Jesus Perlas

Jesus C. Perlas, Sr. grew up in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo, went through its public schools, and then enrolled in the U.P. College of Engineering in 1930. He was a scholar in Engineering for four years.

He started working with the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) in 1930 and rose to Assistant General Manager by 1947. In between that time, he specialized in Sanitary Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of technology. Before assuming the position of Assistant General Manager, he successively held the position of chief statistician, superintendent of filtration, chief of the division of water sources, and chief engineer.

He was appointed professor of Mathematics and Secretary of the Academic Board when the Philippine Military Academy was established. In later years, he taught Hydraulic and Sanitary Engineering at the FEU Institute of Technology. As a major in the engineer corps (reserve) of the AFP, he was the army’s consultant on Sanitary Engineering.

He was the first Filipino member of the American Waterworks Association. He was also a member of the National Research Council of the Philippines, PSSE, and PATE. He was a member of the group pof U.O. Engineering Alumni that organized the U.P. Alumni Engineers in 1947. (Excerpt from UP Alumni Engineers Yearbook under the section “Who’s Who”)