The Faculty of Church History of the Pontifical Gregorian University hosted the dissertation defense of the Fr. Emilio Quilatan in Rome. He defended his dissertation entitled: “The Friar Hacienda Controversy in the Philippines at the Turn of the Twentieth Century — Facts and Fiction: The Case of the Augustinian Recollect Hacienda de San Juan Bautista in Imus, Cavite (1896-1906).”
The author has done his research in several state and private archives in the United States, Spain and the Vatican, and in the General Archives of the Order in Rome as well. His thesis discussed the sale of the Friar haciendas in the Philippines to the United States Government following the change of sovereignty in 1898. This agreement ended the rough campaign of the adherents of the Philippine Revolution, a political situation which the US government wanted to take advantage of to expel the friars from the archipelago. The study shows that the sale boosted the finances of the Augustinian Recollect Congregation and served to support financially its activities in the Philippine dioceses.
The Thesis Panel
The thesis panel was composed of two Jesuits and a Discalced Carmelite, namely, Norman Tanner,SJ, who was also the thesis director of the research, Fernando de Lasala, SJ, who chaired the thesis panel, and lastly, Silvano Giordano, OCD, who served as the second reader. The panel of professors marked the research work with a favorable commendation. There were about thirty persons present. Most of them were Augustinian Recollects from the three communities of the Order in Rome: General Curia, Collegio Sant’Ildefonso, and Our Lady of Consolation Parish in Tre Pini.