We may know tons of information about our National Hero, Jose Rizal.
But this time, let us focus on the great things his older brother, Paciano, has done for our country.
Here is Paciano’s life: (lifted from wikipedia.org)
Paciano Rizal was the second of eleven children born to a wealthy family in the town of Calamba City, Laguna, and grew up witnessing the abuses of the clergy and the Spanish colonial government. His teacher and close friend, Fray José Burgos was implicated in the Cavite Mutiny of 1872 and summarily executed.
Rizal joined and actively supported Propaganda Movement for social reforms, and supported the Movement’s newspaper, Diariong Tagalog. An avid supporter of the movement, he did tasks such as collecting funds to finance the said organization, and solicited money for the nationalist paper.
As a Katipunero, he influenced people in Laguna with the revolutionary ideals. Despite the tortures he had in the hands of the Spaniards, he refused to implicate his younger brother who was kept in tight security in Fort Santiago. In January 1897, after his younger brother’s execution, Rizal joined General Emilio Aguinaldo in Cavite. He was appointed brigadier general of the revolutionary forces, and was elected Secretary of Finance in the Departmental Government of Central Luzon.
During the Philippine-American War (1899–1913), he commanded the Filipino forces in Laguna. U.S. troops captured him in Laguna on 1900. He was released soon after, and he settled in the town of Calumpit, Bulacan.
He lived a quiet life as a gentleman farmer, and died at the age of 79 of tuberculosis.
The Rizal family indeed is a patriotic one. Not only have they produced the Philippine National Hero in Jose, but also a responsible and brave General in Paciano Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda.
