The Philippine National Hero

Jose Rizal wrote the poem To the Child Jesus (in other references, Child Jesus) when he was 14 years old. A rather short poem only eight lines long, it follows the traditional Spanish pattern of poetry:Why have you come to earth,Child-God, in a poor manger?Does Fortune find you a strangerfrom the moment of your birth?The poem begins with...

There were three main reasons for his struggling academic performance at the University of Santo Tomas (Guerrero, 1998):Rizal was not satisfied with the system of education at the university.In the Ateneo,  Jesuit professors were encouraging and understanding. This motivated Rizal to develop his skills and talents.The Dominican system was obsolete and repressive.Rizal stressed this in the El Filibusterismo,...

Jose Rizal, having completed his Bachiller en Artes at the Ateneo Municipal, was now eligible for higher education at a university. His mother, Doña Teodora, had second thoughts about sending her son to school because of the previous incident involving the execution of friars Gomez, Burgos and Zamora. However, it was Don Francisco who decided his son should...