15 Interesting Things Most Filipinos Dont Know About Jose Rizal
They say that swords and bolos are the sharpest weapons for battle but Jose Rizal sharpened his pencil and inked his quill for Filipinos to have equal rights. Every Filipinos know him as the Philippine National Hero. The novelist who died because of nationalism. But there are things that most Filipinos don’t know about him especially during his exile in Dapitan.
They say that swords and bolos are the sharpest weapons for battle but Jose Rizal sharpened his pencil and inked his quill for Filipinos to have equal rights. Every Filipinos know him as the Philippine National Hero. The novelist who died because of nationalism. But there are things that most Filipinos don’t know about him especially during his exile in Dapitan.
It wasn’t easy living in a historical place. Indeed, one would feel proud that he’s living in a place like that but I didn’t feel that way before. It wasn’t that easy. Back in grade school and in high school, I would spend a lot of time reviewing history subjects for quiz bees especially when it comes to the autobiography of Jose Rizal. When I was in my sixth grade, I spent a whole summer attending summer classes about Rizal for an upcoming quiz bee later that school year. During leisure times in high school when I would climb theIlihan Hill which used to be a watch hill in the ancient times, I would stumble to some tourists and suddenly I would be a tour guide on the hill. When I went to college way far away from my hometown, I thought everybody knows Jose Rizal’s whole story but unfortunately, they didn’t. The usual answer is that, “Rizal is a hero, he wrote books and went against the Spaniards, they caught him, got prisoned and was shot.” Most of them didn’t even know the things that happened to him and didn’t even know Dapitan, the place where he was exiled. College history about Rizal got me more interested about him and I thought that all those years that I used to review about him was worth it. After all, it’s kind of nice to say “I’m from Dapitan, Rizal used to be my neighbor” whenever asked where I came from.
Now enough about the introduction. Here are several things that most Filipinos don’t know about Rizal and the rumors connected to him and most especially about his four years stay inDapitan.
1. Jose Rizal was born with a big head. [must be the reason why he was so intelligent... he must've big brain as well...anyways, I think many Pinoys know about this]
2. Most Filipinos think that Rizal died because he was TOTALLY against the Spaniards and that he wanted FULL freedom from them but the truth is that Rizal only appealed for equal rights. Filipinos be treated as equal human. Rizal questioned their way of governing and how they abuse Filipinos [who were used to be called indios].
3. There are rumors that Rizal’s book entitled El FIlibusterismo was inspired by Alexandre Dumas’ novel The Count of Monte Cristo considering that it was actually one of Rizal’s favorite story. (Some even say that Rizal plagiarized it which for my opinion, totally unbelievable)
4. Did you know that Jose Rizal’s favorite dish was carne asada?
5. Rizal could show too much sarcasm because of his love for his country. Why and how? Back in Dapitan when he received three visitors in his house in Talisay, he offered the woman named Donya Manuela with Bagoong. The lady ignored the bagoong saying that they do not eat bagoong in their country because it contains worms. With that, Rizal responded saying that he had been in her country and people there eat little birds without taking out intestines.
6. His poem Mi Retiro (My Retreat) was written when he was sick and could not work. (Yes, heroes get sick sometimes)
7. There are rumors that Rizal was a playboy having a lot of girls mentioned in hisautobiography and until now many believe that he really had a lot of girlfriends but the truth is that he only had few real relationships. The other girls were all just flings. and some were just plain friends.
8. The dam he built in Dapitan was built using burned shells and bricks that were made from the machine he built. In his letter to his best friend, he said that the dam was built by him and fourteen young boys(his students)
9. Rizal spent Php500.00 for coconut oil lamps for the streets of Dapitan.
10. Rizal would jokingly pinch his students who couldn’t answer correctly.
11. Usual books would mention that Rizal collected frogs, snakes and shells. Aside from that, he also collected Orchids and butterflies.
12. Rizal’s house only cost Php40.00 when he built it… (That’s about $0.95 now… the only thing you can buy are nails.)
13. Rizal joined lottery and won one-third of the grand prize Php18,000.00.
14. As a gift for his former professor in Ateneo, Fr. Jose Guerrico who went to Dapitan, Rizal made him a bust of Fr. Jose Guerrico. The bust won a gold medal at the 1904 St. Louis Exposition.
15. During his stay in Dapitan, he often tell Captain Carnicero(the town captain) that he didn’t want Spaniards and friars to go. He would say “In Philippines, there is room for everybody”.
It wasn’t easy living in a historical place. Indeed, one would feel proud that he’s living in a place like that but I didn’t feel that way before. It wasn’t that easy. Back in grade school and in high school, I would spend a lot of time reviewing history subjects for quiz bees especially when it comes to the autobiography of Jose Rizal. When I was in my sixth grade, I spent a whole summer attending summer classes about Rizal for an upcoming quiz bee later that school year. During leisure times in high school when I would climb theIlihan Hill which used to be a watch hill in the ancient times, I would stumble to some tourists and suddenly I would be a tour guide on the hill. When I went to college way far away from my hometown, I thought everybody knows Jose Rizal’s whole story but unfortunately, they didn’t. The usual answer is that, “Rizal is a hero, he wrote books and went against the Spaniards, they caught him, got prisoned and was shot.” Most of them didn’t even know the things that happened to him and didn’t even know Dapitan, the place where he was exiled. College history about Rizal got me more interested about him and I thought that all those years that I used to review about him was worth it. After all, it’s kind of nice to say “I’m from Dapitan, Rizal used to be my neighbor” whenever asked where I came from.
Now enough about the introduction. Here are several things that most Filipinos don’t know about Rizal and the rumors connected to him and most especially about his four years stay inDapitan.
1. Jose Rizal was born with a big head. [must be the reason why he was so intelligent... he must've big brain as well...anyways, I think many Pinoys know about this]
2. Most Filipinos think that Rizal died because he was TOTALLY against the Spaniards and that he wanted FULL freedom from them but the truth is that Rizal only appealed for equal rights. Filipinos be treated as equal human. Rizal questioned their way of governing and how they abuse Filipinos [who were used to be called indios].
3. There are rumors that Rizal’s book entitled El FIlibusterismo was inspired by Alexandre Dumas’ novel The Count of Monte Cristo considering that it was actually one of Rizal’s favorite story. (Some even say that Rizal plagiarized it which for my opinion, totally unbelievable)
4. Did you know that Jose Rizal’s favorite dish was carne asada?
5. Rizal could show too much sarcasm because of his love for his country. Why and how? Back in Dapitan when he received three visitors in his house in Talisay, he offered the woman named Donya Manuela with Bagoong. The lady ignored the bagoong saying that they do not eat bagoong in their country because it contains worms. With that, Rizal responded saying that he had been in her country and people there eat little birds without taking out intestines.
6. His poem Mi Retiro (My Retreat) was written when he was sick and could not work. (Yes, heroes get sick sometimes)
7. There are rumors that Rizal was a playboy having a lot of girls mentioned in hisautobiography and until now many believe that he really had a lot of girlfriends but the truth is that he only had few real relationships. The other girls were all just flings. and some were just plain friends.
8. The dam he built in Dapitan was built using burned shells and bricks that were made from the machine he built. In his letter to his best friend, he said that the dam was built by him and fourteen young boys(his students)
9. Rizal spent Php500.00 for coconut oil lamps for the streets of Dapitan.
10. Rizal would jokingly pinch his students who couldn’t answer correctly.
11. Usual books would mention that Rizal collected frogs, snakes and shells. Aside from that, he also collected Orchids and butterflies.
12. Rizal’s house only cost Php40.00 when he built it… (That’s about $0.95 now… the only thing you can buy are nails.)
13. Rizal joined lottery and won one-third of the grand prize Php18,000.00.
14. As a gift for his former professor in Ateneo, Fr. Jose Guerrico who went to Dapitan, Rizal made him a bust of Fr. Jose Guerrico. The bust won a gold medal at the 1904 St. Louis Exposition.
15. During his stay in Dapitan, he often tell Captain Carnicero(the town captain) that he didn’t want Spaniards and friars to go. He would say “In Philippines, there is room for everybody”.
The yoyo was used as a weapon in the Philippines for over 400 years!
A Philippine urban legend about the yoyo, which is quite popular among the country’s college students, states that their National hero Dr. Jose Rizal used the yoyo as a weapon and is apparently good at it. According to history, the yoyo was used by the Filipino people as a weapon for over 400 years. A toy? Think again!