This pair of Certificates of Honor from the Ateneo Municipal are dated 1874 and 1876, respectively, corresponding to José Rizal’s third year and fifth year. In the first, he is acknowledged for achievement in Greek; in the second, in his graduating year, he is recognized for studies in Natural History.
Interestingly enough, the first certificate is in the name of José Rizal Mercado; the other one is in the name that would eventually make him famous, José Rizal. Rizal was supposedly obliged to change his name to shield his identity as the brother of Paciano, who had used Mercado while living and working with the priest Father José Burgos. Father Burgos, one of the GomBurZa martyrs accused of mutiny, was executed in 1872. It was these deaths that unleashed a reign of terror but that also inspired an entire generation to work actively against the Spanish regime.
- Lisa Guerrero Nakpil