A staunch patriot, Dr. Sibal advocated for putting Filipino-authored books in the hands of young Filipino learners. This was in 1958, when his fledgling ALEMAR’S was gaining popularity as one of the country’s first bookstore chains. His advocacy was galvanized by his visionary wife, Alegria Rodriguez, and literally put to paper by a staff of five. He was the first to publish quality instructional materials for and by Filipinos, earning him an indelible place in the pages of Philippine education forever and the moniker, “Father of Filipino-authored textbooks.”

Dr. Sibal’s unwavering commitment and valiant crusade for Filipino-crafted books decisively bore fruit with the issuance of the Department of Education Order No. 43 s. 1972, which states, “with a view of accomplishing an integrated, nationalistic, and democracy-inspired education system in the Philippines, all schools, colleges, and universities should use, if available, only textbooks authored by Filipinos and published locally in preference to those written by foreigners and printed abroad.”

Through the decades, a succession of Dr. Sibal’s sons and daughters helmed Phoenix Publishing House, Inc. and brought it to new heights of leadership, helping create new products and transforming existing ones. The stringent demands of a burgeoning market gave rise to Sibs Publishing House, Inc. in the ‘90s. Underneath it all remained the true mission of the sister publishing houses—to improve the quality of Philippine education and the quality of life of teachers.

For years, we have been approved and endorsed by the Department of Education (DepEd) as provider of textbooks, references, and other supplementary instructional resources to private and public schools alike. As we continue to blaze new trails in the educational publishing industry, we look back to how our triumph in our commitment stemmed from our humble yet revolutionary roots: