Senate probe into Manila Post Office fire sought
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Robinhood Padilla has called for a Senate investigation into the fire that razed the Manila Central Post Office, as he stressed the need to revisit and assess the effectiveness of existing preservation and protection measures.
“The Manila Central Post Office is a tangible representation of the nation’s culture and history, and its damage is a blow to the country’s cultural heritage,” Padilla said in Senate Resolution 627 filed Monday.
He added: “It is of public interest to provide policies that will prevent or mitigate the effect of fire and other hazards to protect and preserve our national cultural heritage.”
Initial estimates put the damage on the Post Office wrought by the massive eight-hour fire, which reached the highest alarm, at P300 million, although assessment is still ongoing.
“According to [Bureau of Fire Protection Chief Superintendent Nahum] Tarroza, the fire caused major damage or total damage to the Manila Central Post Office… their initial estimate of the fire damage reached P300 million,” Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan said in a virtual briefing.
The 97-year-old building caught fire at 11:41 p.m. on Sunday evening and continued to burn until around 7 a.m. the following day when it was declared to be under control.
News about the fire broke the hearts of many heritage advocates who were saddened by the destruction of the building, which had been declared an Important Cultural Property in 2018.
The Post Office building is a neoclassical structure designed by renowned Filipino architects Tomas Mapua and Juan Marcos de Guzman Arellano with American architect Ralph Doane in 1925.
However, it was destroyed during World War II in 1945 but was rebuilt after the war in 1946, according to the Philippine Postal Corp. (Philpost).
This building is the center of the Philippine postal services and the headquarters of the former Bureau of Posts, later renamed “Postal Service Office,” during the presidency of Corazon Aquino.
This is where the Philippine Post holds office and provides delivery service of communications, goods, merchandise and payment services to Filipinos. — Xave Gregorio with reports from Kaycee Valmonte and Rosette Adel
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