Manila city gov’t wants to continue demolition of Admiral Hotel

An official from the Manila public information office on Monday called on the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) to lift its order stopping the demolition of the pre-war Admiral Hotel on Roxas Boulevard.

Ferdie Ramos, Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada's media consultant, explained that the Admiral Hotel is now "structurally unsound" as the building's demolition was not carried out in full.

"Very precarious na 'yung building, delikadong-delikado dahil any time, kahit umulan lang at yumanig maaaring bumagsak 'yun at pwedeng may mamamatay… Wala nang natitira kung di 'yung shell [ng building]. Ganun na yung situation," Ramos said during the open forum at the weekly Kapihan sa Diamond Hotel.

Ramos said that the Manila local government has sent a letter to the NHCP informing them of the issue.

"We informed them na structurally unsound na 'yung building so pag may nangyari roon, hindi na namin sagot 'yun… We cannot compel them to… withdraw 'yung order na cease-and-desist order," he said.

Ramos also chided the NHCP for stopping the demolition after it has commenced.

"NHCP is not doing its job dahil wala namang natira na roon sa building e. So, ano ang pinatigil nila? E di wala," he said.

Cultural activists and heritage conservationists have expressed outrage over the demolition of the pre-war hotel, leading to the NHCP's issuance of the cease and desist order in September.

"Actually sa Manila, maganda i-demolish ang mga properties kasi gagawing maganda 'yun e… walang eyesore. Saka, unang-una, walang magagawa 'yung [city] engineering office to allow the demolition kung walang problema ito dahil sila ang may-ari noon e," Ramos said.

Sticking to the original design

In 2009, Anchor Land Holdings Inc. bought Admiral Hotel, which was built in 1938 and designed by eminent architect Fernando Ocampo.

The new Admiral Hotel is a joint venture by Anchor Land and the hotel management chain Accor Group, which handles the management of high-end hotels like Sofitel, Pullman, Adagio and Hotel F1.

"We are not going away from the original design. We are reserving the look of the hotel to relive the 1930s experience of the hotel," Anchor Land president Elizabeth Ventura said at the same event.

However, while the new building will be eight storeys high just as the original hotel was, she said, the facade will be different.

"It's not going to be the same. It's going to be different but certain elements will be retained," she said.

She added that some parts of the old building will be used in the new hotel's interiors.

According to the company, it is looking to officially unveil the P1-billion project in 2016, in time for Admiral Hotel's 75th anniversary.

"The truth of the matter is, property developers can become easy targets of harsh criticisms because of their development initiatives. Companies undertaking noble pursuits—urban renewal sand heritage preservation efforts, for example—are rarely given the opportunity to allow their projects prosper and speak for what they truly stands for," Anchor Land said in a separate statement.

"It's so easy to label these institutions as anti-heritage, anti-cultural preservation groups who are only in it for money, until one gets a good grasp of the bigger picture and why it had to be done in a particular way," it added. — BM, GMA News