Tau Gamma Phi — the Triskelions’ Grand Fraternity— is a social organization of higher education students in The Philippines, founded on a similar model to the fraternities of the United States and Canada.
The organization, originally known as the "Order of the U.P. Triskelions", was founded on October 4, 1968 by four Arts and Science students from the University of the Philippines, in the Diliman campus, Quezon City, Philippines. The group swelled in ranks and gained its recognition when the Greek-lettered name ΤΓΦ (Tau Gamma Phi) was adopted. A few years later, chapters from other college and university campuses in the Philippines were established.
The ΤΓΦ aims for the promotion and achievement of the ideals of fraternal brotherhood. The fraternity believes that it must forge its members to embody qualities of leadership, commitment, persistence, trust, integrity, respect, and vision. This fraternity aims for academic success, personal, career and spiritual growth, active participation in the community through service and social activities. The ΤΓΦ is committed to developing a best-in-class brotherhood organization: a student organization that embodies its own ideals and mission in accordance to fraternity’s Tenets and Codes of Conduct.
A member of ΤΓΦ is called a Triskelion. Triskelion is a "Three Legged Symbol" as shown on the fraternity seal, (also used as a symbol of Brittany, Sicily and the Isle of Man) though its origin is a mystery. A Triskelion has always lived up to the motto, which accompanies its seal — Fortis (Fortitude of Strength), Voluntas (Voluntary Free Will) and Fraternitas (Brotherhood).
To date, the fraternity has several thousand active and alumni members all over the Philippines . The ΤΓΦ is a diverse fraternity where members mostly come from the colleges of medicine, law, architecture & engineering.
The turbulent 60’s was a decade of social and political upheavals in the annals of Philippine History. The period saw the breakdown of traditional beliefs and long-held values in favor of newer and more progressive ideas. In almost every aspect of Philippine life and culture, CHANGE seemed to be the rightful order of the day.
The Fraternity system in the University of the Philippines was immune from these external developments. As extraordinary times, called for and breed extraordinary men. 1968 saw the wielding together of 25 concerned student leaders with a vision of introducing change and reforms in the feudal and decadent nature of the existing Fraternity System. Then the result was the creation on October 4 of the same year of the UP Triskelions’ Grand Fraternity, better known as Tau Gamma Phi (ΤΓΦ).
The ΤΓΦ is a protest Fraternity, better life, and as such, it has committed itself in the Fraternity Life and as such it has committed itself uncompromisingly to the two-fold task of providing the leadership in the quest for a Fraternity System devoid of Fraternity violence as well as in the propagation of the TRISKELION as a Way of Life.
Through the years, the ΤΓΦ has never strayed from it’s goals, and although the cause of which it has chosen to champion has proven to be difficult and sometimes, seemingly hopeless, the Fraternity has, nevertheless survived and even increased a thousand-fold in strength and in number, knowing fully well that peace is a product of strength and not of weakness, where other fraternities with the same noble intentions failed to succumbed into non-existence by adopting a passive resistance to fraternity violence; the ΤΓΦ has chosen not to follow the same path lest it suffers the same fate.
Furthermore, as a manifestation of its sincerity towards the achievement of such goal, the Fraternity has taken an active role in organizing inter-fraternity alliances in the various schools and universities all over the country in the hope that such alliances will provide the conducive atmosphere where fraternities can slowly grow and mature together in a fellowship of mutual trust and respect in each other’s philosophies and ideals. "De gustibus non desputandum est - of likes and dislikes there should be no disputing, live and let live", this is one of the guiding principles of the Triskelions.
Today, the ΤΓΦ is already one of the biggest, most cohesive, and most dynamic fraternities in the Philippines. It boast of membership of every colleges and universities around the country, and now in all regions of the United States of America and other continents of the world; and true to its objective of changing the elitist orientation of the fraternity system, the Fraternity had decided to open its door to out-of-school youth so that they, who were not privileged of education, may also share in the fruits and the glory of the ΤΓΦ.
On October 4, 1968, the Triskelions’ Grand Fraternity was established in the University of the Philippines, the rest is History.
