Anton Teope

2017-00567
CE 197

The Manila Film Center

The Manila Film Center is a building located in the Cultural Center of the Philippines and was
once planned to planned to be the highlight of the area based on an article by Esquire Magazine (Guzman,
2019). This building was a project put up during the Marcos era and was planned to be the place where
the Manila film festival would be held which was described to be the "Asian equivalent of the Cannes
Film Festival" at that time. Additionally, there was prestige to come as well from the planned Miss
Universe pageant to be held here as well. The project was described to be very elaborate by the article,
with Imelda Marcos having high hopes for the structure to be built at the time.

Image 1: Manila Film Center Before

Image 2: Manila Film Center Today

 The structure had numerous goals. As stated previously, one goal was to gain prestige for the
country and themselves by using the structure to host events like the Manila Film Festival and the Miss
Universe Pageant. Connected to this is the goal to complete the build in three months to enable the film
festival to be held here. Additionally based on the article, there was also a goal to profit (mainly from the
film festival) as the building would need to earn enough to validate the cost of creating it. All construction
projects have a goal of being completed without having problems of incurring damages to the structure or
people working on it. The project seemingly failed in three out of four of its objectives from the calamity
that happened on the 17th of November, 1981 and the after effects from it.

The three components of a successful project (the

right project, right process, and right people) are essential as
they govern the outcome. Based on my research on the topic,
the Manila Film Center failed greatly in the aspect of
process. The project was rushed. According to the same
article, the construction on the lobby employed a thousand
workers to complete it in a mere 72 hours (normally would
take 6 weeks to complete). This tight schedule would have
likely doomed the project from the start. The Esquire article
states that on November 17 at 3 am, scaffolding on the 4th
floor collapsed and due to the short time frame of the build,
the concrete was still drying at this point. This resulted in the
at least 169 workers being buried in the cement and many
losing their lives. This event kickstarted many of the events
what would lead to the downfall of the structure. The
disapprovals of subsidies for the upcoming film festival to
be held created a funding issue (Katherine, 2003). The
reputation (or infamy) the building received (such as rumors
of hauntings and supernatural occurrences) along with the
criticism and later fall of Marcos led to this building being
Image 3: News on the accident
abandoned for a great period of time and only being picked
up on occasion for certain events and festivities.

Image 4: Accident Cause

 Additionally, it was stated that Unesco provided assistance and were consultants in the projects. It
was also stated that they visited the site and "were responsible for major consultations on the structure's
erection. With this in mind along with the fact that many engineers would have been hired fully knowing
the timeframe of the project, I would also say that the project also lacked the right people. They may not
have lacked in terms of capability or skill but the lack of good judgement they had, along with those of
the Unesco consultants, may have led the accident. Many engineers today are aware of the time needed to
construct certain structures. Based on the CE 124 class I have taken the previous semester, it may take
several months to construct a house, even if work was done efficiently. Processes like drying concrete
take time and would be very essential for load bearing components. The lack of good judgement from
those in charge (Imelda Marcos included) is a contributing factor to the accident that occurred.

To summarize, the project was lacking in time.

The rush resulted in wrong processes to be done and
headed by the wrong people. The lack of good judgement
by those in charge and their failure to change the
problematic schedule set for completion and prevent the
accident resulted in its failure. Additionally, their efforts
to cover up the problem led to further loss of life, a
choice that would be very detrimental to the buildings
future. The Manila Film Center was completed however
but it had many differences from what was originally
planned and it would not be considered a successful
project. Additionally, it would be very problematic to
convey the build to be the "success" it was intended to be.
It failed to gain the approval of many and failed to earn
Image 5: Rescue Effort
enough to validate its construction.

There are many things that I would have done differently. As the person in charge of the project.
the first thing to change would be the duration of construction. I would extend the construction time and
make it more realistic. This would allow proper steps to be taken such as the drying of concrete and
would put less stress on the workers and in turn lessen the likelihood of accidents. As an engineer, I would
inform the client of the unreasonable schedule and the possible consequences. I would also try to extend
the project duration or turn down the schedule due to its unreasonable short duration.

The way the accident was also handled should also be addressed. Another aspect of construction I
learned from CE 124 is worker safety and the safety manual that should be included along with the
construction documents and specifications. This includes the actions and precautions that should be done.
One given that should have been done is in the case of major injuries, quick actions should be to avoid
further injuries or in some cases, the loss of life. Actions such as calling for medical assistance would be
appropriate. This was not done. Based on the article, first responders were only allowed in 9 hours after
the accident, resulting in the concrete hardening and many losing their lives. Lives could have been save
if people were allowed in the area. This is what I would have done. Hiring and stationing many safety

 officers would also be done due to the shear amount of workers in the site. This would also allow for
more to be done as more hands will available to call for help and assist in the rescue efforts.

References:
- https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/17/21/40-years-after-manila-film-center-tragedy-labor-leaders-
lament-continued-injustice
- https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/manila-film-center-haunted-a1729-20191107-lfrm2
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_Film_Center