Jaime C. Bulatao

Bulatao died at Ateneo's Jesuit Residence on February 10, 2015 at 8:25PM after a four-day hospital stay. The University did not detail the cause of death. After a funeral Mass at Ateneo de Manila University's Church of Gesu that began on February 11, he was laid in the Sacred Heart Novitiate cemetery in Novaliches, Quezon City on February 14, 2015.

Mira Ofreneo, one of Bulatao's former students and the current dean of the Psychology Department, wrote a poem for him on 22 Sept. 2013 entitled “GURU”. The Psychological Association of the Philippines also named a teaching award in his honor.

In 2010, it was alleged that then-senator and presidential candidate, Benigno Aquino III, underwent a psychiatric evaluation by Bulatao in 1979 that showed he suffered from depression, which some claimed made him psychologically unfit to seek the presidency. This so-called "Bulatao Report" was released and spread through chain mail. Bulatao, however, denied that he wrote and signed the report, claiming it to be false.

By 2008, Bulatao had been diagnosed with both dementia and emphysema.

Bulatao taught himself the basics of several languages, including French, Japanese, and conversational Chinese. During the 1980s, when the Philippines was under martial law, Bulatao helped save Psychology Department secretary Susan Cellano from Marcosian intelligence agents. The Marcosian intelligence agents were to pick up Cellano from Bellarmine Hall, and another secretary Nits del Rosario called Bulatao and asked him to help. She spoke in French so that the arresting agents did not understand their conversation. Bulatao went to the Psychology department and was able to protect Cellano from the agents.

Bulatao introduced the concept of group dynamics to the Philippines, and wrote The Technique of Group Discussion in 1965. He stressed the importance of understanding the Filipino psyche, undertaking studies on the psychology of Filipino culture and the phenomena surrounding spirituality and consciousness. As a clinical psychologist, Bulatao aimed to find the kind of therapy that worked best in the cultural context of the Philippines, experimenting with different alternatives that combined both his knowledge of Western methods and his understanding of the local culture.

Hurley inspired him to become a Jesuit. He entered the Jesuit novitiate in Novaliches at the age of 16, leaving behind his 'childhood sweetheart,' Faley Honzales. He was ordained in 1952. Bulatao attended Woodstock College in New York, where he obtained a theology degree. For his post-graduate studies, Bulatao attended Fordham College in New York and received an MA in experimental psychology, and later a PhD in clinical psychology, with a focus on Comparative Physiological Psychology.

Bulatao began teaching in 1946 at Ateneo before leaving to pursue his postgraduate studies at Fordham. Bulatao returned to the Philippines in 1960 and helped establish the Ateneo de Manila's Department of Psychology, where he taught for more than four decades. The department advised Bulatao to retire, but he refused. He held seminars in hypnosis, along with informal class sessions referred to as “Conversations with Father Bulatao.” He also helped found the Psychological Association of the Philippines. In 1964, he co-founded the Philippine Guidance and Personnel Association along with colleagues from various local universities.

Bulatao attended St. Theresa's College in Manila for kindergarten. His parents wanted him to go to La Salle for grade school; however, he insisted on going to Ateneo Grade School against his parents' wishes. After further learning about the school, and meeting Fr. John Hurley, Bulatao's parents allowed him to attend. He graduated high school in 1939 as a valedictorian.

Jaime C. Bulatao (September 22, 1922 – February 10, 2015), called "Father Bu" by his students and coworkers, was a Filipino Jesuit priest and psychologist. He is one of the co-founders of the Ateneo de Manila University's Department of Psychology and the Psychological Association of the Philippines.

Jaime “Jimmy” Carlos Bulatao was born in Paco, Manila on September 22, 1922. His father, Emilio Bulatao, headed the Physiology Department of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine. When his family fled from their Paco residence due to the carpet-bombing of the Philippines in the Second World War, Butatao's father allegedly brought with him nothing but his research papers. His mother, Encarnacion Ungson, was a public-school teacher before she married. Bulatao had three older siblings: Josefine “Jo” Ungson Jayme, Rodolfo “Dodoy” Bulatao, and Elisa “Ely” Ungson Quizon. They grew up in Lingayen in the province of Pangasinan, where Bulatao was first taught by Belgian nuns and was at the top of his class.