LUCENA CITY, Philippines—Lucena City has lost a native son, Cesar Araneta-Villariba Sr., a devout Catholic, patriot, agriculturist, writer, historian, government official and a dedicated “teacher’s teacher.”
The 90-year-old Villariba, popularly known here as “Tatay Iba,” slipped away peacefully shortly before noon on Tuesday. He had just come out of the hospital after two weeks of a lingering illness.
He left behind 13 children, 44 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren. His wife, Flotilda, a former Lucena City councilor, died in 2012.
During necrological services for him on Friday, Villariba’s colleagues from the Rotary Club of Lucena, Knights of Columbus, Lambda Kappa Phi fraternity, Lucena local government, local Catholic Church and Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) spoke highly of him as a friend, religious lay leader and public servant.
Villariba, a war veteran who organized the famous Hunters-ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) guerrilla unit during World War II, once served as Quezon assemblyman to the Batasang Pambansa during the time of President Ferdinand Marcos. He was also the first administrator/chair of the PCA, in 1971 until 1975. Villariba’s rich and vivid historical accounts of the province, which he wrote in several of his books, have become a gem for any local history buff.
The Villariba children described their father’s life as “fruitful and inspiring to the many students, coteachers, civic leaders, government officials in Quezon.”
His most cherished legacy, however, was his contribution to the field of education during his 60 years as a teacher, from 1948 to 2008, when he retired as “dean emeritus” of graduate studies at the Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation (MSEUF) here.
A son-in-law, former activist-priest Edicio de la Torre, estimated at 61,000 the number of education graduates who went through him during his six decades as academician.
The MSEUF named its research and publication institute after Villariba because of his “exemplary achievement as an educator and outstanding contributions on instruction, research publication and community service.”
Villariba graduated with a degree in Agriculture in the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) in 1948. He then took up Education at the then Luzonian College (former MSEUF) and finished magna cum laude two years later.
He was sent by the school to the United States and finished his Master of Arts in Education and, later on, his doctorate in Education at the Columbia University in 1955.
After his advanced studies in the United States, he went back to Lucena and made Luzonian one of the best schools for teachers in Southern Tagalog.
Villariba’s remains were cremated on Friday. On Saturday, his ashes will be interred at Porta Coeli(Gateway to Heaven) at the Saint Ferdinand Cathedral here. Porta Coeli is a room inside the cathedral where bones and ashes are kept in a vault.