GRAND LODGE OF FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS OF THE PHILIPPINES

What is now today the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines started as a clubhouse for German expatriates built in 1914. It was leased to the YMCA during World War I and in 1919 sold to an exclusive corporation of Masons called the Plaridel Temple Association. In 1937, the Plaridel Masonic Temple property was ceded to the Grand Lodge of the Philippines Islands who had it improved in 1938 during the incumbency of its Grandmaster --- Justice Jose Abad Santos. The Temple was occupied by Japanese soldiers during World War II and was burned down during the battle for the liberation of Manila in 1945. A new Temple was built by 1948.

The Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons was declared by the National Historical Institute as a Historical Landmark in 1987. Unfortunately, the Temple was ---  including priceless relics of Freemasonry in the Philippines --- again destroyed by fire in 2000. It was again reconstructed and the new building formally inaugurated in 2006.