Title: Early Education in

Calamba and Biñan

Objectives: At the end of this chapter, the students

must be able to:

1. Recognize the childhood years of Dr. Jose Rizal

2. Give details about his Early Education in Calamba and Biñan

3. Develop an appreciation and deeper understanding of Dr. Jose Rizals’ early education in Calamba and Biñan

4. Distinguish the value of the early education of Dr. Jose Rizal in Calamba and Biñan

Overview:The first teacher of Rizal was his mother, Teodora Alonso.

It was she who first discovered that her son had talent for poetry.

As Jose grew older, his parents employed private tutors to give him lessons at home. After the death of his last tutor, his parents decided to send their gifted son to a private school in Biñan. In June 1869, Jose left Calamba for Biñan.

Discussion:The Hero’s First Teacher

• Doña Teodora was Jose’s first non-formal teacher.• On her lap, Jose learned the alphabet and the prayers at the age of three.

• Maestro Celestino was Jose’s first private tutor.

• Maestro Lucas Padua was Jose’s second private tutor.

• Maestro Leon Monroy became the hero’s tutor in Spanish and Latin. He was also a classmate of Don Francisco.

• Unfortunately, he did not lived long.

• He died five months later.

• After a Monroy’s death, the hero’s parents decided to send their gifted son to a private school in Biñan.

Jose Goes to Biñan

• June 1869- Jose Goes to Biñan with Paciano

• The two brothers rode in a carromata, reaching their destination after one and one-half hours’ drive.

• Carromata- the mode of transportation

- a light 2-wheeled boxlike passenger vehicle usually drawn by a single native pony

• They proceeded to their aunt’s house, where Jose was to reside for a time.

• It was almost night when they arrived, and the moon was about to rise.

First Day in Biñan School• Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz- formal teacher

• Rizal described Maestro Justiniano was tall, thin, long-necked, with sharp nose and a body slightly bent forward

• The school was in the house of the teacher, which was a small nipa hut about 30 meters from the home of Jose’s aunt.

First School Brawl

Brawl- a noisy quarrel, squabble, or fight.

• In the afternoon of his first day in school, when the teacher was having his siesta, Jose met the bully, Pedro.

• Pedro- the teacher’s son

• Jose who was smaller and younger defeated the bigger boy, Pedro.

• For this achievement, he became popular among his classmates.

• After the class in the afternoon, a classmate named Andres Salandanan challenged him to an arm-wrestling match.

• Jose, who was having the weaker arm, lost and nearly cracked his head on the sidewalk.

Painting Lessons in Biñan

• Old Juancho- freely gave Jose painting lessons

• Jose and his classmate, Jose Guevarra, who also loved painting, became trainee of the old painter.

Daily Life in Biñan

• Hears mass at 4 a.m or studies lesson before going to mass

• If he returned home, he went to the orchard to look for a mabolo to eat.

• Then took his breakfast, which consisted generally of a dish of rice and two dried small fish and went to his class.

• Came out from his class at ten o’clock.

• He went to school at two and came out at five o’clock.

• He prayed for a short while with some nice cousins before going home.• Afterwards, he took his supper consisting of one or two dishes of rice with an ayungin.

• They prayed, and if there was a moon, his nieces invited him to play in the street together with others. • He always thanks God because he never got sick away from his parents.

Ayungin- it is considered to be one of the most delicious of the native freshwater fish in the Philippines.

Best Student in School

• Jose surpassed his classmates in Spanish, Latin and other subjects.

• His older classmates were jealous and squeal to the teacher whenever he had fights.• Jose usually received 5 or 6 blows while laid out on a bench.

End of Biñan Schooling

• Upon reading the letter, he had a warning that he would not return to Biñan anymore.

• Before the Christmas season in 1870, Jose received a letter from his sister Saturnina, informing him of the arrival of the Steamer Talim which would take him from Biñan to Calamba.

• So he became sad. He prayed in the town church, collected pebbles in the river for souvenirs, and regretfully bade farewell to his teacher and classmates.

• December 17, 1870- Jose left Biñan

• Arturo Camps- a Frenchman and a friend of his father, Don Francisco

Martyrdom of Gom-Bur-Za

• January 20, 1872- Cavite Mutiny

• February 17, 1872- Father Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora were executed

• The GomBurZa were leaders of the secularization Movement

•The martyrdom of the three priests inspired Rizal to fight the evils of Spanish tyranny.

• And later in 1891, he dedicated his second novel, El Filibusterismo, to Gomburza.

Injustice to Hero’s Mother

•In 1872, Doña Teodora was suddenly arrested on a malicious charge that she tried to poison her brother, Jose Alberto, a rich Biñan ilustrado.

• During his absence, his wife abandoned their home and children. When he arrived in Biñan, he found her living with another man. Irritate by her infidelity, he planned to divorce her.

• However, the evil wife, with the passive cooperation in crime of the Spanish lieutenant of the Guardia Civil, field a case in court accusing her husband and Doña Teodora of attempting to poison her.

• Antonio Vivencio del Rosario- gobernadorcillo of Calamba, helped the lieutenant arrest Doña Teodora

• 50 kilometers- Doña Teodora forced to walk from Calamba to Santa Cruz

• Don Francisco de Marcaida & Don Manuel Marzan- most famous lawyers of Manila.

• After 2 ½ years- Royal Audencia acquitted Doña Teodora

• Recounting this incidence of his mother’s imprisonment, Rizal said in his student memoirs: “Our mother was unjustly snatched away from us by whom? By some men who had been our friends and whom we treated as honored guests. We learned later that our mother got sick, far from us and at an advanced age.

My mother was defended by Messrs. Francisco de Marcaida and Manuel Marzan, the most famous lawyers of Manila. She finally succeeded to be acquitted and vindicated in the eyes of her judges, accusers, and even her enemies, but after how long? After two and a half years.”