Tags: Historical Places, Travel Tales and Tips
By Anna Valmero
MANILA CITY, METRO MANILA— Whenever you are in Manila, chances are you have passed by an alley where you will find a historically significant building with architectural designs no longer seen elsewhere today.
To visit heritage sites, simply look for a building or a church’s historical marker installed by the National Historical Institute.
Or if you are lucky, venture to a historic walk to discover hidden treasures in the architecture treasure trove along the streets of Binondo, Rosario and Escolta with a guide familiar with the look of Manila’s former financial district, or who has a trained eye to see the defining features of building during their years of former glory.
My group started historic this walk in Manila’s Chinatown at the centuries-old Binondo Church that was used to Christianize the Chinese mestizos de Sangley during the Spanish era.
Masses today are done in four languages, including Fookien and Mandarin, because of the Chinese majority in the area.
Known today as the Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo Ruiz along Ongpin street, which is named after a Fil-Chinese revolutionary supporter. The church, which houses the town’s patroness Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, was renamed in honor of Fil-Chinese Saint San Lorenzo Ruiz, who formerly served as the church’s sacristan.
Andres Bonifacio, founder of the Katipunan revolutionary army, and Gregoria de Jesus were married at Binondo church before the revolt against Spain.
From the church, one can go to Carvajal Street, a bustling business hub of Chinese commerce. That is, except on Sundays where you can walk freely to take photos of the buildings, said Tommy Tan, who grew up in the area with his Chinese family.
According to Mike Lu, president of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines and who often travels around Binondo, most buildings here feature European-style roofed sidewalks.
One could see this in the SCI Bin Building, Citibank Savings office near Yee Wan Co. Inc. building and the Co Ban Kiat building, owned by the family who introduced Ace Hardware stores in the country. The design is aimed to protect walking people from the heat of the tropical sun, said Lu.
Going towards Rosario Street, one can see a pink two-storey building which features a marriage of Oriental and European style. The winged lions or tigers on both sides of the façade are of Chinese influence, since they believed that these mythic creatures are meant to guard the home or building from evil spirits.
The more prominent rendition of these tigers, often armored, can be seen in temples and the arcs across Chinatown. The building also sports a white convex plate in between the second floor windows that feature classical prints of a lady in flowing robe harvesting rice or playing with younger kids.
On the ground floor, the columns on the roofed walkway feature Roman ionic capitals, a smooth column shaft standing on a circular base. This is a fresh sight for urban dwellers, who are so used to the modern straight-lined urban architecture.
Moving on to the Filipino-Chinese Friendship arch along Plaza Moraga, one can find the six-storey Chaco building formerly owned by Mariano Uy Chaco.
Mariano became rich after supplying the local government with hardware in 1910, and passed the business to his first son, Uy Vet. With the thriving business, the family commissioned Andres Luna de San Pedro, son of painter Juan Luna and the most prominent architecture then, to design the Art Nouveau building in 1930.
“The Chaco building is said to have won international awards in architecture because of its design,” added Lu.
After the renovation of the building by now owner Philtrust Bank, most of the ornate design of the building, including the eagle and wall clock on the tower, was lost including the golden trimmings on the window sills. The building is now painted in the bank’s signature colors, yellow and red.
Across Juan Luna and Cervantes Streets is the neoclassical building known in prewar Manila as the first office of HSBC in the country. Before the concrete building you would see today, HSBC first held office in the former wooden building in 1875.
Cervantes Street was considered as Makati’s Ayala Avenue a century ago, said Tan.As business boomed in the 1920s, British architect GH Hayward designed the neo-classical building in 1921. HSBC leased some offices in the building to Sun Life of Canada and Smith, Bell and Co. By the 1970s, HSBC sold the building to a local bank that foreclosed a decade after.
It is said that the bank’s treasury vaults had 40-inch thick walls reinforced by twisted steel bars. The ground floor ceiling is 23 feet high, while upper floors are six-feet high.
Today, the old HSBC building is reused as a warehouse for lighting fixtures and was renamed Hamilton building.
“My friends used to tell me that the façade of the building is used as backdrop for the movie shooting of local artists such as Fernando Poe Jr., Richard Gomez, and even the shooting of Mano Po. They have seen a lot of stars here,” said Lu, referring to the former HSBC building.
Next to the HSBC building is the El Hogar (The Home) building, more popularly known to be a dowry or wedding gift offered by a Peruvian count Antonio Melian to Isabel Zobel in 1907, although stories said that the Ayalas and Zobels have denied the tale, said Lu.
El Hogar financed the building of the Jones Bridge and the Metropolitan Theater, among others.
Architect Irrureta Goyena designed Antonio’s El Hogar building on Muelle dela Industria street, facing the Pasig River, where one can see throngs of whiskered terns and black-headed gulls that have been roosting in the area long ago.
Construction cost about P700,000. The building is said to have its own courtyard and a spiral staircase circling around the garden, which is featured in local films and music videos.
The lending company El Hogar Filipino held office here as well as the original headquarters of Ayala Life Insurance Co. After 1946, the building was bought by the Fernandez clan.
The company was hit by the depression of the 1930s and Zobel absorbed what was left of the El Hogar financial empire, according to a story by China Business Philippines.
Across El Hogar is said to be the location of the first China Bank building, which is now undergoing construction and renovation for a contact center company. Lu hoped that this would revive the old business district and make it bustling again.
“I hope they will realize the importance of these edifices in our past and that it is viable to invest in the renovation and reuse of these old buildings to revive the former financial center of the country,” said Lu.
Instead of clearing rainforests that are home to Philippine wildlife, Lu said that reusing the lots of old buildings would make a “greener approach” to doing business, as espoused by green building certification systems.
“We just need to look at these old buildings with fresh eyes to see their historic glory. If not, at least restore them because they are windows to our distant past,” added Lu.
Related stories:
Ongpin street in Binondo is named after this Filipino Chinese patriot
Sample fried chili frogs at Binondo’s famous estero
Green standard gaining support among real-estate firms
Revisiting the Aguinaldo Shrine in Cavite
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