Led by Don José Soriano as the first Ambassador of the Sovereign Order of Malta to the Philippines, the Embassy of the Order of Malta was officially created in the country in 1978. The embassy’s establishment enabled it to collect and distribute medicines without impediment, making foreign donations’ processing time quicker, and saving the Order the additional costs of paying for Customs duties and taxes, a significant boost to the Hospitallers’ work.

A Grand Master Visits Culion and Tala

Philippine Ambassador to the Holy See Antonio C. Delgado arranged a State Visit to the Philippines by His Highness, the Prince and Grand Master Frá Angelo de Mojana di Cologna, on February 1st, 1979. While in the country as guest of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, the Grand Master visited the Leprosaria at Culion and Tala in the company of Sovereign Order of Malta Ambassador José Soriano and Ambassador Delgado, and observed, first-hand, the Order’s work with Philippine Hansenites. Before the Grand Master’s departure, President Ferdinand Marcos conferred upon
him the Order of Sikatuna (Rank of Raja), the highest of the Philippine diplomatic orders of merit.

Among other charities, the AmeriCares Foundation, a non-profit disaster relief and global health organization, began donating medicines to the Embassy of Malta in the Philippines as early as 1984, some donations of which were shipped to Culion. A long-term partnership between AmeriCares and the Knights of Malta was forged worldwide in 1982. AmeriCares officially partnered with the Knights of Malta in the Philippines in 1985, providing humanitarian aid such as food, relief goods, and medicines and hygiene kits.

In the meantime, improvements kept being made to Culion’s house of worship, which the colony was so proud to have.

Benjie Layug, a blogger, describes Culion’s Church of the Immaculate Conception:

The painted ceiling inside the church is obviously new, but before it was repainted, the original ceiling was painted in 1978 by leper patient Ben Amores, based on the design of Jesuit Fr. Javier Olazabal. To do the paintings, the handicapped Amores, who had no hands, had brushes tied to his arms and was hoisted up to the ceiling. In 2003, Jesuit Fr. Gabriel Gonzalez initiated the restoration and renovation of the church.

Other forms of financial and moral support were given to Culion by a good number of dedicated and loyal Knights and Dames, some of whom sat on the Board of the Culion Foundation: Jesus Cabarrus, Pedro Picornell and Ernesto Lagdameo who in 1980 was the first Filipino Ambassador of the Sovereign Order of Malta to the Philippines. They are gone now, but Dame Rosemarie Prieto continues to sit on the board of the Culion Foundation, and is also a board member of Tala Foundation. Her son Ramon is a Knight.