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The Institute and It's History
The Philippine Eye Research Institute was conceived some 15 years prior to its establishment in 1965. Through the suggestion of the University of the Philippines President, Carlos P. Romulo, a bill was drafted by the University Legal Council Attorney Perfecto Fernandez in February of 1965. The bill was sponsored and filed as House Bill No. 15095 by Congressmen, Afable, Moreno, and Trono in March 1965. It was passed with the aid of the Floor Leader Montano during the Fifth Congress in May, signed by Speaker Cornelio Villaruel and Senate President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and approved by President, Diosdado Macapagal on June 19, 1965 as Republic Act No. 4593.
The Board of Regents established the Institute and appointed Dr. Geminiano de Ocampo as Acting Director on October 22, 1965.
In accordance with an understanding reached a month earlier in meeting called by President Carlos P. Romulo and attended by Regent Ambrosio Tangco and Nicanor Padilla. Budget Director, Florentino Herrera, Jr., Dean Benjamin Barrera, Director Francisco Tangco, Dr.Geminiano de Ocampo and Dr.Lucein Gregg of the Rockefeller Foundation, a site was chosen within the Philippine General Hospital where the Institute was to be constructed.
It was one-room laboratory in Ward 4 of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) that the Philippine Eye Research Institute (PERI) was born in 1965. In that small room were five laboratories for ophthalmologic pathology, experimental ocular surgery, clinical research, microbiology and photography. PERI was established under Republic Act No. 4593 and has been envisioned to be the center of opthalmic research activities and repository of recorded opthalmic literature and information on eye researches in the country and is the oldest unit under the National Institutes of Health.
PERI's mandate was crystal clear - "to undertake clinical, applied, and epidemiological research on eye by conducting basic studies, collaborating and partnering with other specialties of medicine and institutions, both locally and internationally to generate evidence to better inform policies to accomplish its main mission to prevent blindness among Filipinos". It's close collaboration with the PGH Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences promotes and facilitates the translation of discoveries to the clinics.
Dr.Geminiano De Ocampo
Dr.Geminiano de Ocampo was appointed by the UP Board of Regents as the Institutes first director. He initiated the first, "Sight Saving Week" and championed the theme that "No Filipino shall go blind" without the benefit of expert care. Dr. De Ocampo is a National Scientist and Father of Philippine Modern Ophthalmology.
In 1966 a two-stories annex on PGH Ward 3 was built to expand PERI's physical space and accelerate its research programs. With this upgraded facility, the Philippine acquired its first ever Argon Laser. An equipment used to treat a number of eye conditions including glaucoma, diabetic eye disease as well as retinal problems. This jumpstarted the much needed eye research in the Filipino populations.
Dr.Salvador R. Salceda
In 1978, Dr. Salvador R. Salceda became the second director of PERI. During his term, PERI was renamed to Institute of Ophthalmology (IO) to broaden its function of tertiary ophthalmological patient care and post-eye residency training for Physicians.
In 1979, the institute, designated to take the lead role in planning and formulating eye-health policies, formulated and published the National Sight Plan in cooperation with other non-government organizations. It joins the worldwide initiative and interest on blindness prevention by developing the program on Preventive Public Health Ophthalmology and Primary Eye Care.
In 1985, when PGH was renovated, the Department of Ophthalmology was transferred to Ward 12, and the institute moved as well (at the back of Ward 12)
The Institute built partnership with both local and international agencies, including the Rockefeller Foundation, The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, IMPACT UK and Philippines, The Harvard University and the Singapore Research Eye Institute (SIREI).
Dr.Rosie R. Noche
In 1998, Dr. Rosie R. Noche succeeded Dr. Salceda as Director. The Institute continued its mission towards systematic researches in ophthalmology. The National Program for the Prevention of Blindness is formulated
In 2001, Dr. Manuel B. Agulto succeeded Dr. Noche as Director. During his term, a Unified Research Agenda in Ophthalmology was formulated for the institute and the department
Dr.Manuel B. Agulto
By 2005, the institute was transferred to its present home in a 500-square meter facility beside the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences (DOVS) at the Sentro Oftalmologico Jose Rizal (SOJR). The building was a joint project of the Republic of the Philippines through the UP and the Agenda Española de Cooperacion Internacional (AECI).
The transfer of the instituteof Ophthalmology to the Sentro Ofthalmologico Jose Rizal Building was a UP Centennial project in 2007
In 2011, Dr. Leo DP Cubillan succeeded Dr. Agulto. During his term, PERI embarked on the establishment and institutionalization of multiple research programs with national impact, culminating in the passage and implementation of the National Vision Screening Act (RA 11358)
SENTRO OFTHALMOLOGICO JOSE RIZAL BLDG.
The Philippine Eye Research Institute is committed to the Filipino and global community in preventing blindness and improving ophthalmic health through innovative, population-oriented research, training and development of products and services using state of the art technologies.
PERI aims to provide socially-responsive mechanisms for equitable access to eye care.
Dr.Leo DP Cubillan