Rizal Life, Works and Writing imagined that he was not accorded greater respect

than the Filipino guests in the Rizal home.

Chapter 3: School Days in Biñan The lieutenant forced the hero’s mother to walk on
foot from Calamba to Santa Cruz, a distance of more
Best student in school. than 50 kilometers.
Doña Teodora, as a worthy mother of a hero, endured
In school studies, Jose beat all Biñan boys. He her cruel fate with Christian resignation and courage.
surpassed them all in Spanish, Latin, and other
subjects. The Martyrdom og Gom-Bur-Za.
Some of his older classmates were jealous of his
intellectual superiority. They wickedly squealed to the The Rizal family had not yet recovered from the
teacher whenever Jose had a fight outside the school. painful shock of the mothers imprisonment when
another calamity occurred.
End of Biñan schooling. On January 20, 1872, the Cavite Mutiny flared up,
followed by the execution of Fathers Gomez, Burgos,
Tine came when Jose learned all that Maestro and Zamora on February 17th.
Justiniano could teach him. Accordingly, the teacher Jose’s older brother, Paciano, then a student in the
informed his parents that he should be sent to college College of San Jose, was boarding with Father
in Manila. Burgos, his beloved professor anf friend. He was
In December, 1871, Jose received a letter from his atrusted assistant of Burgos in the fight for the
sister Saturnina, informing him of the arrival of the Filipinization of the parishes.
steamer Talim which would take him from Biñan to Years later, Dr. Jose Rizal wrote of Burgos: “He
Calamba. awakened my intellect and made me understand
He prayed in the town church, collected pebbles in goodness and justice. His farewell words I shall
the river for souvenirs, and regretfully bade farewell to always remember – “I have tried to pass on to you
his teacher and classmates. what I received from my teachers. Do the same for
He left Biñan on Saturday afternoon, Dec.17, 1871. those who come after you.”
Jose Rizal was nearly eleven years old when the
tragic martyrdom of Gom-Bur-Za took place.
Injustice to Hero’s Mother.
Despite his tender age, he was deeply affected. It
was another Spanish injustice, like that done to his
After the happy Christmas holiday in 1871, Don
own mother.
Francisco thought of sending Jose to Manila to study.
Before June came. Tragedy struck the Rizal family.
Doña Teodora was arrested on malicious charge that
she aided her brother, Jose Alberto, in trying to
poison Alberto’s wife.
Jose Alberto, a rich Biñan landowner, had gone to
Europe on a business trip. During his absence his
wife abandoned their home and children. When he
returned to Biñan, he found her living with another
man.
Enraged by her infidelity, he planned to divorce her.
Doña Teodora, to avert family scandal, persuaded
him to forgive his erring wife. The family trouble was
amicably settled, and Jose Alberto lived again with his
wife.
However, the unfaithful wife connived with the
lieutenant of the Guardia Civil to fabricate evidence
that her husband attempted to poison her, with Doña
Thank You and God Bless
Teodora as an accomplice.
This lieutenant had an ax to grind against the Rizal
family because at one time Rizal’s father refused to
give him fodder for his horse.
Ordinarily, Doña Teodora, the accused, should have
been confined in the Calamba jail.
The judge, who had also been a guest many times at Cicel O. Pellegas
the Rizal home, was vengeful. Like the lieutenant, he BSED - Math
nursed a grudge against the Rizal family because he