Teodoro M. Kalaw, a biography

Title

Creator

Jacinto, Ponciano Sr. B.

Language

English

Year

1960

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

The Life of Teodoro M. Kalaw, Sr. BRO. PONCIANO B. JACINTO, SR. In the roll of illustrious Filipinos, the name of Teodoro M. Kalaw scintillates as a star in the firmament of the Philippine hall of fame. A law yer of the first water, Kalaw was an author non pareil, a journalist incorruptible, an educator extraordinary: a man among men. But among the varied skills and attributes of this versatile Batangueho his stature as a Mason juts out. in bold relief in this part of the wot Id where Masons arc militant and their epic deeds in the struggle for Philippine freedom highlight this country’s glorious history. As a lawyer, Teodoro M. Kalaw shone not only in the practice of that great and noble profession of law but also as a professor thereof, and as author of law books and other literary gems in various fields of human endeavor. However, the vast, preponderant portion of his works dealt with his clement — political science. As an author, there is hardly anv other Filipino writer living or dead who could approximate the breadth and depth of his prolific pen. Kalaw was born in I.ipa, Batangas. on March 31, 1881. Among the most brilliant sons ever contributed by Batangas to the glory of the Malayan race, he married a carnival queen of exquisite beauty, Pura Villanueva. Of this happy union was born another carnival queen no less beautiful than her queen mother — the now one and onlv Maria Kalaw Katigbak. Teodoro M. Kalaw obtained his elementary education from the Colegio de Sebastian Virrey, and the Rizal Institute of Lipa; his high school at the Colegio de San de Leiran. It was at the l.iceo that he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree, but his Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws degrees he obtained from the Escucla de Derecho. It was not by a fluke that Kalaw reached the heights that he did. Born of a sufficiently well-to-do if not a rich family from the popular standard of those times, the young Kalaw was not above working his way to obtain an education. As a student, he worked as a reporter on the newspaper El Renai imiento, a FilipinoSpanish daily, of which he later became the editor and, later still, after his graduation, the editor-in-chief. This was then in 1907. Then a member of the Philippine bar, Kalaw’s talent was quickly recognized with his appointment as Manuel Luis Quezon's secretary to the International Conference of Navigation in Russia. Upon his return from that assignment overseas, lie became a professor of law and concurrently the director of his alma mater, the Escitela de Derecho. This young, brilliant son of Balangas look to politics as an eagle to the air. He served in the Philippine Assembly as representative from the third district of Batangas for the term 1910-1912, after which he was appointed director of the Philippine Library and Museum. His various high positions in the 43 government came one after another in rapid succession, higher and ever higher in spontaneous lecognition of his extraordinary aptitudes. Undersecretary of Interior in 1916, he became the Secretary the following year, a position which he resigned in 1922 in order to become the Executive Secretary and Chief Adviser of the Philippine Independence Mission to the Unital States. In 1929, hccame again the director of the Philippine Library and Museum. It was alter his return from the World Naval Meet in Russia that he wrote one of his foremost literary works of note, entitled Hacia la Tierra del Mar. This was followed by La Constitution de Malolos and El Di vorcio en Filipinos, both of which concern his favorite elements as a lawyer — constitutional law and civil law. The versatility of his able and prolific pen was well manifested in 1912 when, in the short span of that year he produced three woiks — Las Ideas Politicos de la Revolution Filipina, Principios de Vida Social, and Teonas Constitutionales. His inclination to political science is sufficiently patent in his Como se Puede Mejorar Nuestra Legislation, which he wrote in 1913: El Ideario Politico de Mabini, and Manual de Ciencia Politico Filipina, all of which were written in the six years ending in 1918. Except for his comprehensive and enlightening work entitled La Masoneria Filipina, which was also written in 1918, all his literary output thereafter until 1928 was on political science—La Revolution de Filipinos; Court Martial of Andres Bonifacio, and La Campana del Kuomintang. This deeply religious Mason then wrote Dietario Espritual, followed by other works of political and quasimilitary complexion, like Gregorio H. del Pilar, Las Cartas Politicos de Mabini, and El Espiritu de la Revolution. Untold other works tame from his golden pen, some never published. Among the salient literary works edited under his direction were publications of the National Library of which he was director, including the Epistolario Rizalino, Volumes 1, II, III, and IV; Ang Pinaglatalunang Akta ng Katipunan, and Revolution Filipina by Mabini in two volumes, in addition to the biography of Gregorio del Pilar, El Heroe de Tirad, of which he was the author. Towering as he may be in the national scale, Teodoro M. Kalaw as among Masons is a figure than whom none is said to be greater or has contributed more to Masonry and to the ultimate ends of that Venerable Brotherhood. Grand Master of Regional Grand Lodge under Gran Oriente of Spain during 1914-1917, he was elected Past Honorary Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the Philippines in 1925, and Grand Master in 1928. His masterful work, La Masoneria Filipina, reflects thq scope and extent of his vast contribution to Masonry in this part of the world, and his thorough knowledge of the problems and the vicissitudes of that Ancient Craft in this jurisdiction, the Philippines became free of the Spanish yoke. The work is properly subdued as regards the indomitable courage, indefatigable struggles, and extreme sacrifices of his brother Masons for the ultimate emancipation of this country after more than three centuries of captivity under the 44 THE CABLE TOW October, 1960 claws of the beats of prey which sport the habiliments of so-called Apostles of Christ. Such was the wide versatility of the man that in whatever field he turned to try his mettle and prove his worth, he quicky earned distinction and obtained recognition. It must be borne in mind that all of this prodigious output of the most abstruse literary works was accomplished while Kalaw was creditably performing his heavy duties in his various capacities in the government. As a culLurcd scholar and literary luminary he belonged to the Royal Academy of Arts and Letters, a Filipino-Spanish literary association in the Philippines, of which he was president. He was likewise a member of the Academy of Political Science of New York, and of the exclusive Real Academia de la Lengua Espanola of Span. Thus we see the towering stature of Teodoro M. Kalaw, viewed in national perspective. But there is a jewelled phase of the main's character which was known to only the few' who were privileged to move within his immediate circle. Uncompromising in matters of principles, his heart of gold was a tender as eider down. Com poss ionale to all living creation, charity was the main feature of his tribute of the Mason. Deputy Grand Master Juan S. Alano pictured with some of the brethren of Maguindanaw Lodge No. 40 on his official visitation to the Lodge on Sept. 26, I960. THE LIFE OF TEODORO M. KALAW, SR. 45

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