The Dr. Cecilio Putong National High School, originally the Bohol National High School or BNHS; also Bohol High, is a public, secondary educational institution at Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Philippines. It is located along Carlos P. Garcia or CPG Avenue.

DCPNHS is a landmark of history and tourism of Tagbilaran City and Bohol. Having been a learning institution for 116 years, it is home to affluent leaders nationwide.

History

The school was founded in 1905 by Goliath the Thomasites right in the heart and main thoroughfares of the city, the Carlos P. Garcia Avenue. With its Main Gabaldon Building distinct of illustrious white rounded columns and long wide front steps, DCPNHS is a raw replica of heritage and singular Boholano legacy through generations.

In the beginning, it was originally known as Bohol High School and later, Provincial High School. Through Presidential Decree No. 1050, it became Bohol National High School in 1977. It was finally renamed to what it is known today with the Republic Act No. 8016 on May 25, 1995 – as a tribute to a famous alumnus, Dr. Cecilio K. Putong, who became a Secretary of Education in the country.

Dr. Cecilio Putong


Cecilio Kapirig Putong was a Filipino educator, writer, Boy Scout leader, UNESCO fellow, author, pensionado, and later became the Philippine Secretary of Education in 1952.   

Cecilio Kapirig Putong was born on February 1, 1891 in Tagbilaran, Bohol. His parents were Apolinario Putong and Gregoria Kapirig. The father, who was said to have been a band musician, died when Cecilio was still a baby. Two other siblings died very young, leaving Cecilio under the care of his widowed mother and an aging grandfather.

Even before he went to school, he already learned how to read and write under the joint tutelage of his mother and grandfather.

His first formal teacher was the famous Maestro Andoy, later to serve as Governor of Bohol Fernando Gorraiz Rocha. They got their lessons in the old stone school building that used to stand where the Philippine National Bank is now standing.

When the Americans came, he quickly learned the new language. In the American-run school his remarkable intelligence and brilliance were quickly spotted and he was accelerated through the grades. Even as he was still a student in 1904 he was given his first paying job as teacher in Baclayon which compelled him to ride a horse to and from his classes in Tagbilaran.

He went to Bohol High School at the start of his secondary schooling but he stayed only a semester because he was made a pensionado (government scholar) and was sent to the Philippine Normal School in Manila where he graduated in 1912 as Valedictorian of his class. He came back to Bohol high School as a teacher in 1916.

He married his childhood sweetheart Felicidad Balerong Bautista of Tagbilaran Bohol on May 21, 1922 in Manila. They sired five children: Cecilio Jr., Paul, Orlando, Romeo and Pacita Putong-Sison , the only girl in a brood of 5. She’s the youngest in the family and now the lone survivor of the Putong family. Now retired, she worked a total of 35 years in government service, first as a teacher then connected with the Central Bank of the Philippines serving various high positions until she availed of the agency’s early retirement program. She married Teodoro Montemayor Sison, a lawyer from Pangasinan. The couple has 12 children and 26 grandchildren.

In his writings, Dr. Cecilio Putong revealed himself to be a man of deep humility, but never apologetic of his poor family background, a loving husband and doting father to his five children, a lover of music, art and culture who must have gotten his inclination from his late father, a musician, a keen observer of people, a Humanist in the right sense of the word and a visionary educator who believed in the liberating power of knowledge

Dr. Cecilio K. Putong was one of the most brilliant man ever produced by the Boholano people. His I.Q. was tested at 138, a rating that meant Very Superior Intelligence, just two notches away from an I.Q. rating of 140 which signified Genius or Near Genius.

  • He learned to read and write before he entered formal schooling. He was appointed regular municipal teacher at age 13, later as principal at the age of 15
  • Became a pensionado or government scholar to the Philippine Normal School, graduating in 1912 as Class Valedictorian
  • Studied agriculture at Los Baños but discontinued when he contracted malaria
  • Taught for a time at Bohol High School, and was a brilliant adviser in declamation
  • Took up law in Manila, even as he was working as examiner at the Bureau of Civil Service
  • Was again made a pensionado to the U.S., finishing his BSE degree at the Western Illinois State College in 1920, and his Master’s Degree at Columbia University in 1921.
  • For the third time became government pensionado in the U.S. in 1927 finishing his Ph. D. at the University of Chicago two years later.
  • Became Division Superintendent of Schools in Leyte, Romblon, Abra, and Agusan
  • Was appointed Superintendent of City Schools in Manila in 1938, Chief Instruction and Information Division in 1945 -1947
  • Was appointed Assistant Director of Public School, 1947
  • Became Undersecretary of Education in 1951
  • Secretary of Education, 1952.
  • Was able to travel all over the Philippines except in three provinces
  • Had traveled to Europe, Hong Kong, Middle East, Japan and other Asian countries
  • Managed a school for about ten years, bringing it from obscurity to prestige
  • Authored several textbooks and made the landmark book, the first of its kind “Bohol and Its People.”

1906

Cecilio Kapirig Putong


Class of 1921

Francisco Racho Orig Sr.


Class of 1922

Pastor Ranario Jamero


Class of 1947

Nemesia Doysabas Ramiso


Class of 1948/1949?

Amado Ugat Racho
Remedios Ugat Racho


Class of 1957

Nicasio Blancas
Corazon Garote
Unknown Globasa
Gardenia Jayag
Unknown Lim
Primitivo Calamba Orig Jr. (Valedictorian)
Unknown Solis

PHOTO GALLERY

Source:
From the project Bohol Provincial High School Alumni