Our History

The Salazar Construction Engineering (SALCON) Review began in 1958. From its humble beginnings, SALCON grew and was soon recognized as a prestigious and outstanding Engineering Review Center. SALCON became a mark of competence that everybody could rely on.

On May 2, 2004, the school was renamed Salazar Colleges of Science and Institute of Technology (SCSIT) to meet the government requirements of the new course offerings in science.

A Dream and Diligent Work

Salazar Colleges of Science and Institute of Technology (SCSIT) was the dream of Engr. Doroteo ‘Dodo’ Monte de Ramos Salazar and his wife, Mrs. Zenaida ‘Naiding’ Figuracion Salazar. With Dodo and Naiding growing up in their own home provinces in rural Philippines (Dodo from Sogod, Leyte and Naiding from Madridejos, Cebu), they experienced the difficulties of an average Filipino family to provide quality education to their children.

War and Sickness
Their first years in school were interrupted by the Second World War. When school opened after the war, they struggled to balance home and school life, doing small jobs or helping with the family business. Dodo sold ice drops and peanuts and shined shoes, while Naiding helped out with her mother’s dried fish business and attended to the needs of her five younger siblings, while her father looked after their farm.
Although Dodo’s father was a rural physician and his mother was a Home Economics teacher, their combined incomes were insufficient for their 10 children. Their financial situation worsened when his father contracted tuberculosis while Dodo was about to enter college.

High School Valedictorian and First Year in College
His only hope was his high school valedictorian diploma from St. Thomas Aquinas College (STAC) in Sogod, Southern Leyte. He applied for a working scholarship at the school where his uncle, Engr. Aurelio S. Salazar taught and was Head of the Surveying Department at the Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT) in Cebu City. Since he graduated from a class of less than 50 students (while the other applicants came from schools with more students), Dr. Nicolas G. Escario, CIT’s Founder and first President, told him to prove his grades in his first year.
Dodo paid for his freshman year as a working student for his uncle, doing his dishes and scrubbing his floors, outside of school hours. Because he was brilliant in Algebra, some of his classmates requested him to tutor them in that subject. At seventeen, he was already tutoring his peers. With outstanding grades after his first year, Dr. Escario awarded him a full scholarship for his second year.

Highest Honors
Four years later, in 1957, he graduated with the highest honors, Summa Cum Laude, and King of Engineers, with the highest grade among all the engineering graduates of Batch 1957. He was given a teaching load at CIT after graduating and passing the board exams in Civil Engineering.

Naiding
Meanwhile, Naiding graduated in Eelementary Eeducation from Cebu Normal College (CNC) while renting a room at her cousin’s place just across CNC. Her cousin, one of Dodo’s classmates whom he tutored, introduced Dodo to her. After several years of a loving relationship, they wed on July 25, 1959. Their union opened more business possibilities for the couple. After two years of teaching in a private tertiary institution in Cebu for Dodo and in public elementary schools in Bantayan and Cebu for Naiding, both decided to start their own business.

Salazar Engineering Review Center
Dodo’s first major construction project was a building in CIT’s second campus on C. Padilla Street. Naiding followed suit and resigned from her teaching job to help Dodo manage their construction. Due to a lack of qualified construction personnel, Dodo conducted review classes again in the mid-sixties and opened the Salazar Engineering Review Center. He offered on-the-job training to the promising ones and elevated them to Project Engineers in his very own Salazar Construction once they graduated and passed the board exams.

Time to Open a School
In 1983, when the neighboring CIT’s high school department closed, their closest friends persuaded Dodo and Naiding to open a school. Incidentally, this was the time when there was economic turmoil in the country, with the devaluation of the Philippine peso accompanied by the rising prices of prime commodities, including quality education.

Salcon Institute of Technology opened its doors for 211 first- and second-year secondary students enrolled in the Technical Curriculum. These were the top students from several public schools in south Cebu, carefully chosen by our school administration. The school’s name was later renamed Salazar Institute of Technology to commemorate the founders’ last name.

SCSIT
On May 2, 2004, the school was again renamed Salazar Colleges of Science and Institute of Technology (SCSIT) to meet the government requirements of the new course offerings in science.

Upon the request of several local families, SCSIT Madridejos opened its doors in June 1996, the first year Engr. Doroteo Salazar was Madridejos Mayor. Like the Cebu campus, the Madridejos campus offered several scholarships and discounts to poor yet deserving students, providing them with a quality education they couldn’t otherwise afford. After a few years, SCSIT Madridejos added K–12, junior and senior high school, and the same college offerings as the main campus in Cebu City.

A New Era

July 23, 2017, set a new era for SCSIT when Engr. Doroteo M. Salazar passed away, making his eldest son, Engr. Alden F. Salazar the new President.

Engr. Alden F. Salazar, President
Alden (previously based in California) brought with him almost 40 years of experience in Information Technology, Engineering, Business, and Real Estate, including being a Management Information System (MIS) Manager at Fujitsu North America (a Toyota subsidiary). His engagement with Fujitsu branches in Mexico, Japan, and Canada gave him business networks that he has kept to this day. As a Civil Engineering graduate of Cebu Institute of Technology, Alden has revitalized SCSIT, preparing it to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Dr. Beth Salazar Villarin, Vice President
Dr. Beth Salazar Villarin, Alden’s younger sister, became the new Vice President for Academic Affairs. She brought over 20 years of experience to the academy—15 years as an Associate Professor in the Department of Business Administration, University of San Carlos (USC) in Cebu City, Philippines, and 12 years as an Early Childhood Educator in California and Canada. At USC, she engaged in research, including national research on Supply Management. Through the SCSIT Research and Extension Office and the USC Alumni Association, her community extension services focus on empowering small and medium-sized businesses.

K–12 Education
Between the school years 2018 and 2020, Basic Education shifted to K–12 upon complying with the guidelines of the Department of Education (DepEd).

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, from March 2020 to August 2022, challenged the school. Although enrollment was only 20–30% of the average numbers, SCSIT was resilient enough to keep its doors open. With a skeleton crew and many modifications (including adopting online or modular learning and creative teacher loading), it adapted to the difficult situation. Face-to-face classes resumed in the school year 2022–2023.