11 Evils of Spain During the times of Rizal, the sinister shadows of Spain’s decadence darkened Philippine skies. The Filipino people agonized beneath the yoke of Spanish misrule, for they were unfortunate victims of, the evils of an unjust, bigoted, and deteriorating colonial power. among these evils were as follows: 1. Instability of colonial administration 2. corrupt officialdom 3. no Philippine representation in the Spanish Cortes 4. human rights denied to Filipinos 5. no equality before the law 6. maladministration of justice 7. racial discrimination 8. frailocracy 9. forced labor 10. haciendas owned by the friars 11. the Guardia Civil The Birth of a Hero. Near midnight of Wednesday, June 19, 1861, when the Philippines was in deep slumber, a frail baby-boy was born to the Rizal family in Calamba, Laguna. It was a moonlit night, being "a few days before the full of the moon." The delivery was exceedingly difficult, and the mother almost died. Her seemingly miraculous survival was attributed to Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage. Years later Jose Rizal recorded in his boyhood memoirs: "It was a Wednesday, and my arrival in this valley of tears would have cost my mother her life had she not vowed to the Virgin of Antipolo that she would take me on a pilgrimage to that shrine" The baby boy was baptized by Rev. Rufino Collantes in the Catholic church of Calamba on June 22, 1861, three days after his birth. His godfather was Rev. Pedro Casañas. He was named "Jose" by his pious mother, in honor of St. Joseph. It was customary for Catholic parents to name their children after the saints. The full name of the baby boy, who was destined to become the greatest genius and hero of the Philippines, was Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda. Parents. Jose was the seventh of the eleven children of Francisco Mercado Rizal and Teodora Alonso Realonda. Both father and mother were model Filipino parents -- devoutly religious, educated, industrious, affectionate but strict, hospitable and civic-spirited. The hero's father, Francisco (1818-1898), was born in Biñan, Laguna, on May 11, 1818 and died in Manila on January 8, 1898, at the age of 80. He was an educated farmer having studied Latin and Philosophy at the College of San Jose in Manila. In early manhood, after his mother's death, he moved to Calamba and became a tenant-farmer of the Dominican estate. He married a college-bred Manileña, Teodora Alonso Realonda, on June 28, 1848. Dr. Rizal, his greatest child, affectionately called him "a model of fathers." He was a quiet serious, frugal man, taller than the average Filipino, with wide shoulders, brown complexion, prominent forehead, large dark eyes, large ears, and firm jaws. The hero's mother, Teodora (1826-1911), was born in Manila on November 8, 1826 and died in Manila on August 16, 1911, at the age of 85. A graduate of Santa Rosa College, she was a talented woman with high culture, business ability, and literary gift. Dr. Rizal, loving her as much as his father, said of her: "My mother is more than a woman of ordinary culture; she knows literature and speaks Spanish better than I ... She is a mathematician and has read many books." Aside from helping her husband in farming and business, she looked after the education and moral training of her numerous children. The Rizal Children. God blessed the marriage of Francisco Mercado Rizal and Teodora Alonso Realonda with eleven children -- two boys and nine girls. These children were as follows: 1. Saturnina (1850-1913). She was the oldest of the Rizal children. She married Manuel T. Hidalgo of Tanawan, Batangas. 2. Paciano (1851-1930). He was the older brother of Dr. Rizal. After his younger brother's execution, he joined the revolution and became a general. After the Revolution he retired to his farm in Los Baños and led the life of a gentleman farmer. He died an old bachelor, though he had a common-law wife.
3. 4. 5. 6.
Narcisa (1852-1939). She married Antonino Lopez, a school teacher of Morong, Rizal. Olympia (1855-1887). She married Silvestre Ubaldo, a telegraph operator from Manila. Lucia (1857-1919). She married Mariano Herbosa of Calamba, Laguna. Maria (1859-1945). She married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Biñan, Laguna.
7. JOSE (1861-1896). The "lucky seven" in a family of eleven children. He married Josephine Bracken, a pretty Irish from Hongkong. 8. Concepcion (1862-1865). She died at the age of three. 9. Josefa (1865-1945). She did not marry; she died an old maid. 10. Trinidad (1868-1951). She died an old maid, life Josefa. 11. Soledad (1870-1929). She was the youngest of the Rizal children. She married Pantaleon Quintero of Calamba. Ancestry of Rizal. Jose Rizal, like a typical Filipino, was of mixed ancestry. In his veins flowed the bloods of both East and West -- Negrito, Indonesian, Malay, Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish. Rizal's paternal great-great-grandfather was a Chinaman named Domingo Lam-co, a native of Chinchew, "China's City of Spring." His father, Francisco, was a great-grandson of Lam-co. Both his father's father and grandfather had been Capitanes (town mayors) of Biñan. In 1849, when Governor Narciso Claveria ordered the Filipino families to choose new surnames from a list of Spanish family names, the children of Lorenzo Alberto Alonso adopted the name "Realonda". Hence Teodora Alonso became Teodora Alonso Realonda. The Name "Rizal". The original name of the Rizal family was "Mercado." It was a surname adopted in 1731 by Domingo Lam-co, the paternal Chinese ancestor. In English, it means "market". Evidently, Lam-co liked it because it appealed to his business nature and also because it reminded him of his Chinchew ancestors who were mostly merchants. In the year 1849, as mentioned above, Governor Claveria issued a decree directing all Filipino families to choose new surnames from a list of Spanish family names. The purpose of this gubernatorial decree was to Hispanize the Filipino surnames which were difficult for the Spanish authorities to pronounce, much less to remember. Jose's father, Francisco, scanned the list of Spanish surnames sent to Calamba, such as "Cruz", "Santos", "Ramos", "Rivera", etc. He did not like these surnames. Being a man of independent character, he chose his own surname Rizal, which was not in the list recommended by the Spanish authorities. He considered this new family name as more fitting for his farming clan than Mercado which signifies "market". The term "Rizal" came from the Spanish word ricial which means "green field" or "new pasture." The Rizal Family. The Rizal family was one of the richest families in Calamba during the times prior to its persecution by the friars. Rizal's parents, by their industry, and frugality, were able to honestly build up a large fortune. By presentday standards, they were rich. They were the first to build a large stone house in Calamba, the first to own a carruaje (horse-drawn carriage), the first to have a home library (estimated to consist of more than 1,000 volumes), and the first to educate their children in the colleges of Manila. The Rizal family raised rice, corn, and sugar on large tracts of land rented from the Dominican estate of Calamba. It operated a sugar mill, a flour mill, and a home-made ham press. It engaged successfully in the dye and sugar business and in the barter trade (exchange of products with other towns). Teodora, the hero's mother, owned a store in town which sold many articles of trade needed by the people. She was a successful businesswoman, and the profits of the store augmented the family income. In due time, the Rizal family was able to purchase another stone house in Calamba. This was another proof of the family affluence. Not only was the Rizal family one of Calamba's richest families; it was, withal, highly esteemed and respected. Combining wealth and culture, hospitality and charm, it participated in all social and religious activities in the community. Don Francisco and Doña Teodora were gracious hosts to al visitors -- priests, alferez (lieutenant of thhe Guardia Civil), Spanish officials, and Filipinos -- during holidays, such as Christmas, town fiesta, and other occasions. Beneath the Rizal roof, all guests, irrespective of their color, social position, or economic status, were treated equally -- with all courtesy and hospitality. The Rizal Home. The house of the Rizal family was one of the distinguished stone houses in Calamba during the Spanish times. It was rectangular in shape, "of adobe stone and hardwood with a red-tiled roof." Behind it were the poultry yard full of turkeys and chickens and the garden of tropical fruit trees -- atis, balimbing, macopa, papaya, santol, tampoy, etc. It was a happy home where parental affection and children's laughter reigned. By day, it hummed with the jubilant noises of the children at play. By night, it echoed with the dulcet notes of family prayers. Both parents and children were harmoniously united by strong ties of affection and understanding. Such a wholesome home, naturally, bred a wholesome family. And such a family was the Rizal family.
Chapter II. Childhood Days in Calamba/ Education in Biñan Jose Rizal's earliest training recalls the education of William and Alexander von Humboldt, those two nineteenth century Germans whose achievements for the prosperity of their fatherland and the advancement of humanity have caused them to be spoken of as the most remarkable pair of brothers that ever lived. He was not physically a strong child, but the direction of his first studies was by an unusually gifted mother, who succeeded, almost without the aid of books, in laying a foundation upon which the man placed an amount of well-mastered knowledge along many different lines that is truly marvelous, and this was done in so short a time that its brevity constitutes another wonder. At three he learned his letters, having insisted upon being taught to read and being allowed to share the lessons of an elder sister. Immediately thereafter he was discovered with her story book, spelling out its words by the aid of the syllabary or "caton" which he had propped up before him and was using as one does a dictionary in a foreign language. The little boy spent also much of his time in the church, which was conveniently near, but when the mother suggested that this might be an indication of religious inclination, his prompt response was that he liked to watch the people. To how good purpose the small eyes and ears were used, the true-to-life types of the characters in "Noli Me Tangere" and "El Filibusterismo" testify. First Sorrow. Of his sisters, Jose loved most the little Concha (Concepcion). He was one year older than Concha. He played with her, and from her he learned the sweetness of brotherly love. Unfortunately, Concha died of sickness in 1865 when she was three years old. Jose, who was very fond of her, cried bitterly to lose her. “When I was four years old,” he said, “I lost my little sister Concha, and then for the first time I wept tears of love and grief…” The death of little Concha brought him his first sorrow. Three uncles, brothers of the mother, concerned themselves with the intellectual, artistic and physical training of this promising nephew. The youngest, Jose, a teacher, looked after the regular lessons. The giant Manuel developed the physique of the youngster, until he had a supple body of silk and steel and was no longer a sickly lad, though he did not entirely lose his somewhat delicate looks. The more scholarly Gregorio saw that the child earned his candy money-trying to instill the idea into his mind that it was not the world's way that anything worth having should come without effort; he taught him also the value of rapidity in work, to think for himself, and to observe carefully and to picture what he saw. Sometimes Jose would draw a bird flying without lifting pencil from the paper till the picture was finished. At other times it would be a horse running or a dog in chase, but it always must be something of which he had thought himself and the idea must not be overworked; there was no payment for what had been done often before. Thus he came to think for himself, ideas were suggested to him indirectly, so he was never a servile copyist, and he acquired the habit of speedy accomplishment. Clay at first, then wax, was his favorite play material. From these he modeled birds and butterflies that came ever nearer to the originals in nature as the wise praise of the uncles called his attention to possibilities of improvement and encouraged him to further effort. This was the beginning of his nature study. Jose had a pony and used to take long rides through all the surrounding country, so rich in picturesque scenery. Besides these horseback expeditions were excursions afoot; on the latter his companion was his big black dog, Usman. His father pretended to be fearful of some accident if dog and pony went together, so the boy had to choose between these favorites, and alternated walking and riding, just as Mr. Mercado had planned he should. The long pedestrian excursions of his European life, though spoken of as German and English habits, were merely continuations of this childhood custom. There were other playmates besides the dog and the horse, especially doves that lived in several houses about the Mercado home, and the lad was friend and defender of all the animals, birds, and even insects in the neighborhood. Had his childish sympathies been respected the family would have been strictly vegetarian in their diet. At times Jose was permitted to spend the night in one of the curious little straw huts which La Laguna farmers put up during the harvest season, and the myths and legends of the region which he then heard interested him and were later made good use of in his writings. Sleight-of-hand tricks were a favorite amusement, and he developed a dexterity which mystified the simple folk of the country. This diversion, and his proficiency in it, gave rise to that mysterious awe with which he was regarded by the common people of his home region; they ascribed to him supernatural powers, and refused to believe that he was really dead even after the tragedy of Bagumbayan. Entertainment of the neighbors with magic-lantern exhibitions was another frequent amusement, an ordinary lamp throwing its light on a common sheet serving as a screen. Jose's supple fingers twisted themselves into fantastic shapes, the enlarged shadows of which on the curtain bore resemblance to animals, and paper accessories were worked in to vary and enlarge the repertoire of action figures. The youthful showman was quite successful in catering to the public taste, and the knowledge he then gained proved valuable later in enabling him to approach his countrymen with books that held their attention and gave him the opportunity to tell them of shortcomings which it was necessary that they should correct. Almost from babyhood he had a grown-up way about him, a sort of dignity that seemed to make him realize and respect the rights of others and unconsciously disposed his elders to reason with him, rather than scold him for his slight offenses. This habit grew, as reprimands were needed but once, and his grave promises of better behavior were faithfully kept when the explanation of why his conduct was wrong was once made clear to him. So the child came to be not an unwelcome companion even for adults, for he respected their moods and was never troublesome. A big influence in the formation of the child's character was his association with the parish priest of Kalamba, Father Leoncio Lopez. The Kalamba church and convento, which were located across the way from the Rizal home, were constructed after the great earthquake of 1863, which demolished so many edifices throughout the central part of the Philippines. Early Education in Calamba and Biñan Rizal had his early education in Calamba and Biñan. It was a typical schooling that a son of an ilustrado family received during his time, characterized by the four R’s- reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion. Instruction was rigid and strict. Knowledge was forced
into the minds of the pupils by means of the tedious memory method aided by the teacher’s whip. Despite the defects of the Spanish system of elementary education, Rizal was able to acquire the necessary instruction preparatory for college work in Manila. It may be said that Rizal, who was born a physical weakling, rose to become an intellectual giant not because of, but rather in spite of, the outmoded and backward system of instruction obtaining in the Philippines during the last decades of Spanish regime. The Hero’s First Teacher The first teacher of Rizal was his mother, who was a remarkable woman of good character and fine culture. On her lap, he learned at the age of three the alphabet and the prayers. "My mother," wrote Rizal in his student memoirs, "taught me how to read and to say haltingly the humble prayers which I raised fervently to God." As tutor, Doña Teodora was patient, conscientious, and understanding. It was she who first discovered that her son had a talent for poetry. Accordingly, she encouraged him to write poems. To lighten the monotony of memorizing the ABC’s and to stimulate her son’s imagination, she related many stories. As Jose grew older, his parents employed private tutors to give him lessons at home. The first was Maestro Celestino and the second, Maestro Lucas Padua. Later, an old man named Leon Monroy, a former classmate of Rizal’s father, became the boy’s tutor. This old teacher lived at the Rizal home and instructed Jose in Spanish and Latin. 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 One Sunday afternoon in June, 1869, Jose, after kissing the hands of his parents and a tearful parting from his sister, left Calamba for Biñan. He was accompanied by Paciano , who acted as his second father. The two brothers rode in a carromata, reaching their destination after one and one-half hours’ drive. They proceeded to their aunt’s house, where Jose was to lodge. It was almost night when they arrived, and the moon was about to rise. That same night, Jose, with his cousin named Leandro, went sightseeing in the town. Instead of enjoying the sights, Jose became depressed because of homesickness. "In the moonlight," he recounted, "I remembered my home town, my idolized mother, and my solicitous sisters. Ah, how sweet to me was Calamba, my own town, in spite of the fact that was not as wealthy as Biñan." First Day in Biñan School The next morning (Monday) Paciano brought his younger brother to the school of Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz. 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. Paciano knew the teacher quite well because he had been a pupil under him before. He introduced Jose to the teacher, after which he departed to return to Calamba. Immediately, Jose was assigned his seat in the class. The teacher asked him: "Do you know Spanish?" "A little, sir," replied the Calamba lad. "Do you know Latin?" "A little, sir." The boys in the class, especially Pedro, the teacher’s son laughed at Jose’s answers. The teacher sharply stopped all noises and begun the lessons of the day. Jose described his teacher in Biñan as follows: "He was tall, thin, long-necked, with sharp nose and a body slightly bent forward, and he used to wear a sinamay shirt, woven by the skilled hands of the women of Batangas. He knew by the heart the grammars by Nebrija and Gainza. Add to this severity that in my judgement was exaggerated and you have a picture, perhaps vague, that I have made of him, but I remember only this." First School BrawlIn the afternoon of his first day in school, when the teacher was having his siesta, Jose met the bully, Pedro. He was angry at this bully for making fun of him during his conversation with the teacher in the morning. and
Jose challenged Pedro to a fight. The latter readily accepted, thinking that he could easily beat the Calamba boy who was smaller younger.
The two boys wrestled furiously in the classroom, much to the glee of their classmates. Jose, having learned the art of wrestling from his athletic Tio Manuel, defeated the bigger boy. For this feat, he became popular among his classmates. After the class in the afternoon, a classmate named Andres Salandanan challenged him to an arm-wrestling match. They went to a sidewalk of a house and wrestled with their arms. Jose, having the weaker arm, lost and nearly cracked his head on the sidewalk. In succeeding days he had other fights with the boys of Biñan. He was not quarrelsome by nature, but he never ran away from a fight. Best Student in School In academic studies, Jose beat all Biñan boys. He surpassed them all in Spanish, Latin, and other subjects. Some of his older classmates were jealous of his intellectual superiority. They wickedly squealed to the teacher whenever Jose
had a fight outside the school, and even told lies to discredit him before the teacher’s eyes. Consequently the teacher had to punish Jose. Early Schooling in Biñan Jose had a very vivid imagination and a very keen sense of observation. At the age of seven he traveled with his father for the first time to Manila and thence to Antipolo to fulfill the promise of a pilgrimage made by his mother at the time of his birth. They embarked in a casco, a very ponderous vessel commonly used in the Philippines. It was the first trip on the lake that Jose could recollect. As darkness fell he spent the hours by the katig, admiring the grandeur of the water and the stillness of the night, although he was seized with a superstitious fear when he saw a water snake entwine itself around the bamboo beams of the katig. With what joy did he see the sun at the daybreak as its luminous rays shone upon the glistening surface of the wide lake, producing a brilliant effect! With what joy did he talk to his father, for he had not uttered a word during the night! When they proceeded to Antipolo, he experienced the sweetest emotions upon seeing the gay banks of the Pasig and the towns of Cainta and Taytay. In Antipolo he prayed, kneeling before the image of the Virgin of Peace and Good Voyage, of whom he would later sing in elegant verses. Then he saw Manila, the great metropolis , with its Chinese sores and European bazaars. And visited his elder sister, Saturnina, in Santa Ana, who was a boarding student in the Concordia College. When he was nine years old, his father sent him to Biñan to continue studying Latin, because his first teacher had died. His brother Paciano took him to Biñan one Sunday, and Jose bade his parents and sisters good-bye with tears in his eyes. Oh, how it saddened him to leave for the first time and live far from his home and his family! But he felt ashamed to cry and had to conceal his tears and sentiments. "O Shame," he explained, "how many beautiful and pathetic scenes the world would witness without thee!" They arrived at Biñan in the evening. His brother took him to the house of his aunt where he was to stay, and left him after introducing him to the teacher. At night, in company with his aunt’s grandson named Leandro, Jose took a walk around the town in the light of the moon. To him the town looked extensive and rich but sad and ugly. His teacher in Biñan was a severe disciplinarian. His name was Justiniano Aquino Cruz. "He was a tall man, lean and long-necked, with a sharp nose and a body slightly bent forward. He used to wear a sinamay shirt woven by the deft hands of Batangas women. He knew by memory the grammars of Nebrija and Gainza. To this add a severity which, in my judgement I have made of him, which is all I remember." The boy Jose distinguished himself in class, and succeeded in surpassing many of his older classmates. Some of these were so wicked that, even without reason, they accused him before the teacher, for which, in spite of his progress, he received many whippings and strokes from the ferule. Rare was the day when he was not stretched on the bench for a whipping or punished with five or six blows on the open palm. Jose’s reaction to all these punishments was one of intense resentment in order to learn and thus carry out his father’s will. Jose spent his leisure hours with Justiniano’s father-in-law, a master painter. From him he took his first two sons, two nephews, and a grandson. His way life was methodical and well regulated. He heard mass at four if there was one that early, or studied his lesson at that hour and went to mass afterwards. Returning home, he might look in the orchard for a mambolo fruit to eat, then he took his breakfast, consisting generally of a plate of rice and two dried sardines. After that he would go to class, from which he was dismissed at ten, then home again. He ate with his aunt and then began at ten, then home again. He ate with his aunt and then began to study. At half past two he returned to class and left at five. He might play for a short time with some cousins before returning home. He studied his lessons, drew for a while, and then prayed and if there was a moon, his friends would invite him to play in the street in company with other boys. Whenever he remembered his town, he thought with tears in his eyes of his beloved father, his idolized mother, and his solicitous sisters. Ah, how sweet was his town even though not so opulent as Biñan! He grew sad and thoughtful. While he was studying in Biñan, he returned to his hometown now and then. How long the road seemed to him in going and how short in coming! When from afar he described the roof of his house, secret joy filled his breast. How he looked for pretexts to remain longer at home! A day more seemed to him a day spent in heaven, and how he wept, though silently and secretly, when he saw the calesa that was flower that him Biñan! Then everything looked sad; a flower that he touched, a stone that attracted his attention he gathered, fearful that he might not see it again upon his return. It was a sad but delicate and quite pain that possessed him.
THE OTHER RIZAL The Philippine town plaza is never complete without a statue of Jose Rizal in his winter coat. But some Filipinos do not know about the men and women who fought the very revolution Rizal condemned as premature and doomed to failure. One of the unsung heroes was Rizal own brother Paciano, a general in the Philippine Revolution. He was born on March 7, 1851 the second to the 11 children and 10 years older to Jose. Called “ňor Paciano” (short for seňor or seňorita) as a sign of respect when addressing. Biography shows that Paciano studied at the Colegio de San Jose & later in Santo Tomas in Manila. But Paciano had to drop out of school due to his association with the martyred priest, Fr. Jose Burgos branded as filibuster and executed with two other priests, Fr. Mariano Gomez and Fr. Jacinto Zamora (1872). Paciano was a messenger of Fr. Burgos said to have lived in his house. It is stated that when Jose started his schooling in Manila of June 10, 1872 he had to use the surname “Rizal” instead of Mercado. (in his youth he thought he was illegitimate), but after Jose’s execution the whole family dropped the Mercado adopted the illustrious surname RIZAL. Paciano settled in Calamba to oversee their hacienda and become padre de familia. He was secretly responsible for sending his younger brother Jose off to Europe, with the disapproval of their mother. They had a long correspondence, advising him and sending him monthly stipend.
Paciano & Jose made a pact that they would work for the country and thus only one should get married. One of his homecoming from Europe he insisted on marrying his cousin Leonor Rivera but was discouraged by his brother by saying “Iniisip mo lang ang iyong sarili” and sent him off back to Europe. After Rizal’s execution Paciano joined Aguinaldo’s army and rose to the rank of general. He died I Los Baňos on April 13, 1930. Unlike Jose, Paciano is a big mystery. All documents on him naturally ends with the execution of his brother. Following the lead that he was a general in the revolution, the Philippine Insurgent Records (PIR) and the National Library found handful documents on Paciano. And with no references on his military command in Laguna. In contrast to the fully documented Jose, Paciano had only 2 photographed pictures a candid shot without his knowledge and of his corps. Ambeth visit to Paciano home in Los Baňos, with his grandchildren, Franz & Edmundo Lopez Rizal and their sister Eugenia Lopez Villaruz, can’t help but ask the rumors that the grandchildren were “illegitimate”, since Paciano Rizal did not marry. And the reason their lolo did not want to be photograph was because he was a wanted man, and he could walk everywhere without being recognized. Grandchildren description of their lolo was, had very fair complexion, rosy cheeks, more refine ad serious, taller and more slender, with a nose that is fine, beautiful and sharp pointed, but bow-legged. Historian Epifanio de los Santos (EDSA) wonder about Paciano’s features “Bakit hindi sya kamukha ng mga kapatid niya….? Grandchildren related, he was more handsome that the national hero and much taller around 5’7, 5’9. A quite man who didn’t talk much, not talk about their brother Jose. Their memory about their grandfather came from their grandmother Narcisa Rizal, the story teller of the family. Pedro Patero’s account of his negotiations peace between Spain and the Filipinos revolutionaries, “El Pacto de Biak na Bato” , Paciano relates: “What do you want? That we make peace with Spain? That we be the bearer and acceptor of peace, when they have shot my brother, Pepe, banished my parents and relatives, falsely accused us to the last of my family, confiscating our lands and hurling a thousand horrors on our faces? Ah, Don Pedro, dig a deep well. Fill it from the top to bottom with all the bolos and lances that you wish. Then, command me to throw myself into it and I Paciano Rizal, will do just that, but do not ask me for peace because that, Don Pedro, is impossible- absurd!” Paciano exploits reveal getting the Spaniards to surrender in Calamba, by using firecrackers to show the Filipinos were heavily armed. After 3 days the Spaniards surrendered. In his letter to the PIR seen at the National Library Paciano requested for the status of the Americans if they were allies or enemies. Their suspicious actuation in the area proved right, August 13, 1898, Filipinos was tricked by the Americans, they fought another battle. 1900, weakened by malaria, Paciano was captured by the Americans and is said to have refused to swear allegiance to the flag of the USA. While Apolinario Mabini the paralytic was exiled to Guam because he refused allegiance to America. May unanswered questions left, but nothing is definite as of now, except that Paciano Rizal proves like other heroes of the Revolution of 1896 and 1898, should be rescued from obscurity and given the rightful place in our history
