One of the pillars of special education (SPED) in the country, Prof. Trinidad C. Baldo, PhD, passed away on Oct. 3. She was 83.

Known for being kind, loyal, and supportive to both students and colleagues, Baldo was author of several modules in education. She also served as consultant and resource speaker at the Department of Education (DepEd) for SPED from the 1970s to 2003.

Baldo began her career at the UP Diliman College of Education (UPD CEd) on July 1, 1971 as an instructor and later rose in academic ranking as a professor, a post she held until she retired on Sept. 26, 2003.

CEd dean Prof. Jerome T. Buenviaje, PhD, responding to an email UPDate Online sent, said Baldo was a “very good writer of published books in the elementary. She wrote the initial concept of, which some CEd faculty modified later as, ‘The Mobile Training for SPED Teachers and Administrators in the Philippines’ which we implemented for 23 years in all regions of the country, several times.”

Buenviaje continued, “We had 44 mobiles across the country. She was national coordinator from 1994 to 2004. Ratings for the mobile training were always outstanding, and Dr. Baldo was always among those who topped the evaluation. She was a very good teacher, garnering top scores in the student evaluation of teacher (SET).”

According to the CEd Office of the Dean, Baldo received numerous national awards, including the recognition of the DepEd and the National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET) as one of the Three Pillars of Special Education in the Philippines in 2007.

Trained in module writing in England, two of her articles—“The disadvantage gifted: Issues and concerns” and “Towards a conceptualization of giftedness in the Philippine context” were featured in Education Quarterly.

Born on Sept. 26, 1938, Baldo is survived by her sister and brother, niece, nephews, and grandchildren.