“CHILDHOOD DAYS IN

CALAMBA”

SHIRLEY B. ALCANTARA
Calamba” Cradle of a Genius”
The town of Calamba is situated on a vendant plain by
the rippling Laguna de Bay. A few kilometers to the
south looms the legendary. Mt. Makiling, and beyond
this mountain lies the coffee-producing Batangas.
North of the town spreads the Laguna de Bay,” a lake of
poems and songs”, with many sailboat gliding by the
somnolent Talim island and numerous birds flying in
the azure skies. Beyond the lake, to the far distance in
the north is Antipolo, the famous mountain shrine of
the miraculous Lady of Peace and Good Voyage.
 Calamba, with its fertile fields of rice and
sugarcane, its evermore green meadows of
innumerable fruit trees and bananas, its singing birds
abounding in the lake, river, and fields, its starry
nights “filled with the poetry of sadness,” its lovely
sunrises over lake and mountain, and its charming
panoramic views, is a fit place to nurture a growing
child. So it came to pass that it became the “cradle of a
genius”.
Rizal loved Calamba with all his heart and soul. In
1876,when he was 15 years old and was a student in the
Ateneo, he remembered his beloved town.
Earliest Childhood Memories
The first memory of Rizal, in his infancy, was his
happy days in the family garden when he was three
years old. Because he was a frail, sickly, and undersized
child, he was given the tenderest care by his parents.
His father built a little nipa cottage in the garden for
him to play in the daytime. A kind old woman was
employed as an aya(maid) to look after his comfort. At
times, he was left alone to muse on the beauties of
nature or to play by himself. In his boyhood memoirs,
he narrated how he, at the age of three, watched from
his garden cottage, the pipit, and other birds, listening
“with wonder and joy” to their twilight songs.
 Another childhood memory was the daily Angelus
prayer. By nightfall, Rizal related, his mother gathered all
the children at the house to pray the Angelus.
With nostalgic feeling, he also remembered the happy
moonlit nights at the azotea after the nightly rosary.
The imaginary tales told by the aya aroused in Rizal
an enduring interest in legends and folklore. Sometimes,
when he did not like to take his supper, the aya would
threaten him that the asuang, the nuno, the tigbalang, or a
terrible bearded and turbaned Bombay would come to take
him away if he would not eat his supper.
Another memory of infancy was the nocturnal walk in
the town, especially when there was a moon. The aya took
him for a walk in the moonlight by the river, where the
trees cast grotesque shadows on the bank.
First Sorrow
The Rizal children were bound together by ties of
love and companionship.They
affectionately called their father Tatay, and their
mother Nanay.
Jose was jokingly called Ute by his brother and sister.
The people in Calamba knew him as Pepe or Pepito.
Jose was closest to his older brother Paciano. Paciano
loved his younger brother and was proud of his genius.
On the other hand, Jose respected Paciano, regarding
him almost his second father.
 Of his sisters, Jose loved most the little
Concha(Concepcion). He was one year older than
Concha. He played with her, and from her he learned
the sweetness of brotherly love.

Unfortunately, Concha died of sickness in 1865 when

she was only three years old.”When I was four years old”,
he said, “I lost my little sister Concha, and then for the
first time I wept tears of love and grief…” The death of
little Concha brought him his first sorrow.
Devoted Son of Church
Young Rizal was a religious boy. A scion of
Catholic clan, born and bred in a wholesome
atmosphere of Catholicism, and possessed of an
inborn pious spirit, he grew up as a good Catholic.
At the age of three, he began to take part in the
family prayers. His mother, who was a devout Catholic,
taught him the Catholic prayer. When he was five years
old, he was able to read haltingly the Spanish family
Bible.
He loved to go to church, to pray, to take part in
novenas, and to join the religious processions. “He was
so seriously devout that he was laughingly called
Manong Jose by Hermanos and Hermanas Terceras.”
 Evidence of his fervent Catholic spirit is seen in
the poems which he wrote during his boyhood, such as
Al Nino Jesus (1876), La Alianza Intima Entre La
Religion y La Buena Educacion (1876), and A LaVirgen
Maria,.
*1870-71 –he was studying in Binan, Laguna.
*June 1872- he started his life as a student in the
Ateneo.
*Father Leoncio Lopez- the town priest, one of the
men that Rizal esteemed and respected in Calamba.
Pilgrimage in Antipolo
*June 6, 1868- Jose and father left Calamba to go on
pilgrimage to Antipolo, in order to fulfill his mother’s
vow which was made when jose was born. Dona
Teodora could not accompany them because she had
given birth to Trinidad.
After praying at the shrine of the Virgin of
Antipolo, Jose and his father went to Manila. It was the
first time Jose visited Manila. They went to Santa Ana
and visited Saturnina, who was then a student in La
Concordia College.
First Education from Mother
Dona Teodora- Jose’s first teacher. A woman of good
character and fine educated.
At the age of three, Jose learned the alphabet and the
prayers from her.
The Story of the Moth
The tragic fate of the young moth, which “died a
martyr to its illusions,” left a deep impress on Rizal’s
mind. He justified such noble death, asserting that “to
sacrifice one’s life for it,” meaning for an ideal, is
“worth while.” And, like that young moth, he was fated
to die as a martyr for noble ideal.
Rizal’s Three Uncles
Uncle Gregorio- was lover of books.
Uncle Jose- He encouraged his nephew to paint, sketch,
and sculpture.
Uncle Manuel- was a big, strong, and husky man. He
encouraged young Rizal to learn swimming, fencing,
wrestling, and other sports, so that in the later years
Rizal’s frail body acquired agility, endurance, and
strength.
Artistic Talents
He drew sketches and pictures on his books and on the
books of his sister, for which reason he was scolded by his
mother.
He curved figures of animals and persons out of wood.
He painted in oil colors a new banner that delighted the
town folks because it was better than the original one.
He loved to ride on a spirited pony(which his father bought
for him) or take long walks in the meadows and lakeshore
with his big black dog named Usman.
His nimble fingers and supple wrist could perform many
tricks which dazzled the eyes of the onlookers. He
entertained the Calamba folks and his friends in school
with his clever sleights-of-hand and magic lanterns.
Prodigy of the Pen
Not only was little Jose skilled in brush,chisel, and
pen-knife, but also in pen. He was a born poet. His
mother encouraged him to write poetry. At an early age
when children usually begin to learn their A,B,C, he
was already writing poems.
*Sa Aking Mga Kabata (To My Fellow Children)- first
Tagalog poem that he wrote.
Before he was eight years old, he wrote a Tagalog
drama. This drama was staged in Calamba in
connection with the town fiesta.
Two pesos at that time was quite a big sum for a
boy of less than eight years old.
Lakeshore Reveries
During the twilight hours of summertime Rizal,
accompanied by his pet dog, used to meditate at the shore of
Laguna de Bay on the sad conditions of his oppressed people.
Young that he was, he grieved deeply over the unhappy
situation of his beloved fatherland. The Spanish misdeeds
awakened in his boyish heart a great determination to fight
tyranny.
Influences on Hero’s Boyhood;
1. Hereditary Influence- according to biological science, there
are inherent traits or qualities which a person inherents from
his ancestors and parents.
2. Environmental Influence- according to psychologists,
environment, as well as hereditary, affects the nature of a
person. It includes places, associates, and events.
3. Aid of Devine Providence- greater than hereditary and
environment in the fate of man is the aid of Divine Providence.
A person may have everything in life- brains, wealth, and
power- but, without the aid of Divine Providence, he cannot
attain greatness in the annals of the nation.