Rizal the OFW

DID you know that Dr. Jose P. Rizal, the Philippine National Hero, was the first Filipino to enter the United States under a false name? When he arrived in San Francisco on May 1, 1888, he carried a passport showing his name to be "Jose Protacio Rizal." The problem is this wasn't his real name.

He was born the son of Francisco Rizal Mercado and Teodora Realonda Alonzo. His birth certificate showed his name as "Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonzo Realonda." In his early years, when he attended grade school, he went by his real name, Jose Alonzo Mercado. (Imagine a Mercado province or a Knights of Mercado).

Unfortunately, when young Jose applied to attend college in Manila under his real name, his application was rejected because he was related to Paciano Mercado, his brother, who was a known activist and an associate of Fr. Jose Burgos, the martyred priest.

Following Paciano's advice, Jose changed his name to the first three names on his birth certificate, dropping his parents' surnames.

(After his execution in 1896, Jose's parents and siblings all legally changed their surnames to Rizal to honor his memory.)

At the time of his birth, Rizal's father was a rice planter, renting a large parcel of land from the Dominican friars in their hometown of Calamba, in the province of Laguna. The Dominicans charged exorbitant rents from their Calamba tenants and did not give receipts for the sums they collected so they would pay fewer taxes. (The religious orders, which owned vast amounts of lands, were not exempt from paying taxes).

When Rizal's father and the other Calamba tenants reported this tax evasion scheme to the civil authorities, the Dominicans retaliated by seeking their eviction and their replacement with non-Calamba tenants.

Rizal's father filed a lawsuit against the Dominicans to stop their eviction but his suit failed. One of the reasons Rizal was sent to Spain by his family was to file suit in the Supreme Court in Spain to overturn the Philippine court's decision on his family's eviction.

After Rizal completed his medical studies in Europe and obtained his diplomate in ophthalmology, he went to Hong Kong in 1891 to set up what in a short time, became a thriving and lucrative practice.

As soon as he was settled, Rizal sent for his family to join him in Hong Kong. On Dec. 6, 1891, Rizal's father and brother Paciano and brother-in-law Silvestre Ubaldo arrived. Three weeks later, Rizal's beloved mother and his sisters -- Lucia, Josefa and Trinidad -- also joined him in Hong Kong.

In Jose Baron Fernandez's book, "Jose Rizal, Filipino Doctor and Patriot," as translated from Spanish by Dr. Lilia Hidalgo Laurel, this period for Rizal is described as "very happy."

"The overall situations was felicitous and the prospects bright. They were all together; they enjoyed liberty; Jose earned good money, and Paciano found a little house for them with a panoramic view of the bay… The Rizal family lived in "Rednaxala Terrace" from which, according to Jose, his father contemplated the sea and watched the boats."

While on a short Christmas vacation to Singapore in December of 1891, Rizal met William and Ada Pryer on the S.S. Melbourne ship. After learning that Pryer had just been appointed manager of British North Borneo, Rizal proposed to set up a Filipino settlement in North Borneo, composed of the Calamba tenants who had been evicted from their lands by the Dominicans.

Before Rizal had set up his practice in Hong Kong, the Supreme Court of Madrid in 1891 rendered its final decision denying Rizal's petition to stop the eviction of the Rizal family and other Calamba tenants by the Dominicans. Shortly after the final decision, according to Rizal's sister, Narcisa, "their townmates had been driven out and deprived of their lands, homes and harvest of rice, sugar, etc. -- 300 families as of that date. Some lived under the shade of trees, and those who lived in towns took to the streets for it was prohibited to give lodging to the evicted."

The hardship of his family and townmates weighed heavily on Rizal's mind which is what prompted him to make the proposal to Pryer. In March of 1892, Rizal visited Sandakan, North Borneo and negotiated an agreement with Pryer whereby Rizal would be given 5,000 acres without payment for three years, with the British company undertaking the construction of buildings and the planting of orchards. After three years, Rizal was to pay three pesos per acre, which would not be a problem as Rizal's medical practice was successful.

But how could he bring the 300 Calamba families to Borneo? In April of 1892, Rizal decided to employ the direct approach and to personally ask the Spanish Governor General in Manila, Eulogio Despujol, for permission to allow the Calamba families to leave for Borneo.

On June 26, 1892, Rizal arrived in Manila with his sister, Lucia. They registered at the Hotel del Oriente, the most modern hotel at the time. Later in the afternoon, Rizal went to Malacañang to meet Despujol. Ten days of discussions followed during which Rizal presented his proposals and answered Despujol's questions.

In their last discussion on July 6, 1892, Despujol informed Rizal that he was under arrest for sedition and he was then incarcerated in Fort Santiago. On July 14, Despujol deported Rizal to Dapitan in far-off Zamboanga in the southern island of Mindanao.

Rizal was to spend four years of exile in Dapitan. While in Dapitan, Rizal continued to buy the equivalent of lotto tickets, tickets to the national lottery in Spain. He had been hooked to buying Lotto tickets while a student in Spain and the habit continued even while in exile in Dapitan. Surprisingly, it was while in Dapitan that Rizal won lotto money, which he used to buy land in Dapitan.

Rizal could have stayed in Hong Kong and enjoyed a thriving medical practice but his love and affection for the people of his hometown was such that he was willing to sacrifice his life and liberty for them by returning to Manila in 1892 at great personal risk.

Before he left Hong Kong in 1892, he wrote a letter addressed to his parents and siblings. He placed the letter in a sealed envelope which he directed to be opened only upon his death.

"The love which I have always borne for you is what impels me to take this step, which whether or not it is wise, only the future can tell. The success of an act is judged according to its consequences. Whether this step ends up favorably or unfavorably, it shall be said that it was dictated by my sense of duty, and if I perish in fulfilling it, it does not matter…If my fate is adverse, then let it be known by all that I shall die happy in the thought that with my death, I have gained for them the end of all sorrows. Go back to our country and may you be happy in her bosom. Up to the last minute of his life, I shall think of you and shall wish you all happiness."

This was the thought in Rizal's mind in the early morning of Dec. 30, 1896 when he was executed by a Spanish firing squad in Bagumbayan Field in Luneta. His execution sparked the formation of the Philippine nation.

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