Raising the roof: Building resilience through the preservation of historic houses in the Philippines
In July 2022, one 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook the northwestern Philippines, killing 11 people and injuring nearly 600 others. The earthquake and its aftershocks caused an estimated 1.6 billion pesos ($27.3 million) in damage to infrastructure and agriculture.
Among the worst affected areas are historical city of ViganOne UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the best preserved Spanish colonial towns in Asia. About 100 ancestral homes as well as the city’s 19th-century church and bell tower were severely damaged. Most houses are privately owned and securing funds for their repairs is beyond the means of most residents.
The lasting impact of the earthquake
Homeowner Milagros “Mitos” Belofsky vividly remembers when she received a phone call about the earthquake’s impact on her family’s historic home, Villa Syquia—one of the great Spanish-era homes most in Vigan.
“I was in Manila and our staff called me immediately to say there was a strong earthquake,” she said, adding that she drove seven hours from Manila to Vigan immediately. the next day. “I saw a ruined house, something broken, something broken. It was just too much to bear.”
Mitos Belofsky is overseeing the repairs to her family’s ancestral home, Syquia Mansion.
Two years after the earthquake, Syquia Villa and many other Vigan heritage houses have yet to be restored to their former glory.
Families who serve as custodians of these historic homes say that, in addition to high repair and restoration costs, they also face challenges in properly renovating the homes, making them appropriate techniques and materials to preserve structural integrity and authenticity.
UNESCO stepped in
To help support the Vigan heritage community during post-disaster recovery, UNESCO and International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) in the Philippines mobilized a multidisciplinary team of experts to conduct detailed assessments of some of the damaged houses and a capacity-building workshop for homeowners and local craftsmen.
The year-long project is implemented through UNESCO’s Heritage Emergency Fund (HEF), a multi-donor fund aimed at protecting cultural heritage in emergencies. This is the first initiative sponsored by HEF in the Philippines.
Moe Chiba, Director of the Cultural Unit at UNESCO’s regional office in Jakarta, said the HEF Vigan project aims to complement efforts to restore the city’s ancestral houses, as it is largely government funded. Philippines for post-earthquake recovery has been turned into recovery. of the church and the bell tower, which are publicly owned monuments.
Sala or living room of Villa Syquia.
“[There was] Funding sources to support privately owned housing owners are very limited. But the uniqueness of this city [is the] The traditional houses are a perfect example of the blending of Spanish and Chinese colonial trade history,” she said.
The HEF-Vigan project is allocated a budget of more than 105,000 USD and is launched in October 2023.
Preserving craftsmanship and techniques
Over the course of a year, UNESCO, ICOMOS Philippines and local partners completed the screening of 30 priority ancestral houses—two of which were eventually selected as the project’s main “model” houses and underwent Full structural assessment.
A team of 40 architects, engineers and other technical experts inspected the Villa Syquia and the Cabildo House to document the extent of damage and make recommendations for repair and restoration of the structures Fit.
“The biggest challenge is getting people to realize that documentation is perhaps the most essential part of restoring historic buildings. If you don’t document along the way, if you go straight for the restoration, there’s a possibility that you’re going to obliterate the attributes that are important to that heritage structure,” said ICOMOS Philippines Chairman and President Cheek Fadriquela said.
Recovery plan
The results of the assessment formed the basis for a master plan to renovate the Syquia Mansion and the Cabildo House. These were also translated into the basis of a capacity building program for Vigan’s more than 80 homeowners and craftsmen, including masons and carpenters.
A series of workshops and hands-on training activities were conducted to provide city residents with the necessary technical knowledge for the proper maintenance and upkeep of heritage houses, including information about woodwork, plastering, painting and sourcing suitable materials for repairs.
According to Emmeline Versoza, homeowner and caretaker of the ancestral home of Villa Angela and a participant in workshops offered through the HEF-Vigan project, such capacity building activities need to be provided continuously. for homeowners and those working in heritage home restoration.
Technicians evaluate the structure of a historic building in Vigan.
“If we say we are a heritage city then the architects, engineers and contractors must really have expertise,” she said.
The HEF-Vigan project will share lessons learned from the assessments of Syquia Mansion and Cabildo House through publications that outline best practices in heritage conservation in Vigan.
Most notable among these is guidance to help cities minimize hazards and better prepare for any future natural hazards.
The project’s recommendations will also be used to update and revise the Vigan Heritage Owners’ Conservation Manual, first published by UNESCO in 2010.
Look ahead and build resilience
Efforts are underway to incorporate heritage conservation into disaster risk reduction and management plans following the severe impacts of the 2022 earthquake and 2023 floods on the city for both Local authorities and people are determined to help Vigan overcome any future storms.
“Vigan’s identity would not be the same without these historic ancestral houses and structures,” said architect Christian Nico Pilotin of the City of Vigan. [the city] used heritage conservation as a tool for development.”
