Today in Philippine History: Jose P. Rizal

JUNE 19, 1861

José Protacio Rizal (June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896), the national hero of the Philippines and pride of the Malayan race was born in Calamba, Laguna. He was the seventh of the nine children of Francisco Mercado Rizal and Teodora Alonzo y Quintos. Rizal was a novelist, poet, journalist, ophthalmologist and a nationalist. His two books, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo  exposed the injustices of the civil and church officials that led to his arrest, trial and execution.

Today in Philippine History: Santiago Fonacier, Obispo Maximo II

MAY 21, 1885

Santiago Fonacier (May 21, 1885 – December 8, 1977), a clergyman, journalist and legislator was born in Laoag, Ilocos Norte. A priest of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, he founded and edited Spanish periodicals such as La Lucha and translated Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo into Ilocano. Fonacier was a reporter for La Democracia and El Grito del Pueblo. An assemblyman (1912) and senator (1919), Bishop Fonacier succeeded Gregorio  Aglipay in the Aglipayan Church and became Obispo Máximo II (Second Supreme Bishop). 

Photo credit: http://www.rappler.com/thought-leaders/18797-bookmarking-rizal-a-dead-tree-hero-in-a-digital-world 

Today in Philippine History: Leonor "Maria Clara" Rivera

APRIL 11, 1867

Leonor Rivera (April 11, 1867 - August 28, 1893) was born in Camiling, Tarlac. She was Jose Rizal’s sweetheart and the model for his Maria Clara character in Noli Me Tangere. Their romantic letters to each other sealed their relationship for eight years. She was the daughter of Antonio Rivera, who was the cousin of Rizal’s father Francisco. Jose and Leonor’s love affair was opposed by the family. On June 17, 1890 Leonor married Henry Kipping, a British Engineer.