Probing on Philippine Old Churches
Challenges Faced
The bulk of the conservation funds raised by the church usually come from private donations, while some parishes approach government agencies for grants. According to Ms. Gatbonton, in order for a church to receive a grant from the government it must first be declared either a cultural national treasure or national landmark. A cultural treasure or national landmark can receive funds from government agencies like the Philippine Tourism Authority, Pagcor, Congressman's Countrywide Development Fund (CDF), National Historical Institute (NHI), and the NCCA. However, the intimidating problem is that the Philippines lacks an organizing body that will coordinate all these agencies concerned. Both Fr. Javellana and Ms. Gatbonton agreed that sometimes these agencies are antagonistic due to conflicting and limited understanding of the terms "restoration" and "reconstruction". In turn, there are many government sponsored conservation projects that are actually renovations, and which destroy historic structures.
Another dilemma is when parishioners demand to have certain things done their way that often clash with restoration procedures, and when donors require to have their names inscribed on stones or tiles of the church. There are many parishes that have added designs and structures either within or outside the church, and thus destroying the church historic significance and intrinsic features.
Mortal Sins In Conservation
Fr. Javellana who has done personal researches on church conservation nationwide, has noted 12 common conservation "mortal sins" carried out on churches, these are the following: (1) covering lime plaster with Portland cement, (2) removing lime plaster to make church more antique, (3) marbleizing floor, (4) adding decorative painting with no relation to church style or history, (5) removing statuary and other ornaments, (6) removing choir-loft that is no longer used, (7) building Blessed Sacrament rooms with no consideration of over-all harmony, (8) adding neon lights and incandescent lights to outline the retable, (9) removing pulpits, (10) repainting statuary and retable with enamel not water based paints as they originally were painted (11) painting interior with designs and decorations not warranted by the style and history of the church, and (12) general lack of proper maintenance of church and its surroundings.
The aforementioned "mortal sins" have indeed deteriorated the value of the conservation works, and Fr. Javellana can attest to it.
Solutions Drafted
In an effort to solve this present problem faced in heritage conservation, the NCCA adopted the "conservation of built heritage" for its millennium project on the suggestion of its Chairman, Jaime C. Laya.
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