NCCA assures rehabilitation of fire-hit Manila Central Post Office

Authorities on Tuesday told senators the fire-gutted Manila Central Post Office (MCPO) will not be demolished or will be sold to the private sector. 

At a Senate hearing on the rehabilitation of the MCPO, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) said they are eyeing to make the iconic historical building a part of an arts district that would include the National Museum and the Manila Metropolitan Theater (MET).

“That’s the first thing we established: that the building was not going to be demolished but restored,” NCCA Executive Director Victorino Mapa Manalo said. 

“There was a proposal that when we develop the Post Office, it will be developed with the idea that it will be embedded in a larger arts district which could mean connections to the National Museum, to the MET museum, so it would be a cultural hub, the whole area,” Manalo added.

The Philippine Postal Corporation Postmaster General backed the proposal.

In May 2023, a huge fire tore through the MCPO, which started in the basement of the building and immediately reached the top floors.

The fire reached general alarm, the highest fire alarm level, on the morning of May 22.

After more than 30 hours, the fire was declared out on May 23.

The Bureau of Fire Protection, in June 2023, ruled the fire incident as an “accident” and said it started from a car battery that discharged, heated up, and caused an explosion around other combustible materials in the Mega Manila Storage Room.

The Department of Tourism (DOT), through the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), allocat.ed a P15 million budget for the Detailed Architectural and Engineering Study (DAES) of the structural integrity of the MCPO.

For her part, Senator Loren Legarda, chairperson of the special committee for MCPO restoration, backed the rehabilitation of the 96-year old building.

“The entry of the NCCA and the expertise of the cultural agencies…will improve its use and will make it a destination not just for domestic tourists but for foreign tourists as well. Let’s just make it very clear that there is no sale to the private sector because it’s both an IHL and an ICP. There is no privatization, there is no demolition, maayos po tayo, nagkakaintidihan (everything is in order, we understand each other),” she said. 

Meanwhile, the senator asked the involved agencies to submit the estimated budget required for the restoration of the MCPO. 

The Senate committee will also conduct an ocular inspection of the building.—RF, GMA Integrated News