Text by Maida Cui with photos by Mark Andrew Jorolan

Starting from the well-paved zigzag roads undulate through the mountainsides with small barrios and settlements peeping through the lush vegetation of the cool, rolling highlands. As the terrain slowly slopes downward towards the west, the first town you hit will be Barili, 61 km. from the capital Cebu City.

A traveler passing through the Barrio of Guibuangan in that town would be surprised to come across a solid structures of low-slung buildings behind vintage iron grilled fences. The year of its construction-1924, as inscribed on its eaves, now known as the Hospicio de San Jose de Barili.

Hospicio de San Jose de Barili is a facility for the aged poor. Founded by business-lawyer Don Pedro Cui and his sister, Doña Benigna who both donated vast tracts of rural and urban land to the facility to ensure its existence in all the years to come. It is a 100-bed facility with separate quarters for male and female with a clinic, a building for those who need special medical care, a guesthouse and administration office, a refectory and some other buildings.

Don Pedro was born to Miguel Cui and the former Maria Revilles on February 22, 1845. He was sent to study at the Seminario de San Carlos, then further studied at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila and with a lawyer’s diploma went back to practice law in Cebu. One of the many cases he handled was to defend a man accused of murder and eventually acquitted by the courts. Later on, to lawyer Pedro’s chagrin, this man he defended bragged that he was actually guilty and praised his brilliant lawyer for his exoneration. Appalled at the shocking revelation, the abashed and conscience-stricken lawyer gave up his law practice and exiled himself to his hometown, Barili. He set his sights on developing the fertile lands of the region and became a gentleman farmer and prospered.

But Don Pedro never married. By his side was his devoted sister, Benigna, who also took the solitary path. She managed the household and actively assisted in the business. Both devout and religious, they qualified their piety with acts of charity by giving alms to the poor, which eventually became a regular Friday happening for the needy people in the locality. They began to notice that a majority of those who came for help were old people and they soon found out that most of them were neglected or abandoned by their families who were just as destitute. So a home was constructed for them.

Don Pedro decided, towards the end of his life to give half his fortune to his siblings and the other half he kept, and donated to Hospicio de San Jose. He also asked his sister, Doña Benigna to donate her share of her inheritance to the Home. The reasoning for both their philanthropy was that if they, who were comparatively well off, would find their sunset years hard to bear in their solitude, how much harder it would be for those without financial means to take feed and take care of themselves. They were specific that the management of the estates of the Hospicio is assigned to a descendant who had college degree and was practicing his profession.

The offer of donation of the Hospicio de San Jose de Barili was accepted by the Philippine Government in an Official Act 3239, which was approved by the Philippine Legislature on November 27, 1927. Three months later, the Public Welfare Commissioner accepted the donation and Hospicio was formally inaugurated on the religious feast of St. Joseph on March 27, 1927.

The invitation during this auspicious day read: “Please inform those for whom this institution has been established of this golden opportunity to stay fee in this humanitarian institution, a haven and sanctuary for the old, indigent, invalid, incapacitated and helpless persons. The requirements state that the applicant must be poor and not less that 60 years old and that the applicant must be indigent invalid, helpless, incapacitated, and that he or she is not suffering from any infectious or contagious diseases. The applicants must come from the neighboring towns and if quota is not filled, twenty percent can be allowed from the other localities.”