About us 1

        In 1921, the Lucena Tong Ho Labor and Merchants Association was organized. In order to preserve the Chinese culture, the Tong Ho School was established in a rented house in Zamora Street with only 30 students. When the school could not accommodate the increasing number of students, a parcel of land located in Juarez Street was purchased and a new school building was constructed. Tong Ho School was hailed as the first Chinese school in Southern Luzon.

In 1936, the Lucena Tong Ho Labor and Merchants Association was renamed as Lucena Chinese Chamber of Commerce. To oversee the school affairs, an academic supervisor was appointed. The school was praised for its continuous improvements in all aspects, one of which was the inclusion of the secondary curriculum in 1939.

In 1941, the Second World War broke out and the Philippines was placed under the control of the Japanese Imperial Army, which resulted to the stoppage of the operation of the school for several years. After the Liberation, the Lucena Chinese Chamber of Commerce was able to reopen the school after surpassing extreme difficulties. Due to the increasing administrative work loads of the Chamber and the school, the Board of Trustees was organized in 1949 to administer the affairs of the school.

The student population kept on growing, and a need for school expansion was seen and felt. Thus, in 1955, fund raising activities were conducted. A bigger parcel of land located in Merchan Street was acquired and a two-story building was constructed. The addition of the left and right wings to the building in 1968 and 1972 completed the school building. That expansion made Philippine Tong Ho Institute to be regarded as the biggest Chinese school in the region.

In order to be in parallel with the names of other similar organizations nationwide, in 1959, the Chamber changed its name for the second time to Lucena Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber and the Board have always been working hand-in-hand in serving the community.

Moreover, alumni were encouraged to join the Board of Trustees. The said alumni, armed with genuine love and concern for the school, started in 2005 the construction of a three-story school building. With the outpouring support from different sectors of society, including the Kuan Yan Tan Charity Association, Phase 1 & Il of the buildings were completed in 2008. The same year, the blessing of the new building was held. To continue the construction of Phase III, the Property Custodian Committee of the Lucena Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and PTHI Board of Trustees released the PTHI Construction Fund.

Upon the completion of Phase III in 2010, the construction of the new PTHI school building has finally ended. It has been praised as one of the most elegant and modern school buildings in the city. The blessing and inauguration was held in 2011.

Through the years, the officers and members of the Lucena Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and PTHI Board of Trustees rendered unwavering support and sacrifices to propagate culture, to construct school buildings and to provide quality education to the youth.

One hundred three years of dedicated hard work made what Tong Ho is today. The establishment of this school and subsequent construction of the school buildings are hereby narrated, so that the generations to come will remember and emulate the selfless dedication and contributions of the benefactors that helped countless of students. Their great accomplishments will forever be imprinted in the history of Philippine Tong Ho Institute.