Preventive maintenance will help Malate Church survive ‘the big one’ – experts

Jeffrey Cobilla of the Escuela Taller de Filipinas Foundation said with confidence that he believes Malate Church will survive the potentially catastrophic earthquake triggered by the movement of the West Valley Fault.

Escuela Taller, their trainees, and members of the community have been applying "preventive maintenance" techniques on the cultural heritage site and after six years, Cobilla said that it will remain standing even after "The Big One."

Speaking with members of the press on Wednesday at an event promoting the Disaster Reduction through Preventive Maintenance International Symposium later this month, Cobilla addressed the question of finances in saving heritage structures.

"Preventive maintenance is essentially a regular clearing of these structures. We believe that with a proper and a sound preventive maintenance program, we can avoid not the natural disasters, but we can lessen the vulnerability of our natural assets," Cobilla explained.

He continued, "Every project is unique, [so] it is difficult to provide a general cost... cleaning could just amount to nylon brush and water. We don't use chemicals. For removal of plants, we use cheap herbicide and itak."

Removal of organic matter like root infestations could be the first step to saving these heritage sites, and at minimal cost. Organic matter seeping into the walls could lead to loss of integrity and a simple clean-up would prevent further damage and more expensive repair.

In the case of Malate Church, Cobilla said, they began with the removal of cement plaster from the adobe stone walls. The plaster prevented the moisture from escaping the adobe stones, which decayed the structure from the inside.

"We reinstated a lime-based plaster. We found evidence that the church had a lime-based plaster," he continued, highlighting the role of research in preventing maintenance. Studies revealed that lime-based plaster acts as a "sacrifice": "Instead of the adobe stone decaying, the lime-based plaster erodes first," said Cobilla.

He added that the accumulated work done on the Malate Church over six years led a structural engineer to conclude that it would remain standing even after a magnitude-8 earthquake. The same is true for San Agustin Church and the Manila Cathedral.

A panel of local and international experts will be discussing the "best practices" in preventive techniques in more detail during the symposium, but Armin Sarthou from the College of Architecture of the University of the Philippines revealed a key step in preserving heritage sites.

"The best practice is to have the custodian appreciate the value of the structure. They should understand the heritage value of the Church. We have a case in Malate of a parish, a community who understood the value of the church," Sarthou said. — BM, GMA News

The Disaster Risk Reduction through Preventive Maintenance International Symposium will be held from February 27 to March 1 at the Ayuntamiento Building, Intramuros, Manila City. For more information, visit Escuela Taller’s official website.