CHAPTER 2
Agustin Chinco also had a Chinese godfather and his parents
JOSE RIZAL’S GENEALOGY
A Name Destined to Be Legend
On June 28, 1848 were married Mr. Francisco Mercado, age 30
years, 2 months, and Miss Teodora Alonso, age 20 years, 7
months.
This chapter traces the origin and history of the name of the
martyr-national hero of the Philippines, Jose Protacio
Realonda Alonso Mercado Rizal, known to be “a child of a
good family.”.He was born on June 19, 1861, between eleven
and twelve in the evening, a few days before the full moon in
Calamba, on the southwest shore of the picturesque Laguna
de Bay, some forty miles south of Manila.
Rizal’s paternal ancestor, Lam-co, was a native of the
Chinchew district in China, where the Jesuits and the
Dominicans had missions, so Lam-co perhaps knew something
about Christianity before leaving China. He was baptized in the
Parian church of San Gabriel on a Sunday in June 1697.
Lam-co’s age was given in the record as 35 years, and the
names of his parents were given as Siang-co and Zun-nio.The
second syllables of these names are titles of a little more
respect than the ordinary Mr. and Mrs. They are something
like the Spanish titles Don and Doña.
The Chinese Ancestry of Rizal
Soon after Lam-co came to Manila, he became friends with
two well-known Dominicans, a friendship that changed his
career and materially affected the fortunes of his descendants.
These powerful friends were the learned Friar Francisco
Marquez, author of a Chinese-grammar, and Friar Juna
Caballero, a former missionary in China. Through them Lam-co
was able to settle in Biñan on the Dominican estate named
after St. Isidore the Laborer.
Domingo Lam-co was married to Inez de la Rosa, who was half
his age. They were married in the Parian church by the same
priest who, over thirty years before, had baptized Lam-co. Inez
de la Rosa’s father was Agustin Chinco, also of Chinchew.
were Chin-co and Zun-nio. He was married to Jacinta Rafaela,
a Chinese mestiza of the Parian, immediately after his
baptism.
The Mercado Clan
Rizal was the son of a prosperous landowner, sugar and rice
planter, of Chinese-Filipino descent Francisco Mercado y
Chinco who apparently owed his surname to the Chinese
custom of looking for names with appropriate meanings.
Mercado was used for trader. Francisco Mercado was born in
Biñan, and lived to be eighty years old, the youngest in a
family of thirteen siblings in the following order: Petrona,
Gabino, Potenciana, Leoncio, Tomasa, Casimiro, Basilisa.
Gabriel, Fausta, Julian, Cornelio, Gregorio, and Francisco.
The parents of these thirteen siblings were Captain Juan
Mercado, who had been the gobernadorcillo or mayor of
Biñan, and Cirila Alejandra, daughter of Maria Guiño. Juan
Mercado was the older of the two brothers---Juan and
Clemente---sons of Francisco Mercado and Bernarda Monicha.
Jose Rizal’s father was named Francisco in memory of his
grandfather.
Jose Rizal’s father was a well-educated farmer who studied
Latin and philosophy at the Colegio de San Jose in Manila.
He was born on April 18, 1818. Early in his adult life, he moved
to Calamba and became a tenant farmer. He attained a degree
of wealth , established a fine library, and cultivated friends
among the friars and Spanish government officials.
The Alfonso Clan
Teodora Alonso, mother of Jose Rizal, was the second
daughter of Brigida de Quintos (Narcisa, Teodora, Gregorio,
Manuel, and Jose), who was the daughter of Manuel de
Quintos of an affluent family in Pangasinan and of Regina
Ursua of the Ursua family.
The siblings of Brigida de Quintos were Joaquina, Jose Soler,
and Maria Victoria.Regina Ursua was the daughter of Eugenio
and Benigna Ursua. Her brothers were Alejandro, Jose, Benito,
and Pio. Teodora Alonso was one of the most highly educated
women in the Philippines at that time.
She was born on November 14, 1827 and died on August 16,
1911 at the advanced age of 84. As a student of Colegio de
Santa Rosa, she had a business and literary sense far ahead of
her time.
She was a gifted woman with insights into literature, art,
music and other forms of Filipino culture. She was a poet and
wrote in the Tagalog language. She urged her son to read and
write in Tagalog and impressed upon him the importance of
Philippine culture and history. Jose’s earliest poems were
written with the help of his mother and his career as a novelist
was die to her literary influences.
He also inherited some of his science ability from his mother.
Teodora Alonso was a fine mathematician, gourmet cook,
interior decorator, and collector of fine books. She was not
only Rizal’s mother but a national treasure.
The Destined Name
History seldom accounts for the origin of the name Jose. For
one reason or another, there was no confirmation as to where
it originated. Although some would say Jose was named after
St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus in keeping with the
Catholic tradition then of naming a child after a saint, but it
could be a mere speculation.
From Jose Rizal’s maternal side, there were members of the
clan named Jose; one of the brothers of Teodora was Jose, one
of the brothers of Brigida de Quintos (mother of Teodora
Alonso and grandmother of Jose Rizal) was Jose Soler, and one
of the brothers of Regina Ursua (Teodora Alonso’s
grandmother and Jose Rizal’s great-grandmother) was also
named Jose.
The Royal Decree of 1849: The Claveria List
A new family name was adopted in 1850 by authority of the
Royal Decree of 1849, upon the order of Governor Narciso
Claveria, which sought to remedy the confusion resulting from
many unrelated Filipinos, having the same surname and a still
greater number having no last name at all. It was through the
effort of Narciso Claveria y Zaldua (Governor General of the
Philippines from July 16, 1844 to December 26, 1849) that the
royal decree on the distribution and implementation of
surnames to the natives of the Philippines was issued on
November 21, 1849. (Decree of 21 November 1849).
Governor Claveria brought Spanish names to the Philippines
and the natives were given either the privilege to choose or
their names were simply awarded to them. The list of
produced and approved family names can be referred from
the “Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos.”Family names played
a significant role under the Spanish system. They were used in
organizing the political system of the country in terms of
cedula or community tax, population distribution, and
monitoring the population for government records and
correspondence.
Claveria’s contribution to the development of Philippine
genealogy was necessary for our identity, eventually ushering
in maturity to the civil society, be they of the middle class or of
lower economic status or educational attainment. A copy of
the printed catalogue of surnames, previously prepared for
this purpose, shall be remitted to all the heads of provinces of
these islands. The name Rizal, however, was taken not from
the list provided by the government, but it seems to have
been chosen, because of its appropriateness.
Rizal, a shortened form of the Spanish word for “second
crop,” seemed suited to a family of farmers who were
making a second start in a new home. The name Rizal
originated from the word Ricial, which literally means rice field.
The spelling was allegedly changed by Francisco from “Ricial”
to “Rizal.”
Francisco Rizal soon found that in spite of his legal authority,
the new name was making confusion in business affairs, so he
compromised on “Rizal-Mercado.”His mother-in-law, who
lived in the neighborhood, at the same time, adopted the
name Realonda, and her children (including Teodora) followed
her example. Hence when Jose Protacio Rizal was baptized by
Fr. Rufino Collantes, the record showed his parents as
Francisco Rizal Mercado and Teodora Realonda Alonso.
The Siblings
Jose was the seventh of eleven children and the younger of
two boys. Don Francisco and his wife were a prolific pair.
Saturnina (1850-1913) – was the oldest of the Rizal children,
married to Manuel Hidalgo from Tanawan, Batangas. Manuel
and Saturnina had five children.
She published Pascual H. Poblete’s Tagalog translation of the
Noli Me Tangere.
Paciano (1851-1930) – lived to be 79 years old and was the
oldest boy in the family. He was ten years older than Jose and
more of a second father than an elder brother, especially
when Don Francisco, for all effects and purposes, left the
management of the family lands in his hands. He joined the
revolutionary army and rose to the rank of Major General.
According to his daughter Emiliana and grandchildren Eugenia
and Francisco Lopez, He learned English through self-study
and his favorite periodical was the Philippines Free Press.
Narcisa (1852-1939) – married Antonio Lopez, a
schoolmaster from Morong and a nephew of Fr. Leoncio Lopez.
Fr. Leoncio Lopez succeeded Fr. Rufino Collantes, the priest
who baptized Jose Rizal. She was also known as Doña Sisa. It is
said that Sisa could recite from memory all the poems of Jose
Rizal.
Olympia (1855-1887) – married Silvestre Ubaldo, a telegraph
operator from Manila. Following her husband, she moved
from one station to another, like Albay, Bulacan, and Manila.
Lucia (1857-1919) – married Mariano Herbosa of Calamba, a
farmer and a nephew of Fr. Pedro Casañas. Fr. Pedro Casañas
had stood as godfather to Jose’s baptism. Mariano died of
cholera in 1889 and was denied a Christian burial, allegedly
because he was a brother-in-law of Jose Rizal.
Maria (1859-1954) – married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Biñan,
Laguna. She was the sixth child in the family. It was to her
whom Jose talked about wanting to marry Josephine Bracken
when the majority of the Rizal family was apparently not
amenable to the idea. Jose had also brought up to Maria his
plan of establishing a Filipino colony in North British Borneo.
Jose Protacio "Pepe" Mercado Rizal (1861-1896) – was the
second son and seventh child. He is our national hero, whose
writings inspired the Filipino movement for freedom from
Spanish rule.
Concepcion Rizal, also called ‘Concha’ by her siblings
(1862-1865) - was the eight child of the Rizal family. She died
at the age of three. Of his sisters, it is said that Pepe loved
most the little Concha who was a year younger than him.
When Concha died of sickness in 1865, Jose mournfully wept
at losing her. He later wrote in his memoir, “When I was four
years old, I lost my little sister Concha, and then for the first
time I shed tears caused by love and grief.”
Josefa Rizal, or Panggoy (1865-1945) - was the ninth child in
the family who died a spinster. In Jose Rizal's letter to his sister,
Jose praised her for nearly mastering the English language.
She did not marry.
Trinidad Rizal, or ‘Trining’ (1868-1951) - was the tenth child
and the custodian of Rizal’s last and greatest poem, "Mi
Ultimo Adios”.She also did not marry.
Soledad (1870-1929) – was the youngest of the Rizal children.
She married Pantaleon Quintero of Calamba. She studied at La
Concordia College where she and Leonor Rivera were
classmates.