Paciano Rizal: His great influence to his beloved brother, the national hero

© by Jensen DG. Mañebog

Editor’s note: This is the sequel to the author’s well-read article, “Paciano Rizal: Pinoy Hero’s Big Brother”

ON HIS ADVICE, the national hero dropped the last three names in his full name and thus enrolled at the Ateneo as ‘Jose Protasio Rizal.’

Paciano Mercado Rizal, the second of eleven children of Don Francisco and Doña Teodora, is the only brother of Dr. Jose Rizal. When he was a student at the College of San Jose, Paciano had used “Mercado” as his last name. But because he had gained notoriety with his links to Father Burgos of the ‘Gomburza,’ he suggested that Jose use the surname ‘Rizal’ for his own safety.

The Surname Rizal

Had their forefathers not adopted other names, then Jose and Paciano could have been known as ‘Lamco’ brothers.

Their paternal great-great grandfather, Chinese merchant Domingo Lamco, adopted the name ‘Mercado’ which means ‘market’. But Jose’s father, Francisco, who eventually became primarily a farmer, adopted the surname ‘Rizal’ (originally ‘Ricial’,which means ‘the green of young growth’ or ‘green fields’). The name was suggested by a provincial governor who is a friend of the family. The new name, however, caused confusion in the commercial affairs of the family. Don Francisco thus settled on the name ‘Rizal Mercado’ as a compromise, and often just used his more known surname ‘Mercado’.

Commenting on using the name ‘Rizal’ in Ateneo, Jose once wrote: “My family never paid much attention [to our second surname Rizal], but now I had to use it, thus giving me the appearance of an illegitimate child!”

But this very name suggested by Paciano to be used by his brother had become so well known by 1891, the year Jose finished his El Filibusterismo. As Jose wrote to a friend, “All my family now carry the name Rizal instead of Mercado because the name Rizal means persecution! Good! I too want to join them and be worthy of this family name …” (Read: Jose Rizal Full Name)

Being Jose’s second father

Some jokingly suggest that their respective grandfathers should also be mentioned in history for allegedly sharpening the bolos and cleaning the guns of heroes like Andres Bonifacio. But if you were a descendant of Paciano Rizal, you could seriously claim that your forebear has a noteworthy place in Philippine history for he did extensively influence the heroism of none less than the national hero, his brother.

ALSO READ: Jose Rizal: The First Filipino Phenom by Jensen DG. Mañebog

Acting as Jose’s caring guardian, Paciano brought him to Biñan to study under the tutelage of Justiniano Aquino Cruz. Paciano introduced Jose to the teacher, whom he (Paciano) knew very well because he had been a pupil under the teacher before. In 1872, Paciano also accompanied the young Rizal in taking the entrance exam at the College of the San Juan de Letran and in matriculating instead at the Ateneo Municipal. Paciano even looked for Jose’s boarding house in the Walled City.

In choosing a course to take at the University of Santo Tomas, Rizal was said to have originally thought about law. Paciano however warned him that being a lawyer could be problematic, for one might find himself backing a wrong cause. Because he also wished to cure their mother, Jose thus opted to take medicine instead.

Tired of discrimination against Filipinos by the Dominican professors, Rizal stopped studying at UST in 1882. The two Rizals then made a secret pact that Jose would go to Spain while his big brother would stay behind and care for their parents. But Jose’s more crucial mission was not merely to continue his medical studies but to ultimately liberate the exploited Filipinos from Spanish tyranny by first widening his political knowledge through exposure to European governments.

So when the day came for Jose to leave, “Paciano woke him before daybreak and gave him 365 pesos for the trip” (Bantug, p. 52). Paciano thentook the responsibility in telling their parents about Jose’s leaving and in sustaining the financial needs of his brother abroad. For five years, Paciano sent him monthly stipend of 50 pesos, which was later reduced to only 35.

Maintaining a constant watch over Jose, Paciano would tell him where to go and what to do. For instance, when Rizal reached Spain, a letter from Paciano arrived, telling him to proceed to Madrid and reminding him he had gone to Europe to dedicate himself to matters of ‘greater usefulness’.Sometime in November 1885, Rizal also received a letter from his kuya disapproving his plan to transfer to Paris. At the beginning of that year, Paciano disallowed Jose’s intention to return home and advised him to wait for the opportune time for the situation in the Philippines was dangerous for him.

When Jose had returned home in 1887, Paciano never left him during the first days after arrival, fearing that his enemies would assault him. When Jose, together with his assigned bodyguard and two brothers-in-law climbed up Mount Makiling one morning, Paciano went with them. Hoisting a white sheet on top of the mountain, they were accused of having erected the German flag. The Rizal brothers nonetheless were able to explain their non-political adventure and were believed in by the officials.

Before leaving the country for the second time, Jose wanted to marry his girlfriend, Leonor Rivera, and leave her in a sister’s care. But Paciano was adamant and was said to have told Jose, “Iniisip mo lang ang iyong sarili” (Ocampo, p. 41). Paciano was supposed to have also explained that “it was selfish of Rizal to marry someone, only to leave her behind” (Bantug, p. 76).

The love between and Jose and Paciano

The passionate bond between the two heroes cannot be overemphasized. Their last memorable moments together perhaps happened in 1891 when Paciano, after a year of being deported, had escaped further persecutions and joined Jose in Hong Kong. With their parents and other family members, they celebrated the year-end holidays together.

When Jose was about to be prosecuted, the older Rizal opted to be tortured, which nearly cost his life, than to testify against his brother. Before his execution, the national hero wrote these very emotional words to his beloved kuya:

“For more than four years, we have neither seen nor written each other, not for lack of love on your part nor on mine, but because knowing each other as we do, we needed no words to understand each other. Now that I am about to die, I dedicate these last times to you to tell you how sorry I am to leave you alone in the world, bearing the burden of the whole family and our old parents. I think of the hardships you went through to help me in my career and I believe I tried my best to waste no time. My brother, if the fruit is bitter, the fault is not mine, but fate’s …” (© 2013 by Jensen DG. Mañebog)

Jensen DG. Mañebog, the contributor, is a book author 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 girlfriends, parents, siblings, and co-heroes. (e-mail: [email protected])

Prequel: “Paciano Rizal: Pinoy Hero’s Big Brother”

ALSO READ: 

Jose Rizal’s Collaborations with Other Heroes by Jensen DG. Mañebog

RELATED ARTICLES:
SATURNINA RIZAL: The Hero’s Second Mother
NARCISA RIZAL: The Hospitable Sister of the Hero
OLYMPIA RIZAL: The Sister Whom the Hero Loves to Tease
LUCIA RIZAL: Partaker of the Hero’s Sufferings
MARIA RIZAL: The Hero’s Confidant
CONCEPCION RIZAL: The Hero’s First Grief
TRINIDAD RIZAL: The Custodian of the Hero’s Greatest Poem
JOSEFA RIZAL: The Katipunera
SOLEDAD RIZAL: The Hero’s Controversial Sister

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Para sa komento o assignment, gamitin ang comment section sa: Republic Act 1425 Rizal Law (Its History and Important Provisions)