EXHIBIT 31.2

CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 (a) OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

      I, John C. van Roden, Jr., certify that:

      1.    I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
            December 31, 2005 of P.H. Glatfelter Company ("Glatfelter");

      2.    Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
            statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
            necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances
            under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect
            to the period covered by this report;

      3.    Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
            information included in this report, fairly present in all material
            respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash
            flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in
            this report;

      4.    Glatfelter's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
            establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
            defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal
            control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
            13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for Glatfelter and have:

            (a)   Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
                  such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under
                  our supervision, to ensure that material information relating
                  to Glatfelter, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is
                  made known to us by others within those entities, particularly
                  during the period in which this report is being prepared;

            (b)   Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or
                  caused such internal control over financial reporting to be
                  designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable
                  assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and
                  the preparation of financial statements for external purposes
                  in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

            (c)   Evaluated the effectiveness of Glatfelter's disclosure
                  controls and procedures and presented in this report our
                  conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
                  and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this
                  report based on such evaluation; and

            (d)   Disclosed in this report any change in Glatfelter's internal
                  control over financial reporting that occurred during
                  Glatfelter's most recent fiscal quarter (the fourth fiscal
                  quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially
                  affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect,
                  Glatfelter's internal control over financial reporting; and

      5.    Glatfelter's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on
            our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
            reporting, to Glatfelter's auditors and the audit committee of the
            Glatfelter's board of directors:

            (a)   All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
                  design or operation of internal control over financial
                  reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect
                  Glatfelter's ability to record, process, summarize and report
                  financial information; and

            (b)   Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
                  or other employees who have a significant role in Glatfelter's
                  internal control over financial reporting.

                    Date: March 13, 2006  By:  /s/ John C. van Roden, Jr.
                                               ------------------------------
                                                    John C. van Roden, Jr.
                                                    Executive Vice President and
                                                      Chief Financial Officer