Category Archives: Metropolitan Manila

Co Ban Kiat Buiding (Binondo, Manila)

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The Co Ban Kiat Buiding, standing in a busy portion of Juan Luna Street in what was once called “Chinatown’s Wall Street,” was the former SJ Wilson Building, named after the American expatriate Samuel J. Wilson who was behind the printing business Carmelo and Bauermann before World War II.

Co Ban Kiat Building

Built in 1937, the SJ Wilson Building, in its heyday, also housed the Standard and Chartered Bank, the Manila Stock Exchange and even the Japanese Consulate General. In 2011, the building came under the ownership of Binondo-based Co Ban Kiat Inc. (CBCI), the biggest supplier of hardware in the Philippines for retail, commercial and industrial projects.

Our guide Mr. S.J. Go of Renacimiento Manila narrating the history of the building

Initially, company president Johnny O. Cobankiat, the third-generation scion, as well as his colleagues in the real-estate industry and immediate family members, had no inkling of the building’s architectural and heritage value. Not seeing any value in it, they saw demolition as the most convenient way to redevelop the property. Fortunately, the owner was convinced by Deogracias B. Degala, the in-house architect, and other conscientious minds to take the path of conservation.

During the two-year, trial-and-error restoration, a full diagnosis of the building’s structural integrity was undertaken.   Also, for the refurbishment of the façade, interiors and ceiling roof, the owner and architect were guided by the principle of keeping as much of the original details as possible. No details were removed, and ornaments, such as the cornices, moldings and the striped pilasters were restored.

In keeping with texture that followed the patina of the old building, the late 1930s period, Art Deco, boxy and geometric façade was painted with China white, an off-white/light-beige tone. Now, heritage-conservation advocates and concerned members of the Chinatown community are celebrating this building’s rebirth.

Viewing this building’s massive bulk from the street, the heavy façade of the Co Ban Kiat Building, looming like a behemoth, is somehow softened by its tall, rectangular, encased windows protected by original wrought-iron grillwork.

The main entrance, along obscure Nimfa Street, is located at the southern portion of the building’s façade. Its doorway, flanked by a pair of Ionic columns and topped with an escutcheon, opens up the ground floor and main office of the company. Welcoming customers at the main entrance are details from the original company address on Quintin Paredes Street (ironically torn down) such as the old glass panels, originally a form of street-level advertising, with the embellished gold-gilt company name.

The still original decorative window grilles

The design firm Atalyer, led by chief integrating officer León Araneta, created what is probably one of the most delightful commercial interiors in all Chinatown, with a high and airy ceiling evoking a Commonwealth-era downtown-Manila spirit. The white walls and massive support columns are softened by brown veneer wood cladding. Wood partitions, with fence-like railings acting as partitions, demarcate the spaces within, giving a nostalgic twist reminiscent of old banks from that era.

At the center of the hall hangs the Chinese characters zhit tiak ti giap, a visual link to the company’s ethnic Chinese origins, honors Mr. Co Ban Kiat, the current owner’s great-grandfather and the founder of the company. Traditional black signboards, with gold-leaf lettering, are widely used among old Tsinoy businesses in Binondo to indicate the business name and its purpose.

The fourth floor cafeteria, reached via the original hand-cranked elevator, combines modern edgy lines with nostalgic black-and-white photos of Manila. Miniature wooden signboards of past tenants, adorning the support columns, subtly integrates more of the building’s history. A lovely open deck has a front view of downtown Manila’s architectural symphony.

The eighth floor, the most striking feature of this building, has stylized buttresses and a mansard-like concrete roof.  Envisioned to be a museum of sorts, here you will still find remnants of the building’s past activities such as a gold-smelting facility.  The uneven framed outline of the exposed, largely deformed, web-like roof trusses, conserved as a vestige of the structure’s history, came when a major fire in 1969 resulted in the twisting of the cast-iron support.

Co Ban Kiat Building: 231 Juan Luna St, Binondo, Manila, 1006 Metro Manila.  Tel: (632) 843-1931, 843-2734 and 8243-5265.  E-mail: jao@cobankiat.com.ph.  Website: www.cobankiat.com and www.cbkhardware.com.

China Banking Corporation Building (Binondo, Manila)

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The magnificent, seven-storey China Banking Corporation (China Bank) Building in Binondo, originally designed by German architect Julius Arthur Niclaus Gabler Gumbert (also the designer of the Yutivo Hardware Building in Binondo and the San Miguel Brewery Building, now the New Executive Building of the Malacanang Complex) in the Neo-Classical fashion, utilizing a variation of the Beaux-Arts style.

China Banking Corporation Building

It was built from 1923 to 1924 as the head office of China Bank. Originally it had five storeys but it was later extended to seven. During the Japanese Occupation, it was used as a headquarters of the Japanese and, during the Battle for Manila in 1945, was burned by the Japanese and destroyed.

The restored building’s Neo-Classical facade

After the war, it repaired and again used as the office of the bank in July 1945. The building served as the bank’s head office until 1969, when China Bank moved its key operations to Makati. On March 14, 2018, to mark the 100th anniversary in 2020, China Bank decided to restore building and the Binondo Heritage Restoration Project team, led by SVP Alexander Escucha, was tasked with the job. For the restoration, they engaged the services of heritage architect and author Manuel Noche (Noche + Architects), former secretary of the Heritage Conservation Society which advocates for the restoration and renewal of the Binondo area.

A row of fluted Corinthian pilasters

Much of the construction work, to make the building LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, the widely used green building rating system in the world) compliant, required extensive structural, architectural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and insulation work, aimed to strengthen the building, make it energy efficient, and bring it up to modern building codes and safety standards.

Reliefs of festoons in the shape of garlands and wreaths

On April 04, 2019, construction started. All the floors were retrofitted with a Japanese technology of rubber dampeners, the first of its kind in the country.  A commissioned hydrological study showed that the lobby was below the Pasig River’s level at high tide, so a modern pipe system and a cement barrier was installed in the ground floor.

The arched arcade

The original grills and arches, previously walled in for the last 70 years, were meticulously restored, giving the refreshed building an elegant and nostalgic vibe.  Inside, the high ceiling, beautiful granite floor, and natural light streaming in from the arches opened up the space and made it look grander.  Professionally designed exterior lights were installed to light up the building at night.

National Historical Commission of the Philippines plaque

On August 14, 2020, the restored façade and ground floor were unveiled, just in time for China Bank’s centennial anniversary and, on December 17, 2020, was declared by the National Museum of the Philippines as an Important Cultural Property.  On January 31, 2021, the Binondo Business Center (BBC) Cash Department was officially opened at the lobby and, on December 22, 2021, a historical marker from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines was unveiled.

National Museum of the Philippines plaque designating the building as an “Important Cultural Property”

The China Bank Museum, curated by Marian Pastor Roces, was also built at the fourth floor (which formerly housed the executive offices) for the public to appreciate the business and culture of banking through memorabilia, art, and mementoes.

AUTHOR’S NOTES:

The corner facing façade of the building has an arcade lined with semicircular arches, reaching up to the mezzanine level, with corbel keystones.  Above the cornice are rows of fluted Corinthian pilasters up to the fifth level and flanking rectangular windows topped by triangular pediments. Below some of the windows are reliefs of festoons in the form of garlands and wreaths.  The roof cornice is lined with dentil moldings.

China Banking Corporation (China Bank) Building: Dasmarinas cor. Juan Luna Sts., Binondo, Manila. Tel: 2247-5388.

Old HSBC Building (Binondo, Manila)

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The former, now century-old Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation ((HSBC) Building, situated just before the El Hogar Filipino Building at Juan Luna Street, going towards the Pasig River, was designed in the then prevailing Neo-Classical Revival Style seen in many office buildings of the era by British architect G.H. Hayward (who worked out of Hong Kong) and built, from 1921 to 1922, by contractor Oscar F. Campbell.

The former HSBC Building

The building was inaugurated on September 22, 1922 with Acting Governor General of the Philippines Charles Emmett Yeater doing the honors.

Check out “El Hogar Filipino Building”

HSBC, which established its first branch at a former wooden building along Rosario Street, Binondo on November 11, 1875, is the first and oldest foreign international financial institution in the Philippines.  It was, very much, a vital force in the Philippine economy, helping finance the sugar industry and the building of railways, among others.

The five-storey, concrete-encased steel structure, with its unique double finial architectural feature which highlights its corner main entrance, stands on a 10,706 sq. m. lot.  It had 20-inch armored concrete walls reinforced by two networks of twisted steel bars and treasury vaults with 1 m. (40 in.) thick encasing walls. The ground floor had 7 m. (23 ft.) high ceilings while upper floors had ceilings as high as 4.9 m. (16 ft.).

The buildings lower floors were then occupied by HSBC, while the upper floors were leased out to Smith Bell & Co. Ltd., representative of Sun Life Insurance of Canada, among others.  After World War II, the building housed the British Consulate from 1946 to the1960s as well as the William H. Quasha Law Office. When Citibank moved its business from the FNCB Building to Makati. Thereafter, HSBC followed suit and vacated the building and moved to Makati in 1971.

For many years, the former HSBC Building was in a state of neglect. Renamed the Hamilton Building, it was, for many years, the bodega of a lighting fixtures supplier.  Its facade dingy, with almost a century’s worth of grime, graffiti and gunk and its main entrance door was blocked by street people who seemed to have camped in the premises.

When Noble Place, adjacent to the former HSBC Building, broke ground on November 2014, and it seemed like the old, abandoned and derelict building was next. In March 2017, conservation groups were alerted that the windows of the building were being removed.

The main entrance

However, the new owner assured heritage advocates that he appreciated heritage buildings and would not demolish the edifice, revealing that he plans to adaptively reuse the structure through retrofitting and restoration: partly as a restaurant (now the modern artistic bistro – Grand Café 1919) on the ground floor, and the rest of the floors will be office spaces for lease.

Though the interiors were redecorated, the 7 m. high ceiling of the bank’s former lobby, the intricate grille windows and the columns’ Corinthian capitals were retained.  A replica of the commemorative plaque originally found at the building’s main entrance was enhanced in polychrome. The Neo-Classical façade, which lends an air of timeless elegance to the building’s exterior, was scrubbed up and repainted.

Former HSBC Building: 117 Juan Luna cor. Valentin St. (formerly Callejon San Gabriel), Binondo, Manila 1006.

Pacific Commercial Company Building (Binondo, Manila)

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The historic, five-storey Pacific Commercial Company Building, also known as the  Juan Luna Building, Juan Luna Plaza, the First National City Bank (now Citibank) Building and the Ayala Building, was built in the 1920s. Designed by American architects Murphy, McGill and Hamlin of New York City and Shanghai, it was built at a cost of two million pesos, finished by July 1922 and inaugurated on November 13, 1922.

Pacific Commercial Company Building

Later bought by Enrique Zobel, the building was known as the “Ayala Building” from 1940 to 1959. In 2007, LBC Properties Inc. led a renovation of the building. The First National City Bank also occupied the building.

In 2009, the building was bought by businessman Carlos Araneta who planned to the building to host a business process outsourcing company. The building underwent renovation in 2012 and was meant to be named as the Juan Luna e-Services Building. The facade of the building was preserved. However lack of investors hindered Araneta’s plan and the Juan Luna Building was purposed as a mixed-used building that also serves as a living museum.

Historical plaque installed by the National Historical Commission in 2017

Past midnight of May 28, 2018, a fire broke out at the nearby Land Management Bureau Building. By 8 AM (PST +8:00), the fire has reached the Juan Luna Building and the fire affected the third floor and portions of the fourth floor.  The fire, put out around 4 PM, also affected the 150 Plaza Cervantes Building, the Moraga Mansion and the National Archives of the Philippines office (although the agency stated that no historical documents were burnt since it keeps these in their offices in Paco and Ermita). Due to the timing of the start of the fire, the incident is suspected to be caused by arson.

Occupying an approximately 1,800 sq. m. (19,000 sq. ft.), irregularly shaped corner lot adjacent to El Hogar, it has a frontage of 43 m. (141 ft.), along General Luna St., and 46 m. (151 ft.) along Muelle de la Industria, along the Pasig River.

Check out “El Hogar Filipino Building”

The building’s design is derived from the trademark architectural features set by the International Banking Corporation of New York for its overseas branches. The bank’s prototype, made up of a row of colossal columns in antis, was faithfully reproduced for its Manila headquarters. The ground floor, with arched openings with fanlights emphasized by stones forming the arch, was fully rusticated to effect a textured finish.  Lintels, resting on consoles, adorned the main doors.

Six three-storey high, engaged Ionic columns, dominating the south and west facades above the ground floor, end in an entablature topped by a cornice and are flanked by a pair of pilasters on both fronts. The slightly indented fifth floor is also topped by an entablature crowned by strip of anthemion.

Pacific Commercial Company Building: Juan Luna St. cor. Muelle de la Industria, Binondo, Manila.

El Hogar Filipino Building (Binondo, Manila)

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The El Hogar Filipino Building (Spanish: Edificio El Hogar Filipino), also known simply as El Hogar, was an early skyscraper in the Philippines. Built sometime between 1911 and 1914, it was designed by Spanish-Filipino engineer Don Ramón José de Irureta-Goyena Rodríguez and architect Francisco Perez-Muñoz in the Beaux-Arts style, its architecture reflecting elements of Neoclassical and Renaissance styles.  Opened on December 2014, it was one of the first buildings in Manila built entirely out of concrete.

El Hogar Filipino Building

Right across Juan Luna Street, on its northern front, is Pacific Commercial Company Building (commonly known as the First National City Bank Building, it was built in 1922), another important edifice, and the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank Building on its rear.

Check out “Pacific Commercial Company Building” and “Old HSBC Building”

The four-storey building, by the Pasig River, was built as a wedding present of Don Antonio Melian y Pavia, a Spanish businessman who was titled as the third Conde de Peracamps, to his bride Doña Margarita Zóbel y de Ayala, who was a sister of  patriarch Don Enrique Zóbel de Ayala.

Don Antonio was born on May 21, 1879 in Las Palmas in the Canary Islands in Spain. From Spain, he sailed to Peru in 1903 where he held posts in the insurance company La Previsora and in the Casino Español de Lima. In 1907, he first set foot in Manila and, on June that same year, married Don Enrique Zóbel de Ayala‘s sister Doña Margarita Zóbel y de Ayala at San Agustin Church.  In 1910, he sailed from Peru back to the Philippines and established the El Hogar Filipino and the Filipinas Compañía de Seguros together with his brothers-in-law Enrique and Fernando Zóbel y de Ayala.

The El Hogar housed the Melián business empire, such as the Filipinas Compañía de Seguros (the first local-owned fire insurance company), Tondo de Beneficiencia, Casa de España, Casa de Pensiones, and Sociedad El Hogar Filipino, a financing cooperative and lending company. Other tenants of the El Hogar include Ayala y Compañía, Sociedad Lizárraga Hermanos, and Smith, Bell and Company (a shipping company). In the 1920s, after the completion of its own building at the foot of the Jones Bridge in Plaza Moraga, a short walk from the El Hogar, the Filipinas Compañía de Seguros moved out of the El Hogar.

Check out “The Revitalized Jones Bridge”

It survived World War II (it only suffered minor damages during the Battle of Manila in 1945) and a number of earthquakes and is one of two remaining American-era structures in the area facing the Pasig River. In the post-war years, Sociedad El Hogar Filipino closed down, along with other Melián businesses, leaving only the Filipinas Compañía de Seguros. Because of this, the Meliáns sold the El Hogar to the Fernandez family, and the El Hogar was rented out to other companies, mostly customs brokerage firms with few residential tenants. It also became the shooting location of movies, TV shows and fashion and advertising shoots.  Some decades ago, the building was finally abandoned as an office building and fell into neglect and decay.

On February 2014, news involving the El Hogar sparked when it was reported that it was sold to The Ritz Premiere Corporation, a Chinese-Filipino real estate developers, which reported that it will demolish the El Hogar because of the building’s stability, and be turned into a condominium. By November, G.I. sheets fenced up the El Hogar Building, seemingly being prepared for demolition.

The news spread like a wildfire throughout heritage conservationists (who wrote to both the city government of Manila and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, or NHCP, to stop the demolition of the El Hogar), cultural advocates, and ordinary citizens alike. Because of this, a petition to stop the demolition was created. The Ritz Premiere Corporation said that they do not have plans of demolishing the El Hogar but will, instead, use it as a warehouse.   The NHCP issued a cease and desist order and attempted to purchase the iconic building.  However, negotiations were halted when NHCP and The Ritz could not agree with the price.  The building’s status is still uncertain.

Some of the building’s interesting features are its two garden courtyards and its unique mirador (balcony) where one can see the Pasig River and the southern part of Manila which includes the walled city of Intramuros, Ermita, and Malate.  El Hogar’s magnificently ornate grand staircase, considered as one of the most ornate in the city, has a sculpted mythical griffin as its base and bears Antonio’s and Margarita’s initials. However, on July 6, 2014, the magnificent and intricate grille work of the building’s grand staircase were seen being loaded to a truck belonging to a building contractor.

The value of the El Hogar Filipino Building is its architecture.  A representation of American period design, materials and construction methods, the building is a representation of the architecture of business establishments of that era. It also has a collective value as one of the significant structures within the historic Binondo district and Escolta Street, along the cultural landscape of the Pasig River.

El Hogar Filipino Building: cor. Juan Luna St. and Calle Muelle dela Industría, Binondo, Manila.

Escolta Museum (Manila)

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Escolta Museum

One of the highlights of our Binondo Heritage Walk was our visit to the reopened (after the easing of COVID-19 guidelines) Escolta Museum at the mezzanine of the Calvo Building.

Check out “Calvo Building”

Calvo Building

The place to be if you are a history buff and a fan of Old Manila, this quaint museum, established in 1994, showcases the bygone era of the most elegant district of old Manila through its permanent exhibit entitled “Bote’t, Diyaryo, Extraordinaryo.”

L-R: Mr. Diego Gabriel Torres (Renacimiento Manila president) and our guide Mr. Stephen John A. Pamorada of The Heritage Collective

Immediately upon climbing a narrow stairway from the lobby, you will find a small room displaying historic news clippings from old newspaper publications (El Renacimiento, Filipinas,  Republica Filipina, etc.), journals and magazines dating back to the twilight of Spanish rule and the nascent years of America’s occupation.

Newspaper Clippings

It includes an 1899 newspaper showing that even then, Rizal was already regarded as a hero and martyr.

The author

Jandy

On display at the long hallway are memorable, fascinating and nostalgic artifacts and pieces such as old photographs of socialites and personalities; artifacts, manuscripts, ticket receipts from boutiques (Syvel’s, Heacocks’s, Hamilton Brown, etc.); Filipino music posters; and postcards of Carnaval de Manila beauty queens.

Manila Carnival Postcards of Beauty Quuens

There are also old labels; memos and newspaper advertisements (imported cars, sporting equipment, shoes, shoes, empty bottles, silver spoons, phonographs, radio sets, etc.) mostly from businesses that used to hold address in Escolta.

Print advertisements of stores in Escolta from 1910s to 1950s

Print advertisement of Calvo Building tenants during the Japanese Occupation (194-44, right) and during the post war era (1950s  to 1960s, left)

Enclosed glass shelves display late nineteenth century to pre-World War II bottles (milk, soda, medicine, and alcoholic beverage) of all shapes and sizes, partly a result of conscientious bottle recycling prompted by the lack of local bottle makers (Philippine glassmaking only began in 937 with the bottling plant of San Miguel Brewery, the first in the country, initially producing tall, slim, moss green beer bottles).

From 1917 to 1933, empty bottles and jars made up one-third of the imported glassware (including tableware, mirrors , windows and plate glass, eyeglasses and lamp chimneys) reaching the Philippines. When purchasing cooking oil, fish sauce, vinegar, carabao milk , kerosene or locally distilled liquor, housewives had to present containers.

Milk bottles

Dark green bottles usually held gin or the popular anise wine (with one version stamped La Tondena) while cobalt blue bottles ( meant strictly for external use) held poisons, acids, essences and light-sensitive compounds.

Eventually, the latter became containers for laxatives, salts and Blue Waltz, an archaic fragrance bottled along the Pasig River. One of the best known pieces in this display is the 1920s Ginebra bottle, whose label art was designed by no other than National Artist Fernando Amorsolo.

Manila druggists, like their European counterparts, displayed apothecaries with colored water in their windows and sold patent medicines in cheaply made amber aquamarine, green or clear bottles stamped with their brands and cities of origin.

Ginger beer clay bottles

In the early 1900s, Tansan, a Japanese drink brand company, introduced their capped, bomb-shaped beverage of charged and soda water embossed with their brand name (now the local word for bottle cap).

Soft drink bottles

Not all bottles were made of glass. Thick, cream-colored ceramic containers, sometimes sporting broad, golden brown hands across the rim and shoulders, were used for beer well into the late 1800s by Scottish and English breweries while previous beverages such as rum, whiskey and ginger beer were stored in clay bottles (a practice that continued till the 20th century).

Apothecary bottles

On the walls are mounted well-preserved, hand-drawn (now a forgotten art form) movie posters from the box office of yesteryears.

Movie posters

Movie posters

Kept behind glass cases are music sheets of songs (“Sa Dakong Silangan,” “Ang Maya,” “Awit ng Pag-Ibig,” etc.) complete with their excellent cover art.

Music sheets

Piled up at one corner of the museum are three large pieces of wooden tranvia tracks excavated during a road repair in 1998.

Wooden tranvia tracks

Before moving to its present location in Diliman, Quezon City), the GMA Kapuso Network had its beginnings at a makeshift studio at the fourth floor of the building on March 1, 1950 as radio station DZBB-AM before expanding into television, and which would later be renamed GMA.   The museum also houses some of GMA memorabilia. 

At right is the advertisement announcing the opening of DZBB on March 1, 1950

The coffee table book “Kapuso – The GMA Story”

In the past, scaled models of still existing and non-existing Escolta buildings (Capitol Theater, Crystal Arcade, Lyric Theater, Monte de Piedad, etc.), from a collaborative thesis by University of Santo Tomas students in 1996, were also on display.

Old Manila photos

Battle of Manila photos

Escolta Museum: Mezzanine, Calvo Bldg., Escolta, 1006 Manila.  Tel: (02) 241-4762 and (02) 241-4578. Open Mondays to Fridays, 9 AM to 5 PM, and Saturdays, 9 AM to12 noon.  Admission (for a group of at least 4): PhP50 (regular) and PhP20 (students).

First United Building Community Museum (Escolta, Manila)

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Desk of Sy Lian Teng at First United Building Community Museum

The modest  First United Building Community Museum, opened last May 16, 2015, reflects the colorful history of Escolta through the story of the First United Building and of patriarch Sy Lian Teng, an entrepreneur who ran Berg’s, Escolta’s (and Manila’s as well) premiere department store.  It hopes to tell the story of Escolta, from its heyday to what, it is hope, would be its resurgence.

Check out “First United Building“

Portrait of Sy Lian Teng and a framed article narrating his sad war time experience

The various memorabilia displayed in the museum includes the desk of Sy Lian Teng in his old office in the building and some of the old equipment and personal belongings that he used in running his business, such as typewriters, rotary dial phones, letter openers and a manual calculator as well as documents and receipts.

Display of old office equipment such as rotary dial phones and manual calculators.  On the left is a Burroughs Adding Machine

A 1950s vintage Ice-O-Mat Ice Crusher and and a replica of a dismissal bell hanging on its original decorative wooden hanger

Aside from black-and-white photos, the exhibit also features various framed newspaper and magazine articles and artworks that offers a glimpse of what old Escolta was like during its glory days.

Photos of Sy Lian Teng with first wife Lee Siok Kang and their nine children

Born in January 1904, Sy Lian Teng, like many Filipino-Chinese, migrated here from his hometown in Amoy, Fujian, China in 1918.  Although he never went to school, he taught himself Spanish and was fluent in Tagalog.  In 1926, he made a new life and a mark in the city when he and his friends established Cosmos Bazaar (it is still in operation at 571 Quintin Paredes Street). In 1929, he eventually found love when he married Lee Siok Kang and started a family of 9 children (4 boys and 5 girls) from 1930 to 1944. In 1939, Sy brought his immediate family to the Philippines including his brothers, father and stepmother.

However, on January 23, 1945, during World War II, his brother Sy Hua San was captured by the Japanese and never returned. On February 8, 1945, Sy and Guillermo, his eldest son, fled to his mother-in-law’s house in San Juan to evade capture by the Japanese but, four days later, during the Battle of Manila, his wife, 8 of his children, the househelp, some Pampango families and the Pellicers (Sy’s business associates who lived with them) perished (approximately 60 people, all in all) when the desperate Japanese set fire to their house at 161 Balagtas Street.

After the war, Sy returned to his childhood home in China to take a break and somehow re-energize himself.  Here, he was introduced to the Methodist religion and, throughout his remaining years, was quite devout and active in church affairs. Returning to Manila, Sy managed to move on and start anew.  In 1946, Cosmos Bazaar was rebuilt and reopened. In 1949, at the age of 45, he married Emerenciana Antonio Soyangco, his bookkeeper from Naotas and a dear friend of his late wife, and had four children with her (Clarita, Gloria, Roberto and Caesar).

In 1951, Sy bought and managed Berg’s, the well-loved Escolta-based department store.  In 1979, he also managed to purchase half of the ground floor where Berg’s was located (as well as 3rd, 4th and 5th floors) of the Perez-Samanillo Building (now the First United Building being managed by his son Robert and Robert’s wife, the former Lorraine Young) from Pedro Cojuangco (brother of the late president Corazon C. Aquino).  When Berg’s closed in January 1982 due to labor problems, he brought his personal belongings to Room 326 (he later transferred to Room 309).

In 1994, Sy survived cranial surgery (to remove a four-month old blood clot) and, the next year, celebrated his 90th birthday. In 2002, his wife Emerenciana passed away and, on January 2004, he celebrated his 100th birthday but passed away October that same year.  Sy left behind not only a rich legacy, but also an appreciation of Escolta even in the midst of the challenges of the recent years.

The Sylianteng Family Tree

Also on exhibit are artifacts from Berg’s Department Store such as receipts and documents that show past transactions made at the popular store as well as old, black-and-white photos.

Artifacts from Berg’s Department Store

Old black-and-white photos of Berg’s

One of the more interesting items on exhibit, dominating a corner of the museum, is an old sepia photo of Evelyn Berg-Empie, mestiza daughter of Ernest Berg, the German founder of Berg Department Store, and the author of her autobiography “A Child in the Midst of Battle: One Family’s Survival in War-Torn Manila.”

Evelyn Berg-Empie

At the bottom of the photo is a dedication that read: “Dearest Daddy with much love Evelyn, 1948.” A new feature that was recently added is The Wall. Here visitors post their visions and suggestions as to how they envision Escolta’s revival.

At the upper shelf, right, is the sepia photo of Ms. Evelyn Berg-Empie. Beside te photo is a copy of her book.

The museum’s layout was made possible with the help of Architect Marika Constantino, a visual artist, and the 98B COLLABoratory, an artists’ community based also in the First United Building.

Black-and-white photos of old Escolta

The Hawk Eye, a metal last shaped like a human foot. Shoemakers use it in the manufacture and repair of shoes

First United Building Community Museum: Mezzanine Level, First United Building, 413  Escolta Street, Binondo, Manila.  Tel: (632) 7744 5148 and (632) 7241-5150. E-mail: firstunitedbuilding@gmail.com. Admission: Php50 (regular) and Php0 (students). Open Mondays to Saturdays, 9 AM to 5 PM. Coordinates: 14.5987°N 120.9794°E.

St. John the Baptist Church (San Juan City, Metro Manila)

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Church of St. John the Baptist

St. John the Baptist Church (Filipino: Parokya ng San Juan Bautista), also known colloquially as the “Pinaglabanan Church,” is located several meters from the Pinaglabanan Shrine.

Check out “Pinaglabanan Memorial Shrine”

The first church was constructed, under the supervision of architect Luis Arellano and the financial support of Mariano Artiaga. A Franciscan, Fr. Roman Pérez, OFM, a year after the parish was established on July 15, 1894.  Fr. Perez served as the first parish priest from 1894 until 1897.

The Romanesque Revival facade

On August 30, 1896, the Battle of San Juan del Monte between Filipino and Spanish troops occurred on the tract of land fronting the newly built church. Damaged during the Philippine Revolution, Ramón J. Fernández spearheaded repairs to the church.

Plaque installed by the National Historical Commission in 1974

In 1951, when Fr. Hernando Antiporda (who later became Auxiliary Bishop of Manila) was parish priest, the church was renovated and expanded under the supervision of architect Otilio A. Arellano (grandson of Luis Arellano, the original architect) who notably preserved the original façade and nave of the structure.  The church acquired two additional front doors with the expansion.

The church’s interior

In 1975, Msgr. Severino Casas built two mortuary chapels in the church compound. In 1983, the nave was lengthened, the choir loft above the main door was removed and a crucifix above a new altar was installed.  The retablo (reredos) was preserved and the antique, centuries-old image of St. John the Baptist (previously at the top-center of the retablo) was moved to the St. Joseph Chapel.

Main altar

In 1987, a rectory, social hall, and crypt were built on the location of the Our Lady of Lourdes grotto (built in 1955) and, a year later, a Perpetual Adoration Chapel was built (only to be demolished to make way for the Holy Child Parochial School, now the St. John the Baptist Catholic School). In 2009, a smaller, air-conditioned Adoration Chapel, at the ground floor of the school near the church’s southern entrance, was finished.

St. John the Baptist Catholic School

The St. John the Baptist Church was declared as a historical landmark through San Juan Municipal Council Resolution, Ordinance No. 63 Series of 1989.

San Juan Centennial Belfry

On May 15, 1994 (Feast of the Ascension), Jaime Cardinal Sin, Archbishop of Manila, blessed and inaugurated the new San Juan Centennial Belfry, built to commemorate the church’s hundredth anniversary. Designed by Architects Renato Berroya and Arsenio Topacio, the belfry matches the façade and houses the church bell that dates to 1896.

Centennial Tower plaque

AUTHOR’S NOTES

The church’s single level Romanesque Revival façade has a semicircular arch main entrance in receding planes.   It is flanked by semicircular arch niches with statues of St. Peter and St. Paul.  The triangular pediment, with its oculus, is topped by a small decorative cupola. The left and right wings, with their square doors, were added during the 1951 expansion.

 Church of St. John the Baptist: 140 Pinaglabanan cor. Mons Alvarez Sts., Brgy. Pedro Cruz, San Juan, Metro Manila. Tel: (02) 8725-7731.

El Deposito Underground Reservoir (San Juan City, Metro Manila)

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El Deposito

The cavernous El Deposito, one of the oldest underground reservoirs in the world and the country’s largest Spanish era artifact, was built as part of the Carriedo Waterworks (named after Francisco Carriedo y Perejo, a Spanish  Capitán General who bequeathed a grant to the city of Manila in 1733) which was built from 1878 to 1882 (additional works were done until 1884) under the supervision of Spanish engineer and architect Genaro Palacios (who later designed the all-steel San Sebastian Church).  He decided to use the Marikina River as the El Deposito‘s water source.

The above ground entrance to El Deposito

Made of volcanic tuff, this old underground water reservoir, with had a capacity of 15 million gallons, provided the residents of Manila and its surrounding areas with an adequate water supply. The underground reservoir held military strategic importance and, during the Philippine Revolution, the Katipunan attempted to seize the reservoir from Spanish colonial authorities in the Battle of San Juan del Monte (or Pinaglabanan) on August 26, 1896.   During the Philippine-American War, it was held by Filipinos.

During the American colonial administration, it was used as an armory by the Americans and, during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in World War II, by the Imperial Japanese forces. It was also used as a pulmonary hospital (specifically for tuberculosis patients) and as a firing range. In 1945, El Deposito was recaptured by the Allied forces but, after the war and the Philippine independence from the United States, fell to disuse, becoming a temporary garbage dumping ground and home for informal settlers.

On August 30, 1972, in recognition of the old reservoir as a cultural property, a marker was installed by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. In 1973, in commemoration of the first battle of the Philippine Revolution, the land along El Deposito was converted into a recreational park named the Pinaglabanan Memorial Shrine and Park.

Check out “Pinaglabanan Memorial Shrine”

In 2016, efforts to rehabilitate the underground reservoir began when the University of the Philippines Archaeological Studies program conducted an assessment and excavation of the structure. In 2018, as a preparation for the development of the site as a tourist destination, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines conducted cleaning of the El Deposito‘s tunnel.  It was planned to be open to the public on March 2020 but the onset of the Covid 19 pandemic put this plan on hold.  It was finally opened on August 30, 2021.

When it was still in use as a water supply storage, the El Deposito had a capacity of 56,000 cu. m. (2,000,000 cu. ft.) for 300,000 people (at that time Manila only had a population of 285, 454) and, to keep water fresh and free from contamination, ventilation shafts were also utilized.

Jandy at the viewing platfor

As part of the larger Carriedo waterworks system, the reservoir sourced its water from the Marikina River which was pumped out via 5 kms. (3.1 mi.) of cast iron pipes which passed through the Santolan area.  It also supplied water to hydrants, drinking fountains and fountains in Intramuros and suburbs.

The author at El Deposito

The structure of the water reservoir, situated below an elevated hill, consists of a vast central canal that is connected to 25 smaller canals which each measured 5 m.(16 ft.) high and 3 m. (9.8 ft.) wide.  Military and civilian artifacts excavated during the restoration of El Deposito are displayed in Museo El Deposito.

Check out “Museo El Deposito”

El Deposito: Pinaglabanan Memorial Shrine, Pinaglabanan Street, San Juan City, Metro Manila, Philippines. Tel: (632) 753-5439. E-mail: museoeldepositogmail.com.  Open Tuesdays to Sundays, 8 AM to 4 PM.  Admission is free.

How to Get There: Jeepneys, at Camp Crame, have routes that pass by the Pinaglabanan Shrine.  RRCG buses that ply the Ortigas Avenue-Sta. Mesa route also pass by the Pinaglabanan Shrine.  By car, take the Bonny Serrano Avenue westbound, beside Camp Crame, until you reach Pinaglabanan Shrine.  From Ortigas Avenue westbound, turn left at Bonny Serrano Avenue and go straight until you reach Pinanglabanan Shrine on the right.

Museo El Deposito (San Juan City, Metro Manila)

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Museo El Deposito. On the right is the above ground entrance to the El Deposito Underground Reservoir

Museo El Deposito (translated as El Deposito Museum), a history museum situated within the grounds of the Pinaglabanan Shrine, was opened on February 20, 2019.  Housed inside a two-storey building on top of the El Deposito underground reservoir  and beside the Museo ng Katipunan, another museum, it features the Carriedo water system (which included the El Deposito underwater reservoir). 

Check out “El Deposito Underground Reservoir”

Ground floor lobby and reception area

The Museo El Deposito,under the management of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, aims to inspire everyone to value water as a natural resource and appreciate the people who make access to it easier for everday Filipinos.  It narrates the history of the underground reservoir and the Carriedo Waterworks as a whole.

The ground floor houses the Reception, Resource Center and Audio Visual Room.  The second floor has three galleries presenting bits of the country’s civil engineering history via various military and civilian artifacts recovered from the El Deposito reservoir, scaled models, electronic mini displays, a virtual reality room and interactive touch screen modules.

Gallery 1: Life Before the Waterworks (Buhay Bago ang Tubigan)

Gallery 1: Life Before the Waterworks (Buhay Bago ang Tubigan) narrates the period prior to the establishment of the Carriedo Waterworks system in 1882 when the city’s inhabitants relied on wells, esteros, and rivers for their water supply. Outbreaks of waterborne diseases were not uncommon at the time.

Water from the Aguador. On the foreground is a water filter carved out of porous rock, owned by Jose Rizal’s family

There are seven panels. Panel 1 (Aguadores) explains how typical Filipino aguadores fetched water from various water sources near Manila.

Waterworks System by Fr. Juan Peguero (1690)

Panel 2 (Peguero) narrates how Dominican Fr. Juan Peguero designed a waterworks system in 1690 that stretched 750 m. from the springs of San Juan del Monte.

Gov.-Gen. Antonio Ma. Blanco’s Barrel Filter (1850)

Panel 3 (Water Filtration Systems) displays various replicas of 19th-century water-filtration systems such as a water filter, owned by Jose Rizal’s family, carved out of porous rock. Near it is a cross section of a wooden barrel with layers of filtering material.

Gov.-Gen. Pascual Enrile’s Barrel Filter (1833)

Panels 4 and 5 (Cortes and dela Corte) narrates studies by Tomas Cortes (commandant of engineers) on the water quality of different sources of water in 1844 and of Lt.-Col. Felipe de la Corte (a military engineer) who continued Cortes’ work in 1859.

Analysis by Tomas Cortes (1844)

At Panel 6 (Francisco Carriedo), visitors will get to know Francisco Carriedo, a Spanish Capitán General of Manila who spearheaded the development of Manila’s waterworks by donating a portion of his fortune from the galleon trade.

Carriedo’s Donation (1733)

On display are facsimiles of Carriedo’s documents. Panel 7 (Carriedo Fountain) has a replica of the Carriedo Fountain.

Carriedo’s Fountain. On the left is a miniature replica of the fountain

On the museum floor is an actual original specimen of an 1888 Carriedo waterworks fire hydrant, a full-sized 3D-printed replica and a replica of 1833 and 1850 barrel filters.

Original Carriedo Waterworks hydrant

3D model of Carriedo Waterworks hydrant

Also on display is an original 1882 Carriedo commemorative coin; a 1911 Carriedo postage stamp, original old silver coins of King Charles IV of Spain; and a copy of Carriedo’s book Carriedo y Sus Obras.

1882 commemorative coin and 1911 Francisco Carriedo commemorative stamp

Silver coins of King Charles IV of Spain

Gallery 2: The Carriedo Waterworks (Ang Patubigang Carriedo) features artifacts, photographs and plans of the Carriedo Water System, prints and scale models.

Gallery 2: The Carriedo Waterworks (Ang Patubigang Carriedo)

There are 5 panels – Panel 1 (General Plan of Waterworks), Panel 2 (Approved Plan of Waterworks), Panel 3 (Genaro Palacios), Panel 4A & 4B (Casa de Servicios and Water Reservoir) and Panel 5 (Construction Materials).

Genaro Palacios, the Engineers and the Workers

Examples of Construction Materials

At the center of the room is the miniature scaled model of Pinaglabanan Memorial Shrine.

Check out “Pinaglabanan Memorial Shrine”

Scaled Model of Pinaglabanan Memorial Shrine

Gallery 3: National Shrine (Pambansang Dambana), where things get interactive, has a Virtual Reality (VR) Exhibit Room where museum visitors use virtual reality headsets and watch a 360-degree historical recreation of key events during the Battle of San Juan del Monte, the first battle of the Philippine Revolution, made by I Am Cardboard PH, a local VR company.

Gallery 3 – National Shrine

The scenes feature historical figures such as Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Jacinto.  Along the wall is the historical visual timeline of events in the history of El Deposito.

Virtual Reality Room

Historical Visual Timeline

Opposite the timeline are various World War II-era artifacts such as helmets (including a Guinit sun helmet used by the Philippine Army during the Philippine Commonwealth Period), ammunition shells and other war paraphernalia which were excavated from the El Deposito area.

Objects Excavated in El Deposito

On the top shelf, left, is a Commonwealth era Guinit sun helmet

Outside the museum building is the above ground entrance to an aqueduct of the El Deposito itself as well as statues of Genaro Palacios showing plans of the Carriedo Waterworks to Spanish Gov.-Gen. Domingo de Moriones and of four Katipuneros waiting for the Battle of San Juan del Monte.

Statues of Four Katipuneros waiting for the Battle of San Juan del Monte

Genaro Palacios showing plans of Carriedo Waterworks to Spanish Gov.-Gen. Domingo de Moriones

Museo El Deposito: 29 1500 Pinaglabanan Shrine, Pinaglabanan St.,Corazon de Jesus, San Juan, Metro Manila. Tel: (02) 7753 5439.  E-mail: museoeldeposito@gmail.com. Open Tuesdays to Sundays, 9 AM – 4 PM. Admission is free. 

How to Get There: Jeepneys, at Camp Crame, have routes that pass by the Pinaglabanan Shrine.  RRCG buses that ply the Ortigas Avenue-Sta. Mesa route also pass by the Pinaglabanan Shrine.  By car, take the Bonny Serrano Avenue westbound, beside Camp Crame, until you reach Pinaglabanan Shrine.  From Ortigas Avenue westbound, turn left at Bonny Serrano Avenue and go straight until you reach Pinanglabanan Shrine on the right.