San Beda College

San Beda College

Dalubhasaan ng San Beda Kolehiyo ng San Beda Colegio de San Beda
Former name	El Colegio de San Beda
Motto	Fides, Scientia, Virtus
Motto in English	Faith, Knowledge, Virtues
Type	Private, Roman Catholic, Benedictine
Established	June 17, 1901(7009364528700000000♠115 years and 186 days)
Chancellor	Very Rev. Fr. Rafaelito Alaras, OSB
Rector-President	Rev. Fr. Aloysius Ma. A. Maranan, OSB
Students	11,674 (2014)
Location	Manila,  Philippines 14°35′58″N 120°59′32″E / 14.599465°N 120.992336°E / 14.599465; 120.992336Coordinates: 14°35′58″N 120°59′32″E / 14.599465°N 120.992336°E / 14.599465; 120.992336
Campus	Mendiola, Manila (Tertiary and Graduate Education); Taytay, Rizal (Basic Education Department)
Hymn	Bedan Hymn
Colors	Red and White
Sports	NCAA, NCC
Nickname	San Beda Red Lions
Mascot	San Beda Red Lions, Little Indians
Affiliations	NCAA, PAASCU, Mendiola Consortium, CEAP, ALNC, ASAIHL, RENPER (Regional Network for Poverty Eradication), ASEACCU
Website	http://www.sanbeda.edu.ph/

San Beda College (Spanish: Colegio de San Beda) and (Filipino: Dalubhasaan ng San Beda) is a private Roman Catholic Benedictine college run by the Benedictine monks in the Philippines. It is located in Mendiola, Manila, for college and Taytay, Rizal for Elementary and High School. It was founded in 1901 primarily to "defend the Catholic battlements in the field of education."^[1] San Beda, which was known then as El Colegio de San Beda, started as an all-boys grade school in Manila. It has since then expanded to a full college with both undergraduate and post-graduate degree offerings. It has two other campuses: the San Beda College-Rizal (the largest San Beda campus in size) and the San Beda College Alabang (formerly known as St. Benedict College and Benedictine Abbey School) located in Alabang Hills Village in Muntinlupa City. San Beda College Alabang however is autonomous from the other two San Beda campuses and has its own set of administrators and officials. The San Beda Graduate School of Liturgy in Manila, meanwhile, traces its academic roots and origins to the Paul VI Institute of Liturgy in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon.^[2]

Located in a once quiet, middle-class residential area, San Beda College is now part of Manila's University Belt, an irregular crescent curving for about six kilometers through six districts of Manila, containing more than thirty colleges and universities.

San Beda College offers programs in the fields of accountancy, business, marketing, economics, and law. At present, the Benedictine College has seven departments: the Basic Education Department; the College of Arts and Sciences, which offers liberal arts, sciences, and business programs; the College of Law, founded in 1948; the Graduate Schools of Business, Liturgy and Law; the College of Medicine, and the College of Nursing. In 2003, the once all-male San Beda College finally opened its doors to female students and relocated its Basic Education Department (pre-school to high school) to a new and bigger campus in Taytay, Rizal.

The school is a founding member of the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA),^[1] where it competes in sports such as basketball, football, swimming, taekwondo, and lawn tennis. The school has adopted for itself the moniker, "San Beda Red Lions." Its brother school, San Beda College Alabang is a member of sports leagues such as the WNCAA, NCAA South and the National Cheerleading Competition (NCC).

In 2013, of the 50 Richest Filipinos ranked by Forbes Magazine, five were elementary and/or high school graduates and alumni of San Beda College, namely, Mr, Robert G. Coyiuto, Jr. (Rank No. 12); Mr. Andrew Gotianun (Rank No. 17), Ambassador Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr. (Rank No. 20), Ambassador Jose E.B. Antonio (Rank No. 32), and PLDT Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan (Rank No. 50).

Academic units

San Beda College-Rizal

San Beda College Rizal Campus

The Rizal campus of San Beda College houses the basic education unit of the College. It is located in Taytay, Rizal and became operational in Academic Year 2004-2005, initially with Nursery, Kinder, Preparatory, Grade 1, and First and Second Year High School levels. Thus, the Primary Grade School, Middle Grade School, and High School became the units of the Basic Education Department (BED). Moreover, the academic curriculum was re-aligned with the school’s co-educational program and the phase-out of the Grade School and High School departments in the Mendiola campus. The last batch of Grade 6 students in Mendiola campus graduated in 2007 and 4th year students in 2006.^[3]

The Basic Education Department is composed of the following: Primary Grade School, Middle Grade School, Junior High School, and Senior High School (opening on AY 2016 - 2017)

San Beda College – Mendiola, Manila

Although the Mendiola campus is the oldest, the first San Beda campus was originally located in Arlegui Street near the compounds of the Malacañang Palace. The Benedictine College, however, decided to relocate not only the school but also the Order's monastery to Mendiola in order to accommodate an increasing student population. The Mendiola Campus formally opened in 1926.

Due to the social and political unrest during the 1970s, the Benedictine monks initially entertained the thought of leaving Mendiola and of transferring to Alabang where they recently acquired property. However, the monastic fathers abandoned the idea and instead decided to stay in Mendiola and to build another campus in Alabang at the same time.

At present, SBC-Manila houses four colleges: Arts and Sciences, Nursing, Medicine, and Law. The three graduate schools of San Beda namely, Business, Law, and Liturgy, are located in the Mendiola campus.

College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences is the oldest college or tertiary level department in San Beda College-Mendiola, Manila. More fondly called by its acronym, "CAS," the Arts and Sciences department has brought many awards and achievements to San Beda College. The CAS was instrumental in San Beda College's being granted the Level III accreditation and reaccreditation in 2001 and in 2003, respectively, by the PAASCU, as well as the autonomy status given by the Commission on Higher Education in 2003.

College of Nursing

The San Beda College of Nursing (CON) offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. The CON began its operations 2003, in consortium with the Loyola Medical College Foundation chaired by Dr. Johnny Fong. The consortium with Loyola Foundation ended in 2008. At present, the CON is now solely run by San Beda.

College of Medicine

In addition to the Nursing department, the San Beda College administration decided to put up another department to strengthen its health sciences program. The San Beda College of Medicine (SBCM) was formally established on March 9, 2002, with the task of offering a four-year course leading to the degree of Doctor of Medicine (M.D.).^[4] being its fifth unit. It has a faculty of over 70 medical lecturers, who come mostly from the University of the Philippines Manila.

The College is located at St. Benedict's Hall. It uses several laboratories in St. Maur's Bldg. along with other colleges and have a dedicated cadaver room on the third floor for its anatomy classes.

The CoM has sent examinees from its first batch of graduates from the school term 2002-2003 to the August 2007 medical board exams.^[5] The College of Medicine is affiliated with the University of Loyola in Northern Marianas Islands, United States of America Territory.

College of Law

The San Beda College of Law (CoL) was founded in 1948 upon the initiative of former rector-president Fr. Sergio Martinez, OSB. Feliciano Jover Ledesma, an Ateneo graduate, was the first dean of the San Beda Law School. It sent bar candidates for the first time in 1952, who all passed the bar. From 1953 up to 1958, the San Beda Law School achieved a feat of attaining a 100 percent passing rate in the Bar Exams.^[6] It has also produced lawyers such as the current President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte, former Senator Rene Saguisag, the late Senator Raul S. Roco, Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Leila M. De Lima, Commission on Elections Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr., and six Justices of the Supreme Court – Florenz D. Regalado, the holder of the highest bar exam grade in the country, Justo P. Torres Jr., Antonio M. Martinez, Romeo J. Callejo Sr., Antonio Eduardo Nachura and Jose Catral Mendoza.

Graduate Schools

• Graduate School of Business
• Graduate School of Law
• Graduate School of Liturgy

San Beda College-Alabang

Located in Alabang Hills Village in Muntinlupa City, San Beda College-Alabang (SBC-A) was founded in 1972 and was originally named Benedictine Abbey School. It began as a basic co-educational school. In 1995, it gained college status and renamed itself as St. Benedict College. In 2004, however, due to the clamor of the students and with the approval of the Very Rev. Fr. Anscar J. Chupungco, OSB, the college changed its name and has formally adopted since then the name, San Beda College-Alabang.^[7] The rector-president of San Beda College Alabang is Dom Clement Ma. H. Roque, OSB, who also served as former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in San Beda College-Mendiola, Manila.

San Beda College Alabang School of Law

The San Beda College of Law in Alabang was established in 2004. It serves residents of the southern part of Metro Manila who want to take up law but are not able to come to the Mendiola Campus because they live far away but they want to study law.

The San Beda Alabang College of Law has been declared autonomous from the San Beda Law School in Mendiola, with Atty. Ulpiano P. Sarmiento III as its first and current dean. Among San Beda Alabang's prominent faculty members are former Senator Rene Saguisag, COMELEC Commissioner Rene Sarmiento and the famous lawyer brothers Sigfrid and Raymond Fortun, who both served as legal and defense counsels of former president Joseph Estrada during his impeachment trial in 2000.

Center for Performing Arts

As part of its vision to become a leading school of arts in the Southern part of Metro Manila, the San Beda College Alabang established the Center for Performing Arts last 2007. The Center is offering short courses in theatre, drama, acting, dance, and music.

Publications and journals

Academic and research journals

San Beda College has published research materials and scholarly journals published by its faculty and administrators.

The College of Arts and Sciences publishes an annual scholarly journal called Scientia, which deals with topics such as economics, social sciences, history, public administration and management concepts. The College of Law releases an annual research material called The San Beda Law Journal. The articles in the San Beda Law Journal are written by the students and faculty of the San Beda Law School. The Graduate School of Business faculty articles are published in the Graduate School of Business Journal. The Graduate School of Liturgy produces the Scientia Liturgica, a journal that is dedicated to the advancement of liturgical studies in the Philippines and in Asia. The Graduate School of Law publishes the well-respected San Beda Graduate School of Law Journal of Graduate Research.

History of San Beda College

Origin

Named after the Venerable Bede of England, San Beda College was established by Spanish Benedictine monk Fr. Juan Sabater, OSB in Manila during the onset of the American colonial era. Prior to this, there were thirteen Benedictine monks from the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat in Spain who arrived in the Philippines in 1895. Their intent was to do mission work in Surigao. However, as Americans slowly but successfully began to colonize the Islands, the Benedictine monks, fearing the spread of Protestantism, began to contemplate the idea of establishing a school dedicated to propagate and defend the Catholic faith. This vision was realized in 1901, when the monks already transferred to Manila and founded the El Colegio de San Beda. During the inauguration of San Beda on June 17, 1901, Fr. Silvestre Jofre, OSB said in his homily that, “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.” With that, the school opened exclusively for young boys 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. El Colegio de San Beda was located in Arlegui Street.^[1]

In 1906, the Royal, Pontifical and Catholic University of Santo Tomas, as the leading Catholic institution in the Philippines, recognized and assisted the then-relatively young San Beda College in its course offerings. Also in 1906, the College became an affiliate to the Royal, Pontifical and Catholic University of Santo Tomas. In 1910, however, the school revised its whole academic curriculum, as a result of the requirements set by a new law in order for schools to be recognized by the government. San Beda was now an independent private college with the authority to grant the Bachelor of Arts degree, and elementary and high school diplomas. It also began to abandon Spanish as its language of instruction and started to teach not only the English language but American history and politics, as well. In 1916, Dom Jesus Y. Mercado designed the first college seal.^[8] In 1918, as a result of the growing American influence, the college decided to drop its old name, El Colegio de San Beda and began calling itself, San Beda College.^[1]

In 1926, the Benedictine monks moved the school in Mendiola Street, where it still stands. The reason for the transfer was that a bigger campus was needed to cope with demand. By 1927, the courses offered by San Beda expanded. It included grade school and high school, the two year courses of pre-medicine and pre-law and the first two years of commerce. During that year also, Bedan athletes won their first crown in the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) league.

The original Historical Marker.
On October 21, 1939, the historical marker at San Beda College was installed. However, it got stolen during World War II but later recovered in 1971 by Mr. Ramon Marcos in an excavation along Legarda Street. It was then re-installed a year later by then Vice President of San Beda Alumni Association Dr. Vicente Genato.

From 1940 to 1947, the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat in 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. When World War II broke out, San Beda College was used by the Japanese Imperial Army a concentration camp. During these years, classes were held quietly in the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat, although such classes were only limited.

After the liberation by joint Filipino and American troops, San Beda briefly functioned as an American army hospital for Japanese resistance fighters.^[1]

After the War, the school began to expand. After Fr. Boniface Axtmann's liberal democratic style of running the College ended in 1947, a similar kind of leadership emerged under the administration of the Spanish Benedictine monk, Fr. Sergio Martinez, OSB. It was during his term that he decided not only to offer programs in the fields of arts and sciences but also in jurisprudence. In 1948, Fr. Martinez formally established the San Beda College of Law. From 1953-1958, the San Beda Law School earned 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 became a chartered school of the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities in 1957. Then Rector Fr. Benigno Benabarre, OSB was responsible for the school’s inclusion to the PAASCU. Fr. Benabarre also set up an alumni network of Bedans, which would eventually become the San Beda College Alumni Association.^[1]

On June 17, 2001, San Beda College celebrated its centennial. During the opening ceremonies for its pre-centennial in 2000, former president Corazon Aquino, Bedan alumni senators Raul Roco and Rene Saguisag and then rector-president Bernardo Ma. Perez, OSB graced the event.

In that same year, a new administration under Fr. Anscar J. Chupungco, OSB emerged. That same year, San Beda College offered the Graduate Program in Business which was granted full autonomy and rated "very good" by the Commission on Higher Education.^[4]

On June 17, 2002, the San Beda College of Medicine and the Graduate Program in Liturgy were inaugurated, heralding the school’s expansion program in health sciences. The following year, the College of Nursing and the Graduate School of Law were also established. To give a more conducive academic environment to grade school and high school students, the San Beda College-Rizal campus was formally opened in June 2004. That same year, St. Benedict's College was formally renamed San Beda College Alabang.

San Beda represented the Philippines in a five-country research collaboration in the ASEAN region. On February 10, 2009, Fr. De Jesus, representing San Beda College, signed an agreement with the Presidents of Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia; Universitas Kelantan, Malaysia; Ho Chi Minh Business University, Vietnam; and University of St. Galen, Switzerland (in collaboration with Singapore), establishing the ASEAN Network for Inter-Cultural Management and Economic Studies (ANIMES). The Research Network will provide faculty members of San Beda College an international window for their research outputs as well as joint research activities with peers from the other ASEAN countries.

Architecture

Since its construction in Mendiola street, majority of the buildings of San Beda College adapted the Neo-Gothic style of architecture.^[9] However, renovations have been made in some areas such as the tiles and gates. New structures were constructed such as the covered walk and pavilion near the entrance gate.

Gallery

• 
  Arched students' entrance along Mendiola street
• 
  Details of the windows at the third floor of the main building
• 
  The renovated gate of San Beda
• 
  Fr. Sabater Court
• 
  The old gate of San Beda separating the Centennial Plaza & Plaza Bedista from the Jubilee Garden and the Abbey church.
• 
  Marker of the gate of old San Beda
• 
  An obelisk
• 
  A memorial to Bedans who died during the war
• 
  Sacro Speco Shrine of St. Benedict
• 
  Fountain at the Jubilee Garden

School traditions

For more information, see San Beda Red Lions

San Beda College adopted the Red Lion emblem from the ancient Scottish/English heraldic symbol, the Red Lion Rampant.^[10][11] The school, named after the Venerable Bede of England, naturally chose the heraldic symbol of the ancient Scots/English for courage.^[12] It has been said that the Judeo-Christian roots of the Anglo-Saxon world was preserved by the Benedictines during the Dark Ages through faith and courage.^[13] Pope Benedict XVI himself openly declared that the Benedictines saved Europe's Christian roots.^[14] San Beda pays tribute to the courage of the Benedictine monks by adopting the Red Lion, the symbol of courage in the Catholic tradition and in the land of St. Bede.^[15] It has to be noted that the Benedictines are a key part of the history of Great Britain itself.^[16][17][18]

The Bedan hymn

Before the beginning of the 1960s, Bedans were singing a different school hymn. In 1966, Senator Raul Roco, then a San Beda Magna Cum Laude law student; Arturo Montesa, wrote a new alma mater hymn which would capture the Bedan spirit. After finishing the lyrics, Roco then gave the lyrics to Rev. Fr. Benildus Ma. Maramba, OSB for its melody. It took Fr. Maramba, two days to finish the song composition.^[19]

It is sung at important events such as the NCAA basketball season, the Bar exams, and alumni gatherings but also at simple affairs such as seminars and small get-together of Bedans.

Red Lion and The Ancient Red Lion Rampant

The practice of adopting a school moniker became both fashionable and an imperative especially for Catholic school named after Saints during the 1940s in the Philippines.^[11][20] The American Catholic schools started the rage earlier when the clergy became wary of sports headlines such as “ St. Peter mauls St. Paul 80 – 40”. In the Philippines, headlines of whipping and trashing of schools named after saints drew mixed emotions among the clergy and devout Catholics. “Why would a Catholic saint whip another Catholic saint?”, they would ask.

On July 31, 1940, Fr. Sergio Martinez OSB, inspired by English tradition, coined the moniker “Red Lion” for the school.^[21] Red is the color of courage, of a warrior and a martyr. The lion, on the other hand, represents dominance as the king of the jungle.^[10][11][22]

Indian Yell

The San Beda Red Army cheering the Indian Yell

The Cuerba brothers, both Bedans, composed the Indian Yell in 1947 after the liberation from the Japanese empire.^[11][21][23] The Indian Yell was initially solely performed on drums accompanied by cheers from the students. However, this made the cheer somewhat lacking in power and needed something to rejuvenate the audience. So they changed the sound of the yell and incorporated a horn section. Accompanied by the tomahawk chop, the Indian Yell became more lively, intimidating, and full of spirit.^[10][21]

The Indian Yell is San Beda's romanticized version of the Indian war whoop. It mimics the native Indian war chants and vocalization techniques designed to intimidate the opponent.^[23] North American Indian war chants are verbalization of tunes that implore the great spirits to help them in battle. The romanticized Bedan Indian Yell is believed to have been inspired by the Plains Indian.^[10]

The Indian war whoop also gave rise to various derivative chants most especially the Lion's Roar. The Lion’s roar, with the simple "Wooohooo", also mimics primitive chants of Native American Indians. This is an indirect offspring of the Wahoos started by both Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia in the 1890s.^[24] Bedans popularized this aboriginal Native American form of chanting in the Philippine collegiate league and has spawned variations now used by many other schools.^[10][11][23]

Little Indians

The Little Indians

To accompany the Indian Yell, the Little Indians were conceptualized by Ramon Ventoza (GS '46, HS '51).^[10][11][23] Mon Ventosa is the longest serving moderator / instructor of the San Beda College Cheering Association. A cheerleader himself during his student days in San Beda College, Mon was appointed as instructor of the College's Cheering Squad (1952–1962). He came up with idea to counter the gaining popularity of the dance number of Jose Rizal College.^[21]

There were only three Indians in 1947: Gabriel Gasar and the Casal brothers, one of which eventually became a Benedictine monk. Slowly, the recruitment process changed and participation from the grade school pupils rose because many wanted to become Little Indians. Tito Mon wanted the Indians to be stout and adorable. From three Indians since 1947, the membership rose to a minimum of eight in the 90s.^[11][21]

`¡Ánimo San Beda!

Have Courage San Beda! Animo San Beda!

One of the more popular line in the traditional Bedan cheers is "¡Ánimo San Beda".^[25]

Bedans use Ánimo to mean courage in their cheers. When Bedans yell “¡Ánimo San Beda!” they actually mean “Courage San Beda!/Have Courage San Beda!", faithful to the Spanish idiomatic usage of the word.^[10][26][27] Animo is a Spanish word which means spirit, energy, vitality, purpose and will. Used as an expression of encouragement by Spanish-speaking societies, it means courage or have courage. "¡Avance San Beda!" and "¡Vamos!" were also popular then. In the pre-war Spanish San Beda cheer (also known as El Colegio de San Beda Tiene que Ganar!), "Ánimo" is also included.^[25][26]

Notable people

As one of the reputable educational institutions in the Philippines, San Beda College counts among its illustrious roster of students, alumni and graduates numerous national leaders and pioneers in politics, business, law, athletics and entertainment such as the 16th Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, former senator Benigno S. Aquino Jr., former senator Raul S. Roco, former Speaker Ramon V. Mitra, former senator and human rights icon Rene Saguisag, former Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberto Concepcion, Associate Justice Florenz Regalado, business tycoon Dr. Manuel V. Pangilinan, real estate and property magnate Ambassador Eduardo Antonino B. Antonio, business tycoon, billionaire and entrepreneur Robet Coyiuto, Philippine basketball legend Carlos Loyzaga, actor Eddie Gutierrez, and 2004 Philippine presidential candidate & actor, Fernando Poe, Jr., and people that have been recognized as one of the top 10 students in the Philippines.

See also

• San Beda Red Lions
• Fr. Bellarmine Baltasar Gymnasium

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to San Beda College.

• San Beda College Official Website

National Collegiate Athletic Association (2016–17)
Members	Men Arellano Chiefs Letran Knights Benilde Blazers EAC Generals JRU Heavy Bombers Lyceum Pirates Mapúa Cardinals San Beda Red Lions San Sebastian Stags Perpetual Altas Women Arellano Lady Chiefs Letran Lady Knights Benilde Lady Blazers EAC Lady Generals JRU Lady Bombers Lyceum Lady Pirates Mapua Lady Cardinals San Beda Red Lionesses San Sebastian Lady Stags Perpetual Lady Altas Juniors Arellano Braves Letran Squires LSGH Greenies EAC-ICA Brigadiers JRU Light Bombers Lyceum Junior Pirates Malayan Red Robins San Beda Red Cubs San Sebastian Staglets Perpetual Altalettes
Sports	Badminton Basketball Beach volleyball Cheerleading Chess Football Lawn Tennis Soft Tennis Softball Swimming Table Tennis Taekwondo Track and field Volleyball General
Related	NCAA South