The Philippine Heart Center in Quezon City was established through Presidential Decree No. 673 issued by president Ferdinand E. Marcos in 1975. Its original name was the Philippine Heart Center for Asia and was changed to its current form in 1975. It was inaugurated on February 14, 1975. Cardiovascular specialists including Christiaan Barnard, Denton Cooley, Donald Effler, and Charles Bailey practised there.The first Director of the PHC was Avenilo P. Aventura (1974-1986), a cardiovascular surgeon who performed many pioneering operations in the Philippines including the first successful renal transplantation in 1970, the first CABG in 1972, and developed and implanted the first ASEAN bioprosthesis, the PHCA porcine valve. The first patient to be admitted to the PHC was Imelda Francisco, on