Maria Kalaw Katigbak
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Maria Villanueva Katigbak ( Kalaw; February 14, 1912 – December 10, 1992) was a
Filipina Filipinos ( tl, Mga Pilipino) are the people who are citizens of or native to the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos today come from various Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups, all typically speaking either Filipino, English and/or other ...
politician, journalist and
beauty queen A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...
. She served as a
Senator of the Philippines The Senate of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Senado ng Pilipinas'', also ''Mataas na Kapulungan ng Pilipinas'' or "upper chamber") is the upper house of Congress of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines with the House of Representatives a ...
from 1961 to 1967 during the Fifth Congress.


Early life and education

Kalaw Katigbak was born Maria Villanueva Kalaw on February 14, 1912 to Filipino journalist, politician and former revolutionary Teodoro M. Kalaw of
Batangas Batangas, officially the Province of Batangas ( tl, Lalawigan ng Batangas ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region on Luzon. Its capital is the city of Batangas, and is bordered by the provinces of Cavite and La ...
and Filipino-Spanish Purificación "Pura" García Villanueva of Arevalo district in the city of
Iloilo Iloilo (), officially the Province of Iloilo ( hil, Kapuoran sang Iloilo; krj, Kapuoran kang Iloilo; tl, Lalawigan ng Iloilo), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is the City of Iloilo, the ...
, who also the very first-ever Manila Carnival Queen as the Queen of the Orient. Her father was a prominent politician who worked under Manuel L. Quezon's administration as executive secretary and later secretary of the Interior. Her mother was a civic rights leader and was crowned as the first Manila Carnival Queen in 1908. Maria was the eldest of the Kalaw's four surviving children. She studied at the Jefferson Elementary School and St. Scholastica's College Manila for about a year while taking religion courses. In 1928, she graduated high school valedictorian at Philippine Women's University (PWU). In 1932, she finished her degree of philosophy and masters of social work at the
University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 20 ...
. While in college, she joined the writing staff of the prominent student-newspaper
The Philippine Collegian The ''Philippine Collegian'' is the official weekly student publication of the University of the Philippines Diliman. It is also commonly known to the university's students as ''Kulê'' (). It is known for its radical, national democratic, ofte ...
, became a secretary of the UP Student Council, president of UP Women's Club, secretary of the UP Debating Club and a member of the
UP Writers Club The UP Writers’ Club is a literary organization at the University of the Philippines Diliman. It was founded in 1927. The organization has produced Philippine literary artists including 8 National Artists for Literature (Virgilio Almario, Edith ...
. Upon graduation, she received the Most Distinguished Senior Student Award. She was awarded the Barbour Scholarship and finished a master's degree in literature at the
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in 1933. During her stay, she became active in organizations such as Philippine-Michigan Club and the Cosmopolitan Club for Foreign Students. She later attended the
University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Migue ...
where she received her doctor of philosophy's degree in social sciences, magna cum laude. In 1931, she was crowned as the Queen of the Orient of the Manila Carnival (equivalent to today's
Miss Philippines Earth Miss Philippines Earth (2004–2017, 2019–present), originally titled Miss Philippines (2001–2003) then Miss Earth Philippines (2018), is a national beauty pageant held annually in search of "the most beautiful and environmentally-consciou ...
or
Binibining Pilipinas Binibining Pilipinas (abbreviated as Bb. Pilipinas; ) is a national beauty pageant in the Philippines that selects Filipina representatives to compete in one of the Big Four international beauty pageants: Miss International and selects two ot ...
), 23 years after her mother's coronation. She gathered a lead of about one million votes, which came primarily from different sponsors.


Professional career

Kalaw wrote a column in ''
The Manila Times ''The Manila Times'' is the oldest extant English-language newspaper in the Philippines. It is published daily by The Manila Times Publishing Corp. (formerly La Vanguardia Publishing Corporation) with editorial and administrative offices at 2/F ...
'' entitled "Checkpoint". Her essays appeared in the ''Literary Apprentice'': “Far Away” (1954) and were included in ''Filipino Essays in English: 1910-1954''; "An Appeal to Husbands" and "May We Have Our Say?" appeared in the ''Philippine Review'' issues of August 1943 and February 1944.


Political career

In
1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...
, Kalaw Katigbak ran for Senate under the
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...
ticket. She landed on the 7th spot garnering 2,546,147 votes. She then became the third female senator of the Philippines, after Geronima Pecson in 1947 and Pacita Madrigal-Warns in 1955, and the lone woman in the Fifth Congress. As a senator, Kalaw Katigbak championed the Senate Bill No. 652 restoring the old school calendar to June and excluding the hot summer months which promote sleepiness and thus, may not be conducive for learning, which was changed earlier by Education Secretary
Alejandro Roces Alejandro Reyes Roces (13 July 1924 – 23 May 2011) was a Filipino author, essayist, dramatist and a National Artist of the Philippines for literature. He served as Secretary of Education from 1962 to 1965, during the term of Philippine Presiden ...
. She was also the author of the Senate Bill No. 84, now known as Republic Act No. 3765 or the "Truth in Lending Act of 1963", which extends protection to consumer buying goods on an
installment plan A hire purchase (HP), also known as an installment plan, is an arrangement whereby a customer agrees to a contract to acquire an asset by paying an initial installment (e.g., 40% of the total) and repaying the balance of the price of the asset pl ...
and enabling credit transactions. She also authored the Senate Bill No. 30 which aimed to amend Republic Act No. 621, or "An Act Creating the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization National Commission of the Philippines". In 1964, she wrote the Republic Act No. 4165, or the law that mandated the creation and appropriation of the
National Commission for Culture and the Arts The National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Komisyon para sa Kultura at mga Sining, ceb, Nasodnong Komisyon alang sa Budaya ug mga Arte) is the official government agency for culture in the Philippines. ...
. During her term, she handled the Senate committees on education, commerce, and industry. In 1965, she was joined in the Senate by her sister-in-law, Eva Estrada-Kalaw. From 1962 to 1966, she served as the chairperson of UNESCO General Conference of the Philippines. She unsuccessfully bid for re-election in 1967, ended up being 11th.


Post-political career

In 1974, Maria Kalaw Katigbak published her first book, ''Few There Were (Like My Father)'' about her father. In 1983, she wrote a book about her mother entitled ''Legacy: Pura Villanueva Kalaw, Her Times, Life, and Works, 1886-1954.'' In 1984, she translated from Spanish to English her father Teodoro's work ''Aide-de-Camp to Freedom,'' in which she inserted a chapter about former president
Manuel Quezon Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina, (; 19 August 1878 – 1 August 1944), also known by his initials MLQ, was a Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier and politician who served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 until his d ...
. From 1981 to 1986, she headed the Board of Review for Motion Pictures and Television (BRMPT), which would later be
MTRCB The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board ( fil, Lupon sa Rebyu at Klasipikasyon ng Pelikula at Telebisyon; abbreviated as MTRCB) is a Philippine government agency under the Office of the President of the Philippines that is respon ...
. The precursor agencies of BRMPT and MTRCB, Philippine Board of Censorship for Motion Pictures was headed first by her father after its creation in 1929.


Other activities

Kalaw Katigbak was the president of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines for many years. She also headed the Municipal Symphony Orchestra, Quezon City Girl Scouts Council, and the Philippine Women's Writers Association. From 1962 to 1964, she became a member of the UP Board of Regents. She also held several positions at the Catholic Women's League, Catholic Charities of Manila, as the governor of the
Philippine Red Cross The Philippine Red Cross (PRC; fil, Krus na Pula ng Pilipinas) is a non-profit humanitarian organization and a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The PRC was established in 1947, with roots in the Philippine Re ...
, the Board of National Education, Board of State Colleges,
Philippine Normal College The Philippine Normal University (PNU; fil, Pamantasang Normal ng Pilipinas) is a public coeducational teacher education and research university in the Philippines. It was established in 1901 through Act No. 74 of the Philippine Commission '' ...
, Philippine College of Commerce, Philippine College of Arts and Trade, Samar Institute of Technology, Mindanao Institute of Technology, Philippine Board of Scholarships for Southeast Asia and the
Commission on Appointments The Commission on Appointments ( fil, Komisyon sa Paghirang, abbreviated as CA) is a constitutional body which confirms or rejects certain political appointments made by the President of the Philippines. The current commission was created by th ...
. As an educator, she taught both in UP and PWU, and headed the UST Graduate School of Social Work. She became a member of the Philippine delegation for Afro-Asian Conference of Girl Scouts in
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, Second World Congress of Lay Apostolate (
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
) in 1957, and the 21st UNESCO General Conference (
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) in 1982.


Personal life

Kalaw Katigbak was married to Jose Roxas Katigbak, an obstetrician-gynecologist, whom they had four children: Marinela, Josefina, Purisima and Norberto. Her second sibling, Teodoro "Teddy" Kalaw Jr. was a lawyer. Teddy's wife,
Eva Eva or EVA may refer to: * Eva (name), a feminine given name Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Eva (Dynamite Entertainment), a comic book character by Dynamite Entertainment * Eva (''Devil May Cry''), Dante's mother in t ...
, was a senator from 1965 to 1972 and was unsuccessful for the vice presidential bid in 1992. She had three farms in
Lipa, Batangas Lipa (), officially the City of Lipa ( fil, Lungsod ng Lipa), is a 1st class component city in the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 372,931 people. It is the first city charter in the pr ...
, the birthplace of her father, where she cultivated black pepper, corn, ipil-ipil, and coffee. She was known to regard ''
kapeng barako ''Kapeng barako'' ( es, café varraco or café verraco), also known as Barako coffee or Batangas coffee, is a coffee varietal grown in the Philippines, particularly in the provinces of Batangas and Cavite. It belongs to the species '' Coffea l ...
'' to her friends. Maria Kalaw Katigbak died on December 10, 1992, aged 80.


Legacy

* Senator Maria Kalaw Katigbak Memorial School, formerly Marawoy (CADRE) Elementary School in
Lipa, Batangas Lipa (), officially the City of Lipa ( fil, Lungsod ng Lipa), is a 1st class component city in the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 372,931 people. It is the first city charter in the pr ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalaw Katigbak, Maria 1912 births 1992 deaths Senators of the 5th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 6th Congress of the Philippines University of the Philippines alumni University of Michigan alumni University of Santo Tomas alumni Liberal Party (Philippines) politicians Filipino people of Spanish descent Filipino beauty pageant winners People from Manila Chairpersons of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board Ferdinand Marcos administration personnel Women members of the Senate of the Philippines Beauty queen-politicians