Felix Huerta, O.F.M., was a Spanish

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

, scholar and missionary to the Philippines during the 19th century, when it was still a colony of Spain. He is best known for authoring a history of local Catholic

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

es which is now a critical tool for Philippine historians. He was also the founder of

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

's Monte de Piedad Savings and Mortgage Bank, and was instrumental in the establishment of Manila's first water system.

As historical chronicler

Huerta is best known today as the author of ''Estado geográfico, topográfico, estadístico, histórico- religioso de la santa y apostólica Provincia de San Gregorio Magno'' ("Geographical, topographical, statistical, historical and religious state of the holy and apostolicprovince of St. Gregory the Great"), a record of the histories of Franciscan missions which is now a primary resource for local histories of

Philippine municipalities A municipality ( tl, bayan/munisipalidad; hil, banwa; ceb, lungsod/munisipalidad/munisipyo; pag, baley; pam, balen/balayan; bcl, banwaan; war, bungto/munisipyo; ilo, ili) is a local government unit (LGU) in the Philippines. It is distin ...

As founder of the Monte de Piedad Bank

Another of Huerta's achievements was establishing what later became the

's Monte de Piedad Savings and Mortgage Bank, with the intent of providing a savings bank for Manila’s poor which would charge moderate interest rates. This had been ordered by the Spanish government around 1860, but the order had not been carried out. With the backing of the

Archbishop of Manila The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila ( lat, Archidioecesis Manilensis; fil, Arkidiyosesis ng Maynilà; es, Arquidiócesis de Manila) is the archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Metro Manila, Philippines, encompassing ...

and the Spanish colonial government, Huerta opened the bank on August 2, 1882. Committed to the service of the poor, any monies over the amount of the initial debt received in auctioning unredeemed items would be given to the debtor or his heirs. In 1859, having been assigned as administrator of San Lazaro Hospital for

lepers Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...

, Huerta worked hard to have the hospital reconstructed instead of being closed due to its deteriorating conditions.

As proponent of Manila's first water system

In his search through financial documents during this effort, Huerta discovered the existence of a previously forgotten fund bequeathed by General Francisco Carriedo y Peredo (November 7, 1690 - September 1743), a native of

Santander, Spain Santander () is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. It is a port city located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao with a population of 172,000 (2017). It is believed to ...

, who had been stationed in Manila as an officer of the Spanish Navy. He had left monies for the creation of the first water system in Manila. Huerta pursued this project as well, and as a result the municipal water system, with 153 hydrants, was inaugurated on August 23, 1882.

References

Spanish Friars Minor 19th-century Filipino Roman Catholic priests Year of death missing Year of birth missing Spanish Roman Catholic missionaries 19th-century Spanish Roman Catholic priests Spanish expatriates in the Philippines {{Philippines-bio-stub