'SAVE SAN SEBASTIAN CHURCH'

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

Everybody seems to agree on the need to restore the deteriorating San Sebastian Basilica, popularly known as the San Sebastian Church in Quiapo district, or the heart of old Manila. 

Why not? 

As the only building constructed entirely of metal in the country, the San Sebastian Church is a unique architectural marvel, which forms part of our cultural heritage.

But it requires what is described as "scientific restoration," the cost of which could reach between P300 million to P400 million. 

"San Sebastian Church continues to deteriorate. If unabated, it could collapse. But it needs a scientific restoration, not just ordinary restoration," Fr. Rene Paglinawan, San Sebastian Church's rector, told Thursday Club members in a meeting with leaders of Save San Sebastian Church Foundation, a group leading a campaign to restore the historic church. 

It is one of a few all-metal churches in the world of this size and magnitude.

Strangely, it was painted to disguise this industrial steel building to look like stone. But its building materials and finishes - metal parts, decorative stained glass paint, retablos and pulpit - remain authentic.

Fr. Rene took time to explain the magnitude of the deterioration of this historic church, which was built in 1891 and henceforth stewarded by the Roman Catholic Church's Order of Augustinian Recollects. 

Although the basilica has survived 11 major earthquakes, two world wars, and was untouched by heavy-handed and renovations and alterations, it is now threatened by over 300 leaks and severe corrosion in critical areas of the building, according to Fr. Rene. 

Those leaks and corrosion have affected the steel, wall paintings and painted glass windows.

Fr. Rene said the scientific restoration covers a ten-year period, which seeks to employ the latest technology and scientific techniques to restore its glory and grandeur without necessarily altering its original design set by its builders and architects more than a century ago. 

The ten-year scientific restoration seeks to employ conservation science, technical studies, and discrete designs compatible mainly to save everything in the original building and prolong its lifespan, Fr. Rene said.

"We understand that [intervention] now will determine [its future survival]. We have taken great care to understand the problems and the building's materials. The [restoration project] is also about community: to make this sustainable, we are reaching out to Quiapo constituents - local government, students, residents, and developing ways tie livelihoods, classes, and projects to this heritage structure, so the community learns and benefits economically from this effort, "a literature on the restoration project said.

"Nationals from seven countries had a hand in its construction. As the church was built in the spirit of collaboration, history repeats itself as nationals from different countries are again banding together with us to help restore it. We are conservators, friars, architects, historians, electronics, structural, civil engineers, metallurgists, sacristans, metallurgists, scientists corrosion. If we act now, there is still time to divert the imminent possibility of losing this sacred architectural treasure. In ten years, its interiors should look exactly the same as it does now, only cleaner, with a longer lifespan, surrounded by a supportive community that has come to cherish the building, "according to the Save the San Sebastian Church literature.

According to Fr. Rene, the structural integrity of the entire church is now an issue because water has seeped into the hollow in steel spiers that support the entire structure. 

The entry of water has led to rust and corrosion of steel bars those. With weakened steel spires, the entire structure could be compromised anytime. It could collapse without warning, Fr. Rene said, as the restoration project becomes a race for time.

Then President Ferdinand Marcos declared San Sebastian Church as a National Historical Landmark, when he signed Presidential Decree No. 260 in 1973. It was given a state subsidy through the National Historical Institute, which undertook partial restoration in 1982. 

On May 16, 2006, San Sebastian Church was included in the tentative list for designation as a World Heritage Site, on account of its architectural and historical heritage. 

The National Museum declared it a national cultural treasure on August 15, 2011. A marker has been put there on January 20, 2012.

Four churches were constructed in different intervals on the same area where the San Sebastian Church now stands. But they all collapsed due to earthquakes that struck Manila. 

Finally, Church authorities in Manila decided to build a more durable church structure that would withstand those earthquakes.

In the 1890s, Engr. Genaro Palacios, public works director of the Spanish colonial government here, a new church designed to withstand earthquakes. Finding inspiration in the similar structure in Gothic Burgos, Spain, Palacios chose to build the Church of the great new material of the Industrial Revolution - steel. In 1886, the project was awarded to a Belgian general contractor, the Societe Anonyme de Travaux Publics, which would subcontract the manufacturing to two Belgian steel foundries.

Hence, in the 1886 - 1888 period, Belgian steel foundries and cast iron parts were forged and formed, and preassembled in Belgium to ensure all pieces fit before shipping. 

In 1890, the steel parts and stained glass windows were assembled in Quiapo by an international crew and finished by Filipino painters. Pope Leo XIII declared the Church of San Sebastian a basilica. In 1891, it was inaugurated.

The Save San Sebastian Church Foundation has received a $96,000 grant under the Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation, a program of the US Department of State, pursued through the US Embassy in Manila. 

Fr. Rene said it is the Foundation's first "big break," as it enabled a fulltime staff to fund the study.

"A grant from the US Department of State through the Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation, through the US Embassy in Manila enabled full-time efforts for its diagnostic phase," Fr. Rene said. 

A second grant is now in the pipeline as its initiators have formally formed a foundation to pursue its scientific restoration.

Fr. Rene said the foundation has made initial contacts with descendants of the original builders and steel foundries, saying that they were surprised to discover that they are still engaged in business. 

They are interested to do business with us after the Foundation has completed its studies completely and laid down the requirements for scientific restoration.