MMCB to continue undergoing renovation

One of Manila’s oldest and most beautiful churches is to continue undergoing renova¬tions in a bid to maintain its former glory.

The Manila Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica, situated inside the historical district of Intramuros, serves not only its parishioners in the nearby communities but also the many hundreds of faithful who work and study nearby.

Members of the Manila Ca¬thedral Board said that further improvements of the entire church’s structure are “badly needed.”

But the Board agreed to evaluate first the “structural in¬tegrity” of the building togeth¬er with its bell tower as notable cracks appear on the walls of the Cathedral before the work began.

These include the earth¬quake analysis of the entire ca¬thedral building, identification of the final location of the bells and study the adequacy of the existing windows of the belfry.

Msgr. Nestor Cerbo, rector of the Manila Cathedral, said the evaluation must be priori¬tized to determine if there’s a need for possible retrofit.

This includes the effects of the belfry movement that is currently affecting connection between the bell tower and the main cathedral building.

“This problem has to be solved first because it will greatly affect the next project which is the repair and water¬proofing of the Church’s roof decks,” Msgr. Cerbo said.

Waterproofing

Repair and waterproofing of the Manila Cathedral roof decks another major con¬cerns of in the development plan for the Manila Cathedral-Basilica.

This is to avoid water leaks and seepag¬es, which are evident during the rains and stormy weather, Msgr. Cerbo said

The Manila Cathedral roof decks will be applied with “polyurethane” waterproofing system.

Electrical safety audit

The Cathedral will also undergo electri¬cal safety audit, said Msgr. Cerbo. Before proceeding, however, with this project, the Lightning Protection System and Surge Proection System will be set in place to protect the eletrical system of the Manila Cathedral-Basilica from damages caused by lightning and surges in electrical cur¬rent.He said a consultant electrical engineer has already been hired to provide recom¬mendation plus bid documents, evaluation of the bids and inspection of the progress of the project. The project has already been awarded to the winning bidder

Water cistern

The Cathedral’s water service provider will no longer allow booster pumps to di¬rectly connect to their main water line once it is fully upgraded.

Saying that it will directly affect the Cathedral’s waters supply, Msgr. Cerbo said construction of water cistern for the Cathedral is also one of the priorities.

All possible efforts are being done to ensure the completion of the project.