A Brief History of Pilar College

Pilar College Today

Pilar College, is owned and managed by the Religious of the Virgin Mary (RVM) founded by Venerable Ignacia del Espiritu Santo. It was founded in 1894 as a Cartilla School dedicated to the education of children and youth of Zamboanga and its surrounding municipalities with the Beaterio Sisters, S. Ma. Antera Cruz, RVM, and another Sister. The school was originally located in front of Plaza Pershing where the City Theatre now stands. The lot and the house belonged to the Lerenzo family of Zamboanga City. The Philippine Revolution of 1896 brought the Sisters back to Manila, where they were reunited with the RVM Sisters in the Beaterio Convent in Sta. Lucia, Intramuros, Manila. The educational ministry, started in Zamboanga, was disrupted during the years that followed.

School Seal

 From a Cartilla school with advanced Spanish lessons, the Primary and Elementary Courses opened in 1914 and was granted Government Recognition in 1918. From among the first graduates, Primary and Intermediate grade-teachers were chosen. Among these chosen teachers was Mother Josefina Regino who joined the RVM Congregation in 1926 In 1920, the school was transferred to the site of the “Hospital Señora del Pilar” in Cawa-Cawa presently named R.T. Lim Boulevard. The girls’ High School was opened with Mo. Candelaria Tarcela as the first Principal and the school was named “Pilar Institution” and was granted Government Recognition in 1928. Permit to open the Junior Normal College was granted in 1940 with a two-year Secretarial Course. After the liberation in 1945, the Sisters, through the initiative of Mother Carmen Perez, RVM, resumed classes for the elementary and high school levels in a one-floor sawali and nipa building in La Purisima Street. For lack of classrooms, three-shift classes were scheduled: morning for the elementary; afternoon for the high school; and evening for the college.

In 1947, Government Recognition was granted to the Education Course. On June 21, 1948 Bishop Luis del Rosario, S.J., D.D. blessed and laid the cornerstone of a semi-concrete, two-storey building facing the sea. The wooden elementary building was put up in 1951; the school auditorium in 1957; and the Music building in 1959. The one-room chapel was replaced by a beautiful two-wing concrete structure. The Home Economics building and the Sisters’ convent were completed and blessed in 1964. A semi-concrete one-storey Science building was completed in 1967. From 1949-1971, college graduates in Teacher Education were produced.