Chapter 4: Rizal as a Student

CHAPTER IV: RIZAL AS A STUDENT

Where education reigns on lofty Edukasyon, pag naghari, kabataan

seat ay lulusog
Youth blossoms forth with vigor and Ang katawan at ang isip ay uunlad
agility nang maayos,
His error subjugates with solid feet, Kamalia’y masusupil, diwa niya’y
And is exalted by conceptions of mabubusog
nobility Sa marangal na damdaming sa
She breaks the neck of vice and its kaluluwa’y humuhubog;
deceit; Tanang bisyo’y mapapawi’t
Black crime turns pale at her sapilitang mauubos;
hostility; Umaamo kahit na ang bansang asal-
The barbarous nations she knows hayop;
how to tame, Ang mabangis, nagbabago at
From savages create heroic fame. bayaning nababantog.

Through Education Our Motherland Receives

Light
Translated in Filipino by Benedicta Ma.
Rosario (2008)

EARLY TASTE OF EDUCATION

17
Jose Rizal was surrounded by people who possessed different skills and
talents which were selflessly shared to him. Her mother taught her how to
read and say haltingly the humble prayers (Ma. Guerrero, 1987); transmitted
to him her love of Tagalog poetry (Coates, 1968) and related a lot of stories
one of which was the famous Story of the Moth.

The brothers of his mother also became influential to the young Rizal.
His uncle Jose developed his artistic ability; his uncle Manuel formed his
physique through sports and his uncle Gregorio, the love of books.

His aya (nurse maid), Ina Munda, played a role in developing the
imaginative interest of Rizal through her wonderful stories. The parish priest,
Father Leoncio Lopez fostered Rizal’s love for scholarship and intellectual
honesty (Zaide & Zaide, 2012).

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 Chapter 4: Rizal as a Student

His father paid tutors for him to learn Latin and Spanish. He was under
the supervision of different tutors – Maestro Celestino, Maestro Lucas Padua
and Maestro Leon Monroy. But after the death of the latter, his father
decided to send him to a private school in Biñan under the tutelage of
Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz.

RIZAL IN BIÑAN: HOMETOWN EDUCATION (1868 – 1870)

In Biñan, through the guidance of Maestro Justiniano, he furthered his

knowledge of the basics – reading, writing, arithmetic and religion. He
mastered the basic Latin and Spanish courses which were required for higher
learning.

Aside from his formal lessons, he also developed his painting skills
through the guidance of Old Juancho, his teacher’s father-in-law. During his
free time, he spent it in the old man’s studio together with his classmate Jose
Guevarra. The two boys became the apprentices of the old painter and they
became the favorite painters of the class (Castañeda, et al, 2007).

After one year and a half in Biñan, he was advised by his Maestro to
18 advance his studies in Manila. Before he left Biñan, he prayed in the town
church, collected pebbles and bade farewell to his teachers and classmates.

RIZAL IN ATENEO MUNICIPAL DE

MANILA (formerly ESCUELA MUNICIPAL
DE MANILA) (1872 – 1877)

Prior to Ateneo, Rizal took the DID YOU KNOW…that

entrance examination in Colegio de San there were 12
Juan de Letran, a Dominican-owned school. students graduated
However, his father decided to send him to in the class of Rizal in
Ateneo, a school supervised by the Jesuits. Ateneo? Among the
He was admitted to the Ateneo through the
12 graduates, 9 got
help of Manuel Jerez, nephew of Fr. Jose
Burgos.
sobresaliente
(excellent) grade in
The return of the Jesuits in the their class and Rizal
Philippines in 1865 brought advancement to was one among
their educational system. Its discipline was them. Their class was
rigid and its methods less mechanical the remnants of a
(Palma, 1966). Moreover, Jesuit pedagogy much larger class
was pauca praecepta, multa exempla, when he first stepped
plurima exercitation (few rules, many in the portals of

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 Chapter 4: Rizal as a Student

examples, numberless exercise) and cura personalis (individualized

attention) (Badillo, 2011).They offered Bachiller en Artes (Bachelor of Arts)
as their program and offered vocational courses in agriculture, commerce,
mechanics and surveying. They also have programs in the arts (music,
drawing and painting) and as a religious school, they molded the character of
their students through joining religious fraternities, heard mass before class
and starting and ending their class with a prayer.

Academically, Rizal was a brilliant, diligent and competent student. In

order to excel, he made himself follow a daily timetable which he never
abandoned (Villa Abrille, 2002). This daily program exemplifies his academic
progress as a student. Herewith, he became consistent “emperor” in their
class despite the fact that he was put at the last row of the class being a new
comer and was grouped in the Carthaginians Empire composed of the
externos (non-boarders). He furnished his Spanish through taking private
lessons in Colegio de Sta. Isabel which helped him in his writings. He
received medals and stampita only in some of his subjects because he was
deeply affected by the imprisonment of his mother. Despite the situation, he
still received consistent sobresaliente (excellent) grades in all his subjects.
He became voracious reader, he read fiction and non-fiction books and even
asked his father to purchase books in history by Cesar Cantu. He was
accepted as member of the Academy of Spanish Literature and Academy of
Natural Sciences which were exclusive societies given to students who were
19 exceptional in terms of literature and the sciences. He later became the
prefect of the Academy of Spanish Literature.

Rizal also developed his artistic skills in Ateneo. Through the guidance
of Father Francisco de Paula Sanchez, his aptitude in poetry was developed.
In his five years stay in the Ateneo, he was able to compose numerous
poems on education, religion, childhood memories as well as victories and
defeats on war and wrote a religious drama.

Through the direction of the Peninsular Don Augustin Saez, his

knowledge in drawing and painting was awakened. Rizal’s sculptural abilities
were molded by Romualdo de Jesus in his sculpture shop in Sta. Cruz. As a
result, two of his plastic arts were preserved in the Ateneo library – the figure
of Our Lady and the image of the Sacred Heart.

Being a student of a religious school, Rizal also joined the Marian

Congregation (Solidarity of Our Lady) and the Apostleship of Prayer. Guided
and directed by Father Pablo Pastells, he became the prefect of the Marian
Congregation and called Rizal as querido hijo de mi alma (my own spiritual
son)(Bonoan, 1994).

Due to his small stature, Rizal also engaged in gymnastics and other
physical exercises such as fencing in which he became skilled in handing the

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sword and he trained even harder and kept in practice for the rest of his life
(Coates, 1968).

His diligent labors in Ateneo paid off when he finished his degree in
Bachelor of Arts on March 23, 1877 with highest honors – sobresaliente
(excellent). Indeed, the Jesuit system of education really cultivated Rizal’s
drive towards excellence through his academics, developed his patriotic
sentiments in his writings and further strengthened his faith through the
foundation of religion.

These could be proven in his words when he went on to describe what

he had received from his alma mater: By dint of study, of self-analysis, of
aspiring to ever greater heights, and countless corrections, I began to be
transformed little by little…I owe a great deal to this religious order – almost,
almost, everything I represent (Schumacher, 1977). Even to the very last
hour of his life, he expressed his deepest sentiment to his school: Everything
that the Jesuits taught me was good and holy. The Ateneo really did
contribute to the formation of the young Rizal.

20

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 Chapter 4: Rizal as a Student

RIZAL IN THE ROYAL AND PONTIFICAL UNIVERSIDAD DE SANTO

TOMAS (1877 – 1882)

After his schooling in Ateneo, Rizal’s mother, Doña Teodora, objected

his return to Manila for further studies. She insisted that her son already
knew a lot. But Don Francisco secretly asked Paciano to accompany him to
Manila.

Having finished his Bachelor of Arts in Ateneo, Rizal was qualified to

enter the Royal and Pontifical Universidad de Santo Tomas, a school
supervised by the Dominicans. Uncertain to what course to take, he enrolled
in the Preparatory Course of Theology and Law taking the course Philosophia
y Letras (Philosophy and Letters). He then sought the advice of Father Pablo
Ramon wherein it took a year before he received his recommendation.

As a student of Philosophy and Letters, he obtained sobresaliente

(excellent) grades in all his subjects. During that year, Rizal also took
vocational courses in Ateneo – surveying, agriculture and topography.
Though he was able to finish the course surveying in Ateneo, the
professional license as agrimensor y perito tasador de tierras (land surveyor
and assessor) was only granted to him after three years because of his age.
He was only seventeen when he finished the course. He was still an active
member and officer of exclusive societies and of the Marian congregation.
21 However, after one term in the program, he shifted to the Preparatory
Course of Medicine as advised by Father Pablo Ramon and was concerned by
the state of his mother’s sight. He was granted by the university the rare
privilege of studying simultaneously the Preparatory Course of Medicine and
the First Year of Medicine (De Viana et al., 2011).

In medicine, Rizal did not shine as he has done at the Ateneo (Bantug,
2008). In the twenty one (21) subjects taken in the university, Rizal obtained
six (6) sobresaliente (excellent), six (6) aprovechado (very good), eight (8)
bueno (good) and one aprobado (passing) grades. Perhaps, Rizal was not
gifted for medicine as he was for the letters and arts (Villaroel, 1984).
Nevertheless, among twenty four (24) students enrolled in Medicine, he was
one among the seven (7) who reached the beginning of the fifth year course
until he decided to continue his studies abroad.

Though somewhat disappointing with his performance in medicine,

Rizal excelled in literature and developed his nationalist sentiments on it.
Father Evaristo Arias helped him cultivate his craft in poetry. In 1879, he
joined the poetry contest sponsored by Liceo Literario-Artistico (Artistic
Literary Lyceum). He won the prize, a silver pen in his entry A la Juventud
Filipina (To the Filipino Youth) in which he expressed his views that Filipinos
are not inferior to any race and that they should refine their talents and skills
for God and country.

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In another contest sponsored by the Liceo Literario-Artistico, he

“unfortunately” won the contest and was awarded with a gold ring in his
entry El Consejos de los Dioses (The Council of the Gods). This was labelled
as unfortunate because the cheers turned into jeers. He wrote in his article
Llantos y Risas (Tears and Laughter): I heard the sound of applause, sincere
and enthusiastic, but on disclosing myself the applause turned into mockery
and insult. Prejudice win over justice; the defeated was feasted; and I the
Filipino was coldly received, was well-nigh laughed at and insulted (Lopez
Bantug, 2008). These events did not dampen his literary prowess. He still
wrote poems on patriotism, triumphs and admiration to people who
influenced his being, a sonnet and a zarzuela (musical comedy) which was
performed in the Literary Academy of Ateneo. He also attended classes at
the Academy of Fine Arts to perfect his technique in painting and took
lessons in fencing (Bernad, 1998).

He also developed his leadership skill through founding a secret

society for Filipino students in 1880. He named it Compañerismo
(Comradeship) for mutual protection (against the Spanish students, who
were prone to persecuting the rest) and for the encouragement of traditional
Filipino sports (Coates, 1968).

As a teenager, it was a normal experience in the life of Rizal to be

22 attracted with the opposite sex. Before he entered the university, he felt the
very first emotions of love with Segunda Katigbak, a schoolmate of his sister
Olimpia followed by the two Leonors – Leonor Valenzuela and Leonor Rivera.

After four years in the university, Rizal decided to finish his studies
abroad. The letter of Paciano to Jose Rizal in 1882 answers the reason why
he left abroad: It is said here that you will finish the medical course…to me
the principal purpose of your departure is not to finish this course but to
study other things of greater usefulness or that which you are more inclined.

Though Rizal was not able to finish his course in the university, he
earned a lot of meaningful experiences as well as proper values he needed
for his next challenge in life – to study abroad. His travel abroad was only
known to few – his brother Paciano, his uncle Antonio and his brother-in-law,
Manuel Hidalgo. Rizal did not wish the rest of his family to know of it
(including Leonor) until he had already departed (Bantug, 2008).

RIZAL IN UNIVERSIDAD CENTRAL DE MADRID (1882 – 1885)

After forty-four days of voyage (May 3 – June 16, 1882), Rizal reached
his destination – Barcelona, Spain. He spent three months in this place
because the scholastic year in Europe was different from that of the
Philippines (Coates, 1968). For those idle months, he spent his time

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observing the customs of the people, spends his time in the library,
corresponded with friends and wrote articles published in the bilingual
newspaper in the Philippines – Diariong Tagalog.

In the fall of 1882, Rizal moved to Madrid, Spain and enrolled in the
Faculty of Medicine and at the same time in the Faculty of Philosophy and
Letters. Aside from these formal courses he enrolled, he also took lessons in
languages in Ateneo de Madrid and studied painting and sculpture in the
Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (Academy of Fine Arts of San
Fernando). He received prizes, scholarships and good grades in his
academics that moved his compatriots to become serious too in their
studies.

Knowing the very purpose of his stay abroad, he took full advantage of
his time. He visited museums and galleries and visited Paris to observe their
way of life. He spent most of his time purchasing and reading books in
medicine, philosophy, languages, arts, history and many others.

He wrote articles and poems on patriotism and nationalism as well as

his melancholies and romance. He delivered speeches requested by his
association and also during the triumph of his compatriots, Luna and Hidalgo
in the National Exposition of fine Arts in Madrid.
23 He also joined different associations namely: the Circulo Hispano-
Filipino (Hispano-Philippine Circle) and the Brotherhood of Masons. These two
associations presented to him the contrary of scenario in the Philippines
which were the possibility of indios and mestizos to be together and the
freedom to speak freely regarding authorities of the Church and state.

His love for physical activities made him to practice constantly in

fencing and even enrolled in shooting in the Hall of Arms of Sanz y Carbonell.
Indeed, he was a respectable marksman and a swordsman.

Although Rizal was already engaged to Leonor Rivera, he was linked to

a beautiful girl named, Consuelo Ortiga y Rey. The romance between them
did not blossom because of friendship and loyalty.

His diligence paid off when the degree Licentiate in Medicine was
conferred to him on June 21, 1884 which qualified him to practice the course.
For him to qualify to teach in the Faculty of Medicine, he took the degree
Doctor of Medicine in the following year. He finished the doctorate degree
but the diploma was not awarded because of financial reasons.

In his 24th birthday, June 19, 1885, the degree Licentiate of Philosophy
and Letters was awarded to him. He was qualified to be a professor of
humanities in any Spanish university. However, he chose to practice his

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medical profession and specialized in ophthalmology because of his mother’s

condition. For two more years, he went to France and Germany to further his
knowledge in ophthalmology, observe their way of life, slowly finishing his
first novel, and studied other things that he was inclined of doing.
Rizal’s education in Europe broadened his understanding of what
progressive education should be. He became radical and critical most
especially to the system of education of his motherland. This could be best
portrayed in his essay La Instruccion (The Town Schools in the Philippines)
when he said: Let us cease to be empirical and routinary. Let us learn to
progress. Let us seek the direct good, for life is short and the mission of man
is great. Let everyone fulfill his duties and obligations in the sphere in which
he lives, not only for the sake of complying with and not failing the mandate,
but to do good and to help in the common task of suffering and progressive
humanity (Rizal, 1992).

24

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ACTIVITY

I. Modified True or False. Indicate whether the following

statements are true or false. Write TRUE if the statement is correct.
If false, change the underlined word or phrases to make the
statement true. Write your answer on the space provided.

___________ 1.Rizal finished vocational courses in Ateneo while studying

_ in UST.
___________ 2.Rizal was studying in UST when his mother was
_ imprisoned.
___________ 3.Rizal was given the rare opportunity to study both
_ philosophy and medicine proper in UST.
___________ 4.Rizal finished his degree in philosophy and medicine in
_ Universidad Central de Madrid.
___________ 5.Rizal specialized in ophthalmology because he wanted his
_ fellow indios to see clearly.
___________ 6.Rizal did not excel much in medicine because his
_ inclination is more on the arts.
___________ 7.Rizal practiced his profession in France and Belgium after
_ finishing his courses in Spain.
___________ 8.Rizal’s uncle Jose formed his physique through sports.
_
25 ___________ 9.Rizal has to study in Biñan because of the death of his
_ tutor.
___________ 10.
Rizal’s mother was his first teacher.
_

II. Trace the valuable activities of Rizal as a student and apply it in your life
as student.

SCHOOL VALUES APPLICATION

Tutorial School in
Biñan
Ateneo Municipal de
Manila
Universidad de Santo
Tomas
Universidad Central de
Madrid

III.Create your own daily program/schedule as a student and find out if it is

used productively or not.

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