A Campus Renewed: SM Foundation Transforms ASEC in Iloilo

SM Foundation turned over the newly renovated Assumption Socio-Educational Center (ASEC) in Barrio Obrero, Iloilo City on September 16, 2026, capping a renovation project that touched nearly every corner of the campus.

Family, staff, and the Assumption sisters filled ASEC's newly restored chapel for the turnover mass. The renovation project reached nearly every corner of the campus.

Built in 1967 to serve children from families displaced by a fire in the area, ASEC has long served the Barrio Obrero community by combining basic education with programs in community and faith formation. But decades of wear and a tight operating budget had taken their toll on the campus.

“Everything was falling apart and termite-infested, from the leaking ceilings to the old walls and windows that wouldn't budge,” said Agnes Gatpatan, ASEC School Administrator. “Even the electrical wiring was decades old and unsafe for new appliances. We badly needed the repairs.”

Since 1967, Assumption has welcomed generations of students. Today, its campus continues to evolve, offering more conducive and accessible spaces for every Assumption learner and educator.

Thus, the renovation project touched several areas across the ASEC campus:

  • Dormitories 1 and 2
  • Faculty Building
  • Audio-Visual Room
  • Pre-School Building (Classroom 1)
  • Old Registrar Building, now converted into a computer laboratory
  • Library
  • Canteen, now converted into a Reflection/Formation Center
  • Covered Gym
  • Classroom Building 2
  • Dalzon Building

The need was real, but so was the constraint behind it, as every student at ASEC studies on a subsidized scholarship. Roughly 70 percent of the students in ASEC are fully sponsored by donors and stakeholders. 

“There is still a good number of students now whose parents are call center agents or other office-based jobs,” Gatpatan said, “but there remains a significant number who are children of jeepney drivers, of sari-sari store owners, ordinary people who want their children to receive a quality Catholic education.” 

Students enjoy a reading session in ASEC's renovated library, one of the facilities improved through the project.

“After the renovation, we can really see the big change,” Gatpatan said. “The classrooms are brighter now. We now have a clean and suitable toilet for the kids.”

A kindergarten class turns a morning activity into a lively lesson in motion, showing what the expanded classroom now makes possible.

Elsewhere on campus, the renovation also reflects ASEC's identity as both a school and a faith community. The former registrar's office is now a computer laboratory, giving students hands on access to digital learning tools. The former canteen has been transformed into a Reflection and Formation Center, a dedicated space for the community and faith formation programs that have been part of ASEC's mission since its founding.

 “The center, the Assumption alumni, and SM Foundation are one in the belief that education is a great equalizer, and that educating our youth ensures a bright future for them, for their community, and for our country,” said Carmen Linda Atayde, SM Foundation Executive Director for Education Programs. 

ASEC alumnus Jake Leonard Bautista walks his daughter to school before work. “Students now are very lucky because of this renovation. During our time, the school wasn’t like this. ASEC has significantly improved its facilities and is now truly beautiful.”

“It is the hope and belief of SM Foundation that current and future generations of ASEC students will find these classrooms a place to build their dreams, and grow into who they hope to become,” Atayde added. 

“We thought this was just going to be a small paint job, but the outcome is far more than what we had expected,” Gatpatan said. “We practically have a new school now, and it's in the colors of Our Lady: blue and white. Our students' uniforms are gold, so together that's blue, white, and gold, the colors of the Assumption. Our foundress, St. Marie Eugenie, truly had a hand in this.”

Students enter ASEC's newly restored chapel before class, one of ten revitalized spaces made possible by this year's renovation.

The renovation project is one more addition to SM Foundation's long-running work of building and rehabilitating school facilities across the country.