Quezon City parishioners get reprieve to stop demolition of chapel

The Quezon City government issued a cease-and-desist order stopping the demolition of the Our Lady of Fatima Parish Church on Cordillera Street in Barangay (village) Don Manuel following a meeting with concerned churchgoers.

A directive from a local building official, engineer Isagani Versoza Jr., dated October 17 but served Tuesday, prohibited the tearing down of the chapel.

The parishioners had met with city hall officials on Monday afternoon to express their opposition to the reported plan of the parish priest, Arthur Opiniano, to bring down the chapel to give way to the construction of a two-level columbary.

The cease-and-desist order, Versoza said, was “in order to forestall further violations of section 301 the National Building Code of the Philippines.”

“We are very strict nowadays in the enforcement of the National Building Code because we do not want to be blamed if there are untoward incidents,” the official said in a statement.

The section pertains to requiring permits for construction, repair and demolition, which the parish reportedly lacked.

The Our Lady of Fatima Parish Church was built as a chapel in the 1950s, but formally became a parish in 1974. It serves 40,000 parishioners in four barangays.

Appeal

Versoza issued the order following an appeal from the parishioners, saying they were against the demolition to give way to an “underground” columbary, or repository of cremated remains.

One of the parishioners, Elisa Sipin, said they support the repair and renovation of the church, said to be nearly 40 years old, but not its demolition.

“We are for its beautification but not the columbary. Ours is an exclusively residential area, we don’t like the idea that the church will be demolished to construct an underground columbary,” she said.

Showing a newsletter from the parish, Sipin said a new church will rise on the old site, but with a two-level columbary underneath the church.

The residents earlier wrote Opiniano and the diocese of Cubao to express their opposition, saying the parish cannot afford the costs, pegged at P70 million.

The letter was signed by over 300 residents, who also maintained in their September 28 letter that they did not know that the parish had conducted a survey on the proposed project.

“We are equally trustees of the parish’s assets and are duty-bound to manage these resources in the best interests of the parish.… In these times of economic hardship, we can think of no greater sin against these obligations than to spend a staggering amount of money; we do not have to erect a building that we do not need in order to run a business enterprise that will benefit a select few,” the letter read.

Speaking on behalf of the other parishioners who went to City Hall, Sipin said the demolition would force them to hear Mass at a multipurpose hall for an entire year.

“Is there a need for a columbary in the area? If it pushes through, where will the visitors park their cars? There is barely a parking space, so the visitors might park their vehicles in front of our homes,” she added.

Approved

Sought for comment, the Our Lady of Fatima Parish Church said the demolition was approved by the parishioners and that putting up a columbary was a requirement for the church to become a diocesan shrine.

Lawyer Roderick Guerrero said the survey was conducted among 4,000 to 5,000 parishioners, with 86 percent approving its demolition.

“The structural integrity of the church is compromised, so there is a need to build a new one,” he said in a phone interview.

“We will appeal the cease-and-desist order,” the lawyer said.

Originally posted: 1:06 pm | Tuesday, October 18th, 2011