OFFICIAL BUILDINGS OF THE HOUSE

 

THE ANCESTRAL QUARTERS ⁶

The Manila Grand Opera House. On October 16,1907, the First Philippine Assembly was inaugurated at the Manila Grand Opera House in Sta. Cruz, Manila, by United States Secretary of War, William Howard Taft, in the presence of thousands of people. Gracing the event were Governor General James P. Smith, Members of the Philippine Commission, Justices of the Supreme Court, representatives of foreign governments, officers of the United States Army and Navy, ecclesiastical dignitaries, and provincial and municipal governments. Of the 80 elected delegates, 79 were present. The first Filipino Bishop of Nueva Caceres, the Right Reverend Jorge Barlin, delivered the invocation.

The Ayuntamiento. While the inaugural ceremonies of the First Philippine Assembly were held at the Manila Grand Opera House, its first session was held at the Ayuntamiento de Manila in Intramuros in the afternoon of the same day.

The Ayuntamiento was a two-storey building occupying half a block near the Manila Cathedral.

The other half of the block was occupied by the Universidad de Santo Tomas. Both these two massive buildings were burned and bombed during the Japanese occupation.

The Mansion House in Baguio. During the first session of the Second Philippine Legislature, Governor General Wood, after consulting with Speaker Sergio Osmeña, boldly summoned the lawmaking body to hold its session outside Manila in 1921. For three weeks, the legislature met at the Mansion House in Baguio. The Mansion House was built and used by the American government as residence arid office of American governors-general during the summer months.

The Legislative Building. The Second Regular Session of the Seventh Legislature was formally opened on July 16, 1926 in the Legislative Building at the corner of Taft Avenue and P. Burgos Drive. Originally intended for the National Library, the Legislative Building was part of the "Capitoline structure," an impressive design in neo-classical architecture for a government center made by David H. Burnham, foremost American city planner of his day. Of Bumham's grand plan, only three buildings were finally constructed - the Finance Building, the Agriculture Building, and the Legislative Building (formerly National Library). The Burnham plan was doomed when the late President Manuel L. Quezon unveiled his plan for a new capital city, named Quezon City, outside Manila.

The building, which occupies an entire triangular block, was started early in the 1920's. Work on it was sporadic, however, and it was finished in 1926 at a cost of P4 million. Only half-finished, the lawmakers decided to use its session halls. The National Library was allowed to occupy the basement. The House of Representatives occupied the second floor continuously for 19 years until 1945, when the liberation forces bombed and shelled the building where the Japanese troops had made one of their last stands in Manila. Except for the central portion, the structure was beyond repair.

The Former Japanese Schoolhouse. With the Legislative Building reduced to rubble, old Japanese schoolhouse at the corner of P. Paredes and Lepanto Streets near Azcarraga (now C.M. Recto Avenue). In this wooden three-storey structure, the legislative functions continued until 1949, when part of the Legislative Building on P. Burgos-Taft Avenue was completed and readied for occupancy.

The War-Damaged Legislative Building. Reconstruction of the war-damaged Legislative Building started in 1949. The Congress moved in the same year while the wings were being reconstructed. Work on the two wings was completed in 1950.

The edifice was rebuilt entirely from memory, with the aid of a blueprint without measurements which had providentially been kept by the sculptor Tampingco. The architects of the Bureau of Public Works declared that the reconstructed building is a replica of the original, except that it is less ornate. The rest of the building was modified according to the expanding needs of the Congressmen. Mezzanines were added and offices rebuilt according to their occupants' specifications. Two annexes on the first floor had been added to the wings.

Said legislative building of the old Congress is currently known as the Executive House. It is the permanent home of the Metropolitan National Museum where national artifacts and treasures are kept and displayed. Its fourth floor was temporarily used by the Senate for their plenary sessions until the Senate transferred to the Government Services Insurance System (GSIS) Complex on Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City last May 1997. ^*

Source:
⁶ Pareja, I., Official Directory of the House of Representatives. 1965-1969, Sixth Congress, (January 24, 1966), pp. 404-407.
^* "New Senate Inaugurated Tomorrow", Manila Chronicle, March 18, 1997, p.2.