SAN BEDA: MY SCHOOL

Assignment # 1

Name: Sarah Grace P. Cruz PEPBA

Section: 1CLM Date: July 12, 2010

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Thirteen Spanish Benedictine monks, headed by Abbot Jose Deas y Villar from the Abbey of

Montserrat in Spain, arrived in the Philippines on September 12, 1895. They stayed for a while

with the Jesuit community in Sta. Ana, Manila with the original plan to do mission work in the

province of Surigao, the northern island of Mindanao. The monks went to Surigao and worked

as missionaries. Due to the outbreak of the 1896 Revolution, they were left with no choice but

to go to Manila. These monks eventually acquired a house on Balmes St., Tanduay, in the

district of Quiapo, on April 25, 1896.

The Benedictine monks had a schoolhouse ready at the corner of Arlegui and Tanduay streets

for the opening of classes on June 17, 1901. It was a strategic venue since the residence of

the Benedictines was just at Calle Balmes, near the school. The school opened with 212

students taking primaria enseñanza and secundaria enseñanza, the equivalent respectively of

grade school and high school with the first two years of college. The new school, Colegio

de San Beda, was inaugurated with Fr. Silvestre Jofre, OSB, first Rector, celebrating the

opening Mass at six in the morning. He said, “The College of San Beda comes to the arena

with the sole purpose of helping to defend the Catholic battlements in the field of education…”
After a year, the school was able to house sixty boarders. A refectory was set which had a

space capacity for ninety people.

The Royal and Pontifical University of Sto. Tomas recognized all courses offered by San Beda

College after an agreement was made on January 1906. In 1910, a new law required private

schools to apply for government recognition. The College submitted its application and was

granted recognition on May 12, 1910. A new curriculum was introduced. Five hours were

devoted to American history and English. Primaria enseñanza was restructured to the seven

grades of the elementary course, and secundaria enseñanza was restructured to the four

years of high school and first two years of college. San Beda College was thus granted the

authority to confer the degree of Bachelor of Arts and diplomas for elementary and high school

education. In 1912, the Benedictine monks decided to shift from Spanish curriculum to English.

Hence, the English language was used as the medium of instruction and in 1918, the school

began to carry the name San Beda College.

After sometime, the monks decided to purchase another property in Balmes and Vergara

streets in order to accommodate the increasing number of boys going to San Beda. The

monks realized later on that in order for the school to grow, they had to look for a new location

with bigger space. The annex that they built could no longer cater to the growing community

of San Beda.

It was during the time of Prior Fr. Agustin Costa, OSB when this dream became a reality. He

widened the Vergara extension as a temporary solution. Eventually, a vast land along

Mendiola at the nearby San Miguel district was considered as the new location for the school.

On the block stood a luxury store called Estrella del Norte where aristocrats bought their
silverware and jewelry. In 1919, the Benedictine monks bought the land at ten pesos per

square meter. The whole property extended from the north bend of the estero down to San

Rafael Street. Dom Antonio Casas, OSB transformed the Mendiola swamp into the school

campus. The land bought was twice the size of the present San Beda.

The original plan was to allot the northern part of the property for the grade school while the

southern part was to be allotted for the college department. Due to the need for a printing

press, the monks were forced to sell the southern part of the property to Centro Escolar de

Senoritas.

The cornerstone of the main building (St. Bede’s Hall) was laid on September 15, 1925 and

was solemnly inaugurated on June 20, 1926, coinciding with the silver jubilee of the school.

The Abbey Church was consecrated on January 13, 1926. When Fr. Costa planned the

structure of the new school, he envisioned an architectural structure which was marvelous

enough to be distinct from other schools in the country. He wanted it to be noticeable than the

old townhouses, more marvelous than the original Malacañang, and more outstanding than the

rising schools along Mendiola. The structure that the Benedictines used was neo-gothic

architecture, something that was not traditional at that time.

By 1927, the courses included grade school and high school, the two year courses of pre-

medicine and pre-law and the first two years of commerce. In 1928, the monks reclaimed the

15,000 cubic meter of land where they put up a football field and a swimming pool. A year

before, the student athletes won their first crown in the National Collegiate Athletics

Association.
From 1940 to 1947, the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat Manila was under the apostolic

administration of Abbot Alcuin Deutsch, OSB of St. John’s Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota.

Three monks were sent to Manila to administer the Abbey and San Beda College. The

College welcomed the only American rector in its history, Fr. Boniface Joseph Axtmann,

OSB. It was also in 1940 when the school began to carry the Red Lion as the emblem..

On December 1941, World War II broke out. The Japanese Imperial Army invaded the

Philippines and from 1942 to 1945, San Beda College became a concentration camp. During

these years, classes were held in the abbey. After the liberation, San Beda was briefly

occupied as an American army hospital.

The years after the war were years of blossoming for the school. In 1948, the College of Law

was inaugurated. From 1953-1958, San Bedaearned the distinction of producing a 100%

passing record during the Bar examinations. San Beda College also became one of the

founding schools of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines. Eventually, San

Beda College also became a chartered school of the Philippine Accrediting Association of

Schools, Colleges and Universities in 1957. Then Rector Fr. Benigno Benabarre, OSBwas

responsible for the school’s inclusion to the PAASCU.

On June 17, 2001, San Beda College celebrated its centennial. It was a time for the school to

discover new perspectives in order to face the many challenges of the new century.

Outstanding alumni in the school’s one hundred year history were honored. On that same

year, San Beda College offered the Graduate Program in Business and was granted full

autonomy by the Commission on Higher Education. This recognition was a tribute to the
school’s long tradition of academic excellence and allowed the school to offer new programs of

studies.

On June 17, 2002, the San Beda College of Medicine and the Graduate Program in Liturgy

were inaugurated, heralding the school’s expansion program. The following year, the College

of Nursing was inaugurated, followed by the Graduate Program of Law in 2004.

To allow the grade school and high school students a more conducive environment for study,

the new campus in Taytay, Rizal was inaugurated on June 2004. On June 2005, St. Benedict’s

College, San Beda College’s sister school in Alabang, south of Manila, was renamed San

Beda College-Alabang.

PURPOSE:

San Beda College aims to provide a relevant Christian formation to its students and school

personnel. Specifically, San Beda aims:

To participate fully in the task of evangelization by:

    - providing a Christian-centered educational formation where faith is integrally linked to life;

    - affording a working atmosphere conductive to the personal and professional growth of the

school personnel; and

    - enabling students and school personnel to express their Christian commitment through a

life of service and in the spirit of compassion for and solidarity with the suffering and the poor.
To develop fully a community of persons according to the life and spirit of St. Benedict

by:

    - strengthening the value of prayer and the sense of celebration in the liturgy as a

meaningful expression of faith;

    - pursuing excellence, competence and professionalism in the fulfillment of one's duties and

responsibilities as a significant expression of the value of work; and

    - creating opportunities for building community through service of one another and in the

spirit of unity and peace.

To provide fully a formation for justice, unity and peace in all curricular and human

resource development programs by:

    - promoting a deep respect for the dignity and rights to fellow human beings in the spirit of

equality;

    - upholding the human concept of development benefiting all peoples and in cognizance of

the need to care for nature and the environment; and

    - complementing the advancement in knowledge with a moral and spiritual basis for renewal

To continue fully in the task of nation-building by:

    - maintaining excellent and quality education in curricular and extra-curricular programs in

the context of service to society;

    - cooperating in the advancement of knowledge through research and study, professional

competence, discipline and leadership; and

    - upholding the value of history and culture in the pursuit of a national identity and a strong

sense of nationhood.

VISION   MISSION
San Beda College aims to form its members in 
San Beda College Envisions a community 

that is * faith (fides) 

* knowledge (scientia)
• fully human 
* virtue (virtus)
• wholly Christian 
* study 
• truly Filipino 
* community
• globally competitive
* pursuit of peace

COLLEGES/DEPARTMENTS:

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

DR. NAPOLEON, JR. K. JUANILLO

Dean
Aler, Diosdado III

Ac-Ac, Ma. Victoria M. Chairperson

Vice Dean Department of Computer Applications and

Information Science
Santos, Matilde M.

Prefect of Student Affairs

Jimenez, Ma. Luz LM Bengco, Ma. Jocelyn O.

Assistant Prefect of Student Affairs Chairperson

Department of Psychology
 Matitu, Bayani C.

Assistant Prefect of Student Affairs 

Ilago, Bienvenida A.

Chairperson

Social Science and the Humanities

Pasquin, Eric G.

Chairperson

Department of Business Management

Alajar, Joffre M.

Chairperson

Department of Accountancy and Taxation

Lamberto, Batino, Jr.

Chairperson

English, Foreign Languages and Literature

Marcelino, Ramon Benedicto N

Chair

Department of Economics

Moreno, Jacqui R.

Chairperson
Department of Financial Management

Arias-Sumilong, Anna Christina S.

Chairperson

Department of Legal Management

Claro, Jr. Rafael F.

Chairperson

Department of Human Kinetics

Macapagal, Luisito S.

Chairperson

Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences

Piscos, James Loreto C.

Coordinator

NSTP

COLLEGE OF NURSING

Mrs. Tessie R. Da Jose, RN, MAN 

Dean

Prof. Bryan S. Bustamante

Administrative Officer

Mrs. Febes Catalina T. Aranas, RN, MAED 

Clinical Coordinator

Mrs. Evelyn C. Visaya

Level IV Coordinator

Mr. Pocholo R. Autencio

Level III Coordinator

Mr. Jose Edmundo E. Pamintuan

Level II Coordinator

COLLEGE OF MEDICINE

Ferdinand Francis L. Cid, MD, FPAO

Dean

Fernandino Jose A. Fontanilla, MD, MBA

Vice-Dean

Leah A. Palapar, MD

Administrative Office

Helen S. Sigua, MD

Prefect for Student Affairs

Edna Sarah C. Morada, MD, MHPEd

Medical Education Unit

COLLEGE OF LAW

Atty. Virgilio B. Jara 

Dean 

Atty. Pablito A. Perez 

Vice Dean 

Atty. Marciano G. Delson 

Prefect of Student Affairs 

Atty. Paul P. Sagayo 

Clinical Legal Education Program

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF LAW

Dr. Josefina M. Manabat, EdD, SLD

Dean

ACADEMICS

Ricardo R. Palo

Vice President

FINANCE

Rev. Fr. Rafaelito V. Alaras, OSB

Vice President

SERVICES

Rev. Fr. Anselm Manalastas, OSB

Vice President

BASIC EDUCATION

Dr. Soledad Lecaroz

Principal

JULY 11- Feast Day

St. Benedict- Patron Saint

STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION OF COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Rector-President: Rev. Fr. Aloysius Maranan, OSB

Dean - Dr. K. Juanilio, Jr.

 Vice-Dean - Dr. Ma. Victoria Ac-Ac

Administration Officer: Prof. Bryan S.

Bustamante

Prefect of Student Activities: Prof.

Prefect of Student Discipline:
Michael John Y. Reubio
Dr. Estrellita Madriaga

Assistant Prefect of

Student Discipline: Dr.

Fedeliz S. Tuy

San Beda’s Website http://www.sanbeda.edu.ph/index.html