Text by Wensley M. Reyes, PhD 
Photos by Jaira Purificacion

“The University of the Philippines (UP) Manila is the product of an evolutionary process marked by structural changes and constant rethinking of its reason for being.”

 — Handbook on the 1988 Reorganization of UP Manila

The observation above from a UP Manila handbook offers an apt starting point for understanding the institution’s long and complex historical journey. 

The history of UP Manila is a story of transformation and relevance, marked by its continuing commitment to respond to the challenges of the times while fulfilling its role and mandate to the Filipino people. Yet beneath these changes lies a persistent aspiration that gives meaning to its evolving identity, which is the Filipino concept of kaginhawahan.

As the esteemed historian and UP Manila Professor Atoy Navarro explains, kaginhawahan “encompasses a broad conception of comfort, harmony, and a good life, embracing biological, physical, mental, emotional, cultural, economic, material, political, social, sexual, and spiritual well-being.” Viewed through this expansive lens, kaginhawahan provides a meaningful way of understanding UP Manila’s history.

The institutional journey of the University of the Philippines Manila is both complex and distinctive. Its roots can be traced to the establishment of the Philippine Medical School in 1905, three years before the founding of the University of the Philippines (UP) in 1908. Although established under the American colonial administration, the school marked an early step in the country’s pursuit of ginhawa. In 1910, it became the UP College of Medicine and Surgery, laying the foundation for UP Manila’s distinctive institutional identity. That same year, the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) opened its doors to the public. Beyond providing medical care, PGH served as an essential training ground for the College of Medicine, linking medical education, clinical practice, and public service, a relationship that would become central to UP Manila’s enduring mission.

The pursuit of ginhawa endured even during the war in the 1940s. Despite widespread violence and destruction, UP and PGH continued to serve the public, providing care and relief to communities in need. After the war and upon rehabilitation, the historic Manila campus, which is also the birthplace of the University, remained the heart of UP.  This centrality, however, changed as the University evolved. With the transfer of the main campus to Diliman in 1949, the Manila campus was gradually pushed to the margins and eventually became known as the UP Extension in Manila. What had once been the core of the University had become its periphery. Yet from this periphery, the search for kaginhawahan continues; the Manila campus moved towards transformation, eventually emerging as an autonomous constituent university of UP and the nation’s leading institution for health sciences education, research, and service.

Pursuant to the directive to transfer the units of the University of the Philippines in Manila to the new site in Quezon City, Republic Act No. 5163 in 1967 provided for the establishment of a Health Sciences Center (HSC) in Diliman. The proposed center was envisioned to consolidate the University’s existing health sciences units. However, the health sciences institutions remained in Manila. A significant institutional development followed on November 20, 1972, with the issuance of Presidential Decree No. 58 establishing the University of the Philippines System. On Oct. 8, 1977, at its 894th Meeting, the University of the Philippines Board of Regents (BOR) established the Health Sciences Center (HSC) as an autonomous member of the University of the Philippines System, bringing together the University’s various colleges and health-related units.

The establishment of the HSC marked a significant turning point in the history of the Manila campus. What had once been relegated to the periphery of the University as its institutional center increasingly shifted to Diliman was eventually given renewed institutional purpose and autonomy. More importantly, it consolidated in Manila the University’s commitment to health sciences education, research, health care, and public service, thus giving institutional expression to the continuing pursuit of kaginhawahan.

This commitment was already evident in the contributions of the Manila-based health sciences units to addressing pressing health concerns of the Filipino people. Through research, clinical practice, and public service, their work contributed to advances in understanding and responding to diseases and health problems, including beriberi in the 1930s, eye diseases in the 1960s, schistosomiasis in the 1970s and 1980s, and hepatitis, liver diseases, and diarrheal diseases in the 1990s. These efforts illustrate how the pursuit of kaginhawahan was expressed through the provision of health care, knowledge generation, and the search for solutions to the country’s evolving health challenges.

The journey as a renewed institutional center culminated in 1982. 

On October 22, the UP Board of Regents approved the recommendations of the Management Review Committee (MRC), including the transformation of the Health Sciences Center into the University of the Philippines Manila (UP Manila). The institution underwent further reorganization in 1988, a process that “transformed and crystallized its philosophy, mission, organizational structure, governance and academic programs,” further defining its distinctive identity and role within the UP System.

Decades later, the COVID-19 pandemic tested that spirit of the nation on an unprecedented scale. When the pandemic reached the Philippines in early 2020 and persisted for more than three years, UP Manila and its health sciences community stood at the forefront of the national response. The institution carried a significant share of the burden of confronting the crisis while also creating opportunities to mobilize expertise, research, health care, education, and public service in response to an extraordinary national emergency. Anchored in science, integrity, and service, UP Manila’s response demonstrated once again that its pursuit of kaginhawahan extends to the well-being of the nation.

Today, recognized as the country’s premier institution for health sciences and a leading center for health professions education, training, research, and public service, UP Manila is one of the nine constituent universities of the University of the Philippines System. It fulfills its mandate through nine degree-granting units: the College of Allied Medical Professions, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Dentistry, College of Medicine, College of Nursing, College of Pharmacy, College of Public Health, National Teacher Training Center for the Health Professions, and School of Health Sciences. These are complemented by two non-degree-granting units, the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), through which the University’s roles in clinical service, research, and public health are strengthened. Together, these units advance UP Manila’s enduring commitment to health, knowledge, and the pursuit of kaginhawahan for the Filipino people.

About the author: 

Wensley M. Reyes is a historian and the current Chair of the Department of Social Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, UP Manila, and former Convenor of the Manila Studies Program. He is also a Board Member of the Philippine Historical Association (PHA).

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