Asilo de San Vicente de Paul (ASVP), formerly known as
Casa de San Vicente de Paul, was founded on 26 July 1885 by Sister
Asunción Ventura, DC, a native of
Bacolor, Pampanga. She donated an inheritance from her family to the Daughters of Charity and purchased a lot of six hectares of land for a building where she established the
asylum for girls, making her the first Filipina to build an orphanage in the country. ASVP began with 33 wards, specifically homeless or orphaned girls. Later on, it expanded its services into providing education and trade training to young girls, particularly in
embroidery and needlework, which has become a distinction of the institution. The Spanish government provided a monthly supply of 20
cavans of rice to the orphanage, which was later continued by the Americans until government aid to charitable institutions was ceased due to the prohibition under the
Jones Law. In the early days, affluent families visited ASVP to purchase the embroidered products of the girls. Others came to the institution to select wives for their sons among the older residents. The mother of former
First Lady Imelda Marcos, Remedios Trinidad, was a ward of the ASVP, also known then as
Looban Convent. The mother of Orestes Romuáldez, Imelda’s father, found Trinidad and introduced the couple. During
World War II, Manila was bombed by the
Imperial Japan, and in the conflagration the main buildings of the ASVP were burnt, causing some 200 fatalities. For a time, ASVP also operated as an educational institution but the school was gradually closed between 1982 and 1999 and the ASVP refocused on its role towards childcare services. It was also the temporary home of another institution, Tahanan Santa Luisa from 2000 to 2002. ==See also==