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<img src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-10/paciano-rizal-sm.webp" alt="General Paciano Rizal" loading="lazy" />
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(General Paciano Rizal)
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Paciano was the mentor of his younger brother Jose. In modern activist parlance, he was Jose's political officer (PO). So much so that when Jose left for Europe, patriotism was already deeply ingrained in him. Paciano was Jose's primary but quiet financier, supporter, and co-conspirator in the latter's journey to greatness. He was perhaps the biggest influence in Jose's life. While Jose operated aboveground and in a high profile manner, Paciano chose to be unseen, like he was underground. This is not to say that the older Rizal was a passive hero.


Born on March 9, 1851 in Calamba, Laguna, Paciano grew up witnessing the grave abuses committed by Spanish friars against Filipinos. Eventually, he became a member of La Juventud Liberal, the youth wing of the Comite de Reformadores, the group that was working for secularization at a time when Spain had a new and more liberal Constitution. The group wanted such liberalization to also reach the Philippines.


Filipino priests Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora (GOMBURZA) were the leaders of the Comite de Reformadores. Paciano worked under Fr. Burgos who was also his teacher and friend. The <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/937/today-in-philippine-history-february-17-1872-fathers-mariano-gomez-jose-apolonio-burgos-and-jacinto-zamora-were-executed" class="news_link">execution of GOMBURZA</a> after being implicated in the Cavite Mutiny in 1872 had a deep and lasting impact on Paciano.

He joined and actively supported the propaganda movement. He supported the movement's newspaper, Diariong Tagalog by soliciting and collecting funds for it. When the Katipunan was organized, Paciano became a Katipunero. In November, 1896 he was arrested by the Guardia Civil together with Manuel Hidalgo, his brother-in-law for being directors of the Katipunan and for involvement in revolutionary activities.


On December 29, 1896, as the Cavite groups Magdiwang and Magdalo were having their first meeting for unification, Paciano arrived with <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/462/today-in-philippine-history-august-9-1876-josephine-bracken-was-born-in-victoria-hong-kong" class="news_link">Josephine Bracken</a>. They informed the group that his brother Jose was sentenced by the Spanish authorities, and was to be executed the following morning at Bagumbayan. By then, General <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1028/today-in-philippine-history-march-22-1869-emilio-aguinaldo-was-born-in-kawit-cavite" class="news_link">Emilio Aguinaldo</a> and Supremo <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/786/today-in-philippine-history-november-30-1863-andres-bonifacio-was-born-in-tondo-manila" class="news_link">Andres Bonifacio</a> already knew this and have already made a plan to rescue the younger Rizal. However, Paciano said that Jose disapproved of such because it was doomed to fail stressing that there was no longer any Katipunan left in Manila.


Katipuneros and those suspected to be sympathetic to the organization have been arrested left and right, while those who managed to evade arrest have fled Manila to escape. Paciano emphasized that Jose did not want for more to die, something that was sure to happen if Aguinaldo and Bonifacio were to attempt to rescue Jose. Thus, the plan was aborted.


Paciano joined General Aguinaldo's revolutionary forces in January 1897, or right after Jose's execution. He was appointed Brigadier General and elected Secretary of Finance in the Departmental Government of Central Luzon. Paciano was a veteran of several battles, never wavering in the struggle for the country's independence.


When the <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/820/today-in-philippine-history-december-14-1897-the-pact-of-biak-na-bato-was-signed" class="news_link">Pact of Biak-na-Bato</a> was finalized in December 1897 and General Aguinaldo left for exile to Hong Kong with key leaders of the revolution, General Paciano Rizal chose to be left behind, departed from Biak-na-Bato, and went back to Laguna to continue fighting the Spanish colonizers. There are accounts saying that at some point, General Rizal also left for Hong Kong to meet with the other leaders.


In May, 1898 when General Aguinaldo returned to resume the revolution, General Rizal rejoined his comrades and again went to command battles against the remaining Spanish forces. When the Philippine-American war broke out in February 1899, General Rizal led the Filipino forces in Laguna. The warrior Rizal never stopped until he was captured by the Americans in 1900.


After the revolution, General Paciano Rizal led a quiet life and became a farmer in his home province, Laguna. He declined an offer of a government position by American Governor Howard Taft. Paciano was never married but had a daughter with Severina Decena. He passed away on April 13, 1930 in Los Baños, Laguna due to tuberculosis. He was 79 years old.

The little-known but equally patriotic General Paciano Rizal