Trinidad, along with their mother, joined Rizal in Dapitan and resided
with him in his casa cuadrada (square house). It is said that Trinidad had once planned
Rizal’s escape from his exile. In January 1896, Jose invited Trinidad to return to Dapitan.
Jose though had one hesitation: “The difficulty is, whom are you going to marry here? The
town is lonely still, for there is almost no one.” Trining once wrote to Jose: “I have read
your letter to our brother Paciano in which you asked how I'm getting along with Señora
Panggoy. Thank God we are getting along well, and we live together peacefully.” Never
married, Trinidad and Josefa lived together until their deaths.

Right before Jose’s execution, Trinidad and their mother visited him in the Fort Santiago
prison cell. As they were leaving, Jose handed over to Trining an alcohol cooking stove, a
gift from the Pardo de Taveras, whispering to her in a language which the guards could
not understand, “There is something in it.” That ‘something’ was Rizal’s elegy now known
as “Mi Ultimo Adios.” Like Josefa and two nieces, Trinidad joined the Katipunan after
Rizal’s death.

In 1883, Trining was in bed for five months, from April to August, being sick with
intermittent fever—that kind which rises and falls and then returns, occurring in diseases
such as malaria. Astonishingly however, she was the last of the family to die.

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SOLEDAD RIZAL: The Hero's Controversial Sister

Also called ‘Choleng,’ Soledad Rizal (1870-1929) was the youngest child of the Rizal family.
Being a teacher, she was arguably the best educated among Rizal’s sisters.

In his long and meaty letter to Choleng dated June 6, 1890, Jose told her sister that he was
proud of her for becoming a teacher. He thus counseled her to be a model of virtues and
good qualities “for the one who should teach should be better than the persons who need
her learning.”

Rizal nonetheless used the topic as leverage in somewhat rebuking her sister for getting
married to Pantaleon Quintero of Calamba without their parents’ consent. “Because of
you,” he wrote, “the peace of our family has been disturbed.”

Some timeless lessons in ethics and good manners can be learned from the letter. For
instance, it reveals that Jose was very much against women who allow themselves to be
courted outside their homes. He said to Choleng, “If you have a sweetheart, behave
towards him nobly and with dignity, instead of resorting to secret meetings and
conversations which do nothing but lower a woman's worth in the eyes of a man… You
should value more, esteem more your honor and you will be more esteemed and valued.”

PAGE 14
SEGUNDA KATIGBAK: Jose Rizal's First Love

She was Jose Rizal’s “puppy love” and with her the hero was believed to have had “love at
first sight”.

Rizal was 16 years old when one Sunday in 1887 he paid visit to his maternal grandmother
in Trozo, Manila and there met, among others, Segunda Katigbak, a two-year-younger-
than-him ‘colegiala’. In his ‘Memorias de Un Estudiante de Manila’, Rizal graphically
described her as a short lady with “eloquent eyes, rosy cheeks, and smile that reveals very
beautiful teeth”. Mariano Katigbak, Segunda’s brother and Rizal’s classmate who was also
in the house, probably had no idea that his friend had been experiencing “a love at first
sight” being bewitched by his alluring sister.

During the 1880s, the Katigbaks of Batangas were known for their successful and very
lucrative coffee industry. When Jose met Segunda, she was at the time a boarding student
of La Concordia College where Rizal’s sister Olympia was also studying. Jose and Segunda
got to know each other more intimately as his visits to his sister Olympia (or rather to his
love interest Segunda) in La Concordia surprisingly became more frequent.

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LEONOR VALENZUELA and Jose Rizal's Invisible Love Letters

Nicknamed Orang, Leonor Valenzuela was commonly described as a tall girl with regal
bearing who was Rizal’s province-mate. She was the daughter of Capitan Juan and
Capitana Sanday Valenzuela, who were from Pagsanjan, Laguna.

Orang was Rizal’s neighbor when he boarded in the house of Doña Concha Leyva in
Intramuros during his sophomore year at the University of Santo Tomas as medicine
student. To finally move on perhaps from his unsuccessful love story with Segunda
Katigbak, Rizal frequently visited Orang’s house with or without social gatherings. The
proofs that Rizal indeed courted her were the love letters he sent her. His love notes were
mysteriously written in invisible ink made of common table salt and water, which could
be read by heating the note over a candle or lamp.

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LEONOR RIVERA: Jose Rizal's True Love

ON TOP OF BEING DUBBED as Jose Rizal’s “childhood sweetheart,” “betrothed,” and

“lover by correspondence,” she was widely considered as the hero’s “true love”.

Leonor Rivera (April 11, 1867 – August 28, 1893) of Camiling, Tarlac was the daughter of
Antonio Rivera and Silvestra Bauzon. Leonor’s father—who was one of the few persons
who conspired in Jose’s ‘secret’ departure to Spain—is a cousin of the hero’s father,
Francisco Mercado.

Subjectively considered as a pretty lady, Leonor is commonly described as having wavy

soft hair, high forehead, wistful almond eyes, small and pensive mouth, and charming
dimples. She was said to be intelligent and talented, as she could play the harp and the
piano—skills which matched her fascinating singing voice.

Leonor was a “tender as a budding flower” colegiala at the La Concordia College when she
became romantically involved, though secretly, with her distant relative Rizal. Though
both Leonor Rivera and Segunda Katigbak (Rizal’s first love) studied in the same school,
they probably had not met and known each other (much less pulled each other’s hair) as
the Tarlaqueña was four years younger than the Batangueña. Rizal was just a young high
school student in Ateneo when he was ‘dating’ Segunda. When he boarded at his Uncle
Antonio’s boarding house in Intramuros and became the boyfriend of the landlord’s
daughter, Rizal was already a second-year medical student then at the UST.

Secret as the romance was to Leonor’s parents, she used pen names in her letters to Jose.
She hid from the signatures ‘La Cuestion del Oriente’ and ‘Taimis/Tamis’. Records aren’t
clear on what Jose used in return. (Some students jokingly guess that he used pseudonyms
like ‘Pinsan’, or ‘Kuya Pepe’, or ‘Ang inyong boarder’. The funniest suggestion so far is:
“Ang pamangkin ng iyong ama, a.k.a The Calamba boy.”)

In one of Indios’ street brawls against young Spaniards in Escolta, Rizal was wounded on
the head. Bleeding and filthy, he was brought home by friends to his boarding house.
With tender love and care, Leonor nursed him. His wound was gently washed and
carefully dressed, though the band-aid used was unnamed.

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CONSUELO ORTIGA Y REY: The "Crush ng Bayan" in Rizal's Time

She was probably very likable because at least two Filipinos in Spain in Jose Rizal’s time
had had feelings for her.

Consuelo Ortiga y Rey was considered the prettier of the daughters of Don Pablo Ortiga y
Rey, the Spanish liberal and former mayor of Manila who became vice-president of the
Council of the Philippines in the Ministry of Colonies. Very supportive to the Filipinos in
Madrid, Don Pablo’s house was the common meeting place of ‘Circulo Hispano-Filipino’
members like Rizal. The Ortiga residence was thus frequented by Filipino lads especially
that Don Pablo had beautiful daughters.

Consuelo recorded in her diary that she first met Rizal on September 16, 1882 when he
went to Spain for the first time primarily to study. The diary entry indicated that they
talked the whole night and that the young Filipino said many beautiful things about her.
The Spanish lady also wrote of a day Rizal spent at their house when he entertained them
with his ingenious humor, elegance, and sleight-of-hand tricks.

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SEIKO USUI: Jose Rizal's Japanese Girlfriend

If only Jose Rizal had no patriotic mission and no political will, he would have married her
and settled in Japan for good.

It was during Rizal’s second trip abroad when he met Seiko Usui. From Hong Kong, he
arrived in Japan in February 1888 and moved to the Spanish Legation in the Azabu district
of Tokyo upon the invitation of an official in the legation.

One day, Rizal saw Seiko passing by the legation in one of her daily afternoon walks.
Fascinated by her charm, Rizal inquired and learned from a Japanese gardener some basic
information about her. The next day, Rizal and the Japanese gardener waited at the
legation gate for Seiko. Acting as a go-between and interpreter, the gardener introduced
the gracious Filipino doctor and the pretty Japanese woman to each other. The gardener’s
role as intermediary was cut short however when Seiko spoke in English. She also knew
French, and so she and Rizal began to converse in both languages.

O-Sei-San, as Rizal fondly called Seiko, voluntarily acted as Rizal’s generous tour guide.
She accompanied him to Japan’s shrines, parks, universities, and other interesting places
like the Imperial Art Gallery, Imperial Library, and the Shokubutsu-en (Botanical Garden).
Serving as his tutor and interpreter, she helped him improve his knowledge of the
Japanese language (Nihongo) and explained to him some Japanese cultural elements and
traditions like the Kabuki plays.

It was thus not surprising that Jose fell for the charming, modest, pretty, and intelligent
daughter of a samurai. Seiko subsequently reciprocated the affection of the talented and
virtuous guest who, like her, had deep interest in the arts.

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NELLIE BOUSTED: Jose Rizal's Almost Wife

Perceiving Jose Rizal’s imminent courtship to her, his compatriot Marcelo H. del Pilar
teased the lover boy by suggesting that his first novel should be renamed ‘Nelly Me
Tangere’.

Nellie Boustead, also called Nelly, was the younger of the two pretty daughters of the
wealthy businessman Eduardo Boustead, son of a rich British trader, who went to the
Orient in 1826. The Bousteads hosted Rizal’s stay in Biarritz in February 1891 at their
winter residence, Villa Eliada on the superb French Riviera. Rizal had befriended the
family back in 1889-90 and used to fence with the Anglo-Filipino Boustead sisters (Adelina
and Nellie) at the studio of Juan Luna.

Having learned Leonor Rivera’s marriage to Henry Kipping, Rizal entertained the idea of
having romantic relation with the highly educated, cheerful, athletic, beautiful, and
morally upright Nellie. He wrote some of his friends (though remarkably except Ferdinand
Blumentritt) about his affection for Nelly and his idea of proposing marriage to her.

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SUZANNE JACOBY: Jose Rizal's Fling

When Jose Rizal left her place, her dream was to follow him and to travel with the Filipino
lover boy who was always in her thoughts.

Suzanne Jacoby was a Belgian lady whom Rizal met when he was 29. To somewhat
economize in his living expenses, he left the expensive city of Paris and went to Belgium in
January 1890. Along with his friend Jose Albert, Rizal arrived in Brussels on February 2 and
stayed in the boarding house managed by two Jacoby sisters, Suzanne and Marie (some
references say “Catherina and Suzanna”). It was said that Rizal had a transitory romance
with the petite niece of his landladies, Suzanne.

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JOSEPHINE BRACKEN: Jose Rizal's Dear and Unhappy Wife

IN JOSE RIZAL’S OWN WORDS, she was his dear wife. A few hours before his execution,
they embraced for the last time and he gave her a souvenir—a religious book with his
dedication, “To my dear unhappy wife, Josephine.”

Marie Josephine Leopoldine Bracken was born on August 9, 1876 in Victoria, Hong Kong.
She was the youngest of the five children of an Irish couple who were married on May 3,
1868 in Belfast, Ireland: British army corporal James Bracken and Elizabeth Jane MacBride.
A few days after giving birth to Josephine, her mother Elizabeth died. Her father decided
to give her up for adoption to her childless godparents, American George Taufer, an
engineer of the pumping plant of the Hong Kong Fire Department, and his Portuguese
(second) wife. Josephine’s real father (James) left Hong Kong after retirement and was said
to have died at the hands of robbers in Australia.

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