Comments on Ivan About Town: Index of Declared Structures and Sites

Hmmmmm, that's hard. Maybe my list would include:S...

2007-09-15T23:45:00.000+08:00

Hmmmmm, that's hard. Maybe my list would include:

San Ignacio Church/Ateneo Municipal
Ayuntamiento de Manila
San Sebastian Church
Puente de Espana
Enriquez Mansion

helo ivan,your post will really help my group in o...

2007-09-15T23:21:00.000+08:00

helo ivan,

your post will really help my group in our documentation..

i would like to ask?

given a chance, you have the power to choose the SEVEN WONDERS OF OLD MANILA, what would they be? and why??

you will be included to our documentation, can you give some infos about the famous structures of Old Manila..

--joiz from ust-nursing.

thanks.

An NHI marker does not mean a site is declared. Th...

2007-09-09T02:05:00.000+08:00

An NHI marker does not mean a site is declared. That's something I find weird about the current situation. If it's not on the list, the house of Jose P. Laurel could just be a marked site.

Good day Sir Ivan!I'm a freshman student. I just...

2007-09-08T07:11:00.000+08:00

Good day Sir Ivan!

I'm a freshman student. I just want to ask whether The residence of Jose P. Laurel is a historical landmark. it bears the logo of NHI but I did not see it in your list of historical landmark. I hope you can enlighten me on this one because I'm thinking of using this for my project.

thank you in advance!

List updated August 18, 2007

2007-08-18T21:28:00.000+08:00

List updated August 18, 2007

hiVan.I'm just curious about the structures in Old...

2007-06-23T21:58:00.000+08:00

hiVan.

I'm just curious about the structures in Old Manila before the second world war and how it was then...that I remembered my professor telling about the old tram along San Marcelino St. How was it then?

Do you have some pictures of the Sweepstakes Office building in Ermita in the 1940's?
or do you mind giving us any reference about it?

Hello Ivan. I'm from Adamson University studying A...

2007-06-23T21:15:00.000+08:00

Hello Ivan.
I'm from Adamson University studying Architecture. I have this question regarding the Methods of Construction of Ancestral Houses. Where can I find some of it? Because I need illustrations to help me understand how these structures stand.

Ivan, I'm from Taytay, Palawan and our old spanis...

2007-01-24T15:18:00.000+08:00

Ivan,

I'm from Taytay, Palawan and our old spanish fort (Fuerza de Sta. Isabel)needs an ordinance for its protection and preservation. Can you please help us with this concern? Thank you very much.

For declared structures, I only could think of thr...

2006-08-26T13:13:00.000+08:00

For declared structures, I only could think of three abandoned ones, the Metropolitan Theater, Army and Navy Club and the Luneta Hotel

Good day Sir Ivan!hi, i'm a student of the multime...

2006-08-26T12:46:00.000+08:00

Good day Sir Ivan!

hi, i'm a student of the multimedia arts department in DLSU-CSB. I am currently working on a video documentary thesis project. I am covering the abandoned buildings of manila with historical significance of some sort. just a question sir.. uhm, are the abandoned buildings like the gsis building and the metropolitan theatre considered or declared as a historical/heritage site or are they just, uhm well, buildings. I am having a hard time in finding subjects to shoot for this documentary. also, if it would be possible, uhm could you give me a list of possible subjects/buildings that are declared by NHI or other groups as historical/heritage sites that are now abandoned and left unpreserved that I could shoot for this project. Thanks you so much for the help...

Thanks Richard! I'm sure I missed more. On the his...

2006-07-04T01:11:00.000+08:00

Thanks Richard! I'm sure I missed more. On the historical landmarks, that list came from the NHI's Historic Preservation Division.

The Bamboo organ in Las Piñas is also a National C...

2006-07-03T13:41:00.000+08:00

The Bamboo organ in Las Piñas is also a National Cultural Treasure and was declared in 2004 by the National Museum.

The Mannungul Jar is also another National Cultural Treasure. This two are not found in the list.

Plus there are other Historic Landmarks which were not posted in the list you prepared.

Hi Ian, don't worry, the NHI declared Luneta Hotel...

2006-06-05T13:41:00.000+08:00

Hi Ian, don't worry, the NHI declared Luneta Hotel as a national historical landmark. If that hotel goes down, then the NHI is not doing its job.

Yeah, I wonder what they have in store for the Paco Station. I think the Customs House should be converted into a passenger terminal instead of serving as a home for first-rate buwayas... hehe!

Julsitos, Silay City has a lot of heritage houses because of two reasons. First, they love their heritage. But second is that they got lucky since those houses were declared under only one or two resolutions (parang package deal of sorts). Nowadays, it's one resolution per structure and that takes soooooooooooo long.

For Vigan, it's kinda complicated since there are turf issues. Since it's already a UNESCO World Heritage Site, I think the NHI does not need to declare the houses individually. Same goes for Taal. But I may be wrong.

i agree, LUNETA HOTEL must be conserved. i saw tha...

2006-06-05T10:59:00.000+08:00

i agree, LUNETA HOTEL must be conserved. i saw that it's one of the only remaining buildings that survived WW2. in the book about WW2 by the Ayala museum, it showed the Luneta hotel standing beside a column of tanks rolling into the city...

btw, how come the jai alai lot is just a hole in the ground? i thought that stupid mayor atienza was itching to build HIS stupid HOLE of JUSTICE building, and now there's no construction going on in that lot. was his wanto destruction of the old building just to spite conservationists?

wow. how come silay city has the most number of he...

2006-06-05T10:56:00.000+08:00

wow. how come silay city has the most number of heritage houses? ang dami... it's more than the ones in vigan or taal...

i guess the people of Silay knows their heritage....

Hi there Ivan, I think the Luneta Hotel along T.M....

2006-06-05T10:29:00.000+08:00

Hi there Ivan,

I think the Luneta Hotel along T.M. Kalaw is one of a kind, and for someone like Atienza, who seems bent on destroying one of a kind structures like it. Well he could go to hell. hehehehe. Hey I still see the Paco Railroad Station still stands, another good structure destroyed by that stupid mayor. Hey I have a lot of photos of American era strutucres in Manila. My thesis was about American era buildings, photography was the medium used to present them. And another building that I think is unknown to many, is the Customs House at the Port Area.

The Bamboo Organ of Las PiñasThe city of Las Piñas...

2006-05-11T14:06:00.000+08:00

The Bamboo Organ of Las Piñas

The city of Las Piñas is famous for the Bamboo Organ, praised for its unique, rare, and melodious sound. The unique bamboo organ can only be found inside the St. Joseph Church of the Parish of Las Piñas. It was in the year 1822 that the construction of this one-of-a-kind musical instrument started; it was completed in 1824. Fr. Diego Cera, the town's first parish priest, initiated building this organ using bamboo, wood, and metal. Yearly, a Bamboo Organ Festival is being held at the Parish during the month of February.

Hi Precious, I think you just looked at the nation...

2006-05-09T16:50:00.000+08:00

Hi Precious, I think you just looked at the national cultural treasures. The sites you mentioned are in the other categories.

Under national historical landmarks you have four namely:
1. Calamba Church Historical Landmark (Calamba, Laguna)
2. Cuartel de Sto. Domingo (Sta. Rosa, Laguna)
3. Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery Historical Landmark (Nagcarlan, Laguna)
4. Pila Historical Landmark/Historic Town Center of Pila (Pila, Laguna)

Under national shrines, there are two:
1. Paciano Rizal Shrine (Los Banos)
2. Rizal Shrine (Calamba)

But that is it. So we have to endeavor to have more declared. The other sites you mentioned were not in the list given to me by the NHI. Let me check with the them.

Hi Ivan! Precious Cardenas here from Chalk Magazin...

2006-05-09T08:50:00.000+08:00

Hi Ivan! Precious Cardenas here from Chalk Magazine.

I'm from Laguna and if my memory serves me right, your sister Ria, studied in UPLB. I'm very, very surprised that from the list you posted here, there's only one historical site from Laguna that's in the list (the one in Majayjay, Laguna).

Considering the fact that Laguna's one of the eight provinces (the reason for the eight rays of the sun in the Philippine flag) that first revolted against Spain and the fact that this was the home province of our national hero, Jose Rizal, not even the latter's house in Calamba City is listed here!

I distinctly recall making a resolution when I was still a member of the Laguna Junior Provincial Board (1998) that the original grave of Emilio Jacinto in Santa Cruz, Laguna, be identified as a national historical site. Last I heard, it had been identified as one and a prompt direction in setting at least a marker there was acted upon. However, this was also not in your list.

In addition to this, the Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa City, Laguna, where Nur Misuari is currently imprisoned, should be in the list as this was one of the last battle forts (ala-Intramuros) that Caviteños and Lagunenses used during significant war periods in our history.

The historic town of Pila, Laguna, where a lot of colonial ancestry houses still remain intact should be considered as well.

Shouldn't Laguna Lake be declared a protected area as well? It's considered as one of the largest freshwater lakes in Southeast Asia and it has played a significant role in our history as well.

A declared site is protected by exisiting national...

2006-04-21T23:38:00.000+08:00

A declared site is protected by exisiting national laws. These structures cannot be modified without the approval of the NHI. Thus the current owners would be assured that future owners will not be able to touch it without NHI approval.

The declared sites remain the properties of the current owner and thus they have supervision and oversight. Aside from the prestige of declaration, these sites get technical support from the NCCA, NHI and National Museum. At the same time, they can get government funding when available.

There is also a Board of Investments resolution granting incentives to companies which undertake the restoration of the said structures.

LGUs can also add up to these incentives by passing local ordinances. The City of San Fernando, Pampanga for example gives real estate tax exemptions to the owners of heritage structures so that they could use the funds for repairs and restoration.

ivan,what are the benefits/protections accorded to...

2006-04-21T23:04:00.000+08:00

ivan,

what are the benefits/protections accorded to sites declared historic? who has supervision/oversight?

Hi Butch, are the sites you mentioned declared? Wh...

2006-04-02T15:06:00.000+08:00

Hi Butch, are the sites you mentioned declared? What are their official designations?

Robby, yes but maybe in a week or two. I'm starting with the top first. But not all structures with markers are declared. Case in point, the Abad Santos House... it had a marker for Jose Abad Santos but the house wasn't declared. So we all know what happened next.

Question... are you going to include those structu...

2006-04-02T14:11:00.000+08:00

Question... are you going to include those structures with "Historical Marker"?

For Quiapo:San Sebastian Basilica (all-steel and N...

2006-04-02T13:28:00.000+08:00

For Quiapo:

San Sebastian Basilica (all-steel and Neo-Gothic

The Pagoda of the Ocampos at Bilibid Viejo

The Nakpil-Bautista House, A. Bautista (formerly Barbosa). Masterpiece by Arcadio Arellano, Viennese Secession motifs, home of Julio Nakpil, musical composer of the Katipunan, and Gregoria de Jesus, organizer of the women's corps of the Katipunan

Boix House (beside Nakpil house). Beautiful 1890s house with Neo-Renaissance ornamentation.

Paterno Mansion, Calle Hidalgo. Nobly proportioned mansion with Neoclassic details. Ancestral dwelling of the famous Paterno family.

Enriquez Mansion, Calle Hidalgo. 1890s house with Ionic columns. Praised by Maria Morilla Norton in the 1910s as the "the most beautiful house in the islands." Became the site of the School of Fine Arts of the U.P.

Ocampo Mansion, Calle Hidalgo. Home to Francisco Santiago, composer of the Ave Maria. Original site of the UP Conservatory of Music. Dignified example of early 1900s style.

Zamora House, Calle Hidalgo. Residence of Manuel Zamora, inventor of 'tiki-tiki' for fighting beriberi. Superb sequence of inner courtyards.

Padilla House, Calle Hidalgo. Forms a unity with the Zamora House next door.

Other remaining houses on Hidalgo from the 19th and early 20th centuries. They create a streetscape that is dignified. Hidalgo was regarded in the late 19th century as the most beautiful street in Manila.