Asilo de Huerfanos: remembrance of Malabon's historical heritage

You see it in the distance as you look out to Barangay Longos on Tonsuya bridge:  a seemingly dark and forlorn structure, the dark green roof its only acquiecense to color.  But don’t let its dismal exterior deceive you.

This is ASILO DE HUERFANOS – today bereft of its past grandeur but an important remembrance nevertheless of Malabon’s historical heritage.

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A LOOK AT THE PAST

On October 20, 1882 a strong typhoon that blew away rooftops and destroyed concrete houses in Malabon was followed by cholera and beri-beri outbreaks in November of the same year.  The epidemic took so many lives that the government had to dig a huge pit to serve as a common grave.  To house the orphans of that plague, the Augustinians approved the plan to build a new house on General Borromeo Street in Barangay Longos.  1

The Augustinian council advanced 87,000  pesos to defray the total cost of the project which was estimated at 275,326 pesos.  Doña Crisanta Tongco donated the land and 40,000 pesos in cash.  Architect Jesus Hervas drew the plans.

On February 1, 1890 the ASILO DE HUERFANOS was officially inaugurated as an orphanage and as a school for boys and girls.  It had a printing press, lithography and binding room, spacious halls for shops and laboratories, sewing and embroidery facilities for girls, and a library.  2 

Accounts differ as to the revolutionary newspapers that were said to have been published at the printing press of ASILO DE HUERFANOS.  Fr. Pedro Galende, who wrote a book on Augustinian churches in the Philippines, states that the first issues of "La Independencia" were printed at the ASILO.  But Nonoy Marcelo, in his book about Malabon, wrote it was "La Libertad" that was published here, and that General Luna merely put the address of ASILO DE HUERFANOS on the masthead of "La Independencia" to mislead the Americans in 1898.  In a separate article, Prof. Ricardo T. Jose said the same thing as Marcelo about "La Independencia," adding that the newspaper was actually published in Manila.  3

But just as the Augustinians were starting to operate the printing press, the revolution broke out.  General Emilio Aguinaldo's forces seized the building.  Later in 1899 the buildings were burned during the battle between Filipino and American forces.   2

Vintage photos from the San Bartolome Parish Souvenir Program 1994

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THE ASILO TODAY

Located on General Borromeo Street in Barangay Longos, the ASILO became the Philippine Tannery Company Incorporated, said to process imported leather which was in turn supplied to local manufacturers of leather goods. The tannery has since been closed down.

These are apparently the vats where the raw leather was soaked in chemicals and dyes at the tannery.  The ground floor is still made of the original adobe stone, while the second floor was already reconstructed.

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The interiors are continuously flooded.

The structure at the back with the green roof is what can be seen from Tonsuya bridge.

The caretaker said many years ago they found skeletal remains of children buried within the grounds.

HOW ABOUT TOMORROW?

In Malabon today there are only a few structures left that date back to the Spanish era.

Some are mere ruins, like the palduhan (warehouse) of our hometown's sugar-processing past.  Another -the old Tabacalera factory from Malabon's cigar-making days- is within the Malabon Elementary School compound, in a state of disrepair, and faces the prospect of demolition to make way for a more modern school building.

The old churches that could have been sentinels of Malabon’s glorious past -- San Bartolome Church, 1813;  Dampalit Church, 1860; and Immaculate Conception Church, 1886 -- have been renovated over the years with little to show of the original.

The only colonial era structure I've seen so far that has been preserved is the Raymundo House on C. Arellano Street with its impressive adobe portal.

The ASILO DE HUERFANOS is in a category of its own.  Despite a number of changes from the original and its present state of disrepair, the adobe structures are still intact.  With vision, a strong sense of legacy, funding, and expert supervision, the ASILO can still be preserved for adaptive re-use.  It is located in a sprawling compound of its own, which makes the prospect of historic preservation even more exciting. But some portions of the ASILO's interiors are continuously under water, which could be eroding the structures.  There's an urgent need to do something about this.


What will the future hold for this piece of Philippine history that's right in Malabon's own backyard?  With its immense historical value not only to Malabon, I hope that the ASILO DE HUERFANOS will be preserved and given the stature it deserves.


As with all our other heritage structures, the ASILO is a precious link to the past, to our collective journey as a people.  We should not break these links to our heritage, nor consign them to oblivion.  

...If only for the sake of future generations.

1   From Tambobong to City of Malabon, by Nonoy Marcelo, 2004.
2   Angels in Stone - Augustinian Churches in the Philippines, by Fr. Pedro G. Galende, 1996.

3   The Philippine revolutionary press, 1896-1900, by Ricardo T. Jose.

NOTE:   Color pictures taken in May 2011.

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