Jose Rizal's Train-Affair

By: Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

Did you know that Dr. Jose Rizal was reported to be a frequent train rider during his journey in the North to meet with his fellow patriots?

However, aside from his agenda with his fellow nationalists, the Philippine National Railways (PNR) general manager Junio Ragragio revealed Saturday that Rizal also visits his childhood sweetheart Leonor Rivera who was said to be the inspiration of the character Maria Clara in Noli Me Tangere.

“Our railroads were silent witnesses to the rich and colorful annals of Philippine history” Ragragio said.

Ragragio narrated that Rizal went to Malolos, Bulacan and Fernando, Pampanga and Tarlac using the train under the defunct Ferrocaril de Manila-Dagupan, the original name of Manila Railway Company Ltd. of London and to what is now the PNR.

“Rizal frequently rode the train to recruit member for his La Liga Filipina, a progressive organization he created based on reformist ideas” he said.

“He also made some stopovers over in Camiling, Tarlac to visit his childhood sweetheart Leonor Rivera who was said to be the inspiration for Maria Clara in Noli Me Tangere” Ragragio added.

PNR was the mode of transportation century ago which witnessed most of the country’s rich history.

During that time, trains was discovered because of the growing galleon trade activities with Mexico which paved the way for the Spanish government in 1875 to later came up an idea to introduce the railroad in the Philippines.

“Spain believed that it was the most efficient solution to utilize the untapped natural resources of the virgin island of Luzon” he added.

Ragragio cited further the connection between the emerging railroad industries of the country during the Spanish periodand the love affair of Rizal.

“The romantic affair of Rizal with Leonor Rivera is indeed a classic story by itself” he said.

Rizal and Rivera both were in a relationship for eleven years. The two love birds have been writing with each other or after he met with his co-patriot, he will stopover in Camiling, Tarlac to secretly visit Rivera.

“But Rivera's mother was against this romantic liaison and seized the letters sent by Rizal. Leonor Rivera was later made to believe by her mother that Rizal no longer loved her and so with a heavy heart reluctantly married Henry Kipping, a British engineer who was associated with an engineer named Crisostomo Villamil, the supervising engineer of the Manila-Dagupan railroad line project at the time,” Ragragio further said.

Aside from his constant meeting with the members of the La Liga Filipina and his secret affairs with Rivera, our National Hero, Rizal, also mentioned from his writings his 120 km or five hours and 40 minutes train trip from Manila to Tarlac.

This journey, Ragragio said, was two weeks before his exile to Dapitan.

“These series of events, that almost looked like it was lifted from a movie scene, gave a foretaste of the railway's future from the historical and interesting life of Rizal to the present plans of PNR to restore its glorious past connecting people through an efficient mass land transportation system” he said.