As young man in Europe, was Rizal a 'little bad boy?'

Most Pinoys know Jose Rizal as a writer and hero. But during his days as a carefree bachelor in Europe, could our national hero also have been a kind of Casanova, worthy of being called a "little bad boy" by one of his European girlfiends? In 2004, Howie Severino and his I-Witness team travelled throughout Europe to some of the places where Rizal himself lived, worked, and studied -- including the hero's old stomping grounds in Paris and Brussels. During their trip, the team learned about a series of love letters written to Rizal by a Belgian woman named Suzanne. In a letter sent to Rizal while he was traveling in Spain, she wrote: "There will never be any home in which you are so loved as that in Brussels. So, you little bad boy, hurry back." The team set out to learn who Suzanne was and why she might have called our national hero a "little bad boy." The team also met Jean Paul Verstraeten-- a Belgian man obsessed with studying Rizal's life. Verstraeten may not have a drop of Pinoy blood in his veins, but he knows more about Rizal than many Filipinos. An organizer and officer of a society of European Rizal scholars called the Knights of Rizal, Verstraeten even joked that he doesn’t know who he loves more – his Filipino wife Thess or the Philippines' national hero. The I-Witness documentary entitled "Little Bad Boy: Binatang Rizal sa Europa" originally aired in December 2004 and won the 2005 La Sallian Scholarum Award for Outstanding TV Feature. Watch the full episode here. "Little Bad Boy: Binatang Rizal sa Europa" Part 1
"Little Bad Boy: Binatang Rizal sa Europa" Part 2
"Little Bad Boy: Binatang Rizal sa Europa" Part 3
"Little Bad Boy: Binatang Rizal sa Europa" Part 4