CHAPTER 4

Scholastic Triumphs at Ateneo de Manila (1872-1877)

Chapter Summary

Four months after the martyrdom of Gom-Bur-Za and with Four months after the
martyrdom of Gom-Bur-Za and with Doña Teodora still in prison, Jose, who had not yet
celebrated his eleventh birthday, was sent to manila. He studied in the Ateneo Municipal, a
college under the supervision of the Spanish Jesuits. This college was a bitter rival of the
Dominican-owned College of San Juan de Letran. It was formerly the Escuela Pia (Charity
School) a school for poor boys in manila which was established by the city government in 1817.
When the Jesuits, who had been expelled from the Philippines in 1768, returned to manila in
1859, they were given the management of the Escuela Pia, whose name was changed to Ateneo
de Manila. They were splendid educators, so that Ateneo acquired prestige as an excellent
college for boys.

Outline:

Rizal enters the Ateneo

Jesuit system of education
Rizal’s first year in Ateneo (1872-73)
Summer vacation (1873)
Second year in Ateneo (1873-74)
DISCUSSION:
Rizal enters the Ateneo. On June 10, 1872 Jose, accompanied by Paciano, went to Manila. He
took the entrance examinations on Christian doctrine, arithmetic, and reading at the College of
San Juna de Letran, and passed them. He returned to Calamba to stay a few days with his family
and to attend the town fiesta. His father, who first wished him to study at Letran, changed his
mind and decided to send him to Ateneo instead.
Thus, upon his return to Manila, Jose, again accompanied by Paciano, matriculated at the
Ateneo Municipal. At first, Father Magin Ferrando, who was the college registrar, refused to
admit him for two reasons: (1) he was late for registration and (2) he was sickly and undersized
for his age. Rizal was then eleven years old. However, upon the intercession of Manuel Xerez
Burgos, nephew of Father Burgos, he was reluctantly admitted at the Ateneo.
Jose was the first of his family to adopt the surname “Rizal.” He registered under this
name in Ateneo because their family name “Mercado” had come under the suspicion of the
Spanish authorities. Paciano had used “Mercado” as his surname at the College of Sab Jose and
he was known to the authorities as Father Burgos’ favorite student and confidant.
At the time Jose studied in the Ateneo, this College was located in Intramuros, on
Caraballo Street, 25 minutes’ walk from the college. This boarding house was owned by a
spinster named Titay who owed Rizal family the amount of P300. Jose boarded with her in order
to collect part of the debt.
Jesuit system of education.The system of education given by the Jesuits in the Ateneo was
more advanced than that of other colleges in that period. It trained the character of the student by
rigid discipline and religious instruction. It promoted physical culture, humanities, and scientific
studies. Aside from academic courses leading to the degree of Bachelor of Arts, it offered
vocational courses in agriculture, commerce, mechanics, and surveying.
The students heard Mass in the morning before the beginning of the daily class. Classes
in every subject were opened and closed with prayers.
Students were divided into two groups, namely:
1. Roman Empire – consisting of the internos (boarders)
2. Carthaginian Empire – composed of externos (non-boarders)
Each of these empires had its ranks:
Emperor – the best student in each empire
Tribune – the second best
Decurion – the third best
Centurion – the fourth best
Standard-Bearer - the fifth best
 Within the “empire”, the students fought for positions, any student could challenge any
officer in his “empire” to answer questions on the day’s lesson. His opponent could lose his
position if he committed three mistakes. Any student might be at the end of the line, but if he
studied hard and was brilliant, he could depose the officers one after another and become an
emperor.
The two groups, “Roman Empire” and “Carthaginian Empire,” were in constant
competition for supremacy in the class. They had their distinctive banners: red for the Romans
and blue for the Carthaginians. At the beginning of the school term, both banners were used
equally in the classroom. “Upon the first defeat, the banner of losing party was transferred to the
left side of the room. Upon the second, it was placed in the inferior position on the right side.
Upon the third, the inclined flag was placed on the left. Upon the fourth, the flag was reversed
and returned to the right. Upon the fifth, the reversed flag was placed on the left. Upon the sixth,
the banner was changed with a figure of a donkey.”
The Ateneo students in Rizal’s time wore a uniform which consisted of “hemp-fabric
trousers” and “stripped cotton coat.” The coat material was called rayadillo, which later became
famous for it was adopted as the uniform for Filipino troops during the days of the First
Philippine Republic.
Rizal’s first year in Ateneo (1872-73). On his first day of class in Ateneo, in June 1872,
Rizal first heard Mass at the college chapel and prayed fervently to God for guidance and
success. When the Mass was finished, he went to his class, where he saw great number of boys,
Spaniards, mestizos and Filipinos.
Rizal first professor in Ateneo was Fr. Jose Bech, whom he described as a “tall, thin man,
with a body slightly bent forward, a harried walk, an ascetic face, severe and inspired, small
deep-sunken eyes, a sharp nose that was almost Greek, and thin lips forming an arc whose ends
fell toward the chin.”
Summer Vacation (1873). At the end of the school year in March, 1873, Rizal returned
to Calamba for summer vacation. He did not particularly enjoy his vacation because his mother
wan is prison. To cheer him up, his sister Neneng (Saturnina) brought him to Tanawan with her.
This did not cure his melancholy. Without telling his father, he went to Santa Cruz and visited
his mother in prison. He told her of his brilliant grades at the Ateneo. She gladly embraced her
favorite son.
When summer vacation was ended, Rizal returned to Manila for his second year term in
Ateneo. This time he boarded inside Intramuros at No. 6 Magallanes Street. His landlady was an
old lady named Doña Pepay, who had a widowed daughter and four sons.
Second year in Ateneo (1873-74).Nothing unusual happened to Rizal during his second
term in Ateneo, except that he repented having neglected his studies the previous year simply
because he was offended by the teacher’s remarks. So, to regain his lost class leadership, he
studied harder. Once more he become “emperor”.
 Prophecy of Mother’s release.Rizal lost no time in going to Santa Cruz in order to visit
his mother in the provincial jail. He cheered up Doña Teodora’s lonely heart with news of his
scholastic triumphs in Ateneo and with funny tales about his professors and fellow students. The
mother was very happy to know that her favorite child was making such splendid progress in
college.
In the course of their conviction, Doña Teodora told her son of her dream the previous
night. Rizal interpreting the dream told her that she would be released from prison in three
months’ time. Doña Teodora smiled, thinking that her son’s prophecy was a mere boyish attempt
to console her.
But Rizal’s prophecy became true. Barely three months passed, and suddenly Doña
Teodora was set free. By that time, Rizal was already in Manila attending his classes in Ateneo.
Doña Teodora, happily back in Calamba, was even more proud of her son Jose whom she
likened to the youthful Joseph in the Bible in his ability to interpret dreams.
First romance of Rizal.Shortly after his graduation from the Ateneo, Rizal, who was
then sixteen years old, experienced his first romance – “that painful experience which comes to
nearly all adolescents”. The girl was Segunda Katigbak, a pretty fourteen-year old Batangueña
from Lipa. In Rizal’s own words: “She was rather short, with eyes that were eloquent and ardent
at times and languid at others, rosy-cheeked, with an enchanting and provocative smile that
revealed very beautiful teeth, and the air of a sylph; her entire self-diffused a mysterious charm.”
One Sunday Rizal visited his maternal grandmother who lived in Trozo, Manila. He was
accompanied by his friend, Mariano Katigbak. His old grandmother was a friend of the Katigbak
family of Lipa. When he reached his grandmother’s house, he saw guests. One of whom was an
attractive girl, who mysteriously caused his heart to palpitate with strange ecstasy. She was the
sister of his friend Mariano, and her name was Segunda.
 Chapter Test

1. Who accompanied Rizal in his visit to his maternal grandmother in Trozo, Manila?
Answer:
2. He is one of rizal’s contemporaries in the Ateneo. He related an incident of Rizal’s
schooldays in the Ateneo which reveals the hero’s resignation to pain and forgiveness.
Answer:
3. This book was written by Dr. Feodor Jagor which read and impressed him?
Answer:
4. In Rizal’s 5th day and last year in the Ateneo, he was the most brilliant Atenean of his
time and was called at the time the…?
Answer:
5. The hero of “The Count of Monte Cristo?
Answer:
6. He was a professor who advise Rizal to stop communing with the Muses and pay more
attention to more practical studies, such as philosophy and natural sciences. Rizal not
heed his advise?
Answer:
7. Escuela Pia-Ateneo Municipal is?
Answer:
8. Where did Rizal’s maternal grandmother live?
Answer:
9. The college registrar of Ateneo municipal who refused to admit Rizal in the College?f
Answer:
10. How many mistakes would it take for a student who is challenged by another student to
lose his position?
Answer: