Felicidario 1
David Felicidario
Rizal
Professor Chito Arcega
October 18, 2022
“Rizal’s Life as a Philippine Hero”
Who exactly is Jose Rizal? On June 19, 1861, the Mercado family of Calamba, Laguna
Province, welcomed the arrival of their newest member – a newborn boy born as the seventh
child to loving parents Francisco Rizal Mercado y Alejandro and Teodora Alonza y Quintos.
They named the newborn Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado. He demonstrated an incredible ability
and capacity for learning at a young age, learning his alphabet from his mother and being able to
read and write by the age of five. The Mercado family prioritized education, and young Jose
Protacio was sent to study with Justiniano Aquino Cruz, a tutor from neighboring Binan, Laguna.
But a small-town education and a tutor did not satisfy the young man's quest for knowledge, and
the family soon started to make plans for his admittance to the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, the
Philippines' capital.
The Jesuit Order ran the school, which was one of the most prestigious and scholarly
institutions in the nation, catering to the country's wealthiest, most influential, and most clever
pupils, and was undoubtedly a place for a young man like Jose Protacio Mercado.
Prior to enrolling at this prestigious academic school, Jose's elder brother, Paciano Rizal
Mercado, urged that he shed the surname "Mercado" since Mercado was considered suspicious
by Spaniards at the time. Jose Rizal opted to pursue a degree in Land Surveying and Assessment
at the Ateneo de Manila, where he graduated with honors or sobrasaliente on March 14, 1877.
David Felicidario
Rizal
Professor Chito Arcega
October 18, 2022
“Rizal’s Life as a Philippine Hero”
Who exactly is Jose Rizal? On June 19, 1861, the Mercado family of Calamba, Laguna
Province, welcomed the arrival of their newest member – a newborn boy born as the seventh
child to loving parents Francisco Rizal Mercado y Alejandro and Teodora Alonza y Quintos.
They named the newborn Jose Protacio Rizal Mercado. He demonstrated an incredible ability
and capacity for learning at a young age, learning his alphabet from his mother and being able to
read and write by the age of five. The Mercado family prioritized education, and young Jose
Protacio was sent to study with Justiniano Aquino Cruz, a tutor from neighboring Binan, Laguna.
But a small-town education and a tutor did not satisfy the young man's quest for knowledge, and
the family soon started to make plans for his admittance to the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, the
Philippines' capital.
The Jesuit Order ran the school, which was one of the most prestigious and scholarly
institutions in the nation, catering to the country's wealthiest, most influential, and most clever
pupils, and was undoubtedly a place for a young man like Jose Protacio Mercado.
Prior to enrolling at this prestigious academic school, Jose's elder brother, Paciano Rizal
Mercado, urged that he shed the surname "Mercado" since Mercado was considered suspicious
by Spaniards at the time. Jose Rizal opted to pursue a degree in Land Surveying and Assessment
at the Ateneo de Manila, where he graduated with honors or sobrasaliente on March 14, 1877.
