Teodora Alonzo

Teodora Alonso Realonda y Quintos (8 November 1826 – 16 August 1911) was a wealthy woman in the Spanish colonial Philippines. She was best known as the mother of the Philippines’ national hero Jose Rizal. Realonda was born in Santa Cruz, Manila. She was also known for being a disciplinarian and hard-working mother. Her medical condition inspired Rizal to take up medicine.

She was the second child of Brijida de Quintos and Lorenzo Realonda, a municipal captain in Binán, Laguna. He was also a representative in the Spanish Courts and a solid Catholic, being a Knight of the Order of Isabela by profession. Quintos was an educated woman, who became a housewife, devoted to caring for her family's needs. Her family adopted “Realonda” after General Governor Narciso Clavería issued a decree in 1849. Realonda came from a financially able family and studied at the Colegio de Santa Rosa in Manila, just like her mother who was well-bred and had an educational background in the subjects of mathematics and literature.

Teodora married Francisco Mercado, a native of Biñán, Laguna, when she was 20 years old. The couple resided in Laguna, particularly in Calamba and built a business from agriculture. She was an industrious and educated woman, managing the family's farm and finances. Teodora used her knowledge to grow the rice, corn, and sugarcane that sustained the family's well-to-do lifestyle. She also expanded the family business into the areas of textiles, flour, and sugar milling, refining these raw materials and selling the finished staples from a small store on the ground floor of the family home.

Teodora had eleven children with Francisco. They are Saturnina, Paciano, Narcisa, Olympia, Lucia, Maria, José, Concepcion, Josefa, Trinidad and Soledad. All her children were sent to study in different colleges in Manila, but only Jose was sent to Europe – as he was inspired to study medicine, particularly ophthalmology, to help his mother due to her failing eyesight.

José honored his mom in Memoirs of a Student in Manila, writing, "After God, the mother is everything to man."

After moving to Europe, Jose became too involved in speaking his mind against Spanish authorities. Teodora became an easy target and was imprisoned for two and a half years, and was charged of poisoning her brother's wife. She was released after being backed up by famous lawyers of her time. She was made to walk 50 kilometers for not using her Hispanic last name “Realonda de Rizal” . Her family was also forced to leave Calamba after losing a land dispute versus Dominicans. She later moved to Hong Kong with Rizal in 1891 and stayed in a home in Dapitan where her son was sentenced and in exile.

In August 1898, Narcisa got the body of her brother Rizal, and found out that the body was not even laid out in a coffin. Because of this, the government offered a lifetime pension as a token of gratitude, after Rizal was declared the national hero of the Philippines. Teodora even saw the declaration of the monument for Rizal a week before she died. Alonso died in her home in San Fernando Street, Binondo, Manila.