The Province of St. Ezekiel Moreno has a long prehistory. It was born of the Province of St. Nicholas of Tolentine and, in a certain sense, one might say that it began its life with the arrival of the Augustinian Recollects in the 17th century, precisely, May of 1606, when the friars arrived in Manila. Since that time, the Philippines has always enjoyed a place of privilege in the life of the Order. During more than three centuries, however, all of the religious were Spanish. It was until around 1930 that an interest grew in favor of native vocations. During the subsequent years, houses of formation were opened and, eventually, an abundance of vocations were recruited. Among these institutions, there is the house of theology in Mira-Nila, Quezon City in 1985. By the beginnings of 1990, it became evident the a creation of a province in the Philippines was imminent. Conditions seemed to favor such a move. A growing number of native vocations with good vocational prospects, an abundance of ministries and a sound economic base were promising signs. The superiors, however, preferred not to precipitate events and opted for a plan of careful preparation. In 1998, the General Council decided that the time was at hand and permission was sought from the Congregation for Religious to proceed with the creation of the new province. Thus, on the 28th of November, the General Chapter decided that the hour had arrived. The recommendations of the General Council were approved , a province was created and its canonical installation was assigned to the provincial. The new province under the patronage of St. Ezekiel Moreno received the houses which the Province of St. Nicholas of Tolentine held in the Philippines, ministries of Linyuan and Santimen in Taiwan, plus the mission of Sierra Leone. The province was born with a solid inheritance. There are 120 religious, of whom 118 were Filipinos, 85 priests, 4 brothers, and 25 young professed. There are 39 religious working in the administration of five colleges and two universities, in all, with a total student population of 40,000. Eighteen religious work in parishes and 24 are dedicated to the houses of formation, 7 in the missions, and 3 in provincial administration. The remaining 29 are young seminarians. The abundance of vocations has helped the province to attend, without major strain, the ministries which the province had received.It made possible the luxury of allowing personnel time to prepare themselves in civil and ecclesiastical institutions for teaching and education. The young province has also offered assistance to the Order in the United States and in Brazil. At present, 2004, the province has 138 religious and 32 work in colleges and universities, 24 in 8 parishes, 23 in four seminaries, 7 in missions, 5 in provincial administration. There are also 5 rendering assistance to other provinces, 2 direct the seminary of Kabankalan, 2 study in Rome, 3 are in the process of exclaustration, and 35 are in the process of formation. Year of the foundation: 1998 Number of religious: 140 Number of communities: 16 Countries: Philippines,Taiwán and Sierra Leon. Ministries: 26. Missions: Taiwán y Sierra Leone. Sede del Provincial St. Ezekiel Moreno Provincial House San Nicolas De Tolentino Parish 20 Neptune St., Brgy. Bahay Toro, 1106 Quezon City Tel. (02) 456-2132; 456-2133; (02) 928-5336 Fax. (02) 928-5336