In 2025, the Manila Observatory marks its 160th anniversary as a Jesuit scientific institution devoted to faith, science, and service. For one hundred and sixty years it has stood as one of Asia’s earliest and most enduring centers of research and public engagement, born of pastoral concern, animated by disciplined inquiry, and directed toward the common good. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1865, the Observatory pioneered systematic weather observation in the Philippines and became a regional authority in typhoon science, seismology, astronomy, and today, climate change and disaster risk. Its work has shaped public institutions, informed national policy, and translated science into care for the vulnerable, expressing the Jesuit conviction that faith, knowledge, and service can transform society.
A Jesuit History of Science and Service
The scientific spirit that gave birth to the Manila Observatory had already taken root in the Philippine mission of the Society of Jesus. In the eighteenth century, Fr. José Maria Murillo Velarde, SJ, a Jesuit cartographer and historian, produced the Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Islas Filipinas (1734), called the “Mother of all Philippine Maps.” His integration of geography, ethnography, and art reflected a belief that studying creation reveals both divine order and human responsibility—a vision that would later animate the Observatory.
A century later, Fr. Federico Faura, SJ established the Manila Observatory to understand and forecast the storms that so often struck the archipelago. In 1879, he issued what is recognized as the world’s first typhoon forecast, transforming compassionate concern into organized science. In 1884, the Spanish colonial government designated the Observatory as the official weather service of the Philippines. Under Fr. José Algué, SJ, research expanded into seismology, time service, and astronomy, while innovations such as the barocyclonometer made its work useful across Asia.
When sovereignty shifted to the United States, the new colonial government built upon this foundation by creating the Philippine Weather Bureau in 1901, drawing heavily on Jesuit expertise. Thus, a religious institution quietly laid the groundwork for the country’s national science infrastructure.
World War II destroyed much of the Observatory’s equipment and archives, yet the Jesuits rebuilt. Operations resumed in Baguio City in 1951 and later moved to the Ateneo de Manila University campus in 1963. Postwar research broadened to include geomagnetism, radio physics, and solar studies. Rebuilding the Observatory became an act of faith in science as service to society.
The Jesuit Scientific Tradition
Over the past century and a half, generations of Jesuit scientists have carried forward this union of scholarship and service. Fr. Victor Badillo, SJ, strengthened astronomy and radio physics and represented the Philippines in international forums. Fr. Sergio Su, SJ, advanced seismology, improving earthquake monitoring and understanding of ground motion in a country shaped by both faults and volcanoes. Fr. Daniel McNamara, SJ, physicist and teacher, inspired students to see atmospheric science as service to humanity.
Fr. Peter Walpole, SJ, also began in Manila Observatory his pioneering work in environmental science and watershed management, linking sustainability, community resilience, and social justice. That work continues through the Environmental Science for Social Change (ESSC).
Fr. Jose Ramon “Jett” Villarin, SJ, climate scientist and current Executive Director, began the Observatory’s work on climate change when he returned from studies in the 1990s. That is now the focus of the work of the Observatory.
Their collective work expresses the Ignatian ideal of finding God in all things and using knowledge to serve those most affected by the forces of nature and climate. Through them, the Observatory has remained a center where scientific rigor meets spiritual purpose.
From Hazards to Governance
In the twenty-first century, the Observatory has evolved from a center of meteorological observation into a leader in climate change governance. Its research now addresses how societies anticipate, manage, and recover from environmental hazards. Programs in atmospheric science, earth systems, and geospatial analysis provide decision-ready information for government and civil society.
Through its Geomatics for Environment and Development program, the Observatory integrates satellite data and mapping to assess exposure and vulnerability. Its public Geoportal hosts open datasets for local planners and researchers, promoting transparency and shared responsibility in disaster preparedness. By turning observation into governance, the Observatory transforms data into policies that protect lives and ecosystems.
Its scientists contribute to national climate assessments and work closely with agencies such as PAGASA and the Climate Change Commission. Many have participated in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, ensuring that Philippine and regional perspectives shape global dialogue. The Observatory thus serves as a bridge between international research and local policy, ensuring that science informs action on the ground.
Klima: The Bridge Between Science and Society
At the heart of this contemporary mission stands the Klima Center, the Observatory’s interface between research and policy. Klima translates technical findings into decision support, capacity-building, and collaboration with national and local governments, civil society, and the private sector. Its programs help cities integrate climate data into land-use and development planning, support national adaptation strategies, and engage with international processes under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Klima’s approach mirrors the Jesuit pedagogical cycle of context, experience, reflection, action, and evaluation. It begins with evidence, considers lived experience, encourages discernment among stakeholders, and moves toward action that can be assessed and iteratively refined. In this way, Klima transforms climate science from a technical field into a means of ethical and social transformation.
Jesuit–Lay Collaboration
Throughout its 160 years, the Manila Observatory has flourished through Jesuit–lay collaboration. Jesuits provide spiritual and scientific leadership, while lay professionals contribute technical skill, management, and policy insight. Together they embody a shared Ignatian mission where faith and professionalism reinforce each other.
Two leaders exemplify this partnership. Dr. Antonia Yulo Loyzaga, Executive Director from 2007 to 2016, strengthened the Observatory’s engagement with governance and national policy. She helped develop frameworks for disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation and demonstrated how science could guide public decision-making. Dr. Gemma Teresa Narisma, who succeeded her, was an atmospheric scientist of international distinction. She advanced research on climate extremes, strengthened institutional partnerships, and mentored young scientists. Her sudden passing in 2021 was a great loss, yet her legacy endures in the Observatory’s continuing commitment to excellence and compassion in climate research.
This collaboration of Jesuits and laypeople reflects the modern Society of Jesus, in which mission is shared among those united by Ignatian spirituality and the pursuit of the common good. It shows how a scientific institution can also be a community of discernment and service.
A Distinctive Jesuit Contribution
From Father Murillo Velarde’s eighteenth-century mapping to Father Faura’s storm warnings and today’s climate-policy partnerships, the Manila Observatory has consistently united scientific excellence with a moral imperative to protect the vulnerable. Its scientists understand research as an expression of faith in action and a response to the call to care for creation.
The Observatory embodies the Universal Apostolic Preferences of the Society of Jesus. By walking with the excluded and those most affected by environmental degradation, it serves the poor through science that seeks justice. By caring for our common home, it turns research into stewardship and advocacy for ecological conversion. By accompanying young people, it nurtures future scientists grounded in both technical mastery and social empathy. And by leveraging science and applying it to social concerns through the lens of faith, it shows how science can be a viable and worthy pathway to God.
As the Observatory marks its 160 years, its mission remains urgent. It advances climate science through open data and observation networks; builds resilience by co-producing knowledge with communities and governments; and helps frame ethical approaches to climate justice so that transitions to sustainability are fair and inclusive. Its conviction that science must serve the common good continues to inspire hope in an age of risk.
A Point of Vantage
Within the broader mission of the Society of Jesus in the Philippines, the Manila Observatory stands as a living expression of reconciliation with God, with one another, and with creation.
The Jesuit historian Fr. Horacio de la Costa, SJ, writing about Mirador, an observing station of the Manila Observatory on a northern hill, captured this vocation beautifully:
“Men and women who want to think, have time to reflect on what they are, what they must be or do, come here, to this quiet hill beneath a quiet heaven: to reflect, to pray, to observe the signs of our troubled, yet immensely hopeful times; to open windows to even broader horizons.”
That same spirit animates the Manila Observatory today. It remains a place for opening windows—into the atmosphere and the earth, into the shifting climate and the moral imagination of a people. From its vantage point on the Ateneo campus, it continues to look outward in faith and forward in hope, discerning how best to serve a fragile planet and a vulnerable humanity.
As it celebrates one hundred and sixty years of service, the Manila Observatory renews its mission to bring science, faith, and compassion together in the service of the nation and the world. Its scientific pursuit is a spiritual act, a witness that caring for the Earth and the most vulnerable among us is central to building a more just, sustainable, and compassionate world.
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Tony La Viña is currently the Associate Director of Manila Observatory and the director of its Klima Center. He is a former environment undersecretary and Dean of the Ateneo School of Government. He is founding Chair of the Mindanao Climate Justice Resource Facility. Tony, who teaches in Ateneo de Manila, Ateneo de Zamboanga, and Ateneo de Naga, obtained his doctorate and master of laws degrees from Yale University and his JD and AB Philosophy degrees from the University of the Philippines and Ateneo de Manila University respectively.