History of the Ateneo de Manila
The Ateneo de Manila University (Filipino: "Pamantasang Ateneo de Manila") is a private research university in Quezon City, Philippines. Founded in 1859 by the Society of Jesus, the Ateneo is the third-oldest university in the Philippines.
The founding of the Ateneo de Manila University has its roots in the history of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) as a teaching order. The first Spanish Jesuits in the Philippines, Alonzo Sánchez and Antonio Sedeño, arrived in 1581 as missionaries. They were custodians of the "ratio studiorum", the Jesuit system of education developed around 1559. Within a decade of their arrival, Sedeño and the Jesuits had founded the Colegio de Manila ("Colegio Seminario de San Ignacio") in the historic core of Manila, Intramuros, in 1590. The Colegio formally opened in 1595, the first school in the Philippines.
Ateneo de Iloilo
In April 30, 2004, a Memorandum of Agreement was signed by Jesuit Father Provincial Romeo J. Intengan, S.J., Fr. Manuel A. Uy Jr., S.J., Director of SMCS, and Victor F. Pison of the Kauuturan Pison Development Corporation (KAPIDECO). The latter was donating 2.5 hectares of land to be part of the 7.5-hectare campus of a new Ateneo, the first in the Visayas. Archbishop Angel Lagdameo of the Archdiocese of Jaro and Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas, an Ateneo de Manila alumnus, witnessed the MOA signing which formalized the establishment of the Ateneo de Iloilo – Santa Maria Catholic School, a Jesuit school separate from the parish.