TARLAC CITY, Tarlac (Sept. 6, 2022) — The country’s oldest secondary school celebrated its 120th founding anniversary last week.
Tarlac National High School (TNHS) was founded on September 2, 1902, by American Thomasites, becoming the first public high school in the country while Frank Russell White served as its first principal.
Some of TNHS’s prominent alumni include Carlos P. Romulo, Philippine Representative to the United Nations and also served as Foreign Affairs Secretary; Jose Roy Moncada, first senator from Tarlac and from whom the town of Moncada was named; Onofre Corpuz, who served as Education Secretary and president of the University of the Philippines; and Jorge Bocobo, the principal author of the Civil Code of the Philippines.
The 2022 anniversary was commemorated by a simple thanksgiving mass.
According to 2014 statistics, TNHS has a student population of 7,268, making it one of the largest secondary schools in Region 3.
On Oct. 28, 2015, a fire destroyed TNHS’ main Gabaldon-type building and social hall.
There is also a move to have the school recognized as a national historical site by the National Historical Commission in 2017.
