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As the confidant of Jose Rizal, Higino Francisco discharged the trust reposed on him that of keeping the manuscript of the famous novel, Noli Me Tangere at the risk of his life. The youngest of the four children of the propertied couple, Jacinto Francisco and Lucia Prospero of Bian Laguna, Francisco was born in Binondo, Manila, on January 11, 1847. Although he had no formal schooling, he acquired through self-study sufficient knowledge of both Spanish and French to enable him to read books. As his wife was a close relative of Rizal , Francisco gradually became his loyal and devoted friend. In him, Rizal found not only willing ears but an understanding mind, a sympathetic heart, a prudent counselor and a reassuring friend. When Rizal was exiled to Dapitan in July 1892, he entrusted his manuscript of the Noli Me Tangere (Social Cancer) to Francisco to prevent its falling into iconoclastic hands. The Noli, the greatest novel ever written by a Filipino, provided a realistic picture of Philippine life during the Spanish time. It was the single book that blew off the lid on Spanish abuses, injustices and misgovernment in the Philippines and helped to bring about the Revolution. Francisco first hid the manuscript in the roof of his two-door accessoria house at 525 Magdalena, (then San Jose Trozo). When his family was threatened by the Spanish guardia civiles who were constantly watching the house, he transferred it to the Binondo textile store owned jointly by his daughter, Fausta, and Rizals sister, Trinidad. Whenever he sensed a search of the store, he would risk his life to hide the manuscript under the Binondo bridge. Although Francisco knew full well that the manuscript was worth a fortune, nevertheless he did not traffic with it. Instead with a loyal and unselfish heart, he retuned it to Trinidad Rizal, soon after the arrival of the Americans in the Philippines. A rebel in his own right, Francisco helped financially the Propaganda Movement in Spain, which eventually led to the Revolution of 1896. Besides contributing cash money for the acquisition of arms for the Katipunan, he opened wide the doors of his home to the rebels who needed a sanctuary or

Don Higino Francisco, relative, faithful friend and adviser of Dr. Jose Rizal

The Philippine National Hero, Dr. Jose Rizal

Jose Almeda III of Bian, Laguna, cousin of

assistance. He even put up the Dimasalang Restaurant, which catered exclusively to the patriots to provide them with a place where their various problems could be resolved. For openly helping the Revolution, Francisco was imprisoned and tortured by the Spanish police. Soon after the American occupation, Francisco saw to the exhumation of Rizals remains, which were buried in the Paco cemetery. In an urn, which he ordered, he placed the bones and kept them in his house until they were given a decent resting place. Francisco died on December 3, 1921*. He was survived by eight of his 11 children, namely, Fausta, Dalmacio, Paulino, Escolastica, Estafania, Jacinto, Jose and Lucia who is regarded as the dean of music teachers in the Philippines. In Francisco, life is not merely a floating shadow, a momentary spark and a dream that vanishes but one filled with great and noble thoughts as well as brave and honest deeds, laboring until death for the right and the just, and for consecrating ones life to the welfare of his own country. * Don Higino Francisco died on December 13, 1921

Francisco Mercado, father of Dr. Jose Rizal

Francisco Mercado of Bian, Laguna, father of Dr. Jose Rizal

Don Higino Francisco

Si Don Higino Francisco ay sadyang dakila at katangi-tanging Pilipino. Dahil sa kataimtiman at kadalisayan ng kanyang pagkamakabayan ay siyay napatanging-kaibigan ni Rizal, at siyang pinagkatiwalaang mag-ingat ng Original ng kanyang Noli Me Tangere, na matapos magtagumpay ang himagsikan ng 96 at magbalik ang kapayapaan ay magalak na isinakamay ng mga tagapagmana ng PinakaDakilang Bayani ng Lahi. Ang tahimik, ngunit Dakila at magiting na Pilipinong ito at ang kanyang butihing anak na si Doa Fausta Francisco de Almeda, ang maagap na nangag-abot ng kamay upang tulungang bumangon ang Pasimuno ng mga Kawal nuong minsang maparapa ito sa matarik at mabalakid na landas na tinatalaktak ng Dakilang Kapatiran ng mga Kawal ng Bayan. Habang-buhay na pagkilala ang handog namin.
Rizal's book, Noli Me Tangere, the book that started a revolution

Excerpt from Rizal Up Close

By Augusto V. De Viana, National Historical Institute Published in The Manila Times, December 30, 2005 THE common image most

Filipinos see national hero (Photo) Dr. Jose Rizal is that of an Don Higino Francisco unsmiling man wearing a Pinanganak sa Binundok, Maynila nuong ika-11 dark coat. This image was ng Enero 1847, at pumanaw nuong ika-13 ng used as a model for his Disyembre, 1921 monument at the Luneta Park. Beyond the cold solid Tala ng mga Tala ng Dakilang Kapatiran ng mga form presented by statues Kawal ng Bayan. December 16, 1958, page 7. and photographs depicting Pioneer Printing Press him, those that had seen the hero reveal a more human side. One morning in 1892 a house in Binondo, Manila, the children of Don Higino Francisco were roused from their beds saying that their famous relative, Dr. Jose Rizal, had arrived and expressed his wish to meet his young relatives. Among the children was Jose Francisco, then aged 8. Jose and his siblings lined up in a row in the sala and obediently waited their father to appear from the door, which led to the street. When he came inside he was followed by a young man dressed in black. Jose described the stranger as handsome but rather short. This, said Don Higino, referring to the man, is your Tio Jose. Rizal paced Residence of Higino Francisco down the row of little 525 Magdalena, Manila. In this house the original manuscript of the Noli Me Tangere was children examining their kept hidden. The remains of Dr. Rizal were also faces. Perhaps, Jose thought, kept here for a few days immediately after their he was looking for the family resemblance. A exhumation from the Paco Cemetery on 17 few days later Rizal was August 1898. Higino Francisco (b. Jan. 11, 1847, d. Dec 13, 1921) was a friend and admirer arrested and banished to Dapitan. of Rizal and a financier of Filipino patriotic activities.

HIGINO P. FRANCISCO: Revolutionary Patriot

(Died: 1921) A man of rare civic virtues, Higino Francisco y Prospero played a crucial role in saving the life of Felipe Agoncillo, who would later be a very important diplomat in the government-in-exile of President Aguinaldo, during the tumultuous year in 1896. Agoncillo was then a wanted man from Taal, Batangas. He had been ordered deported to Jolo, Sulu by the Spanish colonial government, but had eluded arrest by the Guardia Civil and gone to Manila.

Excerpt from Book Review: A Gem of Historical Writing

By Alfredo G. Rosario, Opinion Page Editor Published in The Manila Times, Sunday, September 17, 2006 The book, The I Stories, by Augusto V. de Viana, adds a new dimension to Philippine history, particularly about the Philippine Revolution against Spain, in terms of perspective and insights into hitherto lesser known historical facts. Most of the stories were eyewitness accounts of people who were close to the scene or actually participated in the events, told in interviews or statements published in The Manila Times and the Philippines Free Press in the 1920s up to the 1950s and retrieved by the author for his book to arouse public interest in history.

Hunted by the law, Agoncillo tried to seek refuge in the homes of several of his relatives and friends in the city, but all of them refused to let him in for fear of being implicated in his crime. Finally, almost in desperation, he knocked at the door of a house on Magdalena Street in Tondo. Its occupants were unknown to him. He just took a chance that they would take him in for the night. Fortunately, luck was on his side that fateful night since the owner of the house, Higino Francisco, was an assuming patriot. Throwing caution to the wind, Higino not only provided shelter to Agoncillo, but also helped him secure a passage on board a Japanese vessel, the Heorimi Maru, bound for Yokohama, Japan. The common use of the pronoun I in the personal Agoncillo left on April 28. 1896 and, after a accounts of these witnesses fortnight in Japan, he proceeded to Hong Kong of history impels the author to join other Filipino expatriates. to call his book The I Stories. Higino Francisco was also responsible for the planned rescue of Dr. Jose Rizal either from his De Viana acquaints his Spanish jailers at the place of his confinement or readers with the inner from the hands of his custodians at the time of human side of the national his scheduled execution in Bagumbayan. He hero and his close was, however, dissuaded by Rizals family from encounters with the Spanish carrying it out. authorities in his efforts to

Upon learning of his design, the authorities raided his house. Their search yielded a large number of firearms. On account of this, he was put in jail, tried and sentenced to death. He was saved from the gallows by the governments 1897 proclamation of general pardon. Francisco had aided Dr. Rizal in his patriotic endeavors. As a token of gratitude, Rizal presented him the original manuscript of his novel Noli Me Tangere. Knowing that it would fetch a high price later, Francisco, however, returned it to the mother of the hero. Long after the revolution was over, the government did buy it for P30, 000.

protect his books, the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, through the narratives of Dr. Jose Francisco, a relative of the heros family, and Perfecto Rufino Riego, a former cabin boy.

It was in the house of Franciscos father, Don Higino, where Rizal and other leaders of the independence movement held their secret meetings and kept their political propaganda, including the The street in Sulucan Estate in Sampaloc known original manuscript of the as Miguelin was later renamed Higino Francisco Noli. It was Riego who took in the patriots honor, but due to a contractual the task of smuggling copies provision involving the estate, its name was of the Noli and Fili into the changed back to Miguelin. country from Hong Kong, where copies of the books Francisco died in December 1921. were shipped on the boat Don Juan from Germany where they were published. References: 1. De Ocampo, Esteban A. and Alfredo B. Saulo. First Filipino Diplomat. Rizal Tree Manila: National Historical Institute, 1977 As recalled by Asuncion 2. Historical Bulletin Volume 15, January Lopez Bantug: December 1971 Published in http://www.freewebs.com/ri http://www.nhi.gov.ph//index.php?option=com_ zaltree/index.htm content&task=view&id=240 "Two years later, in the turmoil that followed the American occupation of Manila, his family seized the chance to recover my Lolo Jose's body unhindered by Church or State. Spain had fallen in the Philippines; American troops took over in Manila on August 13,

1898. Four days later, on August 17, my Lola Sisa, accompanied by her daughter Angelica, sculptor Romualdo Teodoro de Jesus, Higino Francisco and Doroteo Ongjungco, went to the Paco Cemetery and had the grave dug up. "The body was found to have been buried directly into the earth, without a coffin. Nevertheless, the clothes were still recognizable, though whatever my Lolo Jose had hidden in his shoes had long rotted away. A vertebra showing a bullet wound was kept in a glass and silver cup in Lola's house. "The remains were taken to my Lola Sisa's house, where Higino Francisco and Romualdo Teodoro de Jesus themselves reverently washed the bones. They were later placed in an ivory urn carved by De Jesus. This urn was venerated in frequent public ceremonies during the 1900s, when Rizal began to be honored as the National Hero of the Philippines."

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