One of the famous landmarks of Tuguegarao City, is the Saint Paul University Philippnes (SPUP) founded on May 10, 1907 by the Sisters of Saint Paul of Chartres (SPC) in the Philippines, which also owns, manages, and operates 40 schools in the Philippines. It is running to 113 years in operation to date. It is the only University among the schools of the SPC Sisters in the Philippines, offering basic education to graduate school programs.
It was originally as the Colegio de San Pablo by six nuns from SPC led by Mother Ephrem Marie Fieu. They came to the Cagayan Valley region upon the invitation of Bishop Dennis Joseph Dougherty. The school was initially hosted inside a Spanish convent adjacent to a cathedral. The institution changed its name to Colegio del Sagrado Corazon de Jesus in 1909 and later to Sacred Heart of Jesus Institution (SHOJI) in 1925. The school was moved from its previous location in a convent to a separate grounds acquired by the SPC from the Dominica Order due to increased number of enrollees and the expansion of its curriculum.
The school complex which was razed by the Allied forces after being used as a military garrison and hospital by the Japanese during the World War II Japanese occupation of the Philippines, has been changed by its name to St. Paul College of Tuguegarao (SPCT) in 1948 since it became the first Teacher-Training Institution in Cagayan Valley. It was first accredited by Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU) in 1961. However, the entire school complex was razed by fire on January 18, 1965.
The school became the first university in Cagayan Valley in 1982. The school received accreditation from more bodies and institutions such as TUV Rheinland which gave the SPUP, ISO 9001 Certification in 2000 and the Asian Association of Schools of Business International in 2014. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines through the Episcopal Commission on Culture (CBCP-ECC) designated the SPUP as a Catholic Center for Culture in 2012.
Source: Wikipedia
HOW TO GO THERE
By land, there are number of daily trips of Victory and Florida bus liners in Sampaloc of Manila to Tuguegarao City which runs 479.5 kilometers for a road travel via Pan-Philippine Highway/AH26 for 9 - 12 hours considering the traffic conditions along the way.
By air, Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific flights are available from Manila to Tuguegarao City.
