Joint Statement of the Heritage Conservation Society and ICOMOS Philippines on the Dingras Church

The Tale of Two Facades
The Planned Demolition of our the Historic Dingras Church Facade’


A call to arms and a sound of alarms! Once again, a historic structure in our country is threatened. What makes it even more alarming is that it happens in the same province, Ilocos Norte in almost the same period of time. First the planned demolition of the Laoag Central Elementary School, a perfectly usable, intact and beautiful example of 1920s education architecture in exchange for a mall, and now the proposed demolition of the centuries old façade of the Church of San José de Dingras to be replaced by what would most likely be a poor replica of the former.