Lourdes Pangilinan Santos
Lovingly known as “Doc Lulu”
30 September 1944 — 24 January 2024 · aged 79
Pediatrician at the Philippine General Hospital who treated every child like her own
Manila, Philippines Born in San Pablo, Laguna Resting at Manila Memorial Park, Parañaque CityAbout Lourdes
Dr. Lourdes Santos had one rule on the Philippine General Hospital children's ward: no child waits alone. Generations of interns learned it the hard way, rounding at dawn to find Doc Lulu already seated on the edge of a crib, talking to a toddler she had not yet examined, a rosary and a stethoscope hanging from the same pocket.
Born in San Pablo, Laguna, to a municipal clerk and a market vendor, she was the first in her family to finish college. She earned her medical degree at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine in 1969, completed her pediatrics residency at PGH and never really left, serving as staff pediatrician and later head of the infectious-disease unit for thirty-six years. She treated the children of vendors and congressmen alike and was known to slip folded pesos into a mother's hand for the jeepney fare home. During the dengue outbreaks and measles seasons she slept on a folding cot in the ward. She taught at the College of Medicine for more than three decades, and her pocket-sized notes on fever, written in a looping hand, circulated among residents like scripture.
Away from the hospital she was a hopeless cook and an enthusiastic eater; her halo-halo parties at Christmas became a Taft Avenue tradition. She sang in the choir of the UP Parish of the Holy Sacrifice for twenty years and kept a shelf of thank-you letters from former patients, some now doctors themselves. She never married and shared a Malate apartment, crowded with books and cats, with her sister Perla. Doc Lulu died on 24 January 2024, aged seventy-nine, after a short illness. She is survived by her sister, her nieces and nephews, and by thousands of children grown old enough to say her name.
“Sit down with the child first. The chart can wait a minute.”
- Faith
- Catholic
- Place of birth
- San Pablo, Laguna
- Resting place
- Manila Memorial Park, Parañaque City
- Passed away
- 24 January 2024, Manila
Memorial Mass
Monday, 29 January 2024 at 10:00 UTC
Add to calendarLife journey
Doctor of Medicine
University of the Philippines College of Medicine1963 – 1969 · Manila
First in her family to finish college, let alone medical school.
Residency in Pediatrics
Philippine General Hospital1970 – 1972 · Manila
Chief resident in her final year.
Staff Pediatrician; Head, Infectious Disease Unit
Philippine General Hospital1973 – 2009 · Manila
Thirty-six years on the children's wards through dengue, measles and typhoon seasons.
Professor of Pediatrics
University of the Philippines Manila1976 – 2009 · Manila
Taught thousands of interns and residents.
Choir member
UP Parish of the Holy Sacrifice1988 – 2008 · Quezon City
Sang alto for twenty years, loudly and happily off-key.
Outstanding Alumna Award
UP College of Medicine Alumni Society2002 · Manila
For service to Filipino children.
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Family & connections
Lourdes is survived by
- Perla Santos Villanueva· Sister
- Dr. Marco Villanueva· Nephew
- Elena Villanueva Cruz· Niece
Tributes & memories
6 people have shared a memory of Lourdes.
Knew Lourdes? Share a memory with the family and everyone who loved them.
Sign in to write a tribute- DN
Colleague, UP College of Medicine
She chaired my first faculty meeting and told me, afterwards, that the best teachers are the ones who admit what they do not know. Then she showed me three books she had not finished. I have kept that humility in my pocket ever since.
- DT
Intern in 1991, now a pediatrician in Houston
Doc Lulu taught me three things: wash your hands, listen to the mother, and eat when you can. I still carry her fever notes in my bag. My Houston residents call them 'the Lulu pages.' She would have laughed at that, loudly, in the corridor.
- LF
Ward nurse, PGH Pediatrics
She knew every nurse's birthday and the name of every nurse's children. At four in the morning, when we were exhausted, she brought pandesal and hot chocolate to the nurses' station herself. She never mentioned it. We never stopped noticing.
- GM
Mother of a former patient
My son was eighteen months old, burning with fever, and we had one hundred pesos. Doc Lulu admitted him, sat with him through two nights and refused the money. He is thirty-one now, an engineer, and sends her a Christmas card every year. She kept every one.
- CM
Fellow choir member, UP Parish of the Holy Sacrifice
Doc Lulu sang alto with total conviction and no regard for pitch. At her memorial Mass we sang the Ave Maria in the key she always missed, and we all missed it too, on purpose. I think she heard us.
- DB
Former resident, PGH Pediatrics
In my first week I told a mother her son would 'probably' be fine. Doc Lulu waited until the mother left, then said, 'Never say probably to a mother. Say what you know, and say what you will do next.' I have said it to every parent since.
