This is the most dynamic academic department of the College of Arts and Sciences, of San Beda College. It offers single degree course Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Human Resources Development. It is committed to the praxiological merger of philosophy and the social sciences in and through a systematic reflection and analysis of Philippine history, culture, and languages. As San Beda College celebrates its Centennial, the Department of Philosophy and Human Resource Development takes on the responsibility in bringing the Bedan student into the frontiers of a millennium marked by global competitiveness. This is not just a task to be accomplished, but a mission that the faculty members and the students individually and collectively make.

Goals and Objectives

The AB Philosophy-HRD program aims to develop Bedan Christian Filipinos into confident, competent and effective practical theorists of the 21st century. This commitment is concretely realized in the development of curricula and programs that emphasize theory construction and application for national development in the wider context of pluralism and globalization.

The 4-Year course aims to form men who are:

1. Ethically - led;
2. Capable of building and making theories work for people development both in community and the workplace;
3. People - oriented;
4. Team players and leaders in the workplace and community;
5. Effective communicators, teachers and motivators;
6. Competent learners.

Career and Job Opportunities

The Department of Philosophy and HRD has, within itself, three core programs with their own respective functional fields of specialization: pre-law, human resource / industrial relations and research into philosophy. Graduates of the program may therefore proceed to the law school, pursue graduate studies and research in philosophy or pursue a career in human resource development.

Students of the Department are trained to undertake rigorous intellectual studies that adequately prepare them for the demands of law school; in pursuing HRD, graduates undertake a career in the areas of recruitment and selection, labor relations management, training and development management; salary, incentives and benefits administration and human resource management; and in pursuing graduate studies in philosophy and / or related social sciences disciplines, graduates enter into the life of an academician, equipped with an open yet critical and analytical mind.

With these functional fields of specialization, the Department thus trains the student to develop his areas of core competencies : critical thinking, theory-building and application and communication competence. In the Department, students are trained to speak, write and above all, think well.

Faculty

Philosophy faculty members are professors and instructors trained in prestigious universities in the Philippines and abroad. A great number are proficient in foreign languages. HRD faculty members are industry-based practitioners and/or consultants. Linkages with the industry, government and non-government agencies, research and cultural organizations provide the students exposure to the other practitioners in the field.

Industry Linkages

The curriculum is designed to match the needs of the HR industry, offering students exposure to industrial institutions and corporations through a 300-hour summer job training and possibly, even industry-based research.

Organization

The Department has the Philosophy-HRD Circle as its arm. The Circle is the professional organization of the Department which is responsible for curricular activities. The Philo-HRD Circle is an affiliate of the JPMAP and the Philosophy Circle of the Philippines. Through this organization, students are given opportunities to exercise sound leadership.

History

Philosophy, as a subject, is an integral part of the curriculum of all students in the College of Arts and Sciences. Through the subjects Logic and Philosophy of Man, college students are given opportunities to exercise quiet reflection and critical thinking.

As a degree program, the Department of Philosophy was introduced to San Beda College on June 13, 1960. Students who took up philosophy were mainly interested in pursuing law/or the religious life. An outstanding batch of this era was the group led by Ramon Medina, who graduated Summa Cum Laude. In the early 70's, the Philosophy Circle was unofficially established as the department's organization. Its first president was Sanchez Ali. Ten years after it was introduced to the college, the Board of Trustees decided to phase out this program in what was called "the need to reorient the academic thrust of the college". This was followed shortly by the phasing out of the Commerce programs. Only the Economics and Political Science Departments remained in the College of Arts and Sciences. Fourteen years after it was phased out, the Philosophy program was reintroduced to San Beda College under the deanship of the late Fr. Odilard Ma. Arceo, OSB.

In 1984, twenty-five freshmen students enrolled in a Department that eventually earned them an AB Degree in Philosophy and Letters in 1988. This batch of graduates thereupon continued the trend of philosophy graduates who pursued law studies. Many of those who enrolled in the Department were former seminarians from various secular dioceses and religious congregations who wanted to continue studying philosophy. The first Chairman under the then Department of Philosophy and Theology was Prof. Raymundo A. Briones who studied philosophy at the De La Salle University. He brought to the Department both seasoned and young professors who handled major courses in philosophy. Among these were Dr. Jose De Mesa, the late Prof. Fred Anthony Cabbab, Prof. Marcus Faigal, Prof. Gansham Mansukhani, Prof. Edwin Martin and Prof. Benedicto Bathan.

In the years that followed, the Department produced countless student leaders who excelled not only in their academics, but who also gave their fellow Bedans an example of Christian leadership through co- and extra-curricular activities. Glenn Boisan Salgado, who belonged to the second graduating batch of the Department, delivered the valedictory address during the Commencement Rites in the year 1989. This was repeated several years after with Gregorio Nunag who graduated Summa Cum Laude in the year 1998. In the area of student leadership, the Department produced five presidents of the Student Council of the College of Arts and Sciences: Marcos Arcadio Lauron (1988), Remigio Roxas (1989), Rhodium Pancratius Streegan (1994), Henry Capela (1995), and Dennis Dy (1996). In 1993, Ramon Gabino Mejia was awarded the prestigious Mr. University International Title. In campus journalism, several philosophy majors held the post of Editor-in-Chief of The Bedan, the official student publication of San Beda. Among these include Raul Dancel (1988, 1989), Art Franciz Bernales (1990) and the late Samuel Tiu (1993).

The Department was also known to be an excellent ground for preparing students for the law studies as the Department provided its students the rigorous academic training on critical thinking, argumentation and the law. Among the young lawyers produced by the Department are Attornies Marcos Arcadio Lauron, Jude Eliezer Provido, Edward Garcia, Hector Feliciano, Constantine Agustin, Herbert Omana, Willy Sarmiento, Roderick Soriano, Cesar Lopez, Ernie Aquino, Marsabelo Soriano, Rafael Dela Cruz, Edelino Tabilas, Angel Miranda, Francis Sia, Ferdinand Talabong, Arnold Corporal, Rennet Evangelista, Henry Capela, Vladimir Bumatay. and Dale Villaflor. A great number of its graduates went on to pursue graduate studies in philosophy or the social sciences, thus becoming administrators and educators in their own right. Among these are: Dom Clement Ma. Roque, OSB (Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, San Beda College). Prof. Ramon Rafael Dolor (Department Chair, San Beda College), Prof. Franco Altonaga (Philosophy Coordinator, College of St. Benilde), Prof. Rhoderick Nuncio, Prof. Christian Bryan Bustamante, Jerome Ilagan (Faculty Members, San Beda College), Prof. Martin Guasch (Faculty Member, University of Manila), Prof. Simplicio Cabrera (Faculty Member, Colegio de San Lorenzo), Mr. Edgardo De los Reyes (Assistant to the Prefect of Activities, San Beda College). Notable too, are the number of graduates who pursued the priestly, religious and missionary ministries. Among these are: Bulacan Bishop Rolando Tria-Tirona, the late Fr. Odilard Ma. Arceo, Dom Clement Ma. Roque, OSB, Fr. Gerardo De Villa, OSB, Fr. Bede Hechanova, OSB, Fr. Alberick Lazerna, OSB Fr. Benedict Fabia, OSB, Fr. Aelred Nilo, OSB and Pastor Roman Guevarra. Among the famous achievers produced by the Department include Mr. Ramon Medina, Head of the Human Resource of the Ayala Group of Companies, Ambassador Sanchez Ali, actor-politician Herbert Bautista and stage-actor Romeo Romer Salazar. A large number of its graduates went into entrepreneurship as well.

In 1992, a new program was planned and designed by the then Department Chair, Prof. Raymundo Briones, introducing the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy and Human Resource Development. The following school year thus opened with the new program under the chairship of Prof. Jose Ma. Arcadio Malbarosa. The offering of this new and innovative program was premised on the observation that an increasing number of its graduates went into Human Resource Training after graduation. Thus, the Department felt the need to formally give its students an academic training on Human Resource Development. With the invaluable assistance of the Ayala Group of Companies, the Department offered courses that are responsive to the needs of the HR industry. Faculty members who taught subjects in HRD came from respected institutions like the Ayala Corporation, San Miguel Corporation, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and ABS-CBN Broadcasting Company. To date, this program is unique in the Philippine setting as San Beda College is the only tertiary level institution that offers a degree in Philosophy and Human Resource Development. A great number of students who graduated from this program are well-placed in the HR industry and have eventually become trainors themselves.

In 1998, under the chairship of Prof. Feorillo Petronilo Demeterio III, the Department, recognizing the trend of its majors who were drawn into psychological, sociological and anthropological researches, resolved to focus on Social Critical Theory as its line of expertise. With other institutions in philosophy known for their respective fields like the Ateneo de Manila University (Phenomenological-Existentialism), the University of the Philippines (Linguistic and Analytic Philosophy), the De La Salle University (Eclectic Philosophy), and the University of Sto. Tomas (Thomism), the faculty members of the Department hope to make San Beda College known in the field of Social Critical Theory. It was also under the term of Prof. Demeterio that a revision of the curriculum of the Department was effected.

For Academic Year 2000-2001, an alumnus, Ramon Rafael Dolor, was appointed Chair of the Department. Effective second semester of the same year, the Department of Social Sciences was merged with the Department of Philosophy. This development came at a time when its philosophy faculty members saw this as an opportunity to finally lay a solid foundation in bringing the Social Sciences and Philosophy back again through Social Critical Theory.

As San Beda College celebrates its Centennial, the Department of Philosophy and Human Resource Development takes on the responsibility in bringing the Bedan student to the frontiers of a millenium marked by global competitiveness and cyberspace communication. This is not simply a task to be accomplished, but a mission that the faculty members, students and alumni of the Department, individually and collectively make.