RIZAL

DR. JOS PROTASIO RIZAL MERCADO Y ALONSO REALONDA

(List of Interesting Facts and Controversies about Dr. Jos Rizal)

 INTRODUCTION

Philippine history is mostly based on the acquired artifacts, writings, and

reliable testimonies explaining the gathered facts. These testimonies which can
contains both facts and speculations created spaces on the story thus, questions,
doubts, and conspiracy theories had arisen.

This paperwork tackled the simple facts and the top 3 issues about Dr. Jose
Rizal that can give us a reflection afterwards on what RIZAL subject can do to a
simple Filipino individual.

I. Dr. Jos Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda

Rizal is one of the few in the world recognized as a Renaissance man. A

renaissance man is a person who has many talents or a broad range of knowledge
and interests. Rizal was an educator, a sculptor, an anthropologist, a painter, a
novelist, an ophthalmologist, a sociologist, an ethnologist, an engineer, an
economist, a historian, farmer, architect, cartographer, a playwright, and a martial
artist, among many other things.

Mi Ultimo Adios, one of Rizals most famous and last works, is the most
translated Philippine poem. Originally written in Spanish, it has been translated into
Filipino, Chinese, German, Italian, Greek, Hawaiian, Korean, Latin, Portuguese, Thai,
Russian, and 27 other languages.

He was the most famous Filipino hero all around the world.

II. The Origin of His Full Name and His Nickname Pepe
 Names are not only used to label someone from other individuals. It also
describe and honor our origin and our personality.
The story of how Francisco Mercado modified his familys surname from
Mercado to Rizal, and how Rizals birth certificate is edited from Jos Rizal
Mercado y Realonda to Jos Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda is not
tackled in this part as it is already told in the book of Rizal.

This part only focused on the etymology of his name.

Dr. Jos Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda is the seventh child of
Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado y Alejandra II (1818-1898) and Teodora Morales
Alonso Realonda y Quintos (1827-1911).

He was christened Jos Protasio, in honor of two saints Saint Joseph and
Saint Protase.

Doa Teodora was a devout follower of Saint Joseph and it was their tradition
to honor him every 19th day of the month. Thus, gave his name Jos to a son of
hers who was born on the 19th.

Protasio came from Saint Protase (or San Protasio Martir, hijo del San Vidal
y Santa Valeria), the patron saint for June 19 in Roman Catholic calendar, and the
son of Saint Vitalis and Saint Valeria of Milan. He and his twin brother, Saint
Gervase are venerated as Christian martyrs of the 2nd century, and the patron
saints of Milan and of haymakers. San Protasio was the first martyr of Milan whom
beheaded for professing his Christian faith.

In reading different historical articles we can notice the difference in the

spelling of Dr. Jos Rizals second name. Some books, including those writers in the
National Historical Commission of the Philippines used Protacio than Protasio. On
my personal view, this difference might be brought by the direct translation of
Italian names into Spanish and English which depends upon the pronunciation and
its accompanied spelling. Like in his name Jos, where a diacritic signifies that it is
a Spanish name compared to Jose which is a Filipino name. But some historians
confirmed that the real spelling is Protasio as seen in Rizals extant diplomas from
Ateneo de Manila.

Aside from the origin of his full name, it is good to know he got his nickname.

Writer Felice Prudente Santa Marias book, In Excelsis explained why Rizal
was called Pepe. According to her, Saint Joseph was the putative (commonly
accepted) father of Jesus Christ. In Latin, San Joss name is always followed by the
letters P.P for pater putativus. In Spanish, the letter P is pronounced peh
giving rise to the nickname Pepe for Jos.

Reference:
New World Encyclopedia. (2011, October 12). Jose Rizal.
Ferdinand S. Gregorio. Tidbits on a Boy Named Pepe. National Historical Commission
of the
Philippines. (2012, September 19).
Catholic Online. Retrieved from: http://www.catholic.org/saints

III. Top Three (3) Issues about Dr. Jose Rizal

The listed below is the top 3 issues about Dr. Jose Rizal as an individual, as a
hero, and as a recognized Philippine national hero.

1. His Marriage and Son in Josephine Bracken; and

2. The Origin of the Retraction Story

Josephine Bracken remains to be a mysterious woman to Rizal and into his

biographers, like Austin Craig. She is an ordinary woman from a somewhat obscure
background, for the first eighteen years of her life there was nothing to suggest that
before her 21st birthday Josephine Bracken would have historic distinction thrust
upon her.

Below are the few facts about Josephine Bracken and his relationship with Rizal
based on the existing letters and statements of other persons, which besides facts
also include speculations.

Josephine Bracken was born in August 9, 1876 as the youngest of five children of
the Irish couple, James Bracken and his wife Elizabeth in Hong Kong. This show that
Josephine was really an Irish. His father was a native of Co. Offaly - formerly King's
County - in Ireland who joined the 28 th Infantry Regiment (the 28th Regiment of Foot)
of the British Army in 1858 which led their family to travel in different countries
depending on hs fathers posting. A month after Josephines birth, her mother died.
Subsequently, the baby Josephine was given for fostering to her godparents -
George Taufer, believed to have been of German-American origins and his wife,
Leopoldine Marie Magedo, a Macao-Portuguese. Later, Josephine will not see
anymore her natural father as well as her sibling.

Around 1860, her foster mother died and about a year later Taufer remarried. His
second wife died in 1890 and he remarried again in late 1891. The then 15-year-old
Josephine and her new stepmother did not get along and as a result she left home
for a few months staying at the Canossian Convent. During this period Taufer
became dissatisfied with the treatment he was receiving from his latest wife. He
pleaded Josephine to return and shortly after she did, her stepmother banished from
their home and into their lives. Afterwards Taufer gets very dependent from
Josephine, because he falls in with mutual cataract.

Sometime around 1893 Taufer began to lose his sight. A clinic stay in Japan does
not bring any recovery. Nevertheless, they still remind on Jose Rizal, which has been
a successful ophthalmologist in Hong Kong some years ago thus, Josephine
decides to visit Rizal for an ocular-medical consultation in the Philippines.
 In February, 1895, Mr. Taufer appears with his foster-daughter in Dapitan where
Rizal operates his eyes. The operation was successful but it improves his powers of
vision only minimally.

In those times, Rizal was captivated by Josephine. What caused Rizal to fall for
Josephine has been the subject of much speculation.

While there had been a few other women in his past, Josephine alone was the
one he sought to marry. However as the friars had prevented the introduction of
civil marriage to the Philippines, Rizal was obliged to apply to the Church for
permission; but as this would only be granted if he retracted his criticism of the
Church, the couple decided instead to live as common-law partners.

This part of the story is where the retraction issue started. But after analyzing
the six major documents of Rizal, Ricardo Pascual concluded that the retraction
document, said to have been discovered in 1935, was not in Rizal's handwriting.
Senator Rafael Palma, a former President of the University of the Philippines and a
prominent Mason, argued that a retraction is not in keeping with Rizal's character
and mature beliefs. He called the retraction story a "pious fraud."

Josephines life at Talisay involved domestic work and assisting Rizal, whom she
referred to as "Joe", in his medical work and with the school he had established. In a
letter to his family (he had eight sisters and an older brother) he wrote What she
does for me, how she obeys me and attends to me, would not have been done to
me by a Filipina. In an earlier letter informing them of the relationship, he
described her as more or less an orphan alone in the world and a person whom I
esteem and greatly appreciate and would not wish to see exposed and abandoned.
He requested his mother to extend hospitality and treat her as a daughter. On those
occasions when Josephine visited his family in Manila, some treated her courteously.
However others were less accommodating for a number of reasons: - they felt she
was not a suitable partner for Rizal; they were concerned at the scandal of their
unmarried state; and, most importantly, they were suspicious that she was spying
on behalf of the friars.

Around early March of 1896, in an event of great sadness for the couple,
Josephine gave birth prematurely to a stillborn baby. (Some reports date the event
to late 1895; and/or that the baby was born alive but survived only a short time;
and also that it was a boy.) The cause for miscarriage is unclear and an object of
speculations. Rizal himself remains rather monosyllabic in his letter from March,
1886 addressed to his mother and informs only about the incident.

Nowadays, the grave of the son - who should be called Francisco (also Peter) - is
unknown. Rizal, who otherwise registered everything so meticulously, did not
record it to the posterity. Some authors assume Rizal would have buried his son in
his garden bower, his preferential workplace.

3. Dr. Jos Rizal as the Philippines National Hero

Based on the Selection and Proclamation of National Heroes and Laws

Honoring Filipino Historical Figures posted last May 18, 2015 by the National
Commission for Culture and Arts, No law, executive order or proclamation has been
enacted or issued officially proclaiming any Filipino historical figure as a national
hero. There were only laws enacted and proclamations issued honoring the known
Filipino heroes for their significant roles in the process of nation building and
contributions to history.

Thus, even Dr. Jos Rizal who is taught in school as the Philippine National
Hero, has never actually been conferred this title. The position he now holds in
Philippine history is a tribute to the continued veneration or acclamation of the
people in recognition of his contribution to the significant social transformations that
took place in our country.
 The known declaration made by Governor William Howard Taft in 1901 was
only an Act. An "act" is the full text of some legislative writing, which lays out the
entirety of what the legislature has voted on and agreed to -- it will include all of the
necessary statutory language that is to be adopted, changed, or repealed, but will
also often include language indicating the origin of the bill that was passed as well
as any key findings upon which the legislature based their proposal, discussion,
and/or decision on. It is not a statute or a law which is codified and approved by
the legislative body as suggested by the executive body.

Despite the lack of any official declaration explicitly proclaiming Rizal as one
of the national heroes, he remains admired and revered for his roles in Philippine
history.

Heroes, according to historians, should not be legislated. Their appreciation

should be better left to academics. Acclamation for heroes, they felt, would be
recognition enough.

IV. My Personal View

Philippine History, including Rizal is a subject that lives within our blood that
fostered our mind and guided our path. Like the popular quotation says, history
repeats itself we must remind ourselves on how our country endured from foreign
oppression, betrayal of our citizen, and crab mentality, and make a difference from
the lessons of the past.

Dr. Jose Rizal is a symbol of DISCERNMENT which every Filipino must gain in
order to keep and hold the long-time enjoyed freedom and life. Since in recent time,
not all facts are true, and not all true are truth, discernment is a must for the future.
We must maintain the knowledge of what is good from bad, than what we have
thought of what is right from wrong.

The future will need a modern Dr. Jose Rizal and it will start in each of us. Not
the level of intelligence but in the level of awareness.