Pagunsan Institute of Magic (Magia Instituto de Pagunsan) serves students for the entire Philippines. It is located in an unplottable forest island in Palawan. It is a half-day trip by magically enchanted boats, built to protect the passengers from rain and sunlight, docked by the hidden shore. Known for their skill in Herbology, Healing, and Wandless Magic, the school was built under the goal of students being able to study their origins, along with their magic. It is named after Maria Abene Pagunsan, known as Manang Abe, a mentor and mother figure of the five founders.
Before Pagunsan was established, hidden magic communities exist for Filipino natives who wanted to practice their magic and traditions freely from the Spanish's aggression, as well as practicing the mentor-apprentice as a way to learn magic. However, there were also a lot of them who had the same magical heritage but weren't lucky enough to live in such communities, thus facing a lot of struggle to learn their magic and origin.
It is found in the 1880s by five people: the couple Julio and Rosalina Ocampo, the brothers Yousef and Harun Sanday, and Amihan Macabuac. The idea started when the wealthy and idealistic Ocampo was given the opportunity to study in Europe by his foster (squib) father to be an architect. Ocampo's experiences and travels had him inspired, as he read of stories of a group of wizards coming together to build a school to have students study and learn magic in peace. Which is something his magic mentor, Manang Abe, had always dreamed of.
When he returned home to the Philippines, Ocampo gathered his friends Rosalina and the Sanday brothers to create a grounds where children like them will be given freedom to learn their magical heritage without facing fear. The group, along with Manang Abe, traveled to Palawan and met Macabuac, a powerful witch well-known in the magic community for her altruism and wisdom. With her help, they were able to find a place to build a school after so many struggles from the warfare of the revolution, suspicious friars, and winning the Hidden Communities' very difficult-to-gain trust due to the growing fear of mutiny.
As the school grew, it continued to expand and opened doors for several regions from the three major islands. It stood strong despite the hardship, but with their resilience and cooperation they were able to overcome them. However, by the time when the school was finally about to be officially established, Manang Abe met her demise in her trip to help the wounded during the war. To honor her memory, the Founders decided to name the school after her.
The founders rejected the idea of "houses" as they think that it's promoting the tactic "divide and rule", especially when they want to promote the idea of unity (bayanihan). Insteal, four "teams" were created for students to learn sportsmanship and cooperation while promoting the idea of helping one another, students are assigned to their team at random and each team being led by a professor. The house-like coeducational dorms however remain diverse regardless of what team you're in, and are instead divided by their school year.
The school has a student council similar to Salem's- with representatives, prefects, advisors, and a council head (pangulo). Students are also encouraged to help the staff whatever they can. Classes were taught in several separate buildings to encourage students to go outside and learn the experience of outdoors (and given the humid weather, shield charms are one of the most used spells in this school in the rainy season).
The Pagunsan school faculty expresses their hospitality towards the first year students with the Welcoming Fiesta, to give a chance for students to get to know each other. The school grounds is also really spacious, surrounded by forests students can explore, rivers, and they even have a school garden. Some (student-friendly) magical creatures dwell the forest such as nymphs (not referring to diwatas, also they don't take orders from wizards), dwendes (goblin/elf-like creatures), and the like. The sports field is also built there for Quodpot and Qudditch, but distant from the forest to prevent disturbance. In the waters near Palawan, there is also an existing merfolk community underneath.
Before Pagunsan was established, hidden magic communities exist for Filipino natives who wanted to practice their magic and traditions freely from the Spanish's aggression, as well as practicing the mentor-apprentice as a way to learn magic. However, there were also a lot of them who had the same magical heritage but weren't lucky enough to live in such communities, thus facing a lot of struggle to learn their magic and origin.
It is found in the 1880s by five people: the couple Julio and Rosalina Ocampo, the brothers Yousef and Harun Sanday, and Amihan Macabuac. The idea started when the wealthy and idealistic Ocampo was given the opportunity to study in Europe by his foster (squib) father to be an architect. Ocampo's experiences and travels had him inspired, as he read of stories of a group of wizards coming together to build a school to have students study and learn magic in peace. Which is something his magic mentor, Manang Abe, had always dreamed of.
When he returned home to the Philippines, Ocampo gathered his friends Rosalina and the Sanday brothers to create a grounds where children like them will be given freedom to learn their magical heritage without facing fear. The group, along with Manang Abe, traveled to Palawan and met Macabuac, a powerful witch well-known in the magic community for her altruism and wisdom. With her help, they were able to find a place to build a school after so many struggles from the warfare of the revolution, suspicious friars, and winning the Hidden Communities' very difficult-to-gain trust due to the growing fear of mutiny.
As the school grew, it continued to expand and opened doors for several regions from the three major islands. It stood strong despite the hardship, but with their resilience and cooperation they were able to overcome them. However, by the time when the school was finally about to be officially established, Manang Abe met her demise in her trip to help the wounded during the war. To honor her memory, the Founders decided to name the school after her.
The founders rejected the idea of "houses" as they think that it's promoting the tactic "divide and rule", especially when they want to promote the idea of unity (bayanihan). Insteal, four "teams" were created for students to learn sportsmanship and cooperation while promoting the idea of helping one another, students are assigned to their team at random and each team being led by a professor. The house-like coeducational dorms however remain diverse regardless of what team you're in, and are instead divided by their school year.
The school has a student council similar to Salem's- with representatives, prefects, advisors, and a council head (pangulo). Students are also encouraged to help the staff whatever they can. Classes were taught in several separate buildings to encourage students to go outside and learn the experience of outdoors (and given the humid weather, shield charms are one of the most used spells in this school in the rainy season).
The Pagunsan school faculty expresses their hospitality towards the first year students with the Welcoming Fiesta, to give a chance for students to get to know each other. The school grounds is also really spacious, surrounded by forests students can explore, rivers, and they even have a school garden. Some (student-friendly) magical creatures dwell the forest such as nymphs (not referring to diwatas, also they don't take orders from wizards), dwendes (goblin/elf-like creatures), and the like. The sports field is also built there for Quodpot and Qudditch, but distant from the forest to prevent disturbance. In the waters near Palawan, there is also an existing merfolk community underneath.
