First in HIP : San Ignacio Church Reconstruction

San Ignacio Church is one of the oldest churches you will find inside the beautiful Walled City of Intramuros.

The San Ignacio Church facade
(c) credit to the owner

Right now the Intramuros Administration had preliminary plans of rebuilding the church into an ecclesiastical museum.,which is currently under construction.

Pamana : An architectural heritage conservation exhibit

PAMANA is an architectural heritage conservation exhibit that will feature photographs and infographs of few chosen built heritage in Metro Manila that will run from March 27-29, 2015 at Green Sun Hotel, Makati City.

The exhibit is free to the general public. It also includes a heritage conservation forum on the second day, March 28, at 2PM with speakers from Escolta Revival Movement, Heritage Conservation Society - Youth and The Filipinas.

The Legendary Chong Hock Tong Temple Demolished

In the 1850s the Chong Hock Tong Temple was built in the cemetery. As most other Chinese temples built in earlier years were located in and around the suburb of Bindondo, and were destroyed during the Battle of Manila in 1945, the Chong Hock Tong Temple is now the oldest remaining Chinese temple in Manila. [1]

Chong Hock Tong Temple (before)
Shoot ‎October ‎26, ‎2012

Though not as elaborate, the architecture is still reminiscent of those in Fujian province as well as those in Singapore and Malaysia with their colorful friezes and uniquely upturned eaves.

Should St. Paul Cathedral in San Pablo, Laguna have paletada?

The Cathedral Parish of Saint Paul the First Hermit, also known as the San Pablo Cathedral, it  was first established by the Augustinian friars in 1586, second church in 1629 and the present stucture was built in 1714. Its foundation was laid by Fr. Juan Labao in 1680.

It has neo-classic facade with doric coupled columns and windows with triangular segmented pediments. It also has four-storey octagonal bell tower with lank and open windows.

But there something going on right now in Saint Paul the First Hermit Cathedral according to the Old Philippines fanpage, "The newly restored facade of San Pablo church in Laguna, feeled off its Palitada baring its century old all brick appearance, But the restorers want to cover it up again in platada, to preseve the exposed bricks, eventualy it will look like a modern church again, It is much better if they let the red bricks exposed so that it will look old, revealing to the tourist and towns people of its history, And let a counter measure to preserve the bricks . SAY NO TO PLATADA! there are ways to preserve and replace old bricks. "


The quick history of the San Pablo Cathedral 

The first church was built of stone in 1629 and the present one in 1714. The church facade's simple design is subtly neoclassic, emploting coupled Doric columns.
 A unique feature is the pediment of interlocking truangles and segmented shapes and a pointed arch that's softened by the roundness of a more blunted upper arch. Two balustrades flank the pediment, mounted on rectangular piers and embellished by a decorative round window.

To my fellow Kapitbayahan, what can you say regarding this issue? Care to share with us.

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Sources :

Galede, Pedro G. Philippine Church Facades. Quezon City: Filipiniana.net, 2007.
Photo Old Philippines fanpage,

Discover Iloilo, Discover Philippines

From top, left to right: Calle Real – Iloilo City's historic city center,
The Aduana/Customs House of Iloilo and Muelle Loney,
Saint Anne Church of Molo District,
Smallville Commercial Complex in Mandurriao District,
Nelly Garden,
and the Arroyo Fountain and Casa Real/Old Iloilo Provincial Capitol

Recently the Philippine Department of Tourism launch the new campaign regarding the Iloilo. The said campaign is also part of It's More Fun in the Philippines!

Iloilo is  is a highly urbanized city on Panay Island in the Philippines, and the capital city of the province of Iloilo. It is the regional center of the Western Visayas as well as the center of the Iloilo-Guimaras Metropolitan Area.

Iloilo as a Metropolitan Area

Iloilo City being part of Metropolitan Iloilo - Guimaras is considered to be the only officially declared and recognized metropolitan area in Western Visayas as per Presidential Executive Order No. 559 duly signed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on August 28, 2006.

Iloilo Landmarks and Tourist sites

Iloilo City's urban planning and architecture reflect the plans of the Spanish and the American colonial administrations. Since Iloilo City is a conglomeration of towns, the districts have their own plazas which are surrounded by establishments of political and ecclesiastical influence, such as churches and old administrative halls. In 1930, Juan M. Arellano of the Bureau of Public Works designed the schematic plan for Iloilo City, which was influenced by Ebenezer Howard's "Garden City.

Here the lastest campaign of Department of Tourism in Iloilo



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Note
Source  HabagatCentral.com  and Department of Tourism

Vicente Ilustre Mansion in Quiapo

Who is Vicente Ilustre?

Vicente Encarnacion Ilustre – Don Vicente obtained a law doctorate at the Universidad Central de Madrid. It was also in Madrid that he associated with other Filipino patriots like Rizal, Plaridel, Naning Ponce, Galicano Apacible and others – whose chief pre-occupation was resolving the seething Philippine situation. He left Madrid via Paris and on January 8, 1900, proceeded to Hong Kong where he accepted the offer by the Mabini cabinet to represent the country in the United States. He was consequently elected Director of Diplomacy in the Central Revolucionaria de Hongkong. In 1913, Vicente became a member of the Philippine Commission under Gov. Gen. Francis Burton Harrison where he served as president of the Committee for Mindanao and Sulu. Thereafter, he became a Senator in the First Senate of the Philippines. He was also instrumental in the installation of two very important public utilities in Taal, that of light and water. He was born in Taal, Batangas on Sept. 6, 1869 and died in Manila on Sept. 27, 1928 at the age of 59. He was married to Doña Rita Marella Villavicencio, one of the children of Eulalio and Gliceria. **