Gabriel Daza

Don Gabriel A. Daza, KGCR, KC*SS (February 6, 1896 – May 18, 1994) was the first Filipino electrical engineer and one of the charter members of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP). He co-founded the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Co. (PT&T), Philippine Electric Manufacturing Company (PEMCO), Phelps Dodge Philippines. He was the Supervising Engineer and Assistant General Manager of Visayan Electric Company (VECO) and led its expansion out of Cebu City. President and Chief Scout of the BSP in 1961-68. In 1945, President Osmeña appointed Daza to be a member of the Board of Directors of the Manila Railroad Company and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. In 1950, he was Vice-Chairman of the National Power Corporation and on the board of directors of the Manila Hotel Company. In 1951, Daza was appointed by President Quirino as a founding member of the Board of Directors of the National Shipyard and Steel Corporation. President and Director of the National Economic Protection Agency (NEPA) in 1956.

Early life

Daza was born and raised in Borongan City, Eastern Samar, to Don Eugenio Daza and his wife, Carolina Cinco. Daza was a ''principale'' (noble) through his father, while the social class was slowly dissolved following American colonialism, Daza retained the ''principale'' honorific title of ''Don''. Daza was the eldest of 7 siblings: Carlota, Cirilo, Jesus, Rosario, Maria and Juan. Daza was born 3 months before his father left to fight in the Philippine Revolution. In 1907, when Daza was 11, his father became the Representative of their region to the First Philippine Legislature. That same year he began studying at Ateneo de Manila. While at Ateneo he would befriend Andrés Soriano Sr. and their junior José Cojuangco In 1914, Daza completed a Bachelor of Arts at the Ateneo de Manila University.

In 1915, he was part of the Philippine Delegation to the Panama–Pacific International Exposition. After the exposition, Daza ended up staying in the United States for the next seven years.

While studying engineering in the U.S., Daza picked up "odd jobs" to support himself. These odd jobs at various times included being an elevator boy, messenger, telephone operator, gardener, janitor, clerk, and even a houseboy for the U.S. House of Representatives Philippine Resident Commissioner Jaime C. de Veyra. Daza stated his experience in these odd jobs were the reason he was known for his cleanliness, orderliness, and fondness for nature. Daza's U.S. World War I draft registration card states that he was an American citizen.

Engineering

In 1915, Daza moved to the U.S. to attend Herald's Engineering College in San Francisco, California. While studying he lived at the Hotel Dorchester and worked there as a clerk.United States, Selective Service System. ''World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918''. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm. Daza then studied at the Bliss Electrical School in Washington, D.C. where he graduated in 1919.

Shortly after, Daza moved to Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, where he lodged at the home of a fellow electrical engineer Everett Ashworth who had recently married and moved from Washinghton, New York. Daza worked at the mainplant of Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a company that employed the likes of Nikola Tesla