Dispute over the oldest school in the Philippines

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The oldest universities, colleges, vocational schools and the first modern public education system in Asia were created during the Spanish colonial period. The earliest schools were founded by Spanish Catholic missionaries. By the time Spain was replaced by the United States as the colonial power, Filipinos were among the most educated subjects in all of Asia. [1] Of the many educational institutions established during the colonial era, only a few remain extant today, such as the University of Santo Tomas (1611), Colegio de San Juan de Letran (1620), Real Colegio de Santa Potenciana (1590), Universidad de San Ignacio (1590), Colegio de San Ildefonso (1595), Santa Isabel College Manila (1632), and the Universidad de San Felipe de Austria (1640), among others.

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The title of the oldest in the Philippines, however, have been topic for debate between two educational institutions: the University of Santo Tomas and the University of San Carlos. [2]

Claimants

Claim of the University of Santo Tomas (UST)

The Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas, established by the Dominican missionaries in 1611 and raised to the rank of a university in 1645 by Pope Innocent X through the petition of Philip IV of Spain, is currently the educational institution with the oldest extant university charter in Asia. UST Main Building from the field.JPG
The Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas, established by the Dominican missionaries in 1611 and raised to the rank of a university in 1645 by Pope Innocent X through the petition of Philip IV of Spain, is currently the educational institution with the oldest extant university charter in Asia.

The University of Santo Tomas was established in 1611 as the Colegio de Nuestra Señora de Santisimo Rosario and gained university status in 1645. The university is generally recognized as the educational institution in the Philippines with the oldest extant university charter. Government recognition was evident as early as the US colonial era when in 1935 the Commonwealth government of the Philippines through the Historical Research and Markers Committee declared that UST was "oldest university under the American flag." [5] In the 1990s, the Intramuros Administration installed a marker on the original site of the University of Santo Tomas with the recognition that the university is the "oldest university in Asia." [6] In 2011 the University of Santo Tomas celebrated its Quadricentennial (400th Anniversary).

Claim of the University of San Carlos (USC)

Unlike the University of Santo Tomas which has an undisputed foundation date, the true foundation year of the University of San Carlos had been a subject of several debates. Contrary to the position of the University of Santo Tomas, the University of San Carlos claims that it is older by 16 years by tracing its roots to the Colegio de San Ildefonso (established 1595). [7] According to the university's claim, San Carlos traces its roots to the Colegio de San Ildefonso founded by three Spanish Jesuit missionaries Antonio Sedeno, Pedro Chirino and Antonio Pereira on August 1, 1595. It was closed in 1769 at the expulsion of the Jesuits. In 1783, Bishop Mateo Joaquin de Arevalo initiated the opening of the Colegio-Seminario de San Carlos. In 1852, the management of the college was entrusted to the Dominican Christian priests, replaced in 1867 by the Vincentian Fathers then, in 1935, the Societas Verbi Divini or the Society of the Divine Word (SVD). The Colegio de San Carlos (CSC) was granted its university charter in 1948, and in 1995 celebrated its Quadricentennial (400th Anniversary). [8]

Claim of San Jose Seminary

The San Jose Seminary in Loyola Heights, Quezon City makes no direct claim to titles of "oldest," although it traces its direct origin from the Colegio de San Jose, which was established in 1601 by the Society of Jesus. [9]

UST as Asia's oldest university

Numerous scholars and official government bodies have reviewed the case. According to Dr. Victor Torres of the De La Salle University, the University of San Carlos' claim dates back to 1948 only when USC was declared a university. [8] Fidel Villarroel from the University of Santo Tomas argued that USC only took over the facility of the former Colegio de San Ildefonso and that there is no 'visible' and 'clear' link between San Carlos and San Ildefonso. [10] According to Fr. Aloysius Cartagenas, a professor at the Seminario Mayor de San Carlos of Cebu, "following Church tradition, the foundation event and date of University of San Carlos should be the decree of Bishop Romualdo Jimeno on 15 May 1867 (turning over the seminary to the Congregation of the Missions) and the first day of classes in the history of what is now USC is 1 July 1867, the day P. Jose Casarramona welcomed the first lay students to attend classes at the Seminario de San Carlos." [11] Thus, he says that San Carlos cannot claim to have descended from the Colegio de San Ildefonso founded by the Jesuits in 1595, despite taking over the latter's facilities when the Jesuits were expelled by Spanish authorities in 1769. According to him there is "no visible and clear link" between Colegio de San Ildefonso and USC. San Carlos was specifically for the training of diocesan priests, and it simply took over the facility of the former, a Jesuit central house with an attached day school.

In 2010, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines installed a bronze marker declaring USC's foundation late in the 18th century, effectively disproving any direct connection with the Colegio de San Ildefonso. [12]

In 2011 Pope Benedict XVI recognized UST as "the oldest institution of Catholic higher education in the Far East." [13]

Complementing its previous position, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines in 2012 released an article in its website recognizing UST as "Asia's Oldest University. [14] This further cemented the status of the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas as the oldest extant university in the Philippines and in Asia.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of San Carlos</span> Private Catholic university in Cebu City, Philippines

The University of San Carlos, also referred to by its acronym USC or colloquially shortened to San Carlos, is a private, Catholic, research, coeducational basic and higher education institution administered by the Philippine Southern Province of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) missionaries in Cebu City, Philippines since 1935. It offers basic education and higher education. Founded originally in 1595 as Colegio de San Ildefonso, it later became the Colegio-Seminario de San Carlos in 1783 and finally obtained university charter in 1948.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of San Jose–Recoletos</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Medicine and Surgery</span> Faculty of medicine in Manila, the Philippines

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The University of Santo Tomas is one of the oldest existing universities and holds the oldest extant university charter in the Philippines and in Asia. It was founded on April 28, 1611, by the third Archbishop of Manila, Miguel de Benavides, together with Frs. Domingo de Nieva and Bernardo de Santa Catalina. It was originally conceived as a school to prepare young men for the priesthood. Located Intramuros, it was first called Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario and later renamed Colegio de Santo Tomás in memory of Dominican theologian Saint Thomas Aquinas. In 1624, the Colegio was authorized to confer academic degrees in theology, philosophy and arts. On November 20, 1645 Pope Innocent X elevated the college to the rank of a university and in 1680 it was placed under royal patronage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Santo Tomas Publishing House</span> Publishing house in the Philippines

University of Santo Tomas Publishing House (USTPH) was established in 1996. It was inspired by the four-century-old UST Press, which was founded in 1593. USTPH, formerly the UST Press, is the oldest continuing press in Asia today. It is even older than the University of Santo Tomas, which was established in 1611. At present, it is equipped with high quality printing machines from Germany and advanced computer technology from the United States, Japan, and other countries. The USTPH aims to provide extensively the creative and innovative outputs of the academe, not only within, but also outside the campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in the Philippines during Spanish rule</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augustinian Recollect Province of Saint Ezequiél Moreno</span>

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The Colegio de San Ildefonso was an educational institution run by the Society of Jesus in Cebu City, Philippines in the then Spanish Captaincy General of the Philippines. It was established by the Jesuits in 1595 thus making it the first European-founded educational institution in Asia. In Mexico City, the Jesuits had founded a college with the same name in 1588. The Cebu City college was established by Fr. Antonio Sedeño, Fr. Pedro Chirino, and Antonio Pereira of the Society of Jesus in August 1595. After the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spanish territories in 1767, the buildings and facilities were taken over by the Diocese of Cebu, then by the Congregation of the Mission, and later by the Society of the Divine Word.

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Fidel Villarroel was a Spanish historian, writer, filipinologist, biographer, political commentator, Master Theologian of the Dominican Order, and member of the Order of Isabella the Catholic. A recipient of the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, he is the former Archivist, Spanish Department Director, Prefect of Libraries, and professor at the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas. He had also served as secretary to the Apostolic Nunciature for 32 years(1959–1991), and is currently an academic director of the prestigious Academia Filipina de la Lengua Española, the local branch of the renowned Real Academia Española based in Madrid, Spain, and part of the Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española.

This is a timeline of the history of the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, the oldest university in Asia, comprising important events of the history of the university and of the development of Philippine higher education in general. To read about the background to these events, see History of the University of Santo Tomas. See also the history of the Rector Magnificus of the University of Santo Tomas, and the Santo Tomas Internment Camp

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benavides Monument</span> Memorial in Manila

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References

  1. Coleman, Ambrose (September 2009). The Firars in the Philippines. BiblioBazaar. pp. 17–59. ISBN   978-1-113-71989-8.
  2. UST, USC engages in friendly debate Archived 2019-04-22 at the Wayback Machine Today's Carolinian Accessed 19 April 2020
  3. Garcia, F.C. (February 1, 2006). "Remembering our Rectors". The Varsitarian . 77 (9). Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  4. De Ramos, N.V., 2000. I Walked with Twelve UST Rectors.
  5. The Historical Marker Database accessed 19 April 2020
  6. University of Santo Tomas Intramuros Administration marker Accessed 23 April 2020
  7. About USC 'The University of San Carlos Website' accessed 19 April 2020
  8. 1 2 No contest: UST is oldest university 'Philippine Daily Inquirer' Accessed 19 April 2020
  9. About Us History Loyola School of Theology Ateneo de Manila University Accessed 19 April 2020
  10. UST is oldest, period 'The Varsitarian' Accessed 19 April 2020
  11. Which Is the Oldest University? Revisiting the Conflicting Claims of the University of Santo Tomas,Manila and University of San Carlos, Cebu in Light of the Historyof Seminario (Mayor) de San Carlos of Cebu 'Philippine E-Journals' accessed 19 April 2020
  12. NHCP historical marker for University of San Carlos in Cebu City 'National Historical Commission of the Philippines marker' accessed 19 April 2020
  13. The Papal Message from Pope Benedict XVI to the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas accessed 19 April 2020
  14. Asia’s Oldest University, The Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas 'National Historical Commission of the Philippines' accessed 19 April 2020

See also