The Hospicio de San Jose (Hospice of St. Joseph) is a Catholic welfare institution in the Philippines. It is the first social welfare agency in the Philippines and has been a home to orphans, abandoned and special children, and elderly.[1]
Hospicio de San Jose is located on an island in the middle of Pasig River and can only be accessed through the Ayala Bridge. Although the small island, approximate size of 0.045 square kilometers, was mainly appropriated to Hospicio, it also serves as one of the outposts of the Philippine Coast Guard and is home to a small number of families. The island is an independent Baranggay Chapter under the jurisdiction of the district of San Miguel. The island is the converging point not only of the river but also of the three districts surrounding it namely, Ermita, Quiapo, and San Miguel.
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Initially named as Hospicio General (General Hospice), Hospicio de San Jose was established in October 1778 by husband-and-wife Don Francisco Gomez Enriquez and Doña Barbara Verzosa. After being cured of a fever, Don Gomez Enriquez donated the sum of ₱ 4,000 to found the hospice that would take care of Manila’s “poor and unwanted children”, physically and mentally handicapped, and aging people. The initiative and example of Don Gomez Enriquez was followed by other charitable people.[1]
Hospicio de San Jose was formerly located at Pandacan, Manila. From there, it was transferred to Intramuros, followed by the move to three other locations, namely Binondo, Nagtahan, and Echague. In 1810, Hospicio de San Jose found a permanent home at the Isla de Convalecencia (Island of Convalescents), the only island that divides the Pasig River.[1]
From December 27, 1810 and by Royal Decree, Hospicio de San Jose was governed by a Board of Directors chaired by the Archbishop of Manila. On June 1, 1866, through the suggestion to the Governor-General of the Philippines by one of the institution’s benefactor Doña Margarita Rojas, the operation of the hospice became the responsibility of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.[1]
Hospicio de San Jose provides an outreach program and a Christian, social and work oriented formation program. It is committed in assisting the abandoned people to experience quality life with the aim of making them “agents of social transformation”.[1]