Mita Pardo de Tavera
Mita Pardo de Tavera (November 19, 1919 – October 23, 2007) was a Filipino pulmonologist, writer, socio-civic leader, and community health worker. She served as Secretary of Social Welfare and Development during the administration of President Corazon Aquino. Pardo de Tavera is also known to develop a program that educated the illiterate and the poor about natural healing remedies and as a staunch opposition to the Marcos administration and the martial law era. Early life and education Pardo de Tavera is born to the distinguished and nationalistic Pardo de Tavera clan. She is a great-granddaughter of Joaquin Pardo de Tavera, the lawyer of the martyred triumvirate of Gomburza, and granddaughter of Trinidad Pardo de Tavera, delegate of the Malolos Constitution and served under the administration of President Emilio Aguinaldo. She translated into English the cookbooks of her great-grandmother, Doña Juliana Pardo de Tavera y Gorricho, who loved to cook and throw parties in the 19th century in their family home in Paris. Pardo de Tavera graduated from medical school at the University of the Philippines in 1944. During her internship at the Philippine General Hospital, she realized the dire need of healthcare services during wartime for the sick and the