To register for this free and public F2F lecture, please go to <bit.ly/TaveraLecture>.

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Considered the foremost Filipino intellectual of his time, Pardo De Tavera’s commitment to the Philippines and its study manifested through his study of languages and his notable contributions to our understanding of Filipino culture and history. He was a polyglot even Rizal admired, speaking fluent French, Italian, English, and Spanish, while also knowing Malay and Javanese. His body of work would lead to him to head the University of the Philippines’ first Department of Oriental Languages—the precursor to the current Department of Linguistics—in 1923.

The event commemorates the 100th death anniversary of Dr. Trinidad H. Pardo De Tavera through a back-to-back lecture at 10:00 a.m., to be delivered by Prof. Ma. Mercedes G. Planta, PhD of the UP Department of History and Mr. Jonathan Victor Baldoza of Princeton University.

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“All for the Philippines:” Education, Knowledge and Labor in T. H. Pardo de Tavera’s Vision of Self-Determination and a Stronger Filipino Nation

Prof. Ma. Mercedes G. Planta, PhD

This talk will critically examine how T.H Pardo de Tavera’s legacy in advancing the intellectual and cultural foundations of the Philippines—rooted in knowledge, labor, and evolving political convictions—played a pivotal role in his vision for Filipino self-determination. While José Rizal, the Philippine national hero, emphasized education, peaceful resistance, and national identity through his novels and poems, Pardo de Tavera moved beyond abstract ideals to focus on applied scholarship. He actively built a body of work aimed at empowering Filipinos to shape their nation’s future. His scholarly pursuits spanned fields such as agriculture, ethnography, history, linguistics, medicine, politics, and sociology, all intended to equip Filipinos with the knowledge necessary for progress and self-determination.

T.H. Pardo de Tavera also believed that hard work and industry were foundational to societal progress. His commitment to labor as a transformative force was evident both in his own life’s work and in his vision for the Filipino people. While Rizal viewed education as the key to social change, Pardo de Tavera embodied the belief that true advancement required diligence, purposeful effort, and a strong work ethic—the groundwork for his vision of an empowered Filipino society and a stronger Filipino nation.

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T.H. Pardo de Tavera and the “Rising Generation”

Mr. Jonathan Victor Baldoza

In the years leading up to his death in 1925, T.H. Pardo de Tavera remained active in Philippine intellectual life. In 1922, he organized the Philippine languages department of the state university. In 1923, he directed the Philippine Library and Museum, and founded the Philippine Librarians Association. During this period, Tavera was also a figure of wisdom for young Filipinos being educated under the U.S. colonial regime, or the so-called “rising generation.” Who were they and why were they seen as “rising”? Drawing on Tavera’s speeches and correspondence, I will explore how the aging ilustrado connected with the English-speaking juventud filipina of the 1910s and the 1920s. In particular, I will examine Tavera’s influence on the “rising” scholars, including historian Encarnacion Alzona and linguist Cecilio Lopez, both of whom would later become senior figures of the postwar community of anglophone scholars, regarded as academic progenitors not only in their respective fields but also in what would gradually become the Philippine social sciences.