José Petronio Katigbak

Jose Petronio Katigbak holds the distinction of being the first known Filipino student of the renowned Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

He was born on 4 October 1879 to Mariano Katigbak and the former Isabel Macarandang. As was typical of children of many of Batangas’ prominent families in the 19th century, Katigbak was initially educated in Manila at the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Municipal. In 1896, he would obtain a degree in Bachelor of Arts at the University of Santo Tomas, enrolling afterwards at the same university to study medicine. Engineering, however, was more his calling; so off he went to Europe where he enrolled at the King’s College of the University of London. In June of 1903, he obtained from the university an associate’s degree1 in Civil Engineering2.

Later that same year, he transferred to the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University. Already in possession of an associate’s degree, he was admitted into Harvard’s Civil Engineering program as a senior and within a year he would obtain his bachelor’s degree. He would then take up a special course in Plane, Railroad and Geodetic Surveying, all the while working and getting valuable experience as a draftsman, surveyor and designer at a Massachusetts company.

While at Harvard, Katigbak was not just a student of engineering but also embodied the characteristics of a Filipino patriot and nationalist of the era. After one Fred Atkinson delivered a paper on Philippine education at Harvard’s Brook House, he stood up and spoke for “almost half an hour” to correct inaccuracies in the paper. The state of Philippine education was something that Katigbak was familiar with, having taught at the school Instituto Rizal in Lipa just before he left the Philippines for Europe.

Upon his return to the Philippines in 1905, he quickly obtained a position at the Bureau of Public Works and was key to the creation of the city of Baguio’s layout as prescribed by the American architect and urban planner Daniel Burnham. The following year, he would transfer to the City of Manila’s Department of Engineering and Public Works, under whose employ he would remain until his death in 1916.

Philippine Biographical Directory (1908, p. 26-27)

Baptism

Death announcement

Burial announcements:

• 20 May 1916
• 21 May 1916