Jose Rizal’s Birthday: Date, Significance and Historicity
Editor’s note: Author Jensen DG. Mañebog explains here the significance of “Jose Rizal Birthday,” its historicity, comparison to other heroes’ birthday, and some special birthday celebration of Jose Rizal.
The birthday of Jose Rizal is June 19, 1861, having been born in the Philippines on that fateful day—some eight years before the famous Suez Canal was completed and opened.
The hero’s given name is “Jose Protacio.” The “Protacio” (also spelled “Protasio” in some references) in Rizal’s given name was taken from a Catholic Saint whose feast day is June 19, the birthdate of Rizal.
The Catholic saint referred to is “St. Protase,” the patron of Milan, Breisach, and of haymakers. Protase is invoked for the discovery of thieves.
Jose Rizal’s birth
Doña Teodora Alonso Realonda, Jose’s mother, was said to have suffered the greatest pain during the delivery of her child Jose.
Hose’s older sister Narcisa recalled: “I was nine years of age when my mother gave birth to Jose. I recall it vividly because my mother suffered great pain. She labored for a long time. Her pain was later attributed to the fact that Jose’s head was bigger than normal” (as cited in “Lola Lolay,” 2013, para. 8).
Rizal is the seventh of the eleven children born to a relatively well-off family in a Dominican-owned tenant land in Laguna. Jose Rizal was born in Calamba, for in 1848, his parents decided to build a home in this town in southern Luzon.
Jose Rizal lived and died in the 19th Century, during the Spanish colonial era in the Philippines. (Related: Republic Act 1425 Rizal Law (Its History and Important Provisions))
‘Jose Rizal birthday’ compared to other Heroes’ birthday
Andres Bonifacio y de Castro, founder and later the ‘Supremo’ (supreme leader) of the Katipunan, was born on November 30, 1863. He was, therefore, two-year younger than Jose Rizal.
On the other hand, Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy, the officially recognized Philippines’ first president, was eight-year younger than Jose Rizal. He was born on March 22, 1869. Aguinaldo was the youngest to have become the country’s highest official (at age 29) and the Filipino president to have outlived the most number of his successors.
Jose Rizal’s co-propagandist in the Propaganda Movement and La Solidaridad, Marcelo Hilario del Pilar y Gatmaitan was born on August 30, 1850. He is therefore eleven-year senior of Jose Rizal.
Jose Rizal birthday celebrations
History interestingly records some of the things that happened during Jose Rizal’s birthday.
Exactly on Jose’s 24th birthday, the Madrid University awarded him the degree of Licentiate in Philosophy and Letters, one of the courses he finished, with the grade of excellent (‘sobresaliente’). That surely made his birthday celebration that year extra special.
In 1883, Jose received from his sister Olympia and brother-in-law Ubaldo ten Baliwag silk handkerchiefs for his (Rizal’s) birthday that year. The “package” however also included the unpleasant reactions of friars to Rizal’s article in the Diariong Tagalog.
On June 19, 1887, Jose treated Maximo Viola for it was his (Rizal’s) 26th birthday. Maximo Viola is his friend who loaned him some amount to cover for the printing of the ‘Noli Me Tangere,’ Rizal’s first novel.
On a sad note, Leonor Rivera, Jose’s “true love,” was married to someone else two days before Rizal’s birthday in 1891. Leonor was married not to Rizal but to Henry Kipping (Read: Leonor Rivera: Why Rizal did not end up marrying his true love)
‘Jose Rizal Birthday’ for Rizal day celebration
Former National Historical Institute head Ambeth Ocampo once pushed to move Rizal Day from December 30 (Jose’s date of death) to June 19 (Jose Rizal’s birthday). He argued that December 30 is sandwiched between Christmas and New Year’s Day, usually a vacation, and thus does not allow students to participate in programs commemorating the hero.
The bill proposing to move the celebration to June 19 was approved by the House of Representatives on its third reading in 2008. Unfortunately, the bill was not acted in time by the Senate during the 14th Congress, hence, did not prosper as a law.
In 2011, however, then President Benigno Aquino III officially declared June 19 of that year a special one-time non-working holiday to commemorate the 150th birthday of Jose Rizal. (Continue reading: The Importance of the Jose Rizal Subject)
© 2014-present by Jensen DG. Mañebog
Related: The Colorful Love Affairs of Dr. Jose Rizal by Jensen DG. Mañebog
Jensen DG. Mañebog, the contributor, is an author of textbooks and professorial lecturer emeritus in the graduate school of a state university in Metro Manila. His unique e-books on Rizal (available online) comprehensively tackle, among others, the respective life of Rizal’s parents, siblings, co-heroes, and girlfriends. (e-mail: [email protected])
Read Also:
The Interesting Tales of the Jose Rizal Family by Jensen DG. Mañebog
Check out: Jose Rizal’s Collaborations with Other Heroes by Jensen DG. Mañebog