The sad fate of the iconic Post Office...

in 1946. In fact, a photo of the post office building is featured in the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum with an explanatory note that the photo is “part of a collected group of photos belonging to Francis P. Mathews as Secretary of the Navy and associated with the United States Philippine War Damage Commission.” The photo showed the damaged building prior to its reconstruction under the Philippine Rehabilitation Act of 1946.

There are growing calls for the restoration of the building from private groups as well as our legislators. Senate President Migz Zubiri and Senator Sonny Angara, who is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said they will be working with the Department of Budget and Management “towards finding funds to help restore the Post Office.”

Describing the building as a “cultural treasure that deserves national attention and support,” Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco has vowed to help in its rehabilitation, noting that an attached agency, the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, “has long lent assistance in terms of rehabilitation of heritage structures.”

There are a number of NGOs in the US that are prepared to help in the restoration efforts, with recommendations that while the neoclassical style is retained to preserve the historic legacy of the building, perhaps the government