PenelopeVFlores: Day 2 of Three Perfect Days: Understanding Dr. Jos...

PenelopeVFlores: Day 2 of Three Perfect Days: Understanding Dr. Jos...: On Day 2 of my visit to Heidelberg, I returned to the Old town and situated myself in the aura of Dr. José Rizal's spirit. I revisited the...

Day 2 of Three Perfect Days: Understanding Dr. José Rizal's Legacy: Pictures of Heidelberg-Wilhelmsfeld, Germany

On Day 2 of my visit to Heidelberg, I returned to the Old town and situated myself in the aura of Dr. José Rizal's spirit.  I revisited the regular haunts of students in Heidelberg.  It was a re-creation of the life of a progressive student from the Philippines out to experience every nuance of life.  Rizal was always learning  He was artistically subtle, and he hoped that later on, he would get all of the things he absorbed into something progressive.  Rizal was influenced greatly by the German love for structure and discipline.

Beer Garden where Heidelberg university students patronize. Thisone is just a few yards away from Rizal's flat.

Rizal apartment, white center building,Ludwigsplatz 12, now Grabengasse, Heidelberg, 1886. 

Fountain in front of Heidelberg University, opposite Rizal flat.   He could have  quenched his thirst here.

Lion figure atop the drinking  fountain in front of Heidelberg Univ.

Church of the Holy Ghost, Heidelberg.

Rizal admired this art work:  Alte Aula, old ceremonial hall, Heidelberg U.

Jesuit Church, Heidelberg U. Rizal was a product of Philippine Jesuit education .

 

Student Prison. Rizal noted this concept of self-monitoring. In this grafitti-filled walls, the red caps seem to predominate.

Student fraternities wore colored caps as identification, Heidelberg. Painted walls revealed a lot of student life.

Wooden table carved with student names, Red Ox. I tried to look for a Rizal name here.  No success.

Grafitti on student prison walls. I wish I could read German.

 

Schurmann building, Schurmann, a native son,  made millions in the Philippines under the American Colonial government. He wrote the Schurmann Philippine Report of 1901.

Heidelberg University Library, Rizal's books and books about him are here.

The historic student prison (Studenkarzen)is on Augustinergasse.

Bust, Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden, the generous patron of the University,
 University Ceremonial Aula

Entrance door, Heidelberg U.

Rizal noted with interest religious figures in building corner niches.

The university plaza. Rizal's apartment was right on this plaza square.

Rizal's apartment on 11 Karlstrassse.  He could admire the Castle ruins from his rear window.

The bus line costs Euro 2.50 l to Wilhelmsfeld. 

Penélope lost her heart in Heidelberg, August 15th
 to 19th, 2011

Eye Clinic where Rizal practiced. Note historical Rizal marker, 20 Bergheimerstrasse

The Red Ox, a favorite student restaurant. All the wooden tables are covered with carved student names: a treat for Onomastic scholars!!!

Day 2 of Three Perfect Days: Understanding Dr. José Rizal's Legacy: Heidelberg-Wilhelmsfeld, Germany

Sir Rainer and I had been feeding each other's sentences with Rizal quotes, Rizal ideas, Rizal letters, Rizal thoughts, Rizal jokes.   It is so amazing that a German citizen could know so much about our national hero.  I was painfully aware of so many things I still have to learn from him.

What was so astonishing is that he allowed me to ask silly questions.  Rainer is a retired English, History, and Social and Political Studies teacher.  He had been closely connected to Rizal studies for almost 50 years and he was playing the German tutor with me.  I wanted to know  what kind of flowers  Rizal  saw when he wrote the poem "To the Flowers of Heidelberg."  He drove me to Philosopher's Way.  "There," he pointed, "Those were the flowers he saw."  I looked at a wide expanse of blooms.  The roadside presented a painter's palette of varied hues and texture.

Heidelberg flowers in Spring

Then I noted a particular bush  heavy with white trailing blooms.  My eyes widened; my jaw dropped.  "It's almost like a white "Cadena de Amor,"  I exclaimed. What was in Rizal's mind when he saw those Cadena-de-Amor flower type?  Did he recall Calamba's blooms?  I cut off a twig and kept the cutting in my backpack. (This will later be my downfall with the US Customs at San Francisco Airport).


Rainer continued.... "While Rizal was walking this way, he met a local protestant pastor, Karl Ullmer.  They became friendly, and at one point, Rizal asked if he could improve his German by staying in his village in a sort of immersion language program.  The pastor then invited him to stay with his family in the vicarage."

We were nearing Wilhelmsfeld, and my heart began to beat wildly.  Somewhere, I'll get to see the house where Rizal lived, savour the place and feel the essence of that village scene that Rizal described so vividly on Chapter 7 of the Noli where Ibarra told Maria Clara of his Germany experience.

The car turned on to a neat looking street.  We pulled over to a sign on the road. It read "José Rizal Strasse".  Down the street, Sir Rainer cried;  "Are you ready?  There it is".

The vicarage where Rizal spent a quiet and productive time in Germany, 1886

It was a plain white three-story stone house of green shutters with a dormer attic roof, incredibly maintained and well-preserved!!!  On the low fence, a special historical marker declared that the Philippine National hero spent the best time of his life in this house.

Rainer smiled, "See that third window with closed shutters on the 1st floor, right side? (In Europe, what we call 1st floor is their Ground Floor. Our 2nd floor is their 1st floor.) That was where Rizal finished writing the final chapters of the Noli. Pastor Ullmer's son Fritz, a 13 year old boy, remembered Rizal had a large map of the Philippines tacked up in front of his desk."

Then he continued softly, "See that room next to Rizal's room?  That's where I was born."  I developed some goose-bumps. This guy's Rizal connection is unreal!!!

Room with closed shutters was Rizal's room.

I noted the church across the street where Pastor Karl Ullmer tended to his religious flock, and where Rainer's father, Pastor Gottlob Weber took over.  Later that day, in the company of Sir Rainer's lovely spouse, Idi, we visited the Rizal statue on Rizal Park.

It was an extraordinary experience.  First, the bronze statue is greater than life.

Second,  it is standing on a tidal pool where people can feel a close affinity to Rizal when viewing it.  It was designed to be part of the audience. Visitors could stand beside it and a picture shoot could show Rizal as part within the picture frame.

Rizal bronze statue, holding a quill on his right hand, in thoughtful mood.

Third, the standing figure, holding a quill in one hand is shown as a  thoughtful and sensitive character.  I have never  seen any Rizal monument with these uniquely soft attributes.

The statue was crafted by Professor Caedo of UP. However, Caedo had deviated 180 degrees from his usual stern-looking Rizal template.

Soft lines, thoughtful mood, sensitive stance, unique monument.

Our party-of-three watched the Wilhelmsfeld sunset gradually drain off the orange-yellow-ochre tint over the valley. We quaffed cooling drinks at Tal Blick restaurant.  Rainer's beer came in a curvy-twisty looking tall glass.  He joked:  "It seems like I got drunk and wrung the glass into a twist."  Later that evening  I marked that day's memory by drawing that twisted glass on a blank postcard using oil pastel and ball pen marker.

I boarded the Wilhelmsfeld bus that took me back to Heidelberg over a winding road on the Odenwald  forest, 13 kilometers to Heidelberg. Rizal walked through this forest glen three hours going, three hours returning.

Day Two of three perfect days ended in Heidelberg, where on my own I walked over to the familiar Rizal sites to imbibe the special Rizal aura. I needed that second look to have the images crystallize in my mind.

Day 1 of Three Perfect Days: Understanding Dr. José Rizal's Legacy: Heidelberg-Wilhelmsfeld, Germany

Sir Rainer J. Weber, Chapter Commander of the Wilhelmsfeld-Heidelberg Order of the Knights of Rizal was reserved and polite in his reply to my request for a meeting and for help in tracing the legacy of Dr José Rizal in Heidelberg and Wilhelmsfeld, Germany.  Many Philippine politicians, diplomats, academics and erstwhile travelers regularly pass by Heidelberg-Wilhelmsfeld and Sir Rainer generally always took care of showing them around.  Sir Choy Arnaldo, Chapter Commander of the Philippine Chapter of Knights of Rizal introduced me to him.

Mr. Weber is one among the foremost Rizalists in Germany, following in the footsteps of the Foremost Rizalista, his late father, Pastor Gottlob Weber.  The kind pastor was highly instrumental in the Philippine National Historical Commission in 1960's in accumulating "never-before-known"  information about Rizal's stay in Wilhelmsfeld, Germany. (See Philippine National Historical Institute, Paz P. Mendez, Adventures in Rizaliana. 1978).  Pastor Gottlob Weber took over the Wilhelmsfeld vicarage from Pastor Karl Ullmer.  Dr José Rizal was invited as a lodger in Pastor Ullmer's household in 1886.

Day 1.  My excitement ran high.  Sir Rainer came armed with a huge brilliant smile.  He was the kind of gentleman who looked you in the eye and hang on to your every word as if you had something important to say.  He immediately put me at ease. He had previously received my email indicating what sites I needed to document.  For reference I had listed the sites named in the Pictorial Album on Rizal (1962).   

Dr José Rizal HIstorical Marker, Heidelberg

He asked; "How are you in terms of walking and climbing up steps?" I deflected the assumption (of age) and braced myself saying,  "Let's go."

First stop, the Augenklinik's Rizal marker on 20 Bergheimer strasse, just a few yards from my hotel. In the Centennial Book (1962) it was located on 4 Bergheimer strasse.

The foremost ophthalmologist, Dr Otto Becker, was a respected professor at the University of Heidelberg. Rizal, as one of his favored students, had the use of the new eye instrument:  the ophthalmoscope.  Rizal at that time had an apartment in front of the University. The eye clinic  on the other hand, was located in the vicinity of Bismarckplatz, further off the old university campus.  Rizal had to walk through the length of Hauptstrasse. It took me 20 minutes to negotiate it.

Rizal's apartment opposite the University square.

Next stop:  The University of Heidelberg.  Rizal was in for the greatest festival of his life when he arrived in 1886.  It was the 500th anniversary of the university's founding. Today, the university still maintains its old world charm. Rizal lived right in front of the university square by the fountain.  I looked at the cobble stones.  Wow! Here our national hero trod these very stones, I observed.

Within the university campus is the noted Witches' Tower, a relic of the middle ages when witches and old hags were incarcerated and/or otherwise burned on stakes.

The University's Witches'Tower, Rizal mentioned this in his letter home.

There is a historical marker on the facade on 12 Ludwigsplatz, now Grabengasse.  Rizal occupied this place from February to June, 1886.  The adjoining building is currently being renovated.  Sir Rainer, ever the ultimate Rizalista, mindful of losses in the past, called attention to the bookstore owner on the ground floor, to ensure that the Dr. José Rizal historical marker is not lost or misplaced during renovation.

Next stop: The Student Prison or Studentenkarzen.  Rizal was so intrigued with the self-governing application of misdemeanor consequences among the students.  He was invited by a fraternity to join their group (the Swabians, yellow caps), whose preoccupation was to duel each other proudly displaying their facial scars. The prison walls and all the spaces were pock-marked with darts, paint, and a veritable maze of medieval grafitti.

We cruised leisurely at all the other Rizal landmarks. The Jesuit Church  has an extraordinary luminous and uncluttered  nave. The Corn Market Madonna stands in front of the Church of the Holy Spirit. Sir Rainer showed me the dividing place where for some time, the Catholics celebrated their masses, while on the other side of the nave, the Protestants held their service.  Rizal noted this religious tolerance within the church edifice.

The Lord Mayor's house  (City Hall) is a stone's throw from the beer gardens that Rizal must have patronized.  At the oldest hotel, (The Ritter-Knights Hotel) Rizal found his initial bearings.

The morning was ripening. Sir Rainer wanted me to double up so we could get on to the Castle ruins.  Rizal was quite taken by this ruined castle.  He took a tour of the ruins and remarked that the tour guide was as dour and as old as the castle walls itself.  Rainer told this private Rizal joke to one of the castle tour guides.  And although my German is unusable, I could guess by intonation, body language and snippets of "Rizal" the subject of their mirth.

 I was not sure what Rainer's plans were.  He looked squarely at me and decided that a (60-going on 80-ager) like me needed a little boost, so he suggested we take the Bergbahn funicular to the castle grounds up in the hill plateau overlooking the town.  Then he assured me that we could leisurely walk down after the castle tour and get ready for a great dish of stuffed pork stomach, sauerkraut and potatoes, served at the famous Red Ox, a Heidelberg popular student eatery.

The University Library



To be continued.

The University of Heidelberg. Rizal was here in 1886

Dr. José Rizal's Legacy, Wilhelmsfeld, Germany.1886 Slideshow

Dr. José Rizal's Legacy, Wilhelmsfeld, Germany.1886 Slideshow: TripAdvisor™ TripWow ★ Dr. José Rizal's Legacy, Wilhelmsfeld, Germany.1886 Slideshow ★ to Wilhelmsfeld, Oakland and Heidelberg. Stunning free travel slideshows on TripAdvisor

Dr. José Rizal's Exhibit, Oakland Asian Cultural Center, CA: Student Notes

Specimen of students' notes upon viewing the Rizal 150th Birthday Anniversary Exhibit.

On Friday July 8, 2011, twenty-one (21) students from a local middle school came to the Oakland Asian Cultural Center for a field trip. Dr. Penelope V. Flores gave the group a tour of the exhibit. Mona Shah Co-director of OACC welcomed the group brought in by Ms. Pauline Fonacier, the school counselor. James Espinas, Rizal Exhibit Curator video-taped and documented the tour. (See his video in forthcoming blogs).

First, Penelope Flores asked them to look closely at the books that Dr Jose Rizal read while he was studying in Spain and abroad. What did they notice?

The answers were varied,  Ten noted that he wrote the book Sucesos de las Islas Fiipinas.  Rizal copied and made page annotations of Antonio Morga's History of the Philippines.  He did this at the British Museum in 1888-1889.  The annotated volume was published in 1891.

Three students noted that Rizal read Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Others noted that Rizal read travel books.  They noted that Rizal also read the biographies of US presidents.
Then I asked them to write down things of interest.:Below are what they wrote:

>Study, Happiness.
>He traveled a lot.
>Cool Joe.
>It doesn't mater what people call you,  but what you answer to.
>Happiness, struggle.
>I like the shirt, its design...Rizal was shot and kill(ed) at age 35.
>Rizal took a ferry from San Francisco to Oakland on Sunday, May 6, 1888 at 8:30 pm.
>Study should be a thing of love and joy.
>Cool Joe,  medical at thirty-fve. Spain killed him.
>Intellegent (sic), smart.
>Noble. He was truthful, loyal and humble..
>Wonderful. He had a good life.
.>Childhood.
>El Filibusterismo.
>Philippines, good food.

Overheard:
>He must be rich. He traveled around the world.

Lastly, the students retraced (imaginary pacing in the assembly room) of José Rizal's travels from San Francisco, Angel Island, to Oakland and his train ride across the US to New York where he boarded a ship to London.

Many students were impressed by the Visual Rizal Travel map.  Some even reproduced the map on their notebooks.

Unique Rizal's 150th Birthday Celebration, Oakland Asian Cultural Center

On Dr. José Rizal’s 150^th Birthday Anniversary

Guest Speaker: Dr. Penélope V. Flores

Oakland Asian Cultural Center

June 18, 2011

Special Guest Mr. Tom Consunji, a Rizal Descendant, Philippine Consul General Marciano Paynor, Jr, Ladies and Gentlemen, friends:

Please enjoy the wonderful Dr. José Rizal Exhibit at this Oakland Asian Cultural Center. It opens today free to the public until August 31^st 2011.

San Francisco Bay Area, California is fortunate because Dr. José Rizal came here on our shores in 1888. His steamboat arrived from the Philippines via Yokohama, Japan. His ship anchored and was processed by Immigration officials on Angel Island. He got off at San Francisco's Pier. He billeted himself at the Palace Hotel on Montgomery Street. (Today, there is a historical marker displayed there.) Then, he took a ferry to the train terminal station, right here in Oakland, purchased an overland transcontinental ticket all the way to New York. From New York, he boarded a steamship and sailed across the Atlantic where he landed in England. (See the large World Map of Dr. Jose Rizal’s Travels in the exhibition hall 50 x 60 inches, mixed media.) He stayed in London from 1889 to 1890 and completed his research at the British Museum Library that produced his Annotated Volume of Antonio Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas.

My participation in honoring Dr. José Rizal’s 150^th birth anniversary is not dictated by patriotism. It is more than that. It is personal.

First, let me ask for a show of hands. How many of you read Rizal’s famous novel NOLI ME TÁNGERE? You read it in high school under duress because it was required reading, right? Suppose I tell you that it was almost kept hidden away because Rizal had no money to have it printed? His allowance from home did not come regularly due to many dismal and unexpected economic turns.

It was 1886. Rizal was editing the final NOLI manuscript in Leipzig, Germany, when an old Filipino pal arrived from Barcelona, Spain. Like Rizal, he was a newly minted physician. Rizal showed this friend the manuscript, regretting that printing will have to wait because he had run out of funds. His friend flipped through the pages. It was a glowing piece of work. He was impressed and enthralled.

He asked for the printing cost. “Three hundred pesetas,” was the reply. His wealthy friend said, “Let me give you the money to print this seminal work.” This friend was Dr. Máximo Viola. He was my grand uncle: my grandmother Juliana Viola’s eldest brother.

One would think that Rizal would find this offer providential. But, sad to say,Honorable Senõr Don Tomas Consunji Lopez Rizal, your great, great, grand uncle José Rizal was a real basket case. Why? His Amór propio was as thick as molasses. His heightened sense of pride and hurtful dignity was as high as Mt. Apo--the highest peak in the Philippines.

No, he was not accepting any monetary gift, most especially if he never asked for it.

But my grand uncle knew Rizal better than Rizal knew himself. He insisted. “Peping,” he smoothed it over, “It’s just a loan. Repay me whenever Paciano’s money arrives.”

So the two friends scouted around for the cheapest printing shop. They found a printing press manned (womanned) by widows and orphans called the Guild School of Typesetters: Berlin Book Printing Press. And the presses went rolling and by March 1887 2000 copies were ready for distribution.

There’s always something fishy whenever the Philippine Department of Education textbook division writes Rizal’s biography.  After the statement that Dr. Viola lent Dr. Rizal money, the next sentence that immediately follows is that Rizal paid it off. It's too obvious. Something else was going on. In modern lingo, it raises a flag.

When Rizal’s allowance arrived, history texts tell us he paid Viola back. That's well and done. Clean. Simple. However, persistent Viola family lore exists. The Viola version was that Maximo invited Rizal to join him on his tour of Europe and so he deftly pushed the money back to Rizal, suggesting it's perfect for the trip. And so it was that for three months (April, May and June, 1887), the friends traveled together in European capitals. They met with Ferdinand Blumentritt in Leitmeritz, Austria.

Come to think of it; how could Rizal, who had been too distraught for not having enough money to print the Noli, now could go traipsing all over the grand cities of Europe staying in big hotels and traveling first class? Virtually, Viola deflected the payment of that loan. He was a great travelling companion and friend. (Read Maximo Viola's book "I Travelled with Dr. Jose Rizal." 1913.)

Dr. Maximo Viola was one among the few Rizal friends who never had any political agenda except his enduring friendship with our national hero. He remained private even during the Philippine revolution. That's why you never heard about him.

Now, let's turn to that contestable 300-peseta loan.

I requested my accountant, to compute the amount of this debt if paid today. Mr. Vicente Marquez, CPA, of 1200 Bayhill Drive, San Bruno, California had been bitten hard by my blogspot on Dr. Jose Rizal's Noli me Tangere story. http://penelopevflores.blogspot.com/

First he wrote, "Since I do not know yet how to convert Philippine pesetas during the Spanish time into modern Philippine peso, I can only give you the future value of that 300 pesetas:

"Three hundred (300) pesetas at 3 per cent compounded annually for 125 years will be equivalent to 12,072 pesetas.

Three hundred (300) pesetas at 5 per cent compounded annually for 125 years will be equivalent to 133,593 pesetas."

A week later, Vic Marquez followed it up. Not only did he calculate the annual compounded interest (at 3% and 5% respectively) of Dr. Rizal's debt to Dr. Maximo Viola regarding the printing cost of his novel. Vic went one step further and computed the monetary value at that period in time. He did this ingeniously by pegging it to the Gold Standard.

He explained, "The Spanish currency was used in the Philippines during the 300 years of Spanish colonization. In 1869, Spain joined the Latin Monetary Union; in 1873 only the gold standard applied. According to this standard, one peseta is equal to 0.290322 grams of gold."

Aha! Now we have a stable and absolute measure.  Let's do the math.

In today's dollar, one gram of gold is equal to US$39.90. If Maximo Viola's peseta is equivalent to .290322 grams of gold, then I think we can express your 12,072 pesetas x .290322 x 39.90 =US$139,840.33.

We chose to use the 5% interest compounded annually for 125 years--for we should always calculate to our advantage-- so his 133,593 pesetas x .290322 x 39.90=US$ 1,547,521.11."

So, I say this evening to our special guest, a Rizal descendant sitting among us in this hall: “The Most Honorable and Distinguished Rizal descendant, Señor Don Tomas Consunji Lopez y Mercado Rizal, with all due respect, I have something for you. Here’s a bill for a million and a half whooping dollar debt you owe the Dr. Maximo Viola descendants represented today by Penelope Flores Villarica y Viola.  (Note: I follow the Spanish naming system of indicating my father's (Villarica) mother's maiden name, Viola.)

I bet that of ALL the celebrations occurring simultaneously all over the world on the 150^th anniversary of Rizal’s birthday, this one in Oakland, CA is the MOST unique and compelling event that will be remembered for another 150 years.

I wish to congratulate Jim Espinas of FACES, Herna Cruz Louie of ACPA, Oakland Asian Cultural Center, and Philippine Consul General Mariano Paynor, Jr. of San Francisco, California for making this happen.

Especially to James, I salute you. You are a treasure. Thanks for organizing this event and curating the exhibit. Thanks for providing the opportunity of reliving the Rizal /Viola connection and sharing it with all of you this evening. THANK YOU.

Dr. José Rizal's Descendants: Filipino Family Levels of Consanguinity

Dr. Penélope V. Flores, University professor, Author. Rizal Blogger

ON this Father's Day Week-end let me offer a toast to Dr. José Rizal's descendants who, together with the whole Filipino nation, and the Filipino diaspora communities all over the world, are celebrating the 150th Birthday anniversary of their famous ancestor.

(See penelopevflores.blogspot.com for my reunion of the Rizal/Viola friendship over the years).

Contemporary Rizal descendants call Rizal Lolo José. But we do know Rizal never had a son who would provide a direct Jose Rizal line who could call him Lolo Much that the descendants could claim is a consanguinity line through Rizal's many married sisters: Saturnina Hidalgo, Narcisa Lopez, Olympia Ubaldo, Lucia Herbosa, Maria Cruz, and Soledad Quintero.

Rizal's only brother Paciano never used Rizal as part of his name. He was never legally married. However, Paciano Mercado had a child by his common law-wife. This offspring and his children's children do have a claim to a dircct Mercado Rizal line of descent. Josefa and Trinidad never married and therefore signed themselves Mercado.

While growing up as a youth and since none of Rizal's siblings were surnamed Rizal, he once entertained the ludicrous notion that he was an illegitimate child. In mirth, he wrote of this funny incident in one of his letters to Ferdinand Blumentritt. The explanation offered is that when José enrolled as a student at the Ateneo de Manila, Paciano demed it wise for him to enroll under the name Rizal, which after all was officially assigned to them during the 1846-1848 Surname Decree issued by then Govenor General Claveria.

Paciano Mercado was closely associated with Father José Burgos, one of the priests executed for complications in the Cavity Mutiny of 1872. Thus, free of the cloud of suspicion associated with Paciano Rizal, the nomenclature José Rizal carried a clean slate: no involvement with the political turmoil of the Indios, not even a trace nor of a remote possibility of being a filibustero. Little did they dream. Little did they know.

As a point of curiosity, I had been searching with futility for an article or publication of when and under what circumstances the Mercado sisters signed their surnames as Narcisa Rizal (letter of 27, Nov. 1883), Maria Rizal (27 November, 1883), Josefa Rizal (27 Nov. 1883), Olympia Rizal (27, Nov. 1883) Trinidad Rizal (27 Nov. 1883). In my volume copy, on pages 136- 139, I put a question mark beside each signature. Other letters were not consistent. Sometimes, these letters from the sisters were signed Mercado, sometimes Rizal.

Furthermore, on page 99, Letters Between Rizal and Family Members: 1876-1896 published by the National Historical Institute (1993), Paciano signed his letter "Paciano Rizal". HUH ??? Everytime I look at it, my jaw drops down to the floor in disbelief. I scratch my head in pure surprise. How did this happen? We need to look closely at the actual letters to verify this. The National Historical Society should publish correct translation copies of the original correspondence to remove such onomastic (naming patterns) questions and doubts about the Mercado-Rizal family name use.


Going back to the line of descent, the beauty of tracing family lines in the Philippines is that blood lines of consanguinity can be accounted for bilaterally (meaning lines of descent are made through the father as well as the mother sides). However, today, if you look at the register of appellidos, out of a total population of 84 + million Filipinos, no one has the certified legal and true baptismal surname of RIZAL. The patronym started and ended with Dr José Rizal.

But notwithstanding this fact, we had been enriched, empowered, and have developed much stronger family ties because of this consanguinity pattern of the Rizal family relationships. We continue to be awed and impressed by the collective achievements of the Rizal descendants who had grown in number geometrically.

Kudos to my Rizal family friends: Patti Laurel, Mari and Victoria Vergara, Tom, Christine and Caya Consunji and Gemma Cruz Araneta. My next objective is to trace more and smoke out the other Rizal relatives.

And so, "Happy Lolo José Day" on this special confluence of Father's Day and Dr. José Rizal's 150th birthday on June 19, 2011.

Rizal/Viola Descendants Replicate 150 year-old Friendship

L to R, Jim Espinas, Victoria Vergara, Margarita Vergara, Penelope V. Flores, Patricia Laurel, Caya Consunji, Christine Consunji, Tom Consunji and Edwin Lozada, Picture taken at Olive Garden Restaurant. San Francisco.  Jim is the Curator of the 150th Rizal Birthday Exhibit at Oakland Asian Cultural Center.  Edwin Lozada is the President of the Philippine American Writers and Artists, Inc

On June 14, 2011, a century old friendship between Dr. José Rizal  of Calamba and Dr. Maximo Viola of Bulacan was reenacted in San Francisco, California.  The occasion was the arrival of Patricia  Laurel from Manila.  She was invited to be the speciai guest  speaker at the  Los Angeles Philippine Consulate's 150th Birthday Celebration of Dr. José Rizal.

Patricia (Patti)  Laurel is the great granddaughter of  Maria  Rizal Cruz, Dr. Rizal's sister.  Patti's sister Margarita  (Mari) Vergara lives in  Hayward. and is a 4th generation Rizal descendant.  Mari's daughter Victoria belongs to the 5th generation of the Rizal line of descent.

Tom Consunji , another Rizal descendant  who lives  in Foster City  is a Rizal descendant  through Rizal's sister Narcisa.  Narcisa married Antonino Lopez.  Their son, Leoncio Lopez is Tom's grandfather.  Tom's wife is Christine.  Their daughter, Caya is a 5th generation Rizal descendant.

Penelope V, Flores's grandmother, Juliana Viola  is Dr. Maximo Viola's younger sister.  Viola and Rizal were friends when both were medical students in Spain.  When Rizal failed to  receive his allowance on time for the printing of the Noli me Tangere manuscript, Dr. Maximo Viola lent his friend the money to have the Noli printed.

When the two friends completed their medical degrees, Rizal and Viola traveled to several cities in Europe together for 3  months.

Another Rizal descendant by way of Maria Rizal is Gemma Cruz Araneta.  In the picture below is the Rizal/Viola connection re-enacted again.

Seated,  L to R, Penelope Flores (Viola descendant by way of Juliana Viola),  Gemma Cruz Araneta (Rizal descendant by way of Maria Rizal).   Standing: David Jara, Patti Laurel (Rizal descendant through Maria Rizal) Mary Jane Inocencio, and Chiara Inocencio. David and Mary Jane are members of the editorial staff of Art in site Magazine, Patti Laurel's project. 

Picture taken at the Manila Hotel, 2008.

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• NON DY:Jose Rizal The Movie with ENGLISH SUBTITLES (dongyanfever.wordpress.com)

Discover Dr. José Rizal's Tagalog Regional Accent: His illustration of a folk tale.

Dr. José Rizal loved to entertain his young nephews and nieces by telling them stories and drawing sketches. For example, he translated from German to Tagalog, some of the folk tales of  the Grimm Brothers (Thumbelina, The Ugly Duckling, The Pine Tree and the Little Match Girl.) He included pen and ink sketches. 

I read all his Tagalog translations of the folk tales including the story of William Tell,  and I was chuckling to myself because I could hear his regional Tagalog dialect as he wrote his translation. 

I discovered to my utter delight that he had a Southern Tagalog “puntó” or regional accent.  I grew up in Mindoro, a Southern Tagalog region and our Tagalog punto is influenced by the Batangas accent. José Rizal, who is from Laguna,  similarly had a regional accent very close to Batangas.  For example, in his translations, he used the verb word “bagá” instead of the Northern Tagalog “ba”. (Magliliparan kaya baga ang mga maya?  Will the birds fly around?  In another example, he makes his statements of affirmation or empathic declaration with the Southern Tagalog word “mandin.” (Hindi mandin ako matanda.  I am not aged.)   He used the comparative verbs  "like" (not parang,  Usok na parang alapaap, while in Southern Tagalog a comparison word is  anaki) Usok na anaki'y alapaap. (Smoke like clouds).

When José Rizal went to Paris in 1886 to train as an eye specialist with Dr. Louis De Wecker, he used to visit with the Pardo de Taveras (Felix and Trinidad, were both physicians).  There he enjoyed the company of sweet and lovely Paz, the  Pardo de Tavera sister (who later became Mrs. Juan Luna.)

In those times, young ladies kept a souvenir book or album where they requested their friends to inscribe small poems, prose dedications or some remarks or sayings.  I recall that I did the same when I was in high school. I have a little notebook (which we call Autograph book) where I ask my friends to write a short dedication. I got one who wrote” Roses are red, violets are blue….”

Paz Pardo de Tavera asked Rizal to write something in her Album. The album pages were almost full, so on the last remaining 8 pages Dr. José Rizal retold a familiar and famous Filipino folk tale of  “The Monkey and the Tortoise”  and illustrated each scene as in a  picture book! 

First of all, it was an extraordinary concept of writing a folk tale in a young girl’s autograph book, instead of writing some sweet and syrupy lines.  Secondly and grandiosely, he rendered all the scenes using pen and ink sketches right on the spot.  Thirdly, with just a few strokes of his pen, the emotive aspect of the characters in the folk tale amazingly came out alive.

Now, as you re-read this Rizal entry in Paz Pardo de Tavera’s Album keep in mind that this story of the trickster monkey and of the resilient turtle  continue to enrich and enlighten many readers.


Here is the plot of the tale of the Turtle and the Monkey, illustrated by Dr. José Rizal.


"The turtle and the monkey found a banana tree floating in the river. It was a fine tree with large green leaves and healthy roots.  They took it ashore and divided it in two.  The monkey, being the stronger one, took the upper portion with the green leaves, while the small turtle was left with the ugly stump with roots. They planted their respective banana plant, but unfortunately, the monkey's leaves withered and died, while the stump with the roots grew into a tall plant and bore some banana fruits. The turtle could not climb the tree for its fruits, so the monkey volunteered to climb the tree  But he devoured all the fruits.  The turtle begged "Give me some too!" but the monkey took no notice of her. The tortoise went to the river and picked some sharp pointed snails and stuck them around the banana plant, and hid herself under a coconut shell. When the monkey went down, the prickly periwinkles tore into his flesh.  The monkey searched and found the turtle.  The monkey said,  " Aha, found you. You must pay for your wickedness, but since I'm very generous I'll leave you to choose your manner of death.  Do you want me to pound you to pieces with a mortar, or shall I throw you into the water?" The turtle cried, "The mortar, I'm so afraid of drowning in the river."  "Ho, indeed, you are afraid of the water. Now, I will drown you," said the monkey and he threw the turtle into the river.  But the turtle's head bobbed out of the water and laughed hard at the monkey.   He had outwitted the clever monkey. Rizal added a Filipino proverb at the end by his signature. It read:

Matalas man dao ang matching, Ay napapagdayaan din.  (No matter how artful a monkey is, he can always be outwitted.)


Signed: Paris, 1885.          Rizal




See Rizal's illustrations of the Philippine Folk Tale below:

I was at Dr. José Rizal's Execution: 30 Dec. 1896. Bagumbayan, Manila, by Señor Don Perro

Dr. José Rizal's execution by firing squad, Bagumbayan Field, Manila, 30 December, 1896. 

I was at Dr. José Rizal’s Execution, Bagumbayan, Manila, 30 December 1896.

Hola! Me llamo Perro.

Call me Señor Don Perro.  Yes, I’m a dog.

Take a look at the official photo of Dr. José Rizal’s execution on 30 December 1896.  Zero in between the two white poles in the foreground.  Do you see me?  I’m the dog sitting right in front of a government official wearing white.

I’m the mascot of the firing squad commanded by my Master, Artillery Commander Señor Manuel Gomez Escalante.  Under his command were the following: two companies from the 7^th Battalion of Expeditionary Forces, one company from the 8^th Hunters Battalion, a company from the 70^th Line Regiment (composed of native soldiers)  and another from the Battalion of Volunteers.  All in all, there were more than 400 men who formed the military escort (because rumors were rife of revolutionarios swooping down to rescue the prisoner.) The government soldiers formed a three-sided square around Bagumbayan Field, as you can see from the photograph.

At six thirty in the morning of 30 December, the city musicians and the army drum and bugle corps sounded the start of Dr. José Rizal's march from Fort Santiago to Bagumbayan.  Elbows tied behind him, he was accompanied by priests, and there followed a lengthy procession of solemn church ecclesiastics, high government dignitaries, officers of the cavalry and almost the entire Spanish population of Manila and suburbs. At the execution site, a viewing entablado or stage was erected for the Governor General and high government and church officials. The roof tops of chaises or calesas  served as a makeshift entablado used by the friars.  

Look at the picture again.  Do you see what appear to be white clouds in the background?  Those are the white billowing soutanas of the  Agustinian, Dominican, Franciscan, and Recoleto friars standing atop the calesa tops cheering on.

The atmosphere was surreal.  On one hand, the natives were cowed, melancholy, gazing through hopeless eyes, solemn and hushed.  On the other hand, the Spaniards were in an anticipating mood, dressed in fancy clothes and in attendance of an elaborate espectaculo or an auto da fé.

In Spain, the Spanish Inquisition established auto da fé as a public ceremony during which the sentences upon those heretics brought before a Spanish Inquisition tribunal were executed.  The heretics are burned on a stake in an auto da fé.  But since 1835, burning at the stake was banned.

As expected in an auto da fé  men and women were required by the Archbishops of the Inquisition to attend under pain of severe punishments and penalties.  Similarly, this condition had also been preached by the Archbishop of Manila, hence the presence of many Spaniards in holiday garbs and ready for an execution of  Rizal, the prisoner, as if attending an auto da fé.

I heard my master give orders for the firing squad formation.  Eight pre-selected marksmen from the 70^th Line Regiment were to be in the first row.  The second line would be eight soldiers:  four from the 7^th Battalion and four from the 8th Hunters Battalion.  They had their guns trained on the first row of native soldiers, in case they failed to execute their orders.

Drum roll.

My master approached the prisoner.  I trotted by my master’s heels and heard him tell Rizal that he will soon give the orders to shoot.  Rizal asked not to be blindfolded.  My master agreed.  "Not necessary," he explained. 

Rizal asked if he could face the firing squad.  My master answered, “That’s not possible, I have orders to shoot you in the back.” 

"In that case then,"  Rizal said  “spare my head.”  My master paused, and I whimpered,  “Master, say yes.”    “Yes,” he agreed. 

Rizal informed my master that he’d point with his elbow and hitch his shoulder to indicate where the soldiers should aim to hit his heart.

"Thanks," my master said and asked, “Do you prefer to kneel?”

Rizal said, “No, I'll stand.”

It was 7:02 am.

A muffled drum roll was sounded.

A  minute later I heard my master give the order:  MARK.  Another second later:  FIRE! The impact of eight bullets found their mark.  Rizal fell  down face upwards.

My heart raced. I ran to Dr. Rizal.  For a minute I thought the body seemed to be fixed on the spot.  Then I saw the body crumple, as in a slow motion, to the ground.  I circled his body.  It was lying in blood.  My master approached and gave  him the final honors--the firing at close range with a pistol-- the shot of grace, which ended his life.  In proper protocol as well as in fact, Rizal did not die a traitor’s death by a firing squad but by a tiro al gracia.

I continued circling round and round the lifeless body as I whined uncontrollably; “You shot an innocent man,”  I wailed. 

My master heard me whimper and whine loudly and soothed my feelings by pulling the handkerchief from Rizal’s pocket and covered the dead man's face. Crimson satin soon marked the whiteness of the hankie’s edges and the taint of the blue sky was mirrored in the pool of blood.  Red, White, Blue.  An emblematic symbol of the tricolor flag.

The music played the national Cadiz March and the Spaniards cried out “Viva España!"  Applause from the Spanish crowd was heard for it was a social event of the day with breakfasting parties on the Intramuros walls.

It was 7:03 am.  The golden sliver of dawn was fingering Manila Bay's skies and touched Bagumbayan Field. I stood beside the lifeless body of the martyred hero as the soldiers filed out of the killing field.  As maskot of the firing squad, this was what I was trained to do--to sit on guard.

Then, head up, I gave out a sharp bark followed by long and sustained howl that pierced the morning mist. It gave a shiver to the Filipino crowd that augured something sinister.  My continued high piercing ululating howl proclaimed the beginning of the end of Spanish colonial rule in the islands.

Nota bene.

1. Have you often wondered how Rizal could fall with his face upward? When he indicated the side where to shoot him, the body action of involuntarily raising of the right shoulder because of the twisting of his elbow to point at the heart (it was the hand which pointed, according to Austin Craig: p 248) ensured that his body would fall face up when he was shot, (Wenceslao Emilio Retana y Gamboa.  (1905) . Vida y escrito del Dr. José Rizal, in Elizabeth Medina's "Rizal According to Retana" 1997.  

2. The  Artillery Commander Manuel Gomez Escalante was a person who was, according Spaniards at that time,  called a Filipino:  meaning a Spaniard of Spanish heritage, born in the Philippines.  His father, the noted trial lawyer, Señor Juan Gomez was also a Filipino,  also born in the Philippines of Spanish parents from the Iberian peninsula (Medina, p 219).

3.The eight soldiers who formed the firing squad  first row formation were natives  (Indios) or what we now call Filipinos.

4.  Strange as it may sound, Rizal was shot by Filipinos!