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RIZAL, CAVITE, AND THE FRANCISCANSCayetano Sanchez Fuertes, 0. F. M.Jose Rizal, father of Philippine nationalism and one of themost outstanding and more influential historical figures of the Malay race,whose rich personality can be compared—in a certain sense—to that of thegreat Asian figures of today, like Mahatma Gandhi in India or Mao Zedong inChina, has without doubt been meticulously studied both in his own countryand elsewhere. But the life of this number one Philippine national hero, briefbut packed and intense within the 35 years he lived, is such that until nowefforts to understand his true being and the transcendent political message heleft and spread in writing or tried to exemplify in his own life fall short of therealty.'The following paragraphs are offered as a study of an important but stillunexplored facet of his complex personality, namely, his attitude as a personand as a writer to the Franciscans. But before entering fully on our subject itwill be good to add a biographical sketch of Rizal that can serve as the contextof our discussion.AN EXCEPTIONAL MAN'S BRIEF BUT INTENSE LIFEJose Mercado y Alonso, otherwise known as Jose Rizal, was born on19 June 1861 in Calamba, Laguna, a fanning town not too far from Manila,economically, culturally, and morally better than many other towns. Hisparents boasted of an enviable happy mixture of cultures, whose goodqualities they bequeathed to their son, Jose: Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and,of course, Filipino. His maternal grandfather, D. Lorenzo Alberto Alonso,had been a representative to the Cortes, while Dona Teodora herself hadreceived a more than average cultural formation for women in the Philippinesat that time. She spoke correct Spanish, loved poetry and mathematics and,above all, was an avid reader. Francisco Mercado, his father, did not have thesame cultural upbringing but he was highly esteemed for his keen sense ofresponsibility and industry.113