EL HOGAR BUILDING

Built in 1914 and located at the corner of Juan Luna Street and Muelle dela Industría in the Binondo district, El Hogar Building was designed by Ramon Irureta-Goyena and Francisco Perez-Muñoz in the Beaux-Arts style. Its architecture reflects elements of Neoclassical and Renaissance styles. The El Hogar was built sometime between 1911 and 1914, which it was said to be a wedding present in celebration of the marriage of Doña Margarita Zóbel y de Ayala, sister of patriarch Don Enrique Zóbel y de Ayala, and Don Antonio Melián Pavía, a Spanish businessman who was titled as the Conde de Peracamps. During its heyday, El Hogar Building housed the Sociedad El Hogar Filipino, a financing cooperative founded by Don Antonio Melian, and the offices of Smith Bell and Co.

It survived World War II and a number of earthquakes and is one of two remaining American-era structures in the area facing the Pasig River. In the post-war years, the lending company El Hogar Filipino had closed down, along with other Melián businesses, leaving only the Filipinas Compañía de Seguros. Because of this, the Meliáns sold the El Hogar to the Fernandez family, and the El Hogar was rented out to other companies. The building was finally abandoned as an office building some decades ago.

The value of the building is its architecture, which is a representation of American period design, materials, and construction method. El Hogar is a representation of the architecture of business establishments of that era. It also has a collective value as one of the significant structures within the historic Binondo district and Escolta Street, along the cultural landscape of the Pasig River.

The El Hogar Filipino Building is one of those structures that tell stories of the past. The building has seen numerous events, from the American insular government to the Philippine Commonwealth, from the Second Philippine Republic to the liberation of the city, and finally the independence of the country in 1946.

News involving the El Hogar sparked when it was reported that it was sold to a Chinese-Filipino real estate developers, which reported that it will demolish the El Hogar because of the building's stability, and be turned into a condominium. The news spread like a wildfire throughout heritage conservationists, cultural advocates, and ordinary citizens alike. Heritage conservationists had written to both the city government of Manila and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, or NHCP, to stop the demolition of the El Hogar. Because of this, a petition to stop the demolition was created. The new owner of the El Hogar however, who was not named, said that they do not have plans of demolishing the El Hogar, but will use it as a warehouse instead.

Recently, early this year of 2015, an online furor became viral when pictures of pending demolition of El Hogar circulated the internet. It prompted the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) to isuue a cease-and-desist order against the demolition being carried out by the New Golden City Builders (NGCB). Manila City Hall, which apparently issued the demolition permit, had not identified the new owner of the 100-year-old building.