The Heritage Conservation Society

http://news.inq7.net/lifestyle/index.php?index=2&story_id=45429

July 31, 2005
By Augusto Villalon

THIS COLUMN received lively e-mail messages in response to several heritage issues.

Jai Alai
A reader responded to the recent column titled "Remember the Jai Alai?"

"I first took notice of the Sky Room [restaurant at the Jai Alai] eight years ago when I worked in Manila and regularly commuted along Taft Avenue. What single word could describe its beauty? Even in its ruined state it was madly alluring.

"It was proof of how the city was a relic of Manila before its utter corruption. I don’t know much about architecture and history. I didn’t know about its [Jai Alai] importance either. But one need not be a scholar to suspect its former eminence. During the daily two-hour traffic jam, only the sight of it preserved my wits.

"…The preservation of national architectural treasures is ultimately the government’s responsibility.

"Never mind that our government does nothing to restore or preserve buildings like the Jai-Alai; the most absurd part is [that the government] makes a self-willed effort to destroy them… We can only attribute it to our unique Filipino value of cultural self-annihilation."

Preservation may appear to be a government responsibility. Among the few enlightened government sectors is the Department of Education, which is deeply committed to preservation through its Heritage Schoolhouse Restoration Program.

A schoolhouse in Bacolod and another in Baguio have been restored and are now used once more as classrooms. Two more schoolhouses (in San Fernando, Pampanga, and Sampaloc, Manila) will be completed within the next six months.

However, without citizens sharing in the burden by pointing out the way and cooperating with the government, preservation may never happen.

Preserving heritage is a joint effort.

Buffer zones
"After reading your article (’Buffer Zones Needed to Preserve Heritage’), my hometown of Lingayen came to mind.

"A century-old building adjacent to the church (actually the convento or priest’s residence, an elegant Spanish colonial building adjacent to the church that was an unappreciated Lingayen landmark) was demolished to pave the way for a new commercial building.

"I think this is now the trend… as spacious religious compounds are turned into commercial spaces.

"Priests and religious leaders seem more focused on making money rather than in seeking God."

The respondent goes on to note that the Local Government Code mandates local government units to prepare a Comprehensive Land Use Plan and Zoning Ordinance. But local officials turn a blind eye to the law as they routinely approve new constructions on an ad-hoc basis.

Billboards
Another reader: "I read your piece on establishing buffer zones around heritage sights and the appalling things they did to the Balayan Church and environs. I can’t seem to find the right words to describe the people responsible for the desecration…

"It would also be good if you could do a piece on the cancer-like malaise that has been eating up both urban and rural landscapes-signs.

"The Philippines has become a dumpsite of signage. Everywhere you look, everywhere you go, signs visually assault you.

"Haven’t you noticed that in a lot of places, a single sign on a store facade just doesn’t seem to be enough? Each establishment outdoes its neighbor’s signage, so the end result: more clutter.

"While following the TV coverage of the Tour de France, I was amazed to discover how pretty, neat, clean and virtually sign-free the French countryside is.

"Except for traffic and safety signs, there are no billboards along country roads. In quaint villages, little shops are happy with one simple store sign on their fa‡ade.

"What do you think should be done?

"Do you think we should get the Department of Tourism to head a task force composed of environmental NGOs and urban renewal and heritage-protection advocates to mount a campaign and convince local executives to seriously look into signage and do something about this scourge?"

DOT a major offender
Indeed, a task force is needed to regulate the scourge of signage.

But led by the DOT?

The DOT is a major billboard offender. Look at the number of WOW billboards and banners the DOT has strung in cities and in the countryside without any respect for the urban and rural vistas that our tourists (and we Filipinos as well) deserve to enjoy.

We Filipinos deserve a lifestyle that we can enjoy and a country that we can be proud of. The only way to achieve that is to get together and make things work.

Feedback is welcome at afvillalon@hotmail.com

http://oldmanilawalks.blogspot.com/

* letter faxed to the lord mayor of MayniLA and his Close-up billboard sidekick- Congressman Miles Roces of third district of Manila.

Dear Sir,

A few days ago; this streetwalker and once-upon-time Binondo resident had a major jolt in his acute sense of direction: he couldnt find the street of childhood.

In the movie ‘Face-Off’ , good guy actor John Travolta wakes up to find himself - and his whole identity- turned upside down when bad guy Nicolas Cage goes on a rampage and forcefully acquires Travolta’s face (literally through surgery). Suddenly, everything wasn’t as what’s supposed to be.

I can only imagine this is what the residents and businesses of Nueva Street in Binondo must have felt when they woke up about month ago and suddenly found themselves staring at ‘nueva’ street sign that read ET Yuchengco - a name so strange and unrelated to what generations, including this humble streetwalker, have known as Calle Nueva.

Could you please explain to us, dear sirs, why the sudden identity change of our dear Calle Nueva? For generations, this busy stretch has always been known as the ‘new’ street; a reminder of the day it opened in the year 1863 to ease traffic from our district’s main avenue - Rosario (today Quintin Paredes street). The old Chinese even had a name for it, Ao-Kue-Ya or ‘behind the main avenue’. Today, this stretch contains what is probablly Chinatown’s last pavement of cobbles- a reminder of its origins dating to the Spanish colonial period.

It may not be as ‘new’ as it was in the 19th century but up until the new names where changed, everybody still called it as Nueva. All the shop signs (lots of them) read Nueva. Business addresses read Nueva. Printed matters read Nueva. WE called it Nueva.

Now we have to grapple with a long and historically-unrelated street tag: ET Yuchengco.

Yes, Mr. ET Yuchengco is a man whose deeds is worthy of remembrance and the generation after him have done a too-good of a job in making sure we, the present crop, remembers this man and his actions: ET Yuchengco building along Quintin Paredes, DLSU-ET Yuchengco hall along Taft Avenue , ET Yuchengco College of Business and Management at the Mapua Institute, ET Yuchengco Health Center in Pangasinan province and the RCBC Plaza Yuchengco towers 1 and 2 on Ayala Avenue. His legacy and name is everywhere.

But surely, a man of his stature cannot and should not replace a street’s original name, especially in a place as historically and epically illustrious as our city’s Binondo district.

Mr. Mayor, could we have our NUEVA street name and our collective memory back?

Sincerely,
Ivan ManDy
Streetwalker and former Binondo resident
Manila

Related articles
The Long View: The landscape of memory
The folly of renaming streets

http://news.inq7.net/lifestyle/index.php?index=2&story_id=44644&col=1

By Augusto Villalon
Inquirer News Service

THE CONSTRUCTION of new buildings inside the compounds of Balayan Church and Taal Basilica has resulted in heated controversies.

The rotunda at the center of the heritage town of Carcar in southern Cebu has an outstanding early 20th-century kiosk at its center, the only one of its kind in the country. Large billboards in the rotunda periphery erected within the past few months now obliterate the heritage urbanscape.

No law, whether national or local, protects any heritage in Carcar. On the other hand, Balayan and Taal are legally protected as heritage sites.

Balayan’s is one of 26 colonial churches designated as National Treasures by the National Museum. The Taal Basilica is a national shrine protected by the National Historical Institute (NHI).

Their official heritage status prohibits alteration without National Museum or NHI approval. But this did not stop either church from undertaking constructions.

The Balayan parish priest built a fastfood store in the open space between the church facade and the street.

In one of the interior courtyards of Taal Basilica rose a Perpetual Adoration chapel, defying both NHI prohibition and a suit filed by a Taal NGO against its construction.

The issue of why the space around a heritage site should remain open is the controversy in Balayan and Taal.

Precious artifacts locked in museum cases are carefully arranged so no piece ever covers another from view. Related pieces are grouped so each can be viewed in the context of another.

Like a museum artifact, heritage structures, especially nationally or internationally designated ones, deserve to be in full view at all times and not covered by anything else.

Not only that, their neighbors should remain unblocked as well since these are the related pieces that form a group that together tells the historical story. It is called "keeping heritage in its setting."

Setting is important in architecture. A mountaintop structure has a different impact from a structure in a city plaza, one fronting a broad avenue, one located on a tight city street, or one surrounded by open fields.

Taking setting as an important consideration means architecture does not end with the walls, roofs and doorsteps of buildings. Solids and voids are essential considerations in building design, so the open space surrounding a building is of primary concern.

Setting is important
The space around a building provides the void from which the solid shape takes its context. Without it, one cannot perceive the full impact of the building. Therefore, in the design of a building, setting is an important consideration. The open space around the structure is part of the architecture.

Designers carefully study proper placing of buildings on sites to provide maximum visual impact and to satisfy environmental conditions.

Colonial churches are great examples of architectural impact. Designed as the main focus of each town plaza, they were the most imposing structures in towns, huge and towering symbols of religious power and might.

The strong visual impact of Taal Basilica situated atop a hill rising above the town plaza is an unforgettable, if not humbling, sight for believer and nonbeliever alike.

Impact is what Balayan Church lost by allowing the construction of a fastfood store between the church and town plaza. A subliminal image is what Balayan has gained by placing a fastfood store in its front yard. Figure out what a statement that makes. (Faith as fastfood? The church as commerce?)

To preserve impact and protect heritage structures, an open-space buffer zone is drawn around a monument to ensure that no new construction blocks its view.

To be more practical, the buffer zone also protects the structure from construction encroachment, keeps vehicles and emissions at a safe distance, safeguards the structure from damaging construction vibrations, and provides protection from other unforeseen damaging elements.

The Balayan and Taal examples show widespread ignorance on the function of a buffer zone.

So many new constructions that endanger heritage properties go unnoticed and unchallenged, proof that the government and the public see heritage as as a disposable commodity in the race toward "development."

Obviously, having laws that protect heritage is not enough. To effectively protect heritage, everyone must become more aware of the need to do so.

More concerned individuals should become heritage vigilantes.

Heritage watch
It was recently reported that the centuries-old acacia trees lining long portions of the brick causeway connecting Santa Maria Church to its round cemetery had been felled by town officials.

Intrinsic, identifying elements in the Santa Maria landscape are now gone. Despite the fact that the Ilocos Sur site enjoys international Unesco protection because of its inscription on the World Heritage List, is anyone in charge of maintaining Santa Maria heritage, which includes its trees?

Feedback is welcome at afvillalon@hotmail.com.

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/lifestyle200507233301.htm

By Paulo Alcazaren
The Philippine STAR 07/23/2005

No
matter what happens on July 25, Monday, the day GMA is delivering her
SONA (or Sayonara! as the polls show many would have it), Manila will
survive. It has survived over 400 years of war, pestilence, politics,
and natural disasters. After each disaster, man-made or natural, the
city has managed to pick itself up. Buildings were rebuilt, streets
repaved, and landmarks resurrected.

This was the situation at the turn of the 19th century. The
city had still not recovered fully from the Filipino revolution when it
was thrust into the middle of the Filipino-American war. Despite the
resistance of the Filipinos, the Americans sought to rebuild the city
quickly, knowing that a rebuilt capital would be a strong symbol of,
and venue for projecting, their imperial power.

The Yanks did not have to start from scratch. The city of over
200,000 souls had been built with Filipino sweat into one of the chief
cities of Asia. Numerous landmarks survived the
Filipino-Spanish-American war, among them:

• Churches, cathedral, and convents of the city. In
Intramuros, there were 17 of these; most notable (mainly because they
survived World War II) were San Agustin and the Manila Cathedral
(actually demolished because of the extensive war damage and rebuilt in
the late ’50s). Both almost did not make it into the 20th century
because of a series of devastating earthquakes in the late 19th
century. The San Agustin church lost one bell tower while the cathedral
followed suit but managed to be rebuild for the new century. Outside,
the churches of the arrabales (suburbs) of Manila survived and
soon faced bursting attendance as the city’s population increased. Some
expansions were better than others, but what mattered was that most of
these renovations were sympathetic to the original architecture of
these structures. There was an aesthetic continuity and respect for
surrounding public spaces – the plazas – that modern renovations often
fail to address.

• Bridges of the city. The old Puente España (Bridge of
Spain), Puente Colgante, and Puente Ayala were the only bridges at the
turn of the century. Most other crossing was done by ferry. The Bridge
of Spain lasted the first decade of the new century before being
replaced by the Jones Bridge while the Colgante suspended its demise by
another four decades, being replaced in the late ’30s by the Quezon
Bridge.

• Open fields. Much of Manila beyond Binondo and Luneta were
open fields planted to rice and vegetables (for the city). These fields
became the campos de battala (fields of battle) of the
Filipino-American War. Today, the battle of territory continues as
orchestrated by mayors on opposite sides of the political divide.

• Escolta. The Escolta was already the premier shopping
street of the city even in the Spanish colonial era. The shops were
housed in bahay na bato structures with wide awnings to shelter
shoppers from the sun and rain. Horse-drawn omnibuses were introduced
along with horse-drawn tranvias as the Spanish hold loosened on
the city. Still, commerce hardly skipped a beat on this street and
would continue to do so till half a century later.

• Big guns. Reminders of the war just ended and the "insurgency" still ongoing were plenty in fin de seicle
Manila. The big Spanish guns (that were never fired against Admiral
Dewey’s ships) still poked their ominous orifices out seaward.
Cannonballs were stacked close by as if to provide an image of strength
and success in the imperialist experiment for many postcards and
illustrations sent states-side. But the Spanish hardware was obsolete
against the Yank’s ironclad dreadnaughts. By the ’30s, the colonial
government armed Corregidor similarly with even more gigantic big guns
that were themselves obsolete by the time the Japanese launched their
air-borne assault.

• Luneta. This wide promenade was the ultimate show-off public
space. At dusk every day, the elite and the hoi poloi gathered to enjoy
the stunning Manila sunset. The elite in their carriages went around
the Roman circus-like track clockwise. Only the governor general and
the archbishop were allowed to travel against the flow. Intermittently,
diversion was provided by summary executions.

• Muelles. At the turn of the century, goods were off-loaded from ships anchored off-shore and carried on cascoes (lighters) to several muelles
(quays) on the south and north banks of the Pasig River. Until the
early 20th century, small masted ships could come beside some of these
quays near the mouth of the river. Today, a number of them have been
resurrected as promenades by Mayor Lito Atienza.

• Malacañan. The summer house-turned-official residence of the
chief administrator of the colony survived the revolution and the war
to become the "palace" of the American governors general and every
Philippine president (deserving or otherwise) to this day. It survives
as the "seat of executive power" even though there were several
attempts to relocate our White House elsewhere.

• Tiendas. Sprouting on every street corner were instant
mini-restaurants serving everything form snacks to full meals. The
Americans were amazed that such small enterprises could thrive. Today,
micro-enterprises survive as a means to earn a meager living given the
failure of government to improve the lot of the average city dweller.

• War damage. Like scenes from modern-day Iraq, Manila was a
landscape of pockmarked facades and collapsed buildings after the two
wars at the turn of the century. When the city finally erased this
pervading texture of destruction in the ’30s, it wouldn’t be long
before war would again turn the city into a wasteland of death and
destruction.

Manila has indeed survived the last century despite the
Spanish-American-Filipino war, the Second World War, and two People
Power upheavals. It may not, however, survive another quarter century
if pollution is not abated, blight erased, traffic rationalized or
sanitary landfills found for the 6,000 tons of garbage produced every
day.

The city and its burgeoning population may not survive if
affordable housing is not provided, floods are not eliminated or crime
suppressed. Indeed, the very fact that the elite who called Manila home
are escaping to gated enclaves 50 kilometers away shows how dire the
situation is – especially since the less-privileged sectors of society
are following suit.

We may as well join the bandwagon of those resigned to the
fact that unless we change the way we live and build the institutions
of our lives (and the structures that house them) we will be doomed to
repeat the never-ending cycle of boom and bust, the dagdag-bawas of the quality of our lives that fate has sentenced us to.

Our lapse of communal judgment would be if, as citizens of this
once great metropolis, we once again succumb to expediency in
addressing the state of our urban lives trading short-term fix-ups
(u-turns, color-coding, jeepneys, squatter improvement projects,
dumping garbage into esteros and the Pasig) for longer-term solutions
(high-density high-rise housing estates, eliminating jeepneys,
establishing a metropolitan government, creating public parks).

If we do not act now to save our landmarks and to rescue our city, then we will all soon be truly sorry.

Feedback is welcome. Please e-mail the writer at paulo.alcazaren@gmail.com.

http://www.inq7.net/lif/2003/nov/14/lif_27-1.htm

By Doris Gaskell-Nuyda

RECENTLY, the World Monuments Fund (WMF) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) released the latest list of 100 most endangered sites in the world. It included an explorer’s hut in Antarctica, ancient palaces in war-torn Iraq, aboriginal rock carvings in Australia and the Battersea Power Station in London.

The sites are monitored regularly and, if necessary, are declared endangered. Assessments are made biennially by 10 experts of the WMF. Through the years, the list has included sites as ancient as the Great Wall of China to new ones like the Manhattan sector in New York destroyed by the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

The list is expected to encourage greater efforts to preserve the sites. According to John Stubbs, vice president for WMF projects, the record for successful preservation of listed sites has been "close to perfect." We’re grateful that it is.

News like this made us want to find out how our own World Heritage Sites were doing. Are there any among them that are endangered? We inquired from Fina C. Yongzon, executive director of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (once known as the Presidential Commission for Culture and the Arts) which has the task of preserving and protecting the sites. It is a big job, considering that it is not just sites in the World Heritage list that have to be preserved and protected but also others that are important and significant to us as a people.

A place may be declared a World Heritage Site by the Unesco for "its outstanding value to the whole of humanity," but in the country where it is found, its value may be simply in the history it represents, the preservation of indigenous culture and what NCCA officials call "pride of place."

RP’s pride
There are eight Philippine World Heritage Sites, four of them churches built in the Spanish colonial era: San Agustin Church in Intramuros, Manila; San Agustin Church in Paoay, Ilocos Norte; Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion in Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur; and Sto. Tomas de Villanueva in Miag-ao, Iloilo. The others are the Rice Terraces of the Cordilleras, the city of Vigan, the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park and the Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park.

The churches not only belong to an important period in our history, explains Yongzon, but their architecture is also a noteworthy aspect of their value. They represent a fusion of European and Asian architectural motifs that is considered unique. Most of them are also repositories of art of the period. Their preservation has become urgent in the light of the pollution and urban development going on around them these days.

Churches also account for a good number of heritage sites (there are 26) named National Cultural Treasures by the National Museum, one of the agencies under the administrative supervision of the NCCA. Thus, three priests sit in the body’s committees, helping other priests conduct workshops and undertake conservation work.

Of the eight Philippine World Heritage Sites, the Rice Terraces is the one in great need of preservation. According to Yongzon, part of the problem is that Ifugao farmers have lost interest in tilling their historic rice terraces and would rather find work away from it. The situation has gotten so bad at one point the Terraces was almost removed from the world list. Fortunately, the provincial governor and officials of other local government units, recognizing the value of this ancient planting system in their midst, have started rehabilitation work.

Intangible heritage
In its efforts to preserve oral and ritual traditions, known as "Intangible Heritage," the NCCA conducts exhaustive research and documentation which have led to the establishment of Schools of Living Tradition, fellowships, training sessions, and the Registry of Tangible and Intangible Treasures.

Currently, there is a move to make Carcar in Cebu a Heritage Site as well, with some concerned citizens working hard to make this happen. There are several ancestral and historical houses and structures that dot the area and they are constantly threatened being right in the midst of vehicular traffic. The Carcar Rotunda is particularly vulnerable because the Department of Public Works and Highways is widening roads there, which could result in its displacement, not to mention the air pollution that degrades the area. The DPWH has assured the Carcar Heritage Conservation Society that it will not touch the Carcar junction or the ancestral houses nearby. It is hoped it will keep its promise.

To enhance cultural literacy among Filipino, the NCCA sponsors cultural and artistic events especially those featuring original Filipino works. It uses all media — print and broadcast — and supports television shows like Isla, the Advocacy Channel.

When one speaks of conservation and preservation, inevitably one must include the physical environment-the flora, fauna and elements in a given area. By extension, the historic sites, buildings, culture and traditions or a country or specific place become part of the general environment. Public pride in such "treasures" inevitably leads to a desire to beautify, clean, restore and enhance what God and providence have provided. Our heritage sites show the world how much value we put on our "treasures."

UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Tubbataha Reef Marine Park (1993)
Baroque Churches of the Philippines (1993)
Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras (1995)
Historic Town of Vigan (1999)
Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park (1999)

World Heritage in Danger
Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras (2001)

World Monuments Watch
Angono Petroglyphs, Rizal (1996)
Kabayan Mummy Caves, Benguet (1998)
Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras (2000)
San Sebastian Church, Manila (1998)

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/LIFESTYLE200507183302.htm

By Paulo Alcazaren
The Philippine STAR 07/16/2005

This
week brings us back another decade in our series on Manila landmarks.
Last week, we were in the 1930s. As we continue with our showcase of
buildings and places in the metropolis, this week we look at landmarks
of the Roaring ’20s.

The city had grown by leaps and bounds in the two decades
since the Americans took over. The scars of the
Spanish-American-Filipino war had healed, business was booming and
numerous edifices were being put up to accommodate this expanded
commercial activity.

Social and religious events also took on a more cosmopolitan
flavor. Sprouting up were theaters, country clubs, shops, bigger
churches (especially Protestant churches to cater to the colonial
administrators). These new constructions were designed in Art Nouveau,
Neo-Classic and Art Deco styles – all elegant in proportions and
relating well within an urban context. Here is a selection of key
architecture and places from that decade:

Casino Español de Manila. Despite the turnover of the islands
to the Americans, the Spaniards still had a continuing presence in the
Philippines. Spanish businesses kept links that blossomed in the early
decades of the 20th century. The local Spanish expats maintained a
close and active social circle that met regularly at the Casino Español
(the British, Germans, and Americans all had their own clubs). Located
on a prime site on Taft Avenue, a few blocks down from the Philippine
Normal School, the Casino (not really a gambling establishment, but
that is how clubs then were called) was a lovely Neo-Classic structure
with an arcaded façade. It was designed by Juan Arellano and completed
in 1916. Sadly, it was heavily damaged in the war. The present Casino
was rebuilt in the 1960s in Neo-Baroque style on San Luis Street not
too far away. The architect was Gonzalo C. Balagtas with interiors by
Pilar de Zaragoza.

The Ateneo Municipal de Manila. Though a holdover from the
Spanish period, the Ateneo was the first choice for many when it came
to giving a young man education (girls had to wait another 60 years to
become Blue Eagles). The huge complex expanded to accommodate a growing
student population. The American Jesuits had done such a great job at
pushing education (taught strictly in English) that the school had to
expand beyond the walls of the Intramuros by the 1920s. The Padre Faura
extensions notwithstanding, the main school was a landmark visible from
the South harbor and from the airy rooms of the Manila Hotel. The
Intramuros campus was destroyed in the war and Loyola Heights beckoned
as a new roost.

Protestant churches. With the Americans came other forms of
Christianity and a new wave of missionaries. In Manila, these
Protestant sects built their main churches and Sunday social life
revolved around these. The Union and Central Churches were located in
the American residential districts of Ermita and Malate while the
Presbyterian Church was in Tondo. Few of these churches survived the
war.

The Episcopalian Church. This was the biggest Protestant
church in Manila before the war. The imposing structure stood on Isaac
Peral where the Manila Pavilion Hotel (formerly the Manila Hilton) now
stands. It was lost, too, in the war.

The Philippine Normal School. Another landmark on Taft Avenue
was the Philippine Normal School. Designed by William E. Parsons, the
school is one of the best examples of American colonial architecture in
reinforced concrete. Parsons designed buildings in a simplified
Neoclassicism that incorporated tropical interventions like
cross-ventilation, the use of capiz windows, and wide overhangs.
Damaged in the war, the complex was rebuilt and is in continuing use
today, a testimony to the original design’s robustness.

YMCA. Another Parsons design is the YMCA for the military men.
Located in Intramuros, the solid structure was meant to service those
who were assigned to Fort Santiago, the headquarters of the US Army.
The civilian YMCA was built behind the Manila City Hall.

Manila City Hall (original). The original Manila City Hall was
a rambling structure made of Oregon pine. It sat on the same site as
today’s structure and lasted till the late 1930s when an Antonio
Toledo-designed structure replaced it.

Plaza Goiti. Among the landmarks of the city were plazas and
gardens. The busiest plaza was Plaza Goiti. The plaza had the busiest tranvia
station and was a crossroads to bet to Santa Cruz, Tondo, and areas
beyond through the Avenida Rizal nearby. The plaza was formed by the
back of the Santa Cruz Church and various commercial buildings. The
plaza today is a revived pedestrian paradise named in memory of Mayor
Arsenio Lacson.

Plaza Lawton. The newest plaza in American Manila was Plaza
Lawton, named after the American general whose claim to fame was the
capture of the famous American Indian chief Geronimo. Ironically,
Lawton was killed in the Filipino-American war by our own General
Geronimo.

Mehan Gardens. Finally, we have the Mehan Gardens. Formerly the Jardin Botanico
of the Spanish period, the garden was resurrected by the Americans
under the supervision of John C. Mehan, who was in charge of sanitation
and cemeteries. It was the place of choice for weekend outings with its
mini-zoo, decorative ponds, and diverse flora. One wishes it could be
revived and made more useful for urban-weary Manilans.

Feedback is welcome. Please e-mail the writer at paulo.alcazaren@gmail.com. Next week, the turn of the century landmarks of Manila.

http://www.pcij.org/imag/Yearend2004/city.html

Metro Manila has a weak identity and its citizens feel little attachment to it. But the soullessness of the city is not fated. The future of the city of our dreams is in our hands and that of enlightened local governments and urban planners.

By Paulo Alcazaren
October-December 2004

AT TIMES, when the breeze is just so, the sun is shining, and peals of children’s laughter ring out, Luneta’s grand past can still be glimpsed, leaving no one to doubt that for 19th-century Manila, it was the prime leisure amenity. The American planner Daniel Burnham laid out a grand civic district in Manila, like Washington D.C.’s. Burnham’s grand plan was never fully implemented. Only a few of the planned civic structures were built. After the war, plans were revised to move the capital to Quezon City. Luneta became a cogon-filled no-man’s land eventually turning into the city’s Central Park.

In the last two decades, Luneta has lost its original luster. Malls and fast-food joints have replaced it as city folk’s weekend destination of choice, despite efforts to include both features on the grounds. The park is now populated with strange statues, like the 40-foot Lapu Lapu where the 1960’s globe fountain used to be — kitsch replaced by folly. Extensions to the seaside section — their threats to mar the views of the bay thwarted by the project’s suspension for lack of funds — are an eyesore. Most of the park’s daily users are Manilans but their own local government does not manage this prime city amenity since it is under the National Parks Development Committee. It does function as a national civic space for Independence Day and presidential inaugurations but, without key national government buildings, the place is without a soul.

This is also true of Metro Manila, whose soullessness is one of the main reasons the metropolis has a weak identity and why its citizens feel little attachment to it. Metro Manila is a national capital without a clearly defined physical center. Unlike Washington D.C., Canberra, or New Delhi, Metro Manila’s major civic structures are scattered around the metropolis. The Congress is in Novaliches, the Senate in Pasay, the Supreme Court on Padre Faura, and Malacañan is by the Pasig. The present administration’s plans to decentralize its functions, like the move of the Department of Tourism (DOT) to Cebu, further fragments the national government’s already inefficient physical infrastructure.

But before there was Metro Manila, there was, of course, Manila, whose urban history predates Burnham and goes back over 400 years to when the Spaniards used urbanization as a tool for control. Intramuros de Manila was the prime example, creating a template for all Philippine towns and cities. Pursued even by the Americans, this hegemony is continued today by the local elite. Thus, Manila’s ups and downs reflect the instability of empires that placed it only at the fringe of their attentions, and, later, the vagaries of postcolonial, Third-World development. Manila, in other words, has always been a work in progress, with master plans continually being abandoned as regimes changed. This is why the city has always looked haphazard and why its future has always been in question.

Sure, there’s been growth-in area, population, and urban problems. The arrabales around it evolved to new towns and eventually a "greater" Manila that would become today’s maddening Metropolitan Manila. Future change seems destined to go from bad to worse. By 2015, can a city already so fractured in its governance, infrastructure and identity, possibly sink lower in the mess its citizens are now mired in? Can traffic, crime, floods, lack of jobs, a dearth of open space, and the loss of heritage get any direr? Can air, water, noise and visual pollution overwhelm Manilans any more than these four elements of urban blight already do?

Sadly, yes and yes. It’s the reality of runaway urban population fueling sprawl and speculation-driven, environment-unfriendly, culturally vacuous "real-estate development." For the 11 million currently living in Metro Manila, the more compelling question may be, how far worse can it get?

There are several answers to that. Fortunately, among the possible replies is that it need not get any worse because there are a few things that can still be done to avoid what seems inevitable for a dystopic city.

BUT LET’S start from the beginning: Intramuros, the site of the original settlement of Maynilad, has a past long forgotten but for what remains of its walls and churches destroyed in the war. Restoration attempts began in the 1960s, but contemporary interventions have succeeded only in Disneyfying sections as marketing gimmicks to attract tourists. Initially, the Intramuros Administration did a good job. But today, its goals are lost in get-rich-quick schemes that compromise the district’s heritage structures and management. There are now more informal settlers residing within than when 1960s Mayor Antonio ‘Yeba’ Villegas rudely tossed them out. Today Intramuros has lost most of its appeal and relevance to the lives of most Manilans, "wowing" few but the kitsch-inclined.

Unless complementary programs fit within larger plans for Manila’s revival, the Walled City will find itself more and more colonized by squatters, fast-food stalls, and a booming student population. Being independent of the Manila City government, the district also suffers from an administrative detachment leading spotty public services. Residents within the walls, formal or otherwise, lack a clear connection to the larger community. The rebuilt walls, in effect, isolate Intramuros from the rest of the city, just as they did in the first three centuries of its existence.

Reconnection is the key to its revival. This should start at the administrative level. Intramuros was Manila and to separate it physically, administratively, and socially creates a cultural vacuum that explains some of the city’s emotional emptiness. The changes should follow quickly at the physical level of urban design. Reunited Germany’s Berlin has undergone a modern renaissance, due to an enlightened program of redevelopment taking into account the original fabric of its historic core without limiting creative architectural solutions. The world’s greatest architects contributed to Berlin’s innovative "infill" projects. These replaced lost housing, office stock, as well as allowed new structures, helping central Berlin connect itself with its greater metropolitan area.

The same can be done with Intramuros. Reconnect it by mass transit or sensible traffic rerouting. Relax the stringent "historical" constraints to architecture (tropical modernist buildings can be respectful of older structures as well as to the conserved street layout as in cities like Singapore and Hong Kong). Make sure a mix of uses balances the mainly warehouse and educational functions that Intramuros now accommodates. Finally, re-populating its interior with formal residents in affordable housing, resulting in an interesting resident mix, will counter the temptation to "gentrify" the district. It is this mix that will ensure the place is alive after hours and supports the activity that will also bring in the tourists.

Read on…

Related articles and websites
Prioritizing Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region: Role of City Governments
GDRC: Urban heritage and conservation
Asian Academy for Heritage Management

13 March 2005
By Augusto Villalon

AT LONG last, a pride campaign that makes everyone a heritage vigilante has been organized!

"Doon Po sa Amin" is a wonderfully simple, grass-roots campaign that introduces a paradigm shift to change the usual negative view taken by Filipinos of themselves and of their country.

When was the last time we Filipinos took a positive look at our country and ourselves?

To shift our normal focus of attention away from dwelling on public and private blunders we toss aside by saying it can happen "only in the Philippines," the Unesco National Commission partnered with the Film Academy of the Philippines and Globe Touch Mobile to get Filipinos to look at the positive in our country and recognize our legacy of greatness resulting from the high level of achievement of our nation and culture.

High level of achievement does not equate to only what is grand and monumental. The ordinary and the everyday equal, and many times surpass, the grand and monumental in level of achievement.

The Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordillera cannot be the grand monument they are recognized to be without the support of the farmers who live, plant, harvest and maintain the site. Unrecognized for being the true heroes of the rice terraces, their lives revolve around the site.

It is their ordinary, everyday environment, taken so much for granted, that many fail to realize it is an internationally recognized Unesco World Heritage site. For the residents, it is just their home.

Noticing the ordinary
<!–
D(["mb","consider ordinary and everyday that we fail to realize their value.

"Doon Po sa Amin" gets people to notice the ordinary.

I remember visits to places like Vigan decades ago when no local
cuisine was served in restaurants. When you asked for it, waiters
shied away, saying their food was too simple to serve to visitors.
They would quickly offer a properly soured Tagalog sinigang instead,
the kind I could get anywhere in Manila.

So I ended up believing what people told me, that there was no cuisine
to speak of in Vigan.

Years later, dinner at a Bigue?o home introduced me to the ordinary
cuisine of the locals, a cuisine that was unique to itself, certainly
far better than the Tagalog food Vigan waiters kept insisting to serve
me in restaurants.

Dining on Vigan food in a bahay-na-bato completed the Vigan
experience. Heritage is, after all, the sum total of all the
influences, experiences and expressions of a people over time, no
matter how ordinary some of them might seem.

Conserving heritage requires the preservation of the total package. In
the Vigan case, it is conserving the bahay-na-bato and the life that
went with it-the family\'s personal stories and anecdotes, their food,
the clothes that they wore.

Preserving the total package gives life to the old house, unlike a
museum exhibit that locks everything lifelessly away under glass.

Heritage is alive. It is not static. It is made every day. What we
consider ordinary today is tomorrow\'s heritage. It is time to start
being proud of our everyday stuff.

Pride list

What can we be proud of? Here is a list for starters:

Places: natural sites (beaches, mountains, falls, volcanoes, rivers
and streams, hot springs, forest reserves, animal sanctuaries,
valleys, river deltas, plateaus); man-made places (structures,
museums, libraries, archives, zoos, school and universities, churches,
",1]
);

//–Like our Ifugao brothers, we are surrounded with so much of what we consider ordinary and everyday that we fail to realize their value.

"Doon Po sa Amin" gets people to notice the ordinary.

I remember visits to places like Vigan decades ago when no local cuisine was served in restaurants. When you asked for it, waiters shied away, saying their food was too simple to serve to visitors.
They would quickly offer a properly soured Tagalog sinigang instead, the kind I could get anywhere in Manila.

So I ended up believing what people told me, that there was no cuisine to speak of in Vigan.

Years later, dinner at a Bigue?o home introduced me to the ordinary cuisine of the locals, a cuisine that was unique to itself, certainly far better than the Tagalog food Vigan waiters kept insisting to serve me in restaurants.

Dining on Vigan food in a bahay-na-bato completed the Vigan experience. Heritage is, after all, the sum total of all the influences, experiences and expressions of a people over time, no matter how ordinary some of them might seem.

Conserving heritage requires the preservation of the total package. In the Vigan case, it is conserving the bahay-na-bato and the life that went with it-the family’s personal stories and anecdotes, their food, the clothes that they wore.

Preserving the total package gives life to the old house, unlike a museum exhibit that locks everything lifelessly away under glass.

Heritage is alive. It is not static. It is made every day. What we consider ordinary today is tomorrow’s heritage. It is time to start being proud of our everyday stuff.

Pride list
What can we be proud of? Here is a list for starters:
<!–
D(["mb","Spanish colonial edifices built before 1900, American colonial
edifices built 1901-1946, modern edifices built 1947-to the present,
birthplaces of heroes, presidents, senators, justices, and other
distinguished people) Products: cuisine (traditional food, cooking
methods, kakanin); craft production (basketry, textile, wood, metal,
and other materials); traditional tools or instruments used in
fishing, farming, construction and office work; costume and fashion
(clothing, jewelry); furniture, ritual objects, and more Animals and
plants: work animals, wild animals, pets, insects, birds, fishes;
trees, cultivated or wild flowers, yards or gardens, edible plants and
flowers, medicinal herbs Traditions and norms: traditional beliefs,
patron saints, origins, legends, and dialects; other traditions such
as customs, rites, fiestas, processions and parades Arts: visual,
traditional and religious arts including artists, paintings,
sculpture, folk art, authors, poetry, songs, dances, plays; music,
musicians, and musical instruments Ordinary people and professionals:
people who make us proud to be Filipino because of their exemplary
contributions to society by hard work and practicing Filipino ideals,
through development in any field; also includes prominent people and
outstanding artisans, cooks, tradesmen, doctors, scientists,
inventors, engineers The first, the best, the only, the oldest: can be
either person, place or thing

The easy way to participate in "Doon Po sa Amin" is to text Globe
{CODE} 2332 and download ringback tones by Cesar Montano, Gary
Valenciano, Jolina Magdangal and other artists.

However, a more meaningful way to participate in the campaign is to
text PRIDE to 2346 and tell everyone in the country what you are proud
of.

Pick out something from the list that you want to share with your
countrymen. There may be many things not on the list that you feel
",1]
);

//–>Places: natural sites (beaches, mountains, falls, volcanoes, rivers and streams, hot springs, forest reserves, animal sanctuaries, valleys, river deltas, plateaus); man-made places (structures, museums, libraries, archives, zoos, school and universities, churches, Spanish colonial edifices built before 1900, American colonial edifices built 1901-1946, modern edifices built 1947-to the present, birthplaces of heroes, presidents, senators, justices, and other distinguished people;

Products: cuisine (traditional food, cooking methods, kakanin); craft production (basketry, textile, wood, metal, and other materials); traditional tools or instruments used in fishing, farming, construction and office work; costume and fashion (clothing, jewelry); furniture, ritual objects, and more;

Animals and plants: work animals, wild animals, pets, insects, birds, fishes; trees, cultivated or wild flowers, yards or gardens, edible plants and flowers, medicinal herbs;

Traditions and norms: traditional beliefs, patron saints, origins, legends, and dialects; other traditions such as customs, rites, fiestas, processions and parades;

Arts: visual, traditional and religious arts including artists, paintings, sculpture, folk art, authors, poetry, songs, dances, plays; music, musicians, and musical instruments;

Ordinary people and professionals: people who make us proud to be Filipino because of their exemplary contributions to society by hard work and practicing Filipino ideals, through development in any field; also includes prominent people and outstanding artisans, cooks, tradesmen, doctors, scientists, inventors, engineers The first, the best, the only, the oldest: can be either person, place or thing.

The easy way to participate in "Doon Po sa Amin" is to text Globe {CODE} 2332 and download ringback tones by Cesar Montano, Gary Valenciano, Jolina Magdangal and other artists. However, a more meaningful way to participate in the campaign is to text PRIDE to 2346 and tell everyone in the country what you are proud of.

<!–
D(["mb","will make other Filipinos proud, so tell them what it is.

If you prefer to e-mail your submission to me, then I shall be happy
to forward it to the Unesco National Commission together with the long
list of things I\'ve got for them.

Share your pride with all Filipinos and do your bit for nation
building. Instill pride of place in your everyday existence.

How can we know how great our country is if we do not feel great about
ourselves? It is time for all of us to feel good about being Filipino.

It is time for all Filipinos to know there is such a bounty of
achievement and wonder everywhere in this country, and it is high time
to be proud of it.

Heritage watch

The Heritage Conservation Society has invited American historic
preservation expert Ron Anthony to give a series of lectures on
historic preservation and the preservation of wood in Manila.

Anthony shall be speaking at the forum "Securing our Church Cultural
Heritage" organized by the University of the Philippines Art Studies
program, to be held at the National Historical Institute on TM Kalaw
Street at 1-5 p.m. tomorrow.

The HCS and the Embassy of the United States of America will jointly
sponsor another lecture on March 17, 4 p.m. at the Embassy Ballroom.
If you wish to attend, call Dorie Soriano, the HCS Secretariat, at
5212239 and 5222497.

E-mail the author at afvillalon@hotmail.com

--------

http://www.geocities.com/balen_net/ivan01.htm

Protecting San Fernando\'s Heritage
By Ivan Anthony S. Henares
Sun*Star Pampanga (2002)

It was a painful lesson for San Fernando.  Way back in 1995, the City
",1]
);

//–>Pick out something from the list that you want to share with your countrymen. There may be many things not on the list that you feel will make other Filipinos proud, so tell them what it is. If you prefer to e-mail your submission to me, then I shall be happy to forward it to the Unesco National Commission together with the long list of things I’ve got for them.

Share your pride with all Filipinos and do your bit for nation building. Instill pride of place in your everyday existence. How can we know how great our country is if we do not feel great about ourselves? It is time for all of us to feel good about being Filipino. It is time for all Filipinos to know there is such a bounty of achievement and wonder everywhere in this country, and it is high time to be proud of it.

E-mail the author at afvillalon@hotmail.com

Related article
Philippine Heritage Sites: Testaments to an Enduring Past

http://cityofsanfernando.blogspot.com

By Ivan Anthony S. Henares

It was a painful lesson for San Fernando. Way back in 1999, the City of San Fernando lost one of its most important heritage houses, the Abad Santos House. Ironically, Fernandinos remained silent. No one fought to save the house, apart from the Office of the Mayor, which found itself powerless amidst the bigger threat of lahar.

The second residence of the Abad Santos siblings, children of the couple Vicente Abad Santos and Toribia Basco, in that house at one time or another lived: Pedro (founder of the Socialist Party of the Philippines and Assemblyman); Jose (Secretary of Justice, Justice of the Supreme Court, Patriot and Martyr); Antonio (Municipal President of San Fernando); Quirino (Municipal Councilor of San Fernando) and his son Quirino, Jr. (Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals and Secretary-General of the House of Representatives); Salvador (Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals); and Agapito del Rosario, son of their daughter Emilia, (Mayor of Angeles, Patriot and Martyr). It was an abode where great people once lived. And nothing was done by San Fernando or even the national government to save it.

San Fernando has to learn from this experience before more of these structures are lost. That is why the City of San Fernando Historical and Cultural Society, together with the City Government of San Fernando, had pushed for the creation of the City of San Fernando Heritage District since 2001. This heritage zoning in San Fernando was already enacted through City Ordinance No. 2004-003.

In 2003, the National Historical Institute acceded to our request to send a survey team to San Fernando to determine which sites could be considered for national recognition. Among those which were considered top priorities for markers were the City of San Fernando itself, the Cathedral of San Fernando, the old Pampanga High School Building, the San Fernando Train Station, PASUDECO, and several heritage houses. To date, four heritage houses have been declared by the NHI; the San Fernando Train Station was declared a historical site as well.

We call on the Sangguniang Panlungsod to continue helping us in this effort. More local legislation is needed to protect the poblacion area. It is ironic that several members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod are even first to call for the demolition of a heritage structure, the 83-year old San Fernando Water Reservoir. Nothing out of the ordinary and leaning precariously as it may seem, the said water tower is part of the San Fernando story and an integral part of its industrial heritage.

As we safeguard our historical structures, we must also ensure that any new building put up must not destroy the beauty of these old edifices. Many heritage conservationists complain that the trend in Filipino architecture, for quite a while now, is designing new buildings without taking into consideration its surrounding structures. Thus, almost all the time, modern-looking buildings destroy the elegance of areas dotted with century-old houses. Why not make even just the exterior of these new buildings look old? Or at least exist in harmony with old edifices that surround it?

The sad news is that San Fernando can no longer be declared a national historical landmark. And the reason behind that is that fact that there are already so many alterations, unsightly buildings sprouting here and there, destroying the elegance of our historic core. We may not be a Vigan, but if heritage conservation was done early on, we could have found ourselves at the level of other heritage towns such as Taal in Batangas, Silay in Negros Occidental, and San Miguel de Mayumu in Bulacan.

The town of San Fernando was founded in 1754. Last year, in 2004, we celebrated our 250th founding anniversary. Another celebration was the centennial of the transfer of the capital of Pampanga from Bacolor to San Fernando in 1904. And many activities were lined up to commemorate these events. But that is not enough as more heritage sites need to be protected for future generations of Filipinos. And the success of these endeavors will mainly rely on the amount of support that Fernandinos are willing to give to keep the culture and history of the City alive.

The business community could also make projects of their own, to revitalize our historic core. The Pampanga Lodge, for example, could be converted into a first-class bed and breakfast facility. In fact, cultural tourism is the trend in other countries. The PASUDECO Sugar Central could improve its facilities in order to be an educational destination as well. If done, students as far as Manila could be invited to visit, in order to learn how sugar is made, as well as the history of sugar farming and its contribution to the province and the nation. A museum could even be created to augment these educational trips.

The San Fernando Train Station could be converted to a Death March Museum and Memorial. It is ironic that when American veterans fly back to the Philippines, they visit Bataan and Capas, but rarely pass by San Fernando, despite the fact that it was a major transit point. And this is mainly because the train station was left to rot.

That is why we laud the efforts of the Foundation for Lingap Kapampangan, Inc. for their efforts to restore the old Pampanga High School Building, to become the future Kapampangan Cultural Center. In fact, once completed, the Museong Kapampangan in Clark will be transferred to this historic building.

Currently, the Heritage Conservation Society is restoring another Gabaldon school building, the current Pampanga High School Main Building along High School Boulevard as part of the Heritage Schoolhouse Restoration Program of the Department of Education.

Monuments, fountains, and small parks can also be erected around the historic core. And we thus call on the city’s architects, artists and landscapers to assist us by offering their services and help us actualize these dreams. In the end, all these projects cannot be realized without funding, so we call on all civic groups such as the various Rotary Clubs in San Fernando, the Cabalen Jaycees, Quota International Pampanga, Soroptimist International Pampanga, Homeowners Associations and other professionals groups, to help by adopting a project. Some have already adopted projects and have in fact completed them such as the San Fernando, Pampanga Heritage Foundation, San Fernando Jaycee Senate and the Council of Women. We hope more would follow suit.

Finally, the celebration of our heritage will not be complete without awareness among Fernandinos of our rich cultural and historical heritage. We thus call on the ordinary citizen to join our efforts even just by understanding and learning what our City has stood for during these past 250 years. Only when we look back and value our rich history and heritage can we finally make real our vision of a progressive city that will be a catalyst for development in Central and Northern Luzon, and a major contributor to the global community.

More articles on heritage conservation issues in San Fernando
President orders restoration of old Pampanga building (Provincial High School)
Pampanga rises from the lahar of buried heritage (Provincial High School)
Fire guts heritage building in San Fernando City (San Fernando Elementary School)

March 31, 2005
By Gemma Cruz Araneta

There was something in that Manny Pacquiao fight that only my brother Ismael and I noticed. A die-hard pugilist fan since high school, he would hang around Flash Elorde’s gym in San Juan, where we grew up, to watch the legendary champion train.

I think it was Ismael and an ex-beau of mine who dragged me to see Flash Elorde pummel and knock out  a foreign boxer (Mexican, I think) at the Araneta  Coliseum, or was it the Rizal Memorial?  I have had a mental block since then so I don’t remember; Elorde won but  it was nonetheless  a frightful experience.

Today, I can only watch snippets of this bloody sport on screen and through half-closed eyes.  As always, Ismael has a way of saving in his memory file multitudinous details about Filipino champion fighters; he can rattle off titles defended and lost, weight and height, strengths and weaknesses, scores and records, even types of punches.

That is why I was surprised that my brother had time to notice the only detail  of the Pacquiao/Morales fight that to me was worth remembering.

Here it is: The enormous delegation of Filipino politicians, assorted business men, sports enthusiasts, media personalities were led by no less than the First Gentleman. They were at ring side, in full force, showering adulation on Manny Pacquiao who exuded confidence. Someone was rabid enough to  paint "Pacman" on the Filipino flag,  defacing the national symbol, in blatant violation of the Flag law.

All through the fight they were shouting MANNY, MANNY, MANNY. The Mexicans (also with their share of elected officials) were rooting for  Erik "El Terrible" Morales. They cheered wildly and passionately in true latino style. But, they were not hollering ERIK, ERIK, ERIK or MORALES, MORALES, MORALES. They were shouting MEXICO! MEXICO!! MEXICO!!!

It did not occur to any Filipino, not to a single congressman, not even to the husband of the Philippine president to cheer FILIPINAS! FILIPINAS!! FILIPINAS!!! My brother Ismael concluded that we Filipinos have no sense of country; sadly, I think he is right.

Last Monday, I was at the Mayor Oscar Rodriguez’s office in San Fernando, Pampanga so I asked him if he had seen the Manny Pacquiao fight. When he answered in the affirmative, I told him my  "no sense of country" story.

He was pensive for a few seconds after which he said I was right, we do lack a "sense of country". I somehow connected the "no sense of country" to heritage conservation, as evidence of our weak national identity which can be strengthened by the preservation of our national patrimony.

I had been invited to represent the Heritage Conservation Society (HCS) at a city council committee hearing convened by Councilor B. Castro regarding the plan to demolish San Fernando’s famed landmark, the 85-year old water pylon, now menacingly called the "leaning tower".

On the way to Pampanga, I fetched Arch. R. Inovero of the National Historical Institute (NHI), at six thirty in the morning somewhere in Quezon City. How could I face that formidable committee alone?  Although I might be able explain why that water tower should mot be demolished, only Arch. Inovero can give the technical wherewithal of heritage and historical conservation.

On a white board, he drew an eloquent sketch of how the "leaning tower" can be safely buttressed like similar cases in NHI’s list of achievements.

I hope the barangay leaders adopt the Inovero proposal to give the community time to ponder on how important it is to awaken a "sense of country."

83-year-old water tower gives dilemma to San Fernando folk
Philippine Daily Inquirer
March 19, 2005
By Tonette Orejas

A water tank is a water tank.

But when it is 83 years old, one of the few remaining American colonial structures in this Pampanga capital and leaning like Italy’s Tower of Pisa, what would you do with it?

The city tourism council wanted the structure preserved but the City of San Fernando Water District (CSFWD) and the village council of Barangay Lourdes wanted it demolished.

On Thursday, the city council stepped into the row when it began the first of three public consultations on the fate of what engineers here call "elevated, concrete water tank."

Used to be filled with 100,000 gallons, the tank signaled greater access to potable water. Through a system of pipes, water was delivered to homes and ended the reliance of many families on deep wells.

It was the first structure to supply water that way to this 251-year-old city, according to Jorge Gumba, CSFWD general manager.

Formerly managed by the defunct National Water and Sewerage Administration, the tank was decommissioned 10 years ago. Gumba said that was done on the recommendation of a British engineering consultant who found the structure unsafe.

Mt. Pinatubo’s eruptions in 1991 and the lahar flows in the aftermath of the disaster buried the tank’s base by less than 10 feet. The tank originally stood at 100 feet.

Today, it tilts several degrees to the southeast, towards the direction of the San Fernando Elementary School. The tank stands on a 2,000-square meter lot behind the school.

Gumba said its demolition was long due but was delayed by the rehabilitation of smaller alternative tanks and installation of new pipes.

Last week, however, the barangay council of Lourdes passed a resolution asking the city council to destroy the tank.

Village chief Osmundo Trinidad said it posed a threat to students in the school compound.

The village council, Trinidad said, also plans to build a barangay hall, a day care center and a multi-purpose court on the same lot.

But that would depend on the CSFWD’s decision on whether or not to lend the village some land for public use.

The CSFWD board of directors on Wednesday agreed to defer the demolition.

But the board, according to Gumba, did not want to take liability for any accident that may result from the preservation of the tank.

Gray and some parts moss-covered, it juts out in San Fernando’s landscape now dominated by advertising neon signs.

Fernando Santos, chief of the city’s tourism office, said the tourism council recognizes the issue of public safety and the need for public lands.

But conservation efforts, he said, need not be pitted against social needs.

Related articles
NCCA: Preserve leaning tower
2 ex-tourism chiefs join fight to preserve water tower