Art Deco Iloilo market demolished
A presumed important cultural property, the American-era Tienda Mayor was protected by law from damage or demolition
Fifteen years after the passage of the National Cultural Heritage Act or Republic Act No. 10066, which protects the nation’s cultural patrimony, heritage conservation issues still plague the country.
There have been many achievements, notably the reconstruction of the churches in Bohol following the 2013 earthquake, and the adaptive reuse of many heritage structures.
But many others are still being demolished. The recent significant building to bite the dust is the Iloilo Central Market, built during the American era in the Art Deco style and a presumed important cultural property, protected by the law from damage or demolition.
Called Tienda Mayor by the locals, this edifice is located within a portion of the Iloilo City central business district, which the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) declared a heritage zone in 2014.
The district has the largest concentration of architecturally significant American-era structures in the country, plus it also has the largest concentration of Art Deco buildings.
In August 2022, the city government entered into a deal with SM to redevelop the building, which will include a two-story mall, three-story market and a roof deck for parking.
In October of that year, Mayor Jerry Treñas said in a Facebook post that ideally, “We plan both markets to have a modern design but will retain elements of the old edifice.”
Rebuilding
When news broke out last April that the building was demolished, he said the city government and the Iloilo City Cultural Heritage Conservation Council “agreed to entirely rebuild the Iloilo Central Market.”
“The foremost factor that has been considered is safety, as per the National Building Code of the Philippines,” he added. Treñas said the NHCP was amenable to the development plans of the building submitted to then-chair Rene Escalante, who told them through a letter dated Feb. 20, 2023 that NHCP agreed to the plans as they “will restore the original architectural character” of the building.
Queries sent to the city mayor through email if the development plan involved the demolition of the building received only a reply of “Received, thank you.”
In an email, former NHCP chair Escalante said he “can’t recall anymore the details of the petition they sent to NHCP” when asked whether the development plans involved demolition.
Ilonggo heritage advocate Rene Trance laments the demolition, saying it “is one of the litmus tests whether or not this city really understands what it takes to be a heritage city in the 21st century.”
He also said that before any heritage projects are undertaken, a conservation management plan is needed. “But this city has none, so it makes me wonder about how truthfully the principles of heritage preservation have been carried out in these projects.”
A trend
Ian Morley of the City University of Hong Kong, a scholar on American-era urban planning in the Philippines, describes the demolition as “another incident in a long catalog of cases whereby buildings of importance are razed in the name of development.
“So, if a building is unsafe, it cannot be renovated, irrespective of its age, location and heritage worth, [and] if unsafe, it must be demolished?” he asks.
“Contemporary building trends and, in conjunction, the demolition of ‘old buildings’ in Manila are now overspilling into provincial capitals, and this trend is likely to grow, not diminish,” he said. “Heritage clearly cannot compete with the pursuit of profit, notwithstanding the existence of protection laws and protocols regarding the involvement of national culture and historical agencies,” he added.
In Makati, Greenbelt 1, which was built in the 1980s, has also been torn down. Its demolition started on April 2. The mall was designed by National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin, making it a presumed important cultural property under the heritage law. However, its presumption of importance was petitioned to be lifted in July last year, which the National Commission for Culture and the Arts approved, paving the way for its demolition.
Greenbelt 1 joins the list of Locsin-designed buildings in Makati that have been demolished. These include the old Ayala Museum, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Hotel Intercontinental and the PCI Bank Towers (later BDO Corporate Center Makati).