Early history

The history of Lasallian education in the Philippines dates back to 1905 when the then Archbishop of Manila, Jeremiah James Harty, an alumnus of a La Salle educational institution in the U.S., appealed to the Superior General of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (Fratres Scholarum Christianarum) - FSC for the establishment of a De La Salle educational institution in the Philippines due to the very small number of Catholic institutions at that time. Archbishop Harty's request was rejected at first due to lack of funds, however he would continue to appeal to Pope Pius X for the establishment of additional Catholic educational institutions in the country.

From March to June 1911, nine De La Salle Christian Brothers from Europe and the United States led by Brother Blimond FSC of France arrived in the Philippines. Together on June 16, 1911, the Brothers established the first Christian Brother educational institution in the Philippines, De La Salle College, on Calle Nozaleda (now General Luna St.) in Paco, Manila.

Because of increasing student population, the Brothers transferred the educational institution to its present location on Taft Avenue in the Malate district of Manila in 1921.

De La Salle University System

During the 1980s, then President of De La Salle University, the late Brother Andrew Gonzalez FSC, Ph.D. introduced the idea of a multiversity because of the growing number of Lasallian institutions nationwide. His vision was to establish a system where the resources could be utilized to create a greater impact. The De La Salle University System was created in 1987, composed of De La Salle University-Manila, De La Salle-Santiago Zobel School, and the newly acquired De La Salle University-Dasmariñas and De La Salle Medical and Health Sciences Institute in Dasmariñas, Cavite. A year later, the newly established De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde in Malate, Manila was included in the system.

De La Salle University-Manila initially provided the resources and expertise needed in the establishment of these institutions where it extended financial assistance and human resources in building the other campuses. The first general assembly of administrators and their representatives from the five campuses was convened in 1992 to support and facilitate the establishment of the system. Several committees were formed during the convention to introduce improvement and innovations to existing programs and structures among the campuses. A task force to study the different needs of the campuses was formed in 1994. It was also during this year that an organizational structure was formed and a vision and mission statement was created for the system.

In 1995, a 50-hectare property in Biñan was acquired by the System from the family of the late National Artist of the Philippines for Architecture and La Salle High School alumnus Leandro Locsin to be used as the site of De La Salle University-Canlubang, a science and technology-oriented campus. Construction of the first building of the campus as well as start of operations both began in 2003. De La Salle University-Professional Schools, Inc., established in 1960, became a semi-autonomous entity in 1996 working within the campus of De La Salle University-Manila. In 2002, the management and ownership of the Gregorio Araneta University Foundation in Malabon was transferred by the Araneta Family to the system and was renamed De La Salle Araneta University, becoming the eighth member of the system.

Establishment of De La Salle Philippines, Inc.

In 2006, the 8-Campus De La Salle University System was abolished and in its place the 17-Campus De La Salle Philippines, Inc. was established in order to have a more focused and unified implementation of the Lasallian Mission, generate greater and more creative synergy among Lasallian educational institutions, improve the overall quality of Lasallian education in the country and promote the spirit of “One La Salle” with a common vision of educating the Filipino youth. Ten more Lasallian institutions throughout the country were integrated into the eight campuses of the DLSU System, bringing the total number of campuses to eighteen. Since then, De La Salle-Professional Schools, Inc. and De La Salle Canlubang were integrated into De La Salle University which brought back the number of educational institutions to sixteen.