ESPINOSA, CZARINA MARIE M.

ARCHI 4-A

UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF PHILIPPINE ARCHITECTS

DIVIDED WE UNITE

There were no architectural schools in existence during the Spanish period. Escuela Practuca y Artes Oficios de
Manila is the sole institution for training maestros de obra. Juan Carreon( 1891), Julio Hernandez( 1891), Isidro Medina
( 1894), and Arcadio Arellano( 1894) were its first Filipino graduates( 1896).
The first Filipino architect, however, was Felix Roxas y Arroyo, who attended a London- based university. He started
his architectural practice in 1858 and was appointed Manila's Municipal Architect in 1877. His works include the Sto. Domingo
Church and Ayuntamiento de Manila in Intramuros, both ruined in World War II.
The Academia de Arquitectura y Agremensura de Filipinas( AAAF), the first association of architects, was established
in 1902. Arcadio Arellano, another Maestro de Obras and Surveyor, serves as vice president. Jose Perez Siguereza, another
Maestro de Obras and Surveyor, serves as secretary. Tomas Arguelles and Jose Paras, another Maestro de Obras and Surveyor,
serve as directors.
In 1903, the association changed its name to Academia de Arquitectura, Ingenieria y Agremensura de Filipinas
( AIAAF) which now included the civil engineers and surveyors.
Engineers and Architects Law (ActNo. 2985) was established in 1921. Separate Boards of Examiners for civil
engineering and architecture were established by legislation. Architects were automatically tasked to the surveyors. As an
architect, Tomas Mapua received LicenseNo. 1. Licenses 2 and 3 were awarded to Carlos Barreto and Antonio Toledo,
respectively. They studied architecture overseas.
 In 1933, it was transformed or changed as the Philippine Architects Society (PAS) by having Don Juan Nakpil as
the President, Tomas Mapua as the Vice President, Harold Keyes as Secretary-Treasurer, and Carlos Baretto and
Fernando Ocampo as Directors. On the eve of World War II in 1941, 96-strong PAS held a national convention with
messages from Pres. Manuel L. Quezon, VP Sergio Osmenia, and Manila Mayor Eulogio Rodriguez, Sr.
Government architects led by Juan Arellano, Antonio Toledo, and Elias Ruiz are allowed to join.

LIBERATION

In 1945, where Philippine Architects’ Society was Reorganized. Having Fernando Ocampo as the President, Cesar H.
Concio as Vice President, Jose Zaragoza as the Secretary, Luis Ma. Araneta is the Treasurer, and the Directors are Juan
Nakpil, Andres Luna de San Pedro, Gines Rivera, and Gabriel Formoso.
In 1946 PAS changed its name to Philippine Institute of Architects & Planners (PIAP) and later changed to the
Philippine Institute of Architects (PIA) by a Resolution presented by Carlos da Silva.
A resolution proposing the government's professional services of its members to help with the creation of plans
for public works projects during the War was offered by PIA to the Philippines' President Elpidio Quirino in 1948.
In 1947, the first Architectural Exhibition was held in the lobby of the Consolidated Investment Building at
Plaza Goiti was part of the 3-day PIA Annual Convention, held at the Manila Hotel. The highlight of the Convention was the
Convention’s Honor Dinner wherein the first Architect of the country Carlos Barretto, one of the founders of PAS and
surviving member of AAIF, was elevated as PIA Fellow.
 The Republic Act No. 472 of 1948, which amended Section 1901 of the Administrative Code, may be viewed as
the Magna Carta of the practice of private architects against bureaucratic architecture and engineering. It legalized the
awarding of the design of public works and buildings to private architects and engineers.
The laws that distinguish between the regulations governing architects and engineers were passed in 1949 as
Republic Acts No. 544 and 545. (R.A. 545 has been repealed as R.A. 9266, as R.A. 544 still governs).
Andres Luna de San Pedro received the first Gold Medal Award for a Filipino architect in 1950 for his work on
the renowned "Crystal Arcade." The PIA's Standards of Professional Practice were published and printed in 1951. The first
time the architects were acknowledged as guests by the President of the Philippines was in 1953, at the 20th Annual
Convention of the PIA, when President Quirino gave a cocktail reception in Malacanang. The American Institute of
Architects recognized and honored the Filipino architect Carlos da Silva by naming him an AIA Honorary Member in 1954,
the organization's 96th anniversary.
The Union Internationale Des Architects (UIA) formally recognized the Philippine Institute of Architects as its National
Section on January 23, 1957. To agree on the Standard Schedule of Fees, PIA and LPA met jointly in 1957 at the
request of the PIA Committee on Professional Practice. This was an attempt to unite the two groups. The government-
employed architects established a new association in 1958 called the Association of Philippine Government Architects (APGA).
A lot of work had been put in over many years to close the gap between the three groups, and persistent attempts
to merge the diverse groups of architects into one could be seen in the 1960s. The Council of Filipino Architects (CFA),
originally intended to serve as the umbrella group under which the three societies would gather under one flag, was founded
in 1962 after the short-lived Philippine Council of Architects (1962) of LPA and APGA. The CFA was not affiliated with PIA.
 The Architects' National Code, the Architects' Services, and the Schedule of Fees were unanimously approved by
the APGA, LPA, and PIA in 1965 and later approved by the Board of Examiners for Architects. One of such initiatives, the
50th anniversary celebration of Philippine architecture in 1971, served as a foundation for unification. An Ad-Hoc
Committee of young architects was formed in 1971 to commemorate the profession's 50th anniversary. The event, which
took place at the Manila Polo Club, was a huge success. As if there were only one organization of architects, the majority
of the prominent members of the three organizations attended the event.
In April 1973, LPA President Architect Edilberto Florentino invited PIA President Ariston Nakpil to a meeting, which
sparked a series of conferences between the two organizations and eventually with Deogracias Atienza, APGA President.
It was in this year that the elusive goal of professional unity was explicitly conceptualized. The creation of the Panel of
Negotiators was the result of this. The three current presidents of the three organizations—Deogracias Atienza of the APGA,
Edilberto Florentino of the LPA, and Ariston Nakpil of the PIA—created a panel of negotiators on their behalf. The panel also
included Benjamin Meamo and Alfredo Tungpalan for the APGA, Luisito Guiang and Ricardo Poblete for the LPA, and Otillo
Arellano and Carmencita L. Rosales for PIA. On June 1973 President Ferdinand Marcos issued PD 223 creating the
Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) for the purpose of regulating the practice of all professions.
On December 9-10, the Architecture Week was jointly celebrated by APGA-LPA-PIA, highlighted on December 10,
by the passing of the Joint Board Resolution of Integration of PIA, LPA and APGA. This Joint Resolution was ratified
without objection in a joint general assembly on December 16, 1973 at the Architectural Center in Makati.
 After careful consideration, examination, and evaluation, many people were attracted to the term United
Architects of the Philippines, and were chosen because they reflected the fundamental idea upon which the organization
was built: unity.
The President of the Interim Board was Norberto Nuke, and Cesar Canchela was a member (VP for Private
Practice), Benjamin Meamo, Vice President for Allied Fields, Deogracias Atienza, and Aquiles Paredes (Secretary), Ben
Feliciano, Edilberto Florentino, Luciano Aquino, Otilio Arellano, Alfredo Tungpalan (Treasurer), and Bernandino directors
Victor Tiotuyco, Lozad, Arturo Maalac, Ariston Nakpil, and Evelio Valdes.
Finally on December 12, 1975, the members of the UAP elected the First Regular Board of Directors, namely:
Jose Herrera (President), Manuel Mañosa, Jr. (VP for Private Practice), Ruperto Gaite (VP for Government Service), Cesar
Concio (VP for Allied Fields), Urbano Caasi, Jr. (Secretary), Librado Macalinao (Treasurer), and Felipe Mendoza, Ricardo
Poblete, Constantino Agbayani, Corazon Tandoc, Jesse Mackay, Antonio Ascalon, Johnny Sulit as directors while Norberto
Nuke as ex-officio.