Gabriel Daza


Gabriel Amando Daza, KGCR, KC*SS was the first Filipino electrical engineer and one of the charter members of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines. He co-founded the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Co., Philippine Electric Manufacturing Company, Phelps Dodge Philippines. He was the supervising engineer and assistant general manager of Visayan Electric Company and led its expansion out of Cebu City. President and chief scout of the BSP in 1961–68. In 1945, President Osmeña appointed Daza to be a member of the board of directors of the Manila Railroad Company and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. In 1950, he was vice-chairman of the National Power Corporation and on the board of directors of the Manila Hotel Company. In 1951, Daza was appointed by President Quirino as a founding member of the board of directors of the National Shipyard and Steel Corporation. President and director of the National Economic Protection Agency in 1956.

Early life

Daza was born and raised in Borongan, Eastern Samar, to Don Eugenio Daza and his wife, Carolina Cinco. Daza was a principale through his father, while the social class was slowly dissolved following American colonialism, Daza retained the principale honorific title of Don. Daza was the eldest of 7 siblings: Carlota, Cirilo, Jesus, Rosario, Maria and Juan. Daza was born 3 months before his father left to fight in the Philippine Revolution. In 1907, when Daza was 11, his father became the Representative of their region to the First Philippine Legislature. That same year he began studying at Ateneo de Manila. While at Ateneo he would befriend Andrés Soriano Sr. and their junior José Cojuangco In 1914, Daza completed a Bachelor of Arts at the Ateneo de Manila University.
In 1915, he was part of the Philippine Delegation to the Panama–Pacific International Exposition. After the exposition, Daza ended up staying in the United States for the next seven years.
While studying engineering in the U.S., Daza picked up "odd jobs" to support himself. These odd jobs at various times included being an elevator boy, messenger, telephone operator, gardener, janitor, clerk, and even a houseboy for the U.S. House of Representatives Philippine Resident Commissioner Jaime C. de Veyra. Daza stated his experience in these odd jobs were the reason he was known for his cleanliness, orderliness, and fondness for nature. Daza's U.S. World War I draft registration card states that he was an American citizen.

Engineering

In 1915, Daza moved to the U.S. to attend Herald's Engineering College in San Francisco, California. While studying he lived at the Hotel Dorchester and worked there as a clerk. Daza then studied at the Bliss Electrical School in Washington, D.C. where he graduated in 1919.
Shortly after, Daza moved to Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, where he lodged at the home of a fellow electrical engineer Everett Ashworth who had recently married and moved from Washinghton, New York. Daza worked at the mainplant of Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a company that employed the likes of Nikola Tesla, and studied in the Westinghouse Educational Department. He joined the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Bliss Electrical School Alumni Association. Daza studied in Alexander & Baldwin, New York, to help familiarise himself with engineering methods and practices before working for Catton-Neil Eng. & Machinery Co. Daza received his graduate and post-grad from Westinghouse. While Daza was studying, he taught his Spanish-speaking colleagues what he learned at school, they later "offered him a good-paying job in Argentina" which he declared was "a turning point." He decided "it was time go home and do my share here."

Return to the Philippines

In 1922, Daza worked as an electrical engineer and salesman for Catton-Neill Eng. & Machinery Co a local subsidiary of Westinghouse and was an Associate Member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. On December 3, 1927, Daza became a full member of the AIEE.
In Cebu City, as early as 1927, Daza was the Supervising Engineer and Assistant General Manager of the Visayan Electric Company, and the Assistant General Manager of the Visayan Electric Supply Company. Daza led the expansion of VECO out of the Cebu City. In 1929, Daza went to the Philippine Legislature in Manila to develop a new franchise for VECO. In 1931, the Legislature approved a 50-year franchise allowing VECO to expand to: Mandaue, Consolacion, Liloan and Compostela, North of Cebu; and Talisay, Minglanilla, Naga, San Fernando and Danao.
In 1928, Col. Joseph E. Stevenot sought out Daza for his engineering prowess. Together, Daza and Stevenot co-founded the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company. Throughout his career at PLDT Daza filled several positions at various times including Vice President, Treasurer, Chief Financial Officer, Public Service Commissioner, Manager of Manila District and Acting General Commercial Manager.
From 1930 to 1939, Daza was the Illuminating Engineer of the executive staff, and Electrical Engineer of the Philippine Carnival Association. The association held the Manila Carnival, an American Colonial showcase for Philippine commerce, industry and agriculture. He co-founded the Philippine Electric Manufacturing Company and Phelps Dodge Philippines. From 1936 to 1937, Daza was the chairman of Illumination Committee for the 33rd International Eucharistic Congress. In 1937, he was treasurer of the Philippine Association of Mechanical and Electrical Engineers. By 1939, Daza was receiving one of the highest salaries in the Philippines at ₱1,000.
By 1937, Daza had been a consulting electrical engineer for the Philippine Army for some time, he was formally announced to be Captain of the Signal Corps for the Philippine Army on June 15, 1937, under the command of Lt. Col. Paciano Tangco. In 1945, Daza worked with the United States Army Signal Corps to survey the extent of the destruction of PLDT's telephone communications infrastructure in Manila. Daza reported that three of PLDT's central exchanges in Santa Cruz, Malate, and Pasay were destroyed by the Japanese.
In June 1947, the Electrical Engineering Law, Republic Act 184, was passed in the Congress of the Philippines and Daza was appointed as the chairman of the Board of Electrical Engineering Examiners that Article 1 Section 2 of the Act established. Due to propriety, as the examiner chairman, Daza issued license number 001 to himself, making himself the first Filipino licensed electrical engineer.
From 1946 to 1951, Daza was the Assistant Chief Examiner and engineering consultant for the US-Philippine War Damage Commission. Daza was also the liaison officer for Gen. Douglas MacArthur for the PWDC.
In the late 40's, under President Elpidio Quirino, Daza was tasked with engineering two hydroelectric dams in the Benguet province along the Agno River. The dams became known as Ambuklao Dam, which was opened in 1956, and Binga Dam, which opened in 1960. Daza would bring his grandson Gabriel "Bong" Daza III when he put up power plants in Marina Cristina, Northern Mindanao; Bunga, Cebu province; and Angat, Bulacan Province.
In 1961, Daza retired as Vice-President and Treasurer of PLDT. In 1962, he co-founded the Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Co. and served as a member of the Board of Directors until as late as 1992.
On November 12, 1985, Daza and Quezon City Mayor Adelina Santos Rodriguez sponsored the Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers of the Philippines Inc. Building Cornerstone for a new IIEE Headquarters.
In his life, Daza was honoured with lifetime memberships in three industry societies: the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the Integrated Electrical Engineers of the Philippines Inc..

Boy Scouts

In 1928, Daza registered to be a member of the Cebu Council, Boy Scouts of America. On October 31, 1936, Daza and the other Boy Scouts of the Philippines founders officially chartered the BSP in Commonwealth Act No. 111 authorized by President Manuel Quezon. Later, he was appointed as Secretary of the Boy Scout Foundation by Joseph Stevenot and served in the BSP's National Executive Board.

Post-World War II

Following World War II, out of the seven Charter members, Stevenot and General Vicente Lim were casualties of the war. Arsenio Luz and Manuel Camus were occupied in post-war reconstruction. Jorge Vargas was facing charges for collaboration with the Japanese, and General Carlos Romulo was working on the formation and establishment of the United Nations. This left Daza as the sole charter member available to build the fledgling organisation in the aftermath of the war.
As a member of the US-Philippine War Damage Commission, Daza acquired a donation for a furnished Quonset hut including office equipment for the first BSP national office which was established at the Mehan Gardens.
In 1947, the BSP National Council elected Daza Treasurer. In 1949, after Camus' passing, Vargas became President and worked with Daza to establish firm financial foundations for the BSP through lobbying. This included the original Sweepstakes law which helped finance the operations of the BSP and several other organisations including the Girl Scouts of the Philippines, the Philippines National Red Cross, the Philippines Tuberculosis Society Inc., among others. In 1949, Daza and Vargas lobbied the passing of Republic Act No. 397 An Act Granting the Boy Scouts of the Philippines Ten Thousand Hectares of Public Agricultural Land for Additional Support and Maintenance of Said Corporation, this act was used to acquire campsites and council offices throughout the country. The act was the basis of a later 6,000 hectare BSP Land Grant in Asuncion, Davao, and Manila. As treasurer, Daza was responsible for determining a suitable site for the BSP national office. He gave the BSP Board three choices: the Bordner School, the City Court site adjacent to Manila City Hall, and the US Army Hospital site which was also a Quonset hut. The Board chose the US Army Hospital which is where the present national office is situated. In 1952, Daza surprised the BSP board by announcing his husbandry of BSP finances made viable the start of construction of the BSP national office building. Daza attained the services of architect Juan Nakpil for the BSP national office building's design and plans, and Gonzalo G. Puyat & Sons, Baughman and Arte Español for the furnishings.