Inq.net received a message from Pio Goco who said he had visited the visita in Bagumbayan, Batangas, and interviewed architect Arturo Mendoza.

He said the structure wasn’t demolished. He added the facade was renovated:

“Upon ocular inspection of the Bagumbayan church site and chance meeting with the foreman, I have concluded that this is not a demolition, rather a reconstruction, restoration and renovation.

“The project is wholly financed by the Bagumbayan community spearheaded by Mr. Arturo Mendoza with Mr. Catapang as foreman and upon consultation and guidance of the National Museum and architect Valerio, who is an accredited National Historical Commission of the Philippines architect under Serena Diokno. They are not implementing a demolition as stated in the article. It is factually inaccurate to state it as such.

“The facade had developed internal root systems coming from balete and asin trees which threatened to destroy the facade if they grew further. They had to dismantle the facade to extract the root systems, but they rebuilt it once again in accordance to its original design. The roof by the altar was also caving in because the wooden buttresses were already lost, so they had to rebuild it. They also took out the plaster on the adobe for it to breathe and added side buttresses to support the structure long-term. This is a functional chapel, and for it to serve the community another 100 years, necessary work had to be done to strengthen and improve the structure. To do nothing would be tantamount to its eventual ruin. But definitely this is not a demolition.”