San Beda University opened in 1901 as El Colegio de San Beda with 212 students under Fr. Silvestre Jofre as rector, offering the equivalent of today’s basic education and the first two-years of a college Bachelor of Arts degree. Through a succession of 22 determined rectors – 15 Spaniards, one American, and six Filipinos – the school has successfully engaged every challenge and opportunity in its 12 decades of Philippine presence. It was steered to university status, with more than 9,000 students in 2018, by Fr. Aloysius Maranan, the last rector-president as college and the first as university.
As our apostolate, we run San Beda University Mendiola, Manila,
San Beda University Rizal & San Beda College Alabang.
These are Catholic educational institutions offering both basic and higher education programs.
History of San Beda University
They came to do missionary and parish work in parishes established by the Jesuits in Surigao. Abbot Jose Deas y Villar led a delegation of eight priests and six brothers from the Abbey of Montserrat, Spain. They arrived in Manila on the morning of 12 September 1895 and stayed temporarily in Sta. Ana with the community of the Society of Jesus.
The Benedictine monks eventually acquired a house in Balmes St., Tanduay where they had their first meal on 25 April 1896. Two Masses were celebrated with joy the following day, the 26th, Feast of Our Lady of Montserrat as Patroness of Catalonia. This house would be their home base in Manila.
Benedictine Pioneers in the Philippines
The Benedictines arrived in the Philippines near the close of the 19th century.
They came to do missionary and parish work in parishes established by the Jesuits in Surigao. Abbot Jose Deas y Villar led a delegation of eight priests and six brothers from the Abbey of Montserrat, Spain. They arrived in Manila on the morning of 12 September 1895 and stayed temporarily in Sta. Ana with the community of the Society of Jesus.
The Benedictine monks eventually acquired a house in Balmes St., Tanduay where they had their first meal on 25 April 1896. Two Masses were celebrated with joy the following day, the 26th, Feast of Our Lady of Montserrat as Patroness of Catalonia. This house would be their home base in Manila.
The Benedictines stayed in Surigao from May 1896 to September 1909, when the missions were turned over to the Dutch fathers of the Sacred Heart. Within that period, the Philippine Revolution (1896-98) broke out, and the Americans won the wars against Spain (1898) and the Philippines (1899-1902). This colonial period started the American and Protestant influence in education in the Philippines. Even before the transfer of the Surigao Mission to the Sacred Heart missionaries, superior Fr. Juan Sabater, in December 1900, thought of counteracting the American Protestant influence. The establishment of a school was also a way to sustain the monastic community with suitable work for its members.
El Colegio de San Beda and the American Colonial Influence
After overcoming several obstacles – lack of trained personnel, finances, permit to operate, suitable place, the uncertainty of the future – and trusting in Divine Providence, the community approved the establishment of a school. On 17 June 1901, El Colegio de San Beda, named after the great English Benedictine scholar and saint, Venerable St. Bede, was inaugurated in Arlegui with Fr. Silvestre Jofre, the first Rector, celebrating the opening Mass at 6 o’clock in the morning.
On 24 January 1906, El Colegio de San Beda became affiliated with the University of Santo Tomas which recognized all courses offered. Bedan graduates could pursue further studies at UST without need of a qualifying exam.
In 1910, San Beda was granted recognition by the colonial government and the authority to confer the degree of Bachelor of Arts and diplomas for the Elementary and High School. This year also marked the gradual transition of the language of instruction from Spanish to English as initiated by then rector Fr. Anselmo Ma. Catalan.
The first college seal was designed in 1916 by Dom Jesus Y. Mercado. It was based on the medal of St. Benedict. “COLEGIO DE SAN BEDA” was inscribed on the circumference instead of the original medal’s Latin initials.
The red and white flag of the Confradia del Niño Jesus de Praga was superimposed at the center with the initials R.C. (Roman Catholic). While the school colors of red and white had already made its appearance, it would only be in 1940 that Fr. Sergio Martinez, athletic moderator, would adopt the Red Lion as the symbol for the Bedan fighting spirit.
By 1918, the American influence had become widespread enough to cause the dominance of the English language in teaching, as well as the change in name from “El Colegio de San Beda” to San Beda College.
Already prefiguring the future alumni heavyweights were these early years’ outstanding graduates – Major General Basilio Valdez (1903), Justice Sabino Padilla (1904), and Chief Justice Roberto Concepcion (1920).
The curricula were composed of Primaria Ensenanza and Secundaria Esenanza. The Primaria Ensenanza consisted of class Infirma, Media, and Superior, the equivalents of the first grades of the present elementary system. The Secundaria Esenanza was made up of the four years of high school and the first two years of college leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree and a course leading to a Diploma in Commerce.
The Pueyo Seven and the Move to Mendiola
By the 1920’s there emerged a new breed of educated Filipino youth; and Bedans were at the forefront. The surge in numbers, optimism, and confidence led to the craving for a dream campus.
When the Arlegui campus became congested, the Benedictine monks purchased a large tract of land along Mendiola on 17 October 1906 and additional land also along Mendiola on 15 December 1918. The land was available, it was the structure that needed to be built.
Abbot Bernardo Lopez cites The Pueyo Seven, monks who arrived from Heusca, Spain in 1922-23, as crucial in the creation in Mendiola of the most modern campus in the country. They arrived with their “We build or we leave” spirit. The seven monks’ formation and training at El Pueyo monastery in Huesca was specifically directed towards their vocation in San Beda; hence, their tenacious attitude.
As envisioned by Fr. Agustin Costa, the prior, and Fr. Rosendo Fernandez, the rector, the future of Bedan education had two pillars – the most modern campus and the highest standard of education. In one celebration of the Feast of the Sto. Niño de Praga, apostolic delegate Msgr. Guillermo Piani acclaimed San Beda as “el ideal colegio Cristiano”.
It was also in this period that we get a glimpse of San Beda’s hallowed place in Philippine sports as San Beda ended the basketball championship streak of the University of the Philippines in the NCAA in 1927.
The cornerstone of St. Bede’s Hall, the main building, was laid on 15 September 1925. It was solemnly inaugurated on 20 June 1926, coinciding with the silver jubilee of the opening of San Beda College.
The Abbey Church was consecrated on 13 January 1926. Earlier, in 1924, the monastic community in Manila was elevated from priory to abbey status, with Rt. Rev. Raimundo Salinas being elected abbot in 1925.
Overhauled curricula in 1927 led to the inclusion of pre-law, pre-medicine and a revitalized commerce course. San Beda recruited and enrolled 27 students from 27 provinces in a radical move to de-elitize the Bedistas social composition. At the same time, a swimming pool was built, the first in any Philippine campus. Football championships were won in 1927, 1928, 1930. The first San Beda anthem was composed in 1930.
The Great Depression and the American Benedictines
The growth spurt in the 1920’s was blunted by the 1930’s “Big Crash”, with the wealth base of the economic elite swiftly eroded by the crumbling world economy.
Post War Resurgence
When the smoke of war cleared, San Beda was quick to rehabilitate and re-opened on 2 July 1945. With the other schools not yet in a position to operate, San Beda was able to assemble the best faculty, a true superschool.
Second Wave of Construction and Artistic Flowering
A quarter century after the Mendiola campus opened, Abbot Celestine Gusi presided over the second construction wave and artistic flowering in San Beda. St. Benedict’s Hall was constructed and inaugurated in 1952.
Post Martial Rule
Fr. Bernardo Perez was the rector when democracy was restored until the close of the millennium. It was during this stage, in 1989, that student enrolment first breached the 6,000 mark. The accountancy program surged in national prominence as its licensure exam rating consistently exceeded the national average by a wide margin.
The New Millennium
Fr. Anscar Chupungco became rector-president from 2001, San Beda’s centenary, to 2007. This was also the year that San Beda was granted the five-year full autonomy and administrative deregulation by the Commission on Higher Education.
University Status
In 2010, newly appointed Rector-President Fr. Aloysius Maranan moved decisively to enhance San Beda’s avowed role of serving God and country. The Vision-Mission was sharply refocused through the crafting and clarification of strategic goals in tandem with the strengthening of Bedan values and culture.