*259. Their College Yearbook: JOSE FELICIANO and ANATOLIA PANLILIO

CLASSMATES FOR LIFE. Jose Feliciano and Anatolia Panlilio, as they appear in their UP 1916 Yearbook. They excelled academically at the College of Pharmacy and went on to greater things after they got married in 1924.

The University of the Philippines was just 3 years old when it established a Pharmacy course under the College of Liberal Arts. When a complete course leading to a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy was offered in 1913, early enrollees included two Kapampangans—Jose Maria Feliciano and Anatolia Panlilio of San Fernando, who would go on to be achievers, husband-and-wife, and parents to three accomplished children.


As members of the U.P. Class of 1916, Anatolia and Jose were two of the earliest Kapampangan graduates of Pharmacy, and their college yearbook, of which Jose was an Associate Editor, reveal a bit of their student days, including their scholastic and extracurricular interests. For instance, of the 19 graduating seniors, eight were Kapampangans. The new pharmacists came from Arayat (Jose K. Santos and Tarcila Villegas), Lubao (Victor Vitug, Hermogena Vitug) Macabebe (Enrique Mallari) and San Fernando (Ramon Feliciano). They received their diplomas from Prof. Andrew Grover du Mez, then Director of the School of Pharmacy.

Anatolia comes from the prominent San Fernando Panlilios, an old family with deep roots in Mexico and whose clans branched out to the capital town and neighboring Bacolor. After finishing her secondary course at the Centro Escolar de Senoritas, she enrolled at the state university to take up Pharmacy, a course considered perfect for young women interested in science, yet less hectic than Medicine. She proved to be an outstanding student and was elected Vice President of the Students' Pharmaceutical Association (Jose was President). Eight years after their graduation, Anatolia married her classmate and kabalen Jose, on 25 May 1924.

Jose Ma. Feliciano was the son of Mauricio Feliciano and Graciana Tiomico, born on 22 October 1887. He studied at the Pampanga High School and the Philippine Normal School. At the state university, he took up Pharmacy and became an active member of various student organizations like the Kappa Upsilons, Philippine Scientific Society and Sigma Pi Sigma.

After receiving his Pharmacy degree, he also earned his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degree in 1917. He went on to finish his doctoral degree at the University of Santo Tomas in 1921. Not content with Pharmacy, he pursued and finished his doctorate in Geology at the University of Chicago.

It was in the latter course that Dr. Feliciano would gain renown and recognition. As a learned and dedicated scientist, he became Head of the U.P. Department of Geology and Geography in 1936, and stayed on in the university despite attractive offers from private companies. He organized professional groups like the Geological Society of the Philippines, the Philippine Geographic Society and the Society of Mining, Metallurgical and Geological Engineers. Jose passed away on 22 February 1955. In 1965, a scholarship was put up by UP in his name, as a tribute to his accomplishments.

Jose and Anatolia had three children—Leticia, Florentino and Erlinda. Their middle child, Florentino, finished Law at his parent’s alma mater, earned his Doctorate in Juridicial Science from Yale University, and became a Senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.