As the interest in gastroenterology grew, a group of Filipino doctors  established the Philippine College of Gastroenterology whose aim was to developed and promote gastroenterology as a specialty. Elected officers at the time were Dr. Gonzalo Austria (President), Dr. Francisco Roman and Pacifico Yap (vice-president), Dr. Oscar Liboro (secretary), Dr. Jesus Soriano (Treasurer). Members of the board were: Dr. Wenceslao Vitug, Dr. Jose Jose, Dr. Porficio Recio and Dr. Hermogenes Santos. However it was only in 1960 with the coming of Dr. Henry Bockus, who was then president of the Organization Mondialede Gastroenterologie (OMGE), that the officers were inducted and the society’s name changed to Philippine World Congress of Gastroenterology in Geneva, Switzerland and in the Asia Pacific Congress in Chandigar, India. The society experienced a spurt of growth in 1961 when Dr. Sol Alvarez came home from the United States bringing with him an Eder Palmer bulb-type gastroscope. Since then., gastroscopy became an established part of gastrointestinal examination.