De La Salle University 100 years on the ‘green’ side
2012 Outstanding published feature story on De La Salle University
Angel Bombarda
Sunday Times Magazine
Anyone who rides the LRT and passes by the Vito Cruz station is witness to the tall, white columns of De La Salle University (DLSU), and what used to be large expanse of grass amid the sprouting buildings along Taft Avenue.
Known to all as the storied football field — the sole greenery in the area, which served as the venue for countless PE classes; bore the telltale signs of years of football and softball training, not to mention Coach Hans Smit’s cigarettes in the morning; and provided space for the ferris wheel, a staple of DLSU’s annual fair. It also served as a shortcut to students who needed to escape from the congested walkways of La Salle.
Today, the white columns of DLSU are still standing tall and proud, but what used to be a grassy field has become a large expanse of soft, brown land — the construction site of one of La Salle’s grandest projects for its centennial — the Henry Sy, Sr. Hall or simply, the Centennial Building.
As it turns 100, DLSU chose to let go of something as iconic as its football field to make way for something grander. This is no surprise for an institution that breaks convention to pioneer milestones: The DLSU trimester system; the Br. Andrew Gonzalez Hall, which is the tallest school building in the country; the double degree programs that merge art and business; the Transformative Learning curriculum; SINAG, the country’s first solar car, which was later followed by another solar car SIKAT; and just last year, DLSU’s very own College of Law, among others.
The green roots
Indeed, one look at DLSU today is enough to tell that it has come an immeasurable long way from that fateful day in June 1911 when Br. Adolphe Alfred FSC, director of a Brother’s School in Barcelona, Spain, bought a humble house and lot, located at Nozaleda St. in Paco, Manila, for a mere P86.
It was not until 1921 that the school was formally transferred from Paco to Taft. Then known as the De La Salle College (DLSC), it witnesses the casualties of World War II and lost 16 brothers to a tragic massacre.
After the war, DLSC went on to establish the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) with other fellow colleges — including archrival school Ateneo. The story of this rivalry can be traced to the time when boys from La Salle and Ateneo, which was still in Manila that time, were chasing after the same girls from Sta. Isabel.
By 1973, La Salle finally allowed female students to the school, but it was still the NCCA basketball games that really heated up the competition with Ateneo. Countless stories of car smashing, fried chicken fights, and other confrontations are fondly recalled, all through both colleges journey in becoming universities.
La Salle finally became a university 64 years after its doors opened to educate Filipinos.
Green blood, runs deep
Browse through the Green and White yearbooks and you’ll see a veritable Who’s Who in Philippine society. Stars like the pre- shades Randy Santiago and the late iconic leading man Rico Yan have pictures in those yearbooks. Legendary athlete Paeng Nepomuceno was a student of La Salle before he was ended up on the pages of the Guiness Book of World Records.
It must be interesting to find out how Mike Enriquez spoke when he was still student; or how RJ Ledesma looked before his classic Royal Tru- Orange commercial. Gary Valenciano and Ogie Alcasid may be singing for different TV networks but they both came from the same school.
La Salle is mainly known for breeding business moguls — like Globe Telecom president and chief executive Gerardo Ablaza Jr., and small to medium enterprise advocate Joey Concepcion — but the institution also produced public servants like Senators Ralph Recto.
Yet the truly green- blooded will still have to be, without question, the La Sallain Brothers — from Br. Alfred who instituted La Salle in the Philippines to the young Lasallian students who have been or are being converted to the brotherhood.
For Henry Atayde, a purong Lasalista who went from Greenhills (GH) to Taft, and is today the president of the De La Salle Alumni Association, it is the brothers who made all the difference in the hundred years existence of La Salle in the country.
Atayde, a full-fledged Brother’s boy, has been spiritually guided by the Lasallian way since he was a young boy in GH. He shared a deep friendship with them, not to mention respected the brothers highly.
Sure, like all the Lasallian boys during his time, he was proud of the sports, the charisma, and the attention showered on Lasalistas, but what he will always be proudest of is how the brothers continued the tradition of St. John Baptist de La Salle, who got “kicked out” of his congregation because of his desire to educate the needy.
During Atayde’s time, the brothers would pay for the students’ tuition if their parents were unable to do so. The brothers also disciplined them with corporal punishment if they had to. Atayde attests that no one would dare try to get into trouble again after chastisement from the brothers. In his time, or as always, Lasallians were “mayabang” but they had to keep their manners in check or they would answer to the brothers whom they collectively called, “Mang Jack.”
Another one of the brothers’ lasting impact is the value of service, which they pass on to their students. Jose Kalaw, a Lasallian all his life — from grade school to MBA — is proud to tell that it was La Salle that molded him to be a Christian gentleman. He was raised to always regard others.
After holding executive positions in various banks and financial institutions, and heading a government agency under the administration of the late President Cory Aquino, he returned to La Salle to work on alumni relations, and eventually on raising endowment funds for scholarships, professorial chairs, and physical facilities.
La Salle is Kalaw’s second home and to this day, he continues to serve this home.
To see former students returning La Salle to help its causes like Kalaw truly makes the brothers proud.
Lasallians out in the world
Rico Hizon, BBC World news anchor and reporter, is one Lasallian who definitely made it big outside the country. The brothers are not only proud of his accomplishments but of his effort to serve others through the career and life he chose.
“My work ethic, my involvement in civic activities, my faith in God, and my pride in being a Filipino were all because I studied in a school that believed in me, encouraged me to excel, taught me to be a accountable for my actions, and impressed upon me that service to others is a responsibility and an honor to offer to God and country,” he says.
Times change, but the brotherhood remains
From the era of the Lasalistas to the time of the Lasalyanos, La Salle has changed enormously. A hundred years later, the house and lot that was bought for P86 has become a priceless tradition that has produced graduates who have served and continue to serve Filipinos.
The physical changes, as Kalaw describes them, are obvious. Buildings were torn down and buildings were built, but the brotherhood remains.
According to Atayde, there are many students and alumni who feel that the construction of the Centennial Building on the football field — regarded as sacred ground — is an unnecessary extravagance. Opposed to the idea himself at the beginning, he hopes that eventually, they will realize that it will serve a better purpose than a place for sports and fairs. It will enter its gates in the next 100 years.
But for sure, there are three things that never changed in the last 100 years, and these are values strongly instilled by brothers: Faith in God, service to others, and communion among people.
In October, Lasallians from all over the world will gather in the Philippines to celebrate the centennial. This is also the target year of the fulfilment of DLSU’s long- term centennial projects, such as the One La Salle Scholarship fund — whose goal is to raise P1 billion to support some 18, 000 Filipino scholars — and the One Million Trees and Beyond project, which aims to plant one million trees and beyond for Mother Earth.
If these projects indicate anything, it is that no matter how the times change — or how the times change Lasallians — the next 100 years and beyond will continue St. La Salle’s Mission: “To live Jesus in our hearts, forever.”
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