Collective effort saves Manila’s heritage Burke Apartments

The tenants of a 100-year-old apartment building in Manila succeeded in saving their home—and in the process saved a part of the city's rich architectural heritage.

The Burke Apartments are on Bilibid Viejo Street in Quiapo, Manila, near the steel San Sebastian Church.

Its owner wanted to demolish the old structure.

Peter Danielle Rallos of Quiapo-based heritage preservation group Kapitbahayan sa Kalye Bautista told GMA News Online that Burke's tenants were the ones who told them about the owner's plan to demolish the buildings. The group then reached out to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) to halt the demolition.

Demolition order

The tenants, who have lived for decades in the apartments, started to receive letters to vacate in 2011, Rallos said. But it was only on December 17, 2014 that the Office of the Building Official of the City of Manila's Department of Engineering and Public Works issued a demolition order on Burke Apartments.



The order said that the 100-year-old structure was "found and declared dangerous" following an ocular inspection dated November 26, 2014.

According to the report of the inspection, the structure no longer met the standards of the National Building Code. To bring it up to code, the report said, Burke should be stripped down and replaced with a new building.

"It has become a structural and fire hazard to the occupants therein, as well as an architectural eyesore to the community," the report wrote.

Some of the findings included heavily corroding and rusting sheet roofings and severe deterioration of wooden parts because of oldness, termite infestation, and lack of proper maintenance.

NCCA steps in

On January 8, the NCCA issued a cease and desist order against the demolition order.

The CDO pointed out that Section 5(f) of Republic Act 10066 of the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009 stated that structures of at least 50 years old are considered Important Cultural Properties.



The CDO was addressed to the William Alain Miailhe de Burgh, who was the known owner of the Burke Apartments, and instructed him to coordinate with the NCCA or the National Museum or the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.

He was then summoned for a hearing on January 28, which was rescheduled to February 17 to give the defense more time to prepare their side. The new schedule was again reset.

Restoration plans

After the delays, both sides were finally able to have a series of discussions and the owner, who was later identified as a Mr. Sichere, decided on March 9 to restore the Burke Apartments for adaptive reuse.

In June, NCCA legal counsel Trixie Cruz-Angeles confirmed the update on her Facebook account. She said Frenchman Sichere whose mother is a Filipina offered to restore the building to its original form and structure "on the condition that NCCA provide him with the necessary architectural and scientific guidance."

Angeles said that Sichere, who was a retired mayor of a town in France, appreciates the law and the need to conserve.

The son of the Burke Apartments' owner is also a restorations architect in France, who has already epxressed his excitement over the plans.

"And frankly, we're excited too. Restoration begins soon," Angeles wrote in her post. — BM, GMA News