The Founder
Dr. Vicente R. Vilar, educator, socio-economic leader and business executive was born in Lopez, Tayabas, now Quezon province, on April 30, 1897. He is the second son of the seven children of Don Florentino Vilar, former municipal president of Lopez and Do単a Tecla Ramos of Gumaca, Quezon.
He had a long and colorful life that has spanned seventy-four years and has carved a name for himself in the field of private education as a pioneer educator and founder of private schools.
He received his early education in the Primary school of Lopez, his intermediate course in Atimonan Elementary School, his high school course in Manila High School and Bachelor of Arts Course at Liceo de Manila in 1916. He enrolled in the College of Education of the University of the Philippines in 1917 and graduated in 1920.
After his 1920 graduation, he should have taught in a public high school (in exchange for a scholarship given to him by the University of the Philippines). But upon consultation with the education dean, the late Prof. Francisco Benitez, Dr. Vilar was given permission to organize private schools and hence, to blaze the way for private education in the country.
This was what he did. Since the opening of Eastern Tayabas Institute in Lopez in 1920, he has founded no less than 35 schools all over the country.
After the war, Dr. Vilar took Post Graduate Course at the University of Santo Tomas and graduated with the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Education in 1957. He also graduated as a Master of Pedagogy (M.Ped) from OSkaloosa College in the United States of America.
For such outstanding work, Dr. Vilar has received several citations, But none can perhaps surpass a personal letter from President Quezon, who as early as 1926; had already recognized the value of Dr. Vilar's pioneering work. The letter reads in part: "I wish to congratulate you for the success of the Eastern Tayabas Institute in Lopez. The funds at the command of the government are limited compared to those who are eager to get learning. Therefore, those who devote their time and energy as well as their money in the establishment of private schools deserve the gratitude of our people."