Location: Los Baños, Laguna (Region IV-A)
Category: Association/Institution/Organization
Type: Institutional marker
Status: Level II – Historical marker
Marker date: 1939
Installed by: Philippines Historical Committee (PHC)
Marker text:
IN 1590, THESE THERMAL WATERS ATTRACTED THE ATTENTION OF REV. PEDRO BAUTISTA, O.F.M, WHO SENT TO LOS BAÑOS A LAY FRANCISCAN BROTHER TO ESTABLISH A HOSPITAL FOR THE FILIPINOS ON JULY 21,1602, THE REV. DIEGO DE SANTA MARIA,O.F.M., WAS AUTHORIZE TO BUILD THE HOSPITAL DE AGUAS SANTOS DE MAINIT. A LAYMAN WAS APPOINTED ITS ADMINISTRATION IN 1603. WITH THE REVENUE DERIVED FROM A FARM IN JALAJALA, A MODERN HOSPITAL WAS BUILT BY THE FRANCISCAN AND TURNED OVER TO PROTONATO REAL(CROWN) IN 1721. THE HOSPITAL AND ITS DEPENDENCIES WERE DESTROYED BY FIRE IN 1727. A NEW BUILDING WAS CONSTURCTED IN 1887 UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF THE FRANCISCAN WITH FUNDS RAISED BY POPULAR SUBSCRIPTION HEADED GOVERNOR GENERAL DOMINGO MORIONES Y MURILLO WHO WAS AN ENTHUSIASTIC PROMOTER OF THE PROJECT. UNDER THE AMERICAN REGIME THE HOSPITAL, TOGETHER WITH THE SURROUNDING AREA, BECAME CAMP ELDRIDGE BY AUTHORITY OF AN EXECUTIVE ORDER ISSUED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 1, 1903 THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PHILIPPINES WAS PERMITTED TO OCCUPY OF CAMP ELDRIDGE MILITARY RESERVATION, INCLUDING THE HOSPITAL BUILDINGS AND THE MEDICAL SPRING UNDER A REVOCABLE LICENSE GRANTED BY THE SECRETARY OF WAR JUNE 12, 1931.
