Ateneo de Davao University

School of Business and Governance Department

History of Philippine leprosy in Culion

Submitted to: Submitted by:

David Patrick F. Daryanani Michael Angelo V. Monreal
Schedule of Class: Date:
MWF 7:40AM - 8:40AM October/5/2018
Summary

Leprosy is a communicable bacterial disease characterized by skin lesions and numbness. In 1633,

it is said that a Japanese Emperor sent a ship loaded with lepers to the Spanish missionaries based

in the Philippines. He also instructed the ship’s captain to drown the lepers in case no one would

receive them. Fortunately, the missionaries kindly welcomed the patients with open arms and even

established the San Lazaro Hospital to take care of them. At that time, people had very little

knowledge about the disease so it didn’t take long before leprosy started to afflict the Filipino

populace. In 1906, Dr. Heiser, Director of Health for the Philippines, opened a leper colony in

Culion, an island located north of Palawan. Lest they might continue spreading the disease, a

unique monetary system separate from the rest of the country was established. These leper coins

were only allowed within the colony and those who would leave the place had to convert the leper

money into government money.One of the earliest issues of one-peso leper coin. “Culion Leper

Colony” was inscribed at the top, and “Philippine Islands” below. Leper money was strictly

regulated, and those who violated the law would pay a fine, stay in the prison for up to 1 month,

or both. The first few issues of the leper coins were made from aluminum, but it was later replaced

by copper-nickel as those made from aluminum were easily damaged by chemicals used to

disinfect the coins.

1.
Theory and Analysis

I can relate the Philippine leper colony to the Materialism Schools of Historical thought, because

it focused more on the socioeconomic of the Philippine. I can say that it is related due to the fact

that Dr. Heiser, Director of Health for the Philippines, opened a leper colony in Culion which

created a Society just for the leper with their own currency the leper coin and for those who would

leave the place had to convert the leper money into government money. The case of leprosy

created a social divide to the people in the Philippine for there was no cure for it and in order to

get rid of leprosy during that time was through isolating the disease from the population. The

social divide was the result when the American forces landed in the Philippines at the beginning

of the twentieth century, when they found out that approximately 3500 to 4000 people are infected

with leprosy, this resulted to the American forces to focus on the humanitarian aid to establish a

formal, segregated island to control the spread of the diseases and ultimately exterminate it.

Another reason I can say that it is a social divide because of the Leper colony money that was only

circulated only in the colony, it was made specifically for the leper colony due to the fear that

money could carry leprosy and infect other people. Leper money was produced for Culion in 1913,

and at first people refused them, which resulted to law suit and even physical violence also the

people in Culion threw the coins into the sea to demonstrate their contempt for them, but during

World War II when the Japanese occupied the Philippines the leper coin were used throughout

the entire region, in preference to what they called Mickey Mouse money.

2.
The case of the Philippine leper is socioeconomic and can be related to Materialism Thought

because the people in Culion began to settle into the colony around 1914 they farmed and fished,

selling their produce in the colony. The Culion Ice, Fish and Electric Company, which began in

1915, was first financed entirely by the inmates. Their stores were also profitable. Administrators

believed that the people enjoyed relative freedom to pursue occupations that suited them, They

had the additional benefit of large areas of land and sea on which to operate. The US senate

Committee on the State of Health in the Philippines out leprosy as a significant problem, which

led to the investigation of suitable sites for collecting and segregating people with leprosy. The

cause of of the Social Divide of the people in the Philippine was due to the administration who

passed a law which was Act No 1711, it was to provide for the compulsory apprehension, detention,

and segregation of people with leprosy. The result was that Filipinos would try to hide their family

or love ones that are affected by leprosy during the leper collecting trips or expeditions because

they know that they will be captured, separated and be sent to Culion to be isolated. However

during the fifty years of Culion existence they did not achieved its primary goal which was the

control of leprosy in the Philippines, they also failed to the two distinct rules assigned to them

which was the proving ground for the efficacy of segregation and the second is the center of

organized specialized treatment aided by research.

3.
References

Junell Brecino .(2014, December 12). Philippine’ leper colony had their own ‘leper money”.
Retrieved from
https://philippinehistoryuntoldstories.wordpress.com/2014/12/12/philippines-leper-colony-
had-their-own-leper-money/

International Leprosy Association - History of Leprosy. Culion Leprosy Colony (Philippines)

retrieved from https://leprosyhistory.org/geographical_region/site/culion

Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. Culion Leper Colony. Retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culion_leper_colony

4.