Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua is calling on the government to initiate what he called a private sector-led rehabilitation of the San Sebastian Minor Basilica, or San Sebastian Chuch, which he claims is "crumbling" before our eyes. Chua made this appeal in a privilege speech during plenary session Monday afternoon, March 20 in the House of Representatives.
"San Sebastian Church, babagsak na...direcho na po ako sa punto: Pabagsak na po ang San Sebastian Church sa Quiapo, Manila. Literal na malapit na pong gumuho ang istraktura ng San Sebastian. At huwag na po nating hintayin na may maaksidente o mamatay pa bago tayo umaksyon (San Sebastian Church is crumbling...I'll go straight to the point: San Sebastian Church in Quiapo, Manila is crumbling. The structure of San Sebastian is literally nearing collapse. Let's not wait for someone to get hurt or killed before we act)," Chua said to start his speech. “I understand, realize, and accept that this undertaking I am appealing for needs massive funding, multi-year effort, much detailed engineering, and highly-specialized technical expertise,” he said, noting the current hardships being faced by Filipinos. However, the lawmaker highlighted that San Sebastian Chuch--completed in 1891 and considered unique for its neo-gothic design--is a treasure of not just the capital city, but of the entire country. Chua said that there have been multiple "serious incidents" since the 2000s that have betrayed the basilica's serious degradation. These include an incident in 2008, when a large piece of metal fell from a high point underneath the dome and damaged the priest presider's chair. This accident occurred during the middle of a mass, the solon said. In 2014, Chua said a crocket from one of the pinnacles of the structure prompted the installation of safety nets in the pinnacles. Two years later, another crocket fell from one of the pinnacles of the structure and injured a mass-goer. Then, during a wedding ceremony held in 2018, water cascaded from one of the basilica walls. Chua cited a 2016 advanced structural engineering study by Portuguese Engineer Rui Tiago Pinto dos Santos Beleza de Seabra funded by the European Commission. De Seabra's study discovered at least six vulnerable spots in the structure of the San Sebastian Church after modeling analyses on gravitational, and seismic load factors were done. These vulnerable spots where failure or collapse could happen are: at the beam connection with the lateral posts; at the middle span of the rafters, with excessive tensile stresses; at the central arch also presented extreme compressive and tensile stresses; at the tie beam; at the connection between the truss and the columns, where the “mechanism formation” would start at the base and the beam connections; and at the lower beam of the roof, a decrease on the stresses, due to the span reduction, where a global failure mechanism was obtained. "With urgency, I now ask for the concerned agencies of the national government to band together to rehabilitate the San Sebastian Church,” Chua said. “Let the rehabilitation of San Sebastian Church be private sector-led, supported by foreign assistance, but with the concerned government agencies behind them or with the provision of technical expertise, technical assistance, and grant funding,” added the Manila solon. The agencies Chua is prodding to team up for the conservation of San Sebastian Church are the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEAZ), the Department of Tourism (DOT), the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), the National Museum, the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd), the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), and the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Public-Private Partnership Center. Chua asked these government agencies to “collaborate and coordinate with the San Sebastian Church, the San Sebastian Basilica Conservation and Development Foundation, the San Sebastian College Alumni Association, the Order of Augustinian Recollects, and the Archdiocese of Manila".