Paciano Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (March 9, 1851 – April 13, 1930) was a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

general and revolutionary, and the older brother of

José Rizal José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (, ; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist, writer and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is considered the national he ...

, the national hero of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Early life

Paciano Rizal was born to Francisco Engracio Rizal Mercado y Alejandro (1818–1897) and Teodora Morales Alonso y Quintos (1827–1911; whose family later changed their surname to "Realonda"), as the second of eleven children born to a wealthy family in the town of Calamba, Laguna. He grew up witnessing the abuses of the clergy and the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

colonial government. As a young student, together with Felipe Buencamino and

Gregorio Sancianco Gregorio Sancianco y Goson (March 7, 1852, in Malabon – November 17, 1897, in Santo Domingo, Nueva Ecija, Philippines) was a lawyer and early advocate of economic reforms in the Philippines, which was then under Spanish rule. He was among the ...

, Paciano was a founding member of ''La Juventud Liberal'', a reformist student organization that worked under the direction of the Comite de Reformadores, among whose leaders was Padre

José Burgos José Apolonio Burgos y García was a Catholic Church in the Philippines, Filipino Catholic Priesthood in the Catholic Church, priest, accused of mutiny by the Spain, Spanish colonial authorities in the Philippines in the 19th century. He was t ...

. Among their tasks was to secretly distribute copies of the reformist paper, ''El Eco Filipino'', while pretending to be purveyors of horse fodder (zacateros). Burgos, who was Paciano's friend and teacher, was later implicated in the

Cavite Mutiny The Cavite mutiny ( es, El Motín de Cavite) of 1872 was an uprising of Filipino military personnel of Fort San Felipe, the Spanish arsenal in Cavite, Philippine Islands (then also known as part of the Spanish East Indies) on 20 January 1872. A ...

of 1872 and summarily executed.

Revolutionary

Paciano joined and actively supported Propaganda Movement for social reforms, and supported the Movement's newspaper, ''

Diariong Tagalog ''Diariong Tagalog'' (lit. Newspaper Tagalog) was a patriotic newspaper in Tagalog and Spanish published during the Spanish occupation of the Philippines. It was founded by Marcelo H. del Pilar, Basilio Teodoro Morán, and Pascual H. Poblete in 1 ...

''. 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. In January 1897, after his younger brother's execution, Paciano 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 Luzon, 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 Los Baños, Laguna.

Death

He lived a quiet life as a gentleman farmer, and died on April 13, 1930 at the age of 79 of tuberculosis.

Popular culture

* Portrayed by Ping Medina and Pen Medina in the 1998 film, ''José Rizal (film), Jose Rizal''. * Portrayed by Joonee Gamboa in the 1999 film, ''Bayaning 3rd World''. * Portrayed by Marco Alcaraz in the 2014 TV series, ''Ilustrado (TV series), Ilustrado''.

Ancestry

References