Concerned Groups Call for Temporary Closure of San Sebastian Basilica

(SPOT.ph) Basilica Menor de San Sebastian in Quiapo, Manila is most known for being an architectural wonder as an all-steel building constructed in 1891. But this doesn't bode well for a tropical country, where frequent typhoons and moisture from nearby bodies of water cause the structure's rusting and corrosion. And amid San Sebastian Basilica's deterioration, concerned groups call for the temporary closure of the church to visitors and parishioners.

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Call for Closure of San Sebastian Basilica 

A unified statement by Quiapo ng Puso Ko, Lakad-Dasal Team with support from Bakas Pilipinas, Bahay Nakpil-Bautista, Kapitbahayan sa Kalye Bautista, Renacimiento Manila, Advocates for Heritage Preservation, and Grupo Kalinangan requests that the "dearly beloved Church prohibit entry of visitors immediately.  It is especially important that the Church be closed to visitors during this Holy week." 

These groups are neighbors, parishioners, and preservation advocates of San Sebastian Basilica. 

"While the church structure itself is deemed stable, architects and engineers observed falling pieces of ornamental metal, heavy and rusty pieces from columns, walls, rib vaultings which could have caused great harm or loss of life.  From this, we can’t help but express our alarm and how we feel unsafe for our community, visitors, and our fellow parishioners, especially since the Holy Week of Lent is approaching. 

We are worried that the crowd volume that will come to worship, through their movements, might produce reverberations that could potentially trigger life-threatening weakened metal pieces to fall or detach from different areas of the Basilica. Let us avoid potential accidents from happening by preemptively taking preventive measures for the safety of the public.

Until some temporary protective measures are put in place, may we please request that our dearly beloved Church prohibit entry of visitors immediately? It is especially important that the Church be closed to visitors during this Holy feast," they added. 

Restoration and Conservation of San Sebastian Basilica

The San Sebastian Basilica Conservation and Development Foundation started a restoration program in 2012. They've been doing fundraising activities to save the church, including walking tours, rust-to-art exhibits, and souvenir selling. 

In a previous SPOT.ph interview, Tina Paterno—a building conservator who was formerly based in New York City and currently part of the Foundation—explained that the restoration and conservation of San Sebastian Basilica is a painstaking process that involves looking into the extent of the damage, repairing the structure, and restoring the art within the church. It's more than making the steel shiny, to put it bluntly since they want to avoid band-aid solutions. 

And while the program has been ongoing for more than a decade now, the church's interiors, windows, stone flooring, and ceiling continue to crumble with the passage of time. Caution tapes are even installed in different areas of the Basilica, which just goes to show that there's an accident waiting to happen in the corner—literally.