(1827-1911)
An
outstanding Filipina mother. Ddiia Teodora was born in 0Meisik, Manila on
November 9, 1827, to a distinguished and wealthy family. Her father, Lorenzo Alberto
Alonso, a surveyor, was once a capitan
municipal of Biņan, Laguna, a representative to the Spanish Cortes and a
Knight of the Order of Isabela the Catholic. Her mother, Brigida de Quintos,
was described as being unusually well-educated.
Don"a
Teodora was the youngest daughter of the couple's five children. Her youngest
brother Jose, himself a Knight of the Order of Isabela the Catholic and also of
the Order of Carlos III, was described as the wealthiest in Biņan during his
time. The Alonso family later adopted the surname Realonda in accordance with a
decree issued by Governor Claveria in 1849.
Like
her gifted mother, Doiia Teodora was well-educated and highly cultured. She
graduated from the Colegio de Santa Rosa in Manila. With pride, Rizal wrote
Blumentritt, "My mother is not woman of ordinary culture. She knows
literature and speaks better than I do. She even corrected my poems and gave me
wise advise when was studying rhetoric. She is a mathematician and has read
many books. Her father who was Philippine representative to the Cortes had been
her teacher."
Doha
Teodora was 20 years old when she married Francisco Mercado of Biņan in 1848.
They settled in Calamba and to them were born eleven children: Saturnina,
Paciano, Narcisa, Olimpia, Lucia, Maria, Jose, Concepcion, Josefa, Trinidad and
Soledad. She is said to have suffered the greatest pain in the delivery of her
seventh child, the ounger of her two sons, Jose. Her daughter Narcisa recalled:
"I was nine years of age when my mother gave birth to Jose x x x I recall
father vividly because my mother suffered great pain. She labored for a long
time. x x x Her pain was later attributed to the fact that Jose's head was
bigger than normal." But this would not be the only pain that she would
suffer on account of this son.
The
Rizal family was primarily engaged in agriculture. In time, the family
prospered. They were the first to own a ]age stone house in Calamba. Their good
fortune was due not only to the couple's industry but also, to Doņa Teodora's
efficient management of domestic affairs and her keen business sense. Aside
from handling the family's finances, she also helped in the management of their
farm where corn, rice, and sugarcane were raised. They engaged in the textile
business and operated sugar and flour mills and a homemade hand press. As if
these were not enough, Doņa Teodora opened a small store on the ground floor of
their house. With such resources they were able to send their children to
distinguished colleges in Manila and to leading universities in Europe as well,
as in the case of their gifted son, Jose.
Despite
her involvement in the family's business affairs, Doņa Teodora did not neglect
her duties as a mother. As such she was devoted, loving, solicitous and
self-sacrificing. But she was also a strict disciplinarian. She was so
effective as her children's first teacher that Rizal was led to remark years
later: "The education that I received since my earliest infancy was
perhaps what has shaped my habits." But she would also be the first to
object vigorously to her husband's plan to let Jose pursue higher learning. A
devout and religious woman, she impressed upon her children the love of God and
loyalty to country. To her, the fulfillment of one's "duties as a true Christian
is sweeter than acquiring great knowledge which sometimes leads to greater
dangers."
Jose
admired and adored her because of her intelligence and her devotion to her
family. She was a great influence on her son whose concern for her when her
vision failed, made him decide to take up medicine and specialize in
ophthalmology.
Ever
solicitous, Doņa Teodora left Hongkong in 1893 to keep house for him upon his
exile to Dapitan. Rizal paid her the greatest tribute a man could give his
mother when he exclaimed in his memoir: "Ah! Without her what would have
become of my education and what would have been my fate? Oh, yes! After God the
mother is everything to man."
Doņa
Teodora was a good wife as well. She shared her husband's joys, sorrows and
problems. She was a veritable helpmate and a comfort in times of distress. Her
devotion to her husband may be gleaned from Dr. Rizal's letters to his friend,
Blumentritt, while in Dapitan in I895: In one, he wrote that his mother was
leaving for Manila because his father, who was getting weaker, wanted to see
her. And in another, he wrote: "My father is well again and my old mother
does not want to separate from him - like two friends in the last hours of
farewell, knowing that they are going to separate, they do not like to be far
from each other." Doņa Teodora outlived Don Francisco, who died on Jgnuary
5, 1898, more than a year after his son's martyrdom.
Among
the members of the Rizal family, next to the great hero himself, Doņa Teodora
perhaps suffered the most from Spanish tyranny. Twice, she was unjustly
imprisoned on charges which were either preposterous or trifling. In 1871, she
was accused of poisoning the wife of her brother Jose. The case was brought to
the Supreme Court where she was defended by two of Manila's most famous
lawyers. She was subsequently acquitted, but she had already suffered im
prisonment
for two and a half years.
In
1890, the Rizal family, together with other Filipino families, were ejected
from their lands in Calamba as a result of a controversy between the Filipino
tenants and the Dominican Order which owned the`Calamba estates. Homeless, the
Rizal family moved to Manila and lived there. But Spanish persecution followed
them. In 1891 Doņa Teodora was arrested. Regarding this. Rizal wrote bititrly:
"From Manila they sent her to Sta. Cruz, Laguna Province, through
mountains, from town to town, because she did not call herself Realonda de
Rizal but simply Teodora Alonso! She has always been called Teodora Alonso!
Imagine an old woman of 64 traveling through mountains and highways with her
daughter under the custody of the civil guard. When my mother and sister, after
four days of traveling, arrived at Sta. Cruz, the governor, deeply touched,
released them."
The
endless persecution prompted them to join Rizal in Hong Kong in 1891. It was a
contented Rizal who informed Blumentritt that his parents, sisters and brothers
were living peacefully with him, "far from the persecutions they suffered
in the Philippines."
What greater sorrow could fill a mother's heart than to see the day come when her beloved son would be sentenced to death after a mock trial. Already well advanced in years, Doņa Teodora passionately appealed to the governor-general for her son's life. But it was in vain. On December 30, 1896, Jose Rizal was martyred in Bagumbayan Field.
Doņa
Teodora survived her son for 15 years. She died in Manila on August 16, 1911.
Fitting honors were accorded her at her funeral.
One
incident in the life of Don"a Teodora is worth remembering. In 1907, the
Philippine Legislature offered her a lifetime pension as a token of gratitude:
The offer was politely but firmly refused with dignity and conviction. So she
replied: "My family has never been patriotic for money. If the government
has plenty of funds and does not know what to do with them, better reduce the
taxes."