Demolition of Cebu’s damaged heritage structure suggested

The city stands to lose one of its first commercial buildings following the 6.9-magnitude earthquake that hit Cebu and Negros islands on February 6.

The Office of the Building Official (OBO) has recommended the demolition of the 97-year-old Gotiaoco Building, a heritage structure, after city engineers found it to be unsafe due to damage caused by the temblor. If this was not possible, the OBO said the building should be abandoned to prevent injuries or loss of lives in case it would collapse.

The Gotiaoco Building on M. C. Briones Street across City Hall was built in 1914. It was named after Pedro Gotiaoco, a Chinese-Filipino businessman whose descendants include tycoon John Gokongwei Jr., according to travel blog Suroy Pilipinas.

It has been used as a warehouse and office of the city government’s market operations division because it is just a few meters from Carbon Market, the city’s biggest public market.

Engineer Ariel dela Cruz, the city’s structural consultant, said cracks had appeared in the concrete walls and columns of the Gotiaoco Building, and that the structure had showed signs of disintegration and could collapse during an earthquake stronger than last week’s.

If left at its present state, the building’s deterioration would worsen, Dela Cruz said in a report to OBO chief Josefa Ylanan.

“Based on our final assessment, it would be best to demolish the structure entirely rather than to proceed with major retrofitting works which are more costly than building a new one,” he said.

On Friday, Ylanan said she submitted Dela Cruz’s report to Mayor Michael Rama for action.

The OBO has been deluged with requests for inspection from building owners and even government officials who are apprehensive that the earthquake might have damaged their structures’ integrity.

“This is something good because people are cooperating for their individual safety,” Ylanan said. “For a long time, they (building owners) forgot that they have a responsibility (in making sure their building is safe) and just considered it a source of rental income.”

Ylanan said she could not attend to all requests since her office only had eight civil engineers. She advised private owners to seek assistance from civil engineers.