153rd Birthday of Dr. José Rizal

153rd Birthday of Dr. José Rizal

A celebration of the 153rd Birthday of Dr. José Rizal – June 26, 2014

WELCOME – LYDIA S. DE LA CRUZ

Good evening, Deputy Consul General Jaime Ramon Ascalon, Members of the Board, our sponsors and patrons of the arts and friends of the Museo.

A birthday celebration is a very personal thing. In planning for Dr. José Rizal’s 153rd birthday, I wanted to know what kind of a man he truly was, and I chose to take an in-depth look at his love affair with Leonor Rivera. I wanted proof that Leonor was truly the love of Rizal, so I consulted Dr. Penelope V. Flores, a professor of education at San Francisco State University who was then finishing her book about Dr. José Rizal’s travels with Viola. She kindly provided the material I was looking for, which had been published in La Solidaridad.

Much information is available about Dr. José Rizal and Leonor Rivera, but for the benefit of some of our guests, let me give you a brief biography of Leonor Rivera:

Leonor Rivera

Leonor Rivera was born in Camiling, Tarlac on April 11, 1867. Her parents were Antonio Rivera and Silvestra Bauzon. Her father, Antonio Rivera, was a distant cousin of Rizal’s father, which was one of the reasons they kept their relationship a secret. She attended school at La Concordia College and was described as a talented, mature, intelligent lady. She played the harp and piano and had a charming voice. She could write and read Spanish. She was immortalized by Dr. José Rizal as the character Maria Clara in his novel Noli Me Tangere. She was married to Henry Charles Kipping but died on August 28, 1893 from complications of childbirth, shortly after the birth of her second son.

What is La Solidaridad?

What is LA SOLIDARIDAD?

La Solidaridad (The Solidarity) was an organization created in Spain on December 13, 1888. Composed of Filipino liberals exiled in 1872 and students attending Europe’s universities, the organization aimed to increase Spanish awareness of the needs of its colony, the Philippines, and to propagate a closer relationship between the colony and Spain.

Headed by José Rizal’s cousin, Galicano Apacible, it also issued a newspaper of the same name which was published in Barcelona, Spain, on February 15, 1889. The newspaper published not only articles and essays about the economic, cultural, political, and social conditions of the country, but also current news, both local and foreign, and speeches of prominent Spanish leaders about the Philippines.

Synopsis: A Kiss from Loleng

WELCOME – Lydia S. de la Cruz

For this evening’s reading, we adapted the article "A Kiss from the Philippines," published on July 15, 1890, in La Solidaridad under the pen name "Taga-Ilog," and narrowed it to three main characters: José Rizal or Pepe, his friend Silverio and his love Leonor Rivera or Loleng. The dialogue is as written, but to give more emphasis to the love and relationship of José Rizal and Leonor, we aptly called the reading “A Kiss from Loleng.” The setting is the evening before Rizal’s departure for Europe, when he persistently asked Loleng for a kiss as a gesture of her love for him. Loleng, in turn, was firm and steadfastly declined his request. We shall find that Rizal behaved like any man in love, persistent but respectful. How did Rizal accept the refusal of his simple request? How did their love endure the separation?

I would like to introduce our talented readers this evening:

Dody Garcia – Dr. José Rizal

Leon Palad – Silverio, a very close friend of Rizal

Yours truly as Loleng

Narrator – Dan de la Cruz

Technical support – Rose Santos

Cast from left to right: Dody Garcia as Rizal, Lydia de la Cruz as Loleng, Leon Palad as Silverio

Two of the letters from Leonor that have survived give us a sense of what she was like and how the lovers tried to keep their relationship secret.

Since Leonor’s mother disapproved of their relationship, she used a code name Rizal gave her, “Taimis.”

Letters between Rizal and Leonor

Two of the letters from Leonor that have survived give us a sense of what she was like and how the lovers tried to keep their relationship secret.

On January 2, 1881, Leonor wrote Rizal:

“Esteemed Friend,
“I received your letter dated 30 of last month and I am informed of its contents.
“If I have not received your letters, it was not because I’bored corresponding with you. In fact, twice I wrote replies, but on the day I did so, nobody came to visit me at the college ( La Concordia), so I destroyed them, and besides I was already embarrassed.
“I am doubtful if the letter is yours, it was not because the signature is different. Perhaps you have put another name, fearing that I might despise it and if I despise it, it will not be your name that will be despised but somebody else’s. If that is what you think, you are mistaken for you do not know how glad I am when I receive one of your dear letters: but you did well in putting another name in case, as you say, it may fall into the hands of strangers.

“Command your servant who kisses your hand.

The second letter was written so many months later, on December 28, 1881, saying:

“Esteemed Jose

“I would be glad if on the receipt of this you are in good health and happy.

“I was very much surprised that you had a letter for Papa and none for me; but at first when they told me about it I did not believe it, because he did not expect that a person like you would do such a thing. But later I was convinced that you are like a newly opened rose, very flushed and fragrant at the beginning, but afterwards it begins to wither. Before, however, when I did not write you, you wrote me, but now no more. It seems that you have imitated my example when I went to Antipolo and you have done wrong, because I was not in my own house, and besides you know very well that you cannot hide any thing from those girls. I could very well write to Papa, but in order that you might not say anything, I did not, though Mama had ordered me to do so. You cannot have these pretexts because you are at your home and nobody meddles with you. Truly I tell you that I’am very resentful for what you have done and for another thing that I’ll tell you later when you come.

“Excuse the writing and all the mistakes you find in it.

“Command at your pleasure your true servant who kisses your hand.

Example letters

Their exchange of letters lasted for 6 years. The two were known as “lovers by correspondence” because of their countless love letters written in different languages such as Filipino, English, Spanish and French. Rizal shifted languages to prevent interception of the letters by the Spanish authorities.

The last letter Leonor ever received from Jose was written on March 30, 1884. He was 23 years old.

“Today I visited your family (relatives in Madrid), I do not know whether it is my patriotism or what but this family is very dear to me. The children are charming. One of the children, Josѐ, talked until I had a good laugh. The oldest girl has been in Concordia College and knows many girls there.

Then he writes in French:

The girls of my own country please me greatly, but I have found one back home who has charmed and who makes me dream. Whenever I am overcome with pensive melancholy I unfold all my past before my vision. I am going to be like that traveler who goes down the road smelling flowers; he passes without touching them for fear they may prove unreal… My days pass swiftly and I see that I am becoming old for my age, as many people tell me. I do not have the smiling face of those with tranquil hearts and hopes for the future; yet I have done nothing that would not meet with your approval. My conscience does not trouble me, for I have deprived myself of many pleasures. I believe my heart has not lost any of its power to love…only the one I love most is not here.”

José Rizal in Barcelona, Spain

Because Leonor’s mother blocked all the letters of the lovers, Rizal only got information from his friends.

His friends used codes as well:

Mariano Katigbak referred to Leonor as his sweetheart

Jose M. Cecilio called her the Question of the Orient

Mariano Katigbak wrote in June 1884 how downcast Leonor was:

“You would not know Leonor if you now saw her. Your sweetheart is going down very much, no doubt because of her worry. She, who, I think, knew love for the first and only time, has sacrificed the man of her heart, and sees that instead of the approach of a happy ending, that ending is getting farther away with gigantic strides.”

Jose M. Cecilio or “Chengoy” wrote him constantly about Leonor’s situation in the Philippines. He wrote:

September, 1885.
“I congratulate you on your good choice of the woman who is to be your faithful companion. She is no longer in Concordia College but in Dagupan, Pangasinan, besides her parents… and I do not know whether she will return to finish her education.”

He wrote again about his friend Sixto’s visit and observation of Leonor, who was addressed as the Question of the Orient:

May, 1886.

“The beautiful but delicate Question of the Orient is still in Dagupan beside her parents who rave about her. Her friend Sixto Lopez told me that he had been in that town, taking supper in their home…This young man became most enthusiastic over the Question, whom he found each day more precious and thrifty, but according to him she is now no more to be seen with as much finery as when we were together in their house.”

Forbidden Love

When Rizal returned to Manila in August 1887, the couple wanted to see each other but both were prohibited by their respective parents. Don Francisco Mercado believed that the meeting would put the Rivera family in danger for he was already labeled by the Spaniards as a “filibustero” or subversive because of the contents of his novel “Noli Me Tangere”.

Before his second departure from the country Rizal wanted to marry the uncomplaining Leonor and leave her in his sister Narcisa’s care. Don Francisco, however, consistently disapproved of Jose’s plan. His brother Paciano also thought that it was selfish of his brother to marry Leonor only to leave her behind. The meeting never happened.

In foreign lands, Rizal kept on sending letters to Leonor but received no reply.   The lovers had no idea that Leonor’s mother, Doña Silvestra, who understandably did not like the controversial Filipino for a son-in-law, had been hiding from Leonor all the letters and gifts sent to her by Rizal.

The mother convinced Leonor to marry Charles Henry Kipping, an English railway engineer who was responsible for the completion of the Manila–Dagupan railroad. Doña Silvestra was said to have connived in making Leonor believe that Jose had already fallen in love with Dr. Ferdinand Blumentritt’s daughter.

When the wedding was fixed, Leonor received a letter from Rizal while her mother was on a business trip to Manila. She learned what her mother had done, which her mother admitted. Leonor Rivera was married to Kipping on June 17, 1891, two days before Rizal’s birthday. She asked for the letters from her mother. After reading all the letters her mother told her that it was not good for her to keep the letters because she had a husband so Leonor was only allowed to burn the letters and keep the ashes. She put them inside a box covered with a dress she had worn when she was thirteen years old with the letters “J” and “L” embroidered on it.

Six months before the ceremony, Rizal received a letter announcing the imminent Kipping-Rivera wedding. The letter was from his true love who was also asking for his forgiveness. The letter signaled the death of Rizal’s 11-year love affair with Leonor.

Epilogue

After two years of marriage, Leonor died on August 28, 1893 from complications of childbirth, while Jose was serving his term as an exile in Dapitan.

While walking towards the place of his execution on December 30, 1896, Rizal turned towards the sea and was said to have uttered, “What a beautiful morning! On mornings like this, I used to take a walk with my sweetheart.” (Rizal’s Life, Works and Writings Ambeth Ocampo, p. 228)

The box with the burned ashes of Rizal’s letters to Leonor was donated to the Yuchengco Museum located at RCBC, Makati City by the descendants of the Kipping family for display during the month-long Rizal exhibit, Rizalizing the Future.

The End of the Romance.

Now I would like to introduce to you our classical guitarist Michael Gonzalez, who will share with us his renditions of “Kundiman ng Lahi,” also known as “Joselinang Baliwag,” and “Tango ni Rizal.” Both songs were popular during Rizal’s time.

Michael Gonzalez, Ed.D., was a professor at the University of the Philippines and currently a member of the faculty of the City College of San Francisco.

End of Program.