Jose Protacio Rizal is
considered to be the greatest national hero in the Philippine history. He made
many remarkable feats during his time. José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso
Realonda was born in June 19, 1861, in Calamba, Philippines. The 7th
out of the 11 offsprings of Francisco Rizal Mercado and Teodora Alonso. A one of a kind student, he was able to know
multiple languages, a total of 22. 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."
Now lets move
on to Rizal’s love life. There
were at least nine women linked with Rizal; namely Segunda Katigbak, Leonor
Valenzuela, Leonor Rivera, Consuelo Ortiga, O-Sei San, Gertrude Beckette, Nelly
Boustead, Suzanne Jacoby and Josephine Bracken. These women might have been
beguiled by his intelligence, charm and wit. Leonor Rivera, his sweetheart for
11 years played the greatest influence in keeping him from falling in love with
other women during his travel. Unfortunately, Leonor’s mother disapproved of
her daughter’s relationship with Rizal, who was then a known filibustero. She
hid from Leonor all letters sent to her sweetheart. Leonor believing that Rizal
had already forgotten her, sadly consented her to marry the Englishman Henry
Kipping, her mother’s choice.
Lets move now to the last hours of Rizal Before execution. Moments before his
execution on December 30, 1896 by a squad of Filipino soldiers of the Spanish
Army, a backup force of regular Spanish Army troops stood ready to shoot the
executioners should they fail to obey orders. The general of the Spanish Army
silenced his men before he signaled the execution of the hero. Rizal’s last
word were those of Jesus Christ: "consummatum est",--it is finished.
"Creative genius does
not manifest itself solely within the borders of a specific country: it sprouts
everywhere; it is like light and air; it belongs to everyone: it is
cosmopolitan like space, life and God."
– José Rizal
