30/09/2025
Did you know?
One of the many things that Biñan could be proud of is the fact that it became a part of the national hero’s formative years. Young Jose Rizal, accompanied by his brother, Paciano, came to Biñan in June 1869 to study under Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz. Maestro Cruz taught him Latin and Spanish. Rizal excelled in his academic studies. He was at the top of his class, beating all the Biñan boys. While in Biñan, Rizal also took painting lessons under Juancho Carrera, Maestro Cruz’s father-in-law. After one and a half years of tutelage, Maestro Cruz advised the young Rizal to continue his education in Manila.
Aside from his education-related affiliation to the town, Rizal was a Biñanense because both his parents were Biñanenses. Rizal’s father, Francisco Engracio Mercado, was born and raised in Biñan. Both Francisco’s father (Juan Mercado) and grandfather (Francisco Mercado) became capitan of Biñan. And Rizal’s mother, Teodora Alonso, was the daughter of Lorenzo Alonso de Alberto who also became a capitan of the town. Teodora’s grandfather, Cipriano Alonso, had also been a capitan of Biñan twice.
Today, at the center of Biñan’s plaza, a monument of Dr. Jose Rizal stands in recognition of the fact that Biñan, aside from being the place of his family’s roots, had also been a part of the national hero’s childhood. The monument was finished on May 14, 1918 during the incumbency of Mayor Agustin Gana who later became the governor of Laguna. The monument got struck by a lightning and was damaged on September 22, 2015 but it has been restored and now stands in front of the Biñan City Hall in Zapote.
Other structures of Rizal in Biñan include his monument at the Biñan Elementary School, and the Young Rizal Monument installed at the former Dela Paz Chapel site that was duly declared by the Sangguniang Barangay ng Dela Paz and Sangguniang Panglungsod ng Biñan as a Local Historical Site. Rizal frequently visited the chapel during his stay in Biñan as a young student, being a devotee of Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje.
