On the 200th anniversary of the Church of Las Piñas that he renovated in the early 1970’s, National Artist for Architecture Francisco T. Mañosa, who passed away Feb. 20, was honored by the International Bamboo Organ Festival on its gala night on Feb. 21.

The renovation from 1972 to 1974 by Mañosa of the St. Joseph Parish Church resulted “in a unique setting for the yearly international bamboo organ festival,” said parish priest Rev. Augusto Pulido.

The festival, which is running till Feb. 27, has been displaying the LED image of Mañosa and his contributions to the church and the festival.

Pulido said he would say a Mass for Mañosa.

According to Pulido, the church “underwent a restoration of what (were) still possible to restore in the 1970’s: “the three altar tableaux, terracotta floor, tabernacle, and baptismal font.”

“The renovation became one of the first projects of Mañosa where he made extensive use of local material,” Father Pulido said.

Mañosa is generally acknowledged “the father of neo-vernacular architecture,” which advocates the use of local materials and local design motifs in contemporary design.

In the case of Las Piñas church, bamboo was used for the ceiling, chandeliers, and pews, the parish priest said. Capiz was used for the stained windows and lampshades.

Controversy

The renovation was not however universally acclaimed.

In particular there were criticisms on the removal of the limestone plaster of the church.

Mañosa had blamed the “depressing state” of the church to its “heavily plastered walls.”

But heritage conservationists said Baroque Spanish churches had been exactly plastered to protect the walls from the elements.

Friar and native Filipino builders had made the plaster from a mixture of lime, sand and water to coat and protect the surface of churches.

The protective coating was called “palitada” and it was used to hide surface imperfections and gave a flat, even façade. It protected the structure from erosion.

The removal of the plaster showed the lineaments of the bricks inside and endowed Las Piñas church with the patina of ancient, even romantic, remoteness.

With encouragement from then first lady Imelda Marcos who was promoting the country as an exotic tourism destination, other churches soon followed and removed their own limestone plaster.

200th anniversary

It was only at the turn of the 21st century when the churches, such as San Agustin in Intramuros, the oldest church in the Philippines, started restoring their plaster.

Some heritage conservationists did not support Mañosa’s national artist nomination allegedly because of the “bad example” he set when he had the plaster removed from the church of Las Piñas.

Ironically Mañosa passed away on the 200th year of the church of Las Pinas.

Legendary Spanish Augustinian Recollect friar Fr. Diego Cera (1762-1832) finished building the church in 1819.

A natural scientist, chemist and organist, Cera was also the builder of the famous Bamboo Organ of Las Pinas, the only one of its kind in the world.

Cera likewise constructed the organs of the Manila Cathedral and the old Recollect church in Intramuros.

At the patio of the church in Las Piñas is a statue of Fray Cera by National Artist for Sculpture Napoleon Abueva.

44th year

For its 44th edition, the International Bamboo Organ Festival opened on Feb. 21 with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.

Featured were “Magnificat” by Bach and other works of the Baroque period (Telemann, Charpentier, Buxtehude), as performed by Johann Trummer (organ, Austria), Manu Mellaerts (trumpet, Belgium), soloists Stefanie Quintin, Sherla Najera, Michelle Mariposa, James Conde, Ervin Lumauag, Christopher Arceo, Mark Abesia, the Villancico Vocal Ensemble, and the Manila Baroque Ensemble, conducted by Beverly Shangkuan-Cheng.

Other featured performers: organist Mauro Goia (Italy) and trumpeter Manu Mellaerts (Belgium) on Feb. 23, with OPM artists Klarisse de Guzman and Nyoy Volante.

Tonight Feb. 25 will be the organ recital by Viviane Loriaut (France).

Tomorrow Feb. 26 will be the Philippine-Korean Friendship Night with organists Dong-ill Shin and Yang-hee Yun, Hyo-young Kim (saenghwang) and Rachel Gerodias-Park (soprano).