The Hero as Teacher

Parents, teachers, and students are now preparing for the opening of classes: pay tuition; buy books, pens, uniforms; budget the baon. These remind me of Jose Rizal and his beach-front school in Dapitan. We know from his writings that Rizal was interested in education. If he were not shot dead at the Luneta he would probably have lived a long teacher’s life.

Rizal’s letters from Dapitan give us an idea of the Hero as Teacher. His letters to his sisters often contained evaluations of the three nephews entrusted to his care: Estanislao Herbosa or “Tan,” Teodosio Herbosa or “Osio,” and Mauricio Cruz or “Moris.” He reported on not only their academic progress but also how they interacted with Josephine Bracken, who was then living with him to the horror of his pious mother and stern sisters.

Rizal made his nephews write so he could correct their penmanship, spelling and grammar. Even the nephews and nieces who were not in Dapitan were supervised. In a letter to his sister Lucia, he wrote: “Tell Delfina that I have received her letter and that I’m not returning it because it has no mistakes. There is only one accent left out: When she writes muchisimo she does not put an accent on ‘i’; it ought to be muchísimo. She should continue studying as she is getting along well.”

Delfina Herbosa, like her uncle, is part of Philippine history because in 1898, she, together with Marcela and Lorenza Agoncillo, worked on making the first Philippine flag. As for Tan and Osio, their uncle practiced some sort of graphology and tried to divine their natures and futures from their handwriting: “Today I made them write a letter. The writer was Tan, and Teodosio helped him. You will see by the characters that Teodosio is economical and Tan is generous. Here I shall teach them Spanish, English, arithmetic, and gymnastics.”

On March 12, 1896, Rizal sent this report to Maria Rizal regarding her son Moris:

“My dear sister: Enclosed is [the letter of] Moris who is just beginning to learn how to write. He is stout and dark and he knows how to swim a little. Only he is too lively and playful, always running and overturning the bottles in our house, which is shaky. He is bright and beats the two of Osio and Tan in memorizing, but Tan beats him in arithmetic and English. In slow reckoning Osio beats them all.

“Miss J. made him a long cáñamo shirt because he tears his clothes fast. Send him a broad-brimmed hat so that he would not get so dark. Miss J. takes good care of the three. She loves them and it is she they always call. They call her Auntie. Moris wears only a shirt because he often wets his pants. He is good in Spanish, but it is difficult for him to drop many vulgar expressions he had learned in Manila. … This is all. Miss J. greets you. Command your brother.”

Lucia Herbosa was also told that her sons were dark from swimming and that they were “getting along well in their studies. Now they send you their letters written by themselves alone without dictation. They are studying fractions. They swim a great deal and Osio can swim until 30 braces, though slowly. Tan dives very well and he is nimble like a fish, but he tires quickly. Tan is going to be a strong lad, he now lifts up to 25 pounds over his head; I believe that he is stronger than Uncle Nengoy. I’m sorry I have no horse or a bicycle to teach them how to ride. They already speak English… Send your children shoes and flannel clothes for it is cold. Moris is also very much advanced, but the poor one cannot write yet like Tan. He needs also flannel clothes.”

Of the handful of letters Rizal wrote to his nephews and nieces, one stands out. Written on Dec. 20, 1893, and addressed to the 11-year-old Alfredo or “Freding,” the letter opened with some corrections on orthography and composition: “Your letter pleased me very much and I see that you are very much advanced. I congratulate you on it and on your excellent grade… I believe it is my duty to call your attention to a little mistake you have committed in your letter, a mistake that many commit in society. One does not say, ‘I and my brother greet you’ but ‘My brothers and I greet you.’ You must always put yourself in the last place, you should say, ‘Emilio and I,’ ‘You and I,’ ‘My friend and I,’ etc. … As to the rest, your letter leaves nothing to be desired with respect to clarity, conciseness, and orthography.”

Rizal concluded the letter to Freding with advice that is relevant to all Filipino students:

“Go ahead then; study, study, and meditate well what you study. Life is a very serious thing and only those with intelligence and heart go through it worthily. To live is to be among men and to be among men is to struggle. But this struggle is not a brutal and material struggle with men alone; it is a struggle with them and one’s self, with their passions and one’s own, with errors and preoccupations. It is an eternal struggle with a smile on the lips and tears in the heart.

“On this battlefield man has no better weapon than his intelligence, no other force but his heart. Sharpen, perfect, polish then your mind and fortify and educate your heart. … [I have written] enough for the present… [I am] your uncle who loves you, José Rizal.”

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