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(Maria Kalaw in 1931)
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Maria Kalaw Katigbak belonged to a well-known and much admired family. Her father was a public official whose reputation for integrity was 

unquestioned. Intellectually, he was at par with the country’s top political figures who were his friends. Her mother, a Spanish mestiza, was a 

sharp-thinking businesswoman. Practical but principled, she took great pains in protecting the family’s name. It was she who greatly shaped the mind 

of Maria.


Unlike many offspring of famous and affluent families, Maria grew up unspoiled. Her mother accustomed her to a life of Spartan simplicity. Glamour 

and luxuries were things not to be identified with her. She matured away from the frivolous crowd, but knowing she was intellectually superior to 

them. 


Maria studied at the Jefferson Elementary School. She spent a year at St. Scholastica’s College for her class in religion, taking the tranvia 

everyday. She was a hard-working student, eager to learn. The many awards she won in school attested to her scholarship. 


 She graduated as high-school valedictorian from Philippine Women’s University in 1928. She then enrolled at the University of the Philippines, 

where she earned two degrees, Bachelor of Philosophy in 1932, and Master of Arts in Social Work. At the UP, she joined the staff of the Philippine 

Collegian, was secretary of the UP Student Council, president of the UP Women’s Club, secretary of the UP Debating Club, and member of the UP 

Writers Club. For her outstanding accomplishments, she received the Most Distinguished Senior Award upon graduation. 


Her essay comparing and contrasting the Batangueña and the Ilonga launched her writing career. She authored the biography of her mother, and 

conducted research on the history of Lipa, her father’s hometown, and of Batangas province. She later became editor of Dawn, an early women’s 

magazine. 


She took her master’s degree in literature at the University of Michigan, where she was sent as a Barbour scholar. Replicating her feat at the UP, 

she focused not only on her studies but in student activities as well, presiding over the Philippine-Michigan Club and serving as secretary of the 

Cosmopolitan Club for Foreign Students. Her sister Pura stayed with her in the United States.


She later attended the University of Santo Tomas, where she received her bachelor’s degree in literature as well as her doctorate in philosophy.
 

 Like her mother who was the epitome of beauty and brains, she also reigned as "Queen of the Manila Carnival", for the year 1931-32. Life 

after college saw her teaching English both at the University of the Philippines and the Philippine Women’s University. She also honed her business 

skills by dabbling in real estate.
 

After she got married and became a mother herself, she knew what it was to be beset with the problems of running a household, supervising the 

children, helping manage the family enterprises, and finding the time to read. Once her children were grown up and her motherly duties over, she 

decided to enter public service. 


The national elections of 1961 made her the lone woman member of the Philippine Senate from 1961 to 1963.