De La Salle Philippines

De La Salle Philippines (DLSP) (incorporated as De La Salle Philippines, Inc) is a network of Seventeen (17) Lasallian Institutions in the Philippines. It was established in 2006 for the unified implementation of the Lasallian Mission, generate creative synergy, and promote the spirit of "One La Salle" among member institutions. De La Salle Philippines replaced the De La Salle University System which was established under the presidency of the late Br. Andrew Gonzalez FSC in 1987 as a response to the rapid expansion of Lasallian schools nationwide.

The network was originally composed of sixteen District Schools. Two De La Salle-supervised schools, Andres Soriano Memorial College located in Toledo City, Cebu and John Bosco College located in Bislig City, Surigao del Sur, were officially added to the list in 2006, becoming the 17th and 18th De La Salle District Schools respectively. In 2008, the De La Salle Professional Schools was re-integrated back to De La Salle University, bringing the number of District Schools down to seventeen. The District Schools provide a diverse range of education ranging from Basic Education up to Graduate Studies. It consists of five universities, six colleges (with five providing basic education), three basic education granting schools, and one stand-alone high school.

The network administration is composed of a National Mission Council (NMC) which includes eight De La Salle Brothers including the Brother Visitor and seven Lasallian Partners elected by corporate members; DLSP Corporate Members which includes all incumbent trustees of the District Schools as well as the Lasallian Educational Corporations; and the DLSP President which acts as the Chief Mission Officer and Chief Executive Officer of the National Mission Council.

In line with the Lasallian Mission, the network holds various projects that serve the poor, as well as to give help to the country. Among these include the One La Salle Scholarship Fund, which aims to support 20 percent of each District School's student population as full scholars by 2011 in time for the centenary of Lasallian presence in the Philippines.

Historical background

Early history

The history of Lasallian education in the Philippines dates back to 1905 when the then Archbishop of Manila, Jeremiah James Harty, an Alumnus of a La Salle School in the U.S., appealed to the Superior General of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (Fratres Scholarum Christianarum) - FSC for the establishment of a De La Salle school in the Philippines due to the very small number of Catholic institutions at that time. Archbishop Harty's request was rejected at first due to lack of funds, however he would continue to appeal to Pope Pius X for the establishment of additional Catholic schools in the country.

From March up to June 1911, nine De La Salle Christian Brothers from Europe and the United States led by Brother Blimond FSC of France arrived in the Philippines. Together on June 16, 1911, the Brothers established the first Christian Brother school in the Philippines, De La Salle College, on Calle Nozaleda (now General Luna St.) in Paco, Manila.

Because of increasing student population, the Brothers transferred the school to its present location on Taft Avenue in the Malate district of Manila in 1921.

De La Salle University System

During the 1980s, then President of De La Salle University, the late Brother Andrew Gonzalez FSC,Ph.D. introduced the idea of a multiversity because of the growing number of Lasallian institutions nationwide. His vision was to establish a system where the resources could be utilized to create a greater impact. The De La Salle University System was created in 1987, composed of De La Salle University-Manila, De La Salle-Santiago Zobel School, and the newly acquired De La Salle University-Dasmariñas and De La Salle University-Health Sciences Campus in Dasmariñas, Cavite. A year later, the newly established De La Salle University-College of Saint Benilde in Malate, Manila was included in the system.

De La Salle University-Manila initially provided the resources and expertise needed in the establishment of these institutions where it extended financial assistance and human resources in building the other campuses. The first general assembly of administrators and their representatives from the five campuses was convened in 1992 to support and facilitate the establishment of the system. Several committees were formed during the convention to introduce improvement and innovations to existing programs and structures among the campuses. A task force to study the different needs of the campuses was formed in 1994. It was also during this year that an organizational structure was formed and a vision and mission statement was created for the system.

In 1995, a 50-hectare property in Biñan, Laguna was acquired by the System from the family of the late National Artist of the Philippines for Architecture and La Salle High School alumnus Leandro Locsin to be used as the site of De La Salle University-Canlubang, a science and technology-oriented campus. Construction of the first building of the campus as well as start of operations both began in 2003. De La Salle University-Professional Schools, Inc., established in 1960, became a semi-autonomous entity in 1996 working within the campus of De La Salle University-Manila. In 2002, the management and ownership of the Gregorio Araneta University Foundation in Malabon City was transferred by the Araneta Family to the system and was renamed to De La Salle Araneta University, becoming the eighth member of the system.

Establishment of De La Salle Philippines, Inc.

In 2006, the 8-Campus De La Salle University System was abolished and in its place the 17-Campus De La Salle Philippines, Inc. was established in order to have a more focused and unified implementation of the Lasallian Mission, generate greater and more creative synergy among Lasallian schools, improve the overall quality of Lasallian education in the country and promote the spirit of “One La Salle” with a common vision of educating the Filipino youth. Ten more Lasallian institutions throughout the country was integrated to the eight campuses of the DLSU System, bringing the total number of campuses to eighteen. Recently, De La Salle-Professional Schools, Inc. was reintegrated to De La Salle University which brought back the number of schools to seventeen.

Structure

De La Salle Philippines is composed of four teams namely - Communications and Corporate Services Team, Educational Research Services Team, Institutional Audit Services Team and Finance and Resource Services Team

National Mission Council

The National Mission Council (NMC) serves as the Board of Trustees of DLSP. As the highest policy-making body of the network, it shall accompany school boards and school heads in following the Lasallian Mission. The NMC also provides assistance with regards to financial matters with fundraising for scholarship or social projects.

• Members of the NMC

District schools

Footnotes

External links

• De La Salle Philippines
• De La Salle Brothers in the Philippines