HOSPITALS

Spanish missionaries also administered hospitals and

orphanages.
—First hospital was founded by Don Miguel Lopez de Legaspi
in Cebu in 1565. It was transferred to Manila in 1571 and
called the Hospitalito de Santa Ana in 1578 under the
supervision of the Franciscans. It was renamed Sternberg
General Hospital when the Americans arrive.
San Lazaro Hospital (1578) and San Juan de Dios
Hospital (1596) reported to have originated from this
hospitals.
—Other hospitals: San Gabriel (1587); Hospital Real (1612);
Nueva Caceres in Naga (1645); and the Hospital for
Convalescents in Bagumbayan (1742).
—San Lazaro hospital stood out and was known to have been
built to house Filipino beggars; it became hospital for the
lepers in 1631.

ASYLUMS AND ORPHANAGES

Among these institutions were the ff.: La Real Casa
Misericordia (1594), Venerable Third Order of Sampaloc
(1611), Archicofradia de Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno de
Recoletos (1655), Real Y.V.O.T de Santo Domingo (1699), the
founding Hospital of San Jose for the mentally ill, and the
 Vulnerable Congregacion de Sacerdotes de San Pedro Apostol
(1868).

SCHOOLS
—The first school established was the Parochial School of
Cebu in 1565 founded by the Augustinians friars.
—Other schools established:
•For boys: Colegio de San Ignacio (1589), Ildefonso College
(1595), the Colegio de San Jose (1601), the Colegio de San
Felipe (1717), and the Artillery School 1754).
•For Girls: Santa Isabel (1694), Santa Rosa (1750), and Sta.
Catalina 1696.

THE AMERICAN PERIOD

Americans introduced a new educational system, new health
methods, and religious freedom.
In 1902, following an epidemic of bubonic plague, cholera,
and smallpox, Insular Board was created to coordinate and
supervise private institutions engaged in welfare work.
 In 1908, the Philippine General Hospital was established
followed by the University Hospital and the Mary Johnson
Hospital.
On February 5, 1915, Public Welfare Board was created
with the passage of Legislative Act No. 2510 essentially to
coordinate the welfare activities of various existing
organizations.
In 1917, the Associated Charities of Manila was founded by
a group of civic-spirited Americans and Filipinos, having in mind
the concept of a Community Chest, as it is now called. The
initial idea was to centralize the receipt and distribution of
donations to different charitable organizations which later
expanded to include the provision of material relief and
employment to the deserving.
Between 1919 and 1921, the Associated Charities was
fused with the American Red Cross, but the arrangement
caused administrative problems and had to be given up.
In 1905, the Philippine chapter of the American Red Cross
was established to take charge of disaster relief in the country
and administer funds from the United States.
In 1907, the La Gota de Leche was established to furnish
child-caring institutions with fresh cow’s milk.
In 1910, the Philippine Anti-Tuberculosis Society was
organized, following the first meeting of the Far Eastern
Association of Tropical Medicine in Manila.
 In 1913, the Associacion de Damas Filipinas was organized
by civic-spirited women to help destitute mothers and their
children
In 1921, the Office of the Public Welfare Commissioner
was created under the supervision of the Department of
Interior absorbing the functions of the Public Welfare Board.
This new office intensified educational campaigns particularly
along maternal and child health, engaged in studies to find out
the causes of high infant mortality, established puericulture
centers and maternity houses, supervised private charitable
organizations and conducted conferences and institutions.
In 1922, the Office of the Public Welfare Commissioner
prepared solicitation forms, which required the public to
demand of any person appealing for donations to charities, to
protect the public and organizations from unscrupulous
persons of collecting funds. It was however not legally
sanctioned until 1933 .
In 1924, the Associated Charities had become an
independent agency under the supervision of the Public
Welfare Commissioner. In the same year the Philippine
Legislative Act No. 3203 was passed relating to the care and
custody of neglected and delinquent children and providing
probation officers for them.
The administration of social welfare in the Philippines was
marked by significant developments when Frank Murphy
became Governor-General in 1933.
—Scholarship grants for professional training in social work in
the United States were made available.
—The legislature appropriated funds for the operations of
government child and maternal health centers.
—Social health centers (institutions with combined health
and social services) were established in selected
communities where health and socio-economic conditions
were highly unsatisfactory.
—Governor Murphy created the first housing committee
which undertook a study of slums in Manila, resulting in an
experimental housing project.
—He also encouraged the establishment of private colleges
and technical schools.
—He had the National Economic Protectionism Association
(NEPA) organized to promote home industries.
—He created the National Research Council, the
Unemployment Committee which in turn recommended
the creation of a National Emergency Relief Board to
coordinate all private and government efforts to reduce
unemployment and relieve distress caused by unavoidable
unemployment. Later, this Board extended its services to
include relied to typhoon victims.
—He also supported the women suffrage campaign, signing a
law enacted by the Philippine Legislature enfranchising
women in 1933.
—The economic depression in the 1930s created serious
economic problems. The Associated Charities was unable to
 cope with the number of applicants for relief and other
social services despite appropriations made by the Office of
the Public Welfare. The organization received a boost when
Frank Murphy approved a large appropriation to the
Associated Charities, designating it as the Insular Relief
Agency to provide material assistance to the needy,
elementary education and handicrafts training to those
who would otherwise be out of school, and training in
social work. These things were done with the help of Josefa
Jara Martinez who had obtained a diploma in social work
from the New York School of Social Work in 1921.
—The Murphy Administration’s social welfare programs
marked the first time the government assumed full
responsibility for the relief of the distressed due to any
cause.