In the mid-‘70s, when the then Manila Midtown Ramada Hotel was being constructed, Sister Regina Victoria (Sr. “Regivic”) Yulo of the Religious of the Assumption was requested by representatives of the owners of the hotel, the Gokongwei group, to identify the structures deep down the construction site. But why, indeed, ask a nun to perform that task?
Sister Regivic, you see, belongs to the congregation founded by French saint Mother Marie Eugenie that established in 1894 the convent school that once stood on the land — the Assumption Convent on Herran corner Dakota streets (now Pedro Gil and Macario Adriatico) in old Manila. In March 1973, the decision to sell the property and to transfer to Antipolo was made after “much study and prayer.”
Well, lo and behold, what Sr. Regivic saw beneath the surface of the construction site (under what was once the lagoon and the Intermediate building of the school) was nothing less than awe-inspiring: ancient ruins not part of the former Assumption campus in Herran, which officially closed down in 1974.
“Rows of giant columns were unearthed that could only belong to a place of worship, a huge church or cathedral centuries before we moved here in 1894,” Sr. Regivic recalled at the installation of a marker last Jan. 4 on the grounds where the stately Gothic-inspired campus once stood. “Unfortunately, nobody could identify the ruins. But one thing remains: Assumption stood, and now Robinsons stands, on holy ground.”
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When I think of Assumption Herran, I think of the convent in The Sound of Music and also the many Notre Dame churches in France, not just the cathedral in Paris. The same Gothic arches, the same stone walls, the same sacred silence, the same palpable reverence for a being greater than ourselves. Even now, the acacia-tree draped Herran campus stands out, even just in memory.
“My grade school years at Assumption Herran had a great influence on my love for nature and heritage — learning in an environment of age-old acacia trees, heritage buildings. Very strict nuns and teachers also taught me discipline and focus. I recall listening to the Angelus at 6 p.m. because I was always the last to go home. The nuns would pray, then eat early supper. I listened to the birds chirping while prayers were being held. Assumption Convent Herran was an idyllic place for our formative years,” says Sen. Loren Legarda, who spent her grade school years there.
“I remember Herran’s beautiful chapel, our First Holy Communion dressed in our white gowns with veils singing Veni, Domini Jesu, the benedictions we had to attend wearing our short white veils with a garter beneath our chins,” shares Tina Casas Nakpil, outgoing president of the Assumption Alumnae Association and incoming lay head of the Mother Marie Eugenie Institute.
“Assumption Herran is not haunted, it is HAUNTING! Haunting, and still enchanting all of us,” alumna Monica Francisco recalled in 2014. Even when we were there, there would be ghost stories swapped that some buildings there were “haunted.” “But what is it about those grounds, the trees, the buildings, the pink/peach colored walls, the lagoon, the patterned tiles on the floor, the chapel, the refectory, the dorm, the parlors, the auditorium, the fountain and the gardens?” continued Monica. “All of it absorbed the love, the laughter, the prayers, the tears, the aspirations, the hopes, the disappointments of all of us for decades. It even saw the sadness and fear of the war, as well as the joy and hope of so many new beginnings. When they tore the place down, where did all that energy, all that collective vibration go? Apparently, it scattered, and spread all over the world, wherever an Assumption Herran girl might live, and it continued to live within each of us. I used to think I was alone, who unreasonably pined and longed and cried for this lost place. I still do it, sit here so far away, think of Herran, and tears just fall. Herran is haunting. But Herran still lives!”
Describing the unveiling ceremonies for the marker, Marlu Villanueva-Balmaceda, who even wrote a book about her Herran years, said, “Standing at the very corner where old Mang Segundo would open and shut the massive gates, I was transported back to where my faith took root and was nourished. I could once again hear the splash of the canoe paddle in the lagoon…smell the fragrance of benediction in our chapel…feel the itch of a caterpillar bite... and taste the cottage pie as a day boarder in the refectory. We were home.”
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The year 2023 marks 50 years since the Religious of the Assumption sold the land where Assumption Herran stood to the Gokongwei group of the Universal-Robina Corp., the Manila Midtown Corp.
One fine day, Sister Regivic wrote to Lance Gokongwei to ask permission for the installation of a marker, given the 50 years since Assumption left Herran.
“He simply said: ‘Sure, Sister.’ Then he gave me the contact person in charge of Robinsons who contacted his personnel to facilitate things for me,” Sr. Regivic told me.
“We want to give thanks and honor the 80 years that Assumption Herran provided Christian transformative education in this country by installing a marker that will remind us of the countless blessings we all received from this place,” Sister Regivic said during the unveiling of the marker during a program on the Robinsons Manila grounds. “Today we pray that this land continues to be a blessing to the new owners and all who come day after day to contribute to a better quality of life for all.”
(You may e-mail me at joanneraeramirez@yahoo.com. Follow me on Instagram @joanneraeramirez.)