el hogar
(NCCA), and its Affiliated Cultural Agencies, and
For the past few year, the issue of the demolition of el
hogar is a big news in heritage experts and although El
Hogar filipino is already considered as a heritage
building by the NHCP the private owner of the building
still pushes its demolition. The demolition of El Hogar,
one of Manila’s vanishing heritage structures, is
“imminent,” according to heritage advocates, citing the
apparent coyness of the Manila City Hall on whether it
has issued a demolition permit to the new owner of the
century-old building. They are also not giving info if
there is a demolition permit or not. They are not
sharing information that should be public. It is stated
in RA 10066 also known as national cultural heritage
Act of 2009 that it provides Protection and
Conservation of the National Cultural Heritage,
Strengthening the
1
SOURCES: Sembrano, E. A. (n.d.). NHCP stops demolition of El Hogar in
Manila. Retrieved May 29, 2017, from
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/703580/nhcp-stops-demolition-of-el-hogar-in-
manila
National Commission for Culture and the Arts
for Other Purposes signed by the late president
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, in Section 8 of the
Republic act, The Procedure for Declaration, or
Delisting of National Cultural Treasures or
Important Cultural Property. - The procedure in
declaring as well as in delisting a national
cultural property or an important cultural
property shall be as follows:
(a) A declaration or a delisting of a cultural
property as a national cultural treasure or an
important cultural property shall commence upon
the filing of a petition by the owner, stakeholder
or any interested person, with the Commission,
which shall refer the matter to the appropriate
cultural agency;
(b)Upon verification of the suitability of the
property as a national cultural treasure or an
important cultural property, the cultural agency
concerned shall send notice of hearing to the
owner and stakeholders. Stakeholders including,
but not limited to, local government units, local
culture and arts council, local tourism councils,
nongovernment conservation organizations, and
schools, may be allowed to file their support or
opposition to the petition
(c)The owner and/or other stakeholders shall file
their position paper within fifteen (15) days from
receipt of the notice of hearing, furnishing all the
parties, including the appropriate cultural
agency, with such position paper. Extensions
may be allowed, but in no case shall it exceed
more than thirty (30) days;
(d)The petitioner/stakeholder shall give their
answer within fifteen (15) days upon receipt of
any position paper. Thereafter, no further
submissions shall be allowed; and
(e)The appropriate cultural agency shall have a
maximum of ninety (90) days from the deadline of
the submission of all the answers within which to
submit its resolution and render its decision on
the application.
But as far as all the information we gathered
about the demolition of the el hogar, the said
section were not followed but instead proceeded
directly into issuing a demolition permit to the
private owner.
WRITER: ERNESTO EULOGIO
FRITZ FRIAS
EDITOR: MICHAEL ANGELO FABREO
Designed by architect Carlos Arguelles, the
building was constructed in 1962 to 1965 in the philippine national
international style and is a presumed important
cultural property under the National Heritage bank
Law of 2009. PNB building escolta. Another
contemporary heritage to possibly lose similar
to those of Manila's important buildings that
have been torn down in recent years under the
administration of Mayor Joséph Estrada. THE
ICONIC Philippine National Bank (PNB) building
on Escolta Street in Manila is set to be razed to
the ground, the latest of a string of heritage
conservation issues in the city under the
administration of Mayor Joseph Estrada.

Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada has defended the

ongoing demolition of the 50-year-old Philippine
National Bank (PNB) building on Escolta Street,
citing safety concerns. According to Estrada, the
decision to tear down the building designed by
renowned architect Carlos Arguelles in the
1960s was made after it was struck by a fire in
January 2015.“It was burned so how can it be
restored? It’s a building endangering the lives of
the people passing by the area,” Estrada told
reporters. In Our Opinion, They should have just
restore or create an technical intervention to
correct deterioration and alteratons since
according to Architect Dominic Galicia,
president of the International Council on
Monuments and Sites (Icomos), an advisory
body to the United Nations Educational,
Scientific, Cultural Organization (Unesco) says
The structure was “really built wonderfully,
strongly and beautifully” later explaining that the
fire that consumed the multistory edifice in
January last year did not destroy it. For us, the
demolition of the structure would greatly affect
the architectural heritage of Escolta, the old
commercial district of Manila known for its Art According also to Robert Bernardo, chief of the city’s
Deco buildings. But according to Mayor Joseph engineering office, said that demolishing the building
Estrada, He said that the idea of tearing down never crossed the minds of Manila officials until last
the building first came up in 2010 during the time year’s fire. The blaze, however, has weakened its
of then Mayor Alfredo Lim. A developer, Romy foundation, leaving them no choice but to tear it down.
Lorenzo of Geltd Developers and Managers this statements and reasons may be true or not.
Group Inc., claimed that the 12-story structure however, one Good solution for this structure if it can
was in danger of collapsing should an still be restored is to perform an Adaptive Re-use in
earthquake hit the city. order to conserve the site, their engineering integrity
and authenticity of design.

SOURCES: (contributor), E. A. (n.d.). Erap's City Hall does it again;

WRITER: MICHAEL ANGELO FABREO
2 demolishes PNB building on Escolta. Retrieved May 29, 2017, from
http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/219590/eraps-city-hall-does-it-again-
demolishes-pnb-building-on-escolta/ EDITOR:
JOSHUA JOEL SIONG
MICHAEL ANGELO FABREO