THE Pampanga High School or PHS Tuesday, August 14, 2018, was accorded a marker by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) on the occasion of its 116th year founding anniversary.
NHCP chair Ludovico Badoy, Mayor Edwin Santiago, Vice Mayor Jimmy Lazatin, PHS Principal Fe Rosalinda Caylao together with faculty and non-teaching personnel and city tourism officials led by Senior Tourism Officer Ching Pangilinan led the unveiling of the marker at the façade of the Gabaldon building and later the signing of the transfer and acceptance of the marker certificates.
The marker tells of PHS’ establishment in San Fernando, Pampanga in 1902. Classes were held temporarily at Buison building and the subsequent transfer of the high school to an annex campus near the Capitol in 1908.
The first batch of PHS students to graduate was in 1912 and among its prominent alumni was the late President Diosdado Macapagal who finished his secondary schooling in 1929. Demetrio Andres became its first Filipino principal in 1935.
On June 18, 1964, PHS was renamed Jose Abad Santos High School which was subsequently reverted to Pampanga High School on April 1, 1992.
Badoy said that with such historical highlights, PHS deserves to be recognized for the role it has played not only in education, but in the preservation of culture and heritage.
Caylao expressed appreciation for the marker and the significant role PHS plays in history. “As our dear Mayor Santiago always says, we cannot underemphasize the importance of the past in moving towards the future.”