My Autobiography: David Balleza K(C)atague: Restoration of the Historic UP Chapel of the Holy Sacrifice in Diliman

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

Restoration of the Historic UP Chapel of the Holy Sacrifice in Diliman

I have pleasant memories of this Chapel. The first mass and completion of this chapel was on December 20, 1955. That day was my 21st birthday. It was also the year of my appointment as Assistant Instructor in Chemistry, College of Liberal Arts(at that time). For more detail On my personal involvement with this Chapel, Fr Delaney and UPSCA visit the site at the bottom of this page.

The following write up is from Goodnewsphilippines.com. It was published in FB and here is my comment.

"I have pleasant memories of this Chapel. Under the foundation of this chapel is buried 1000 names of Students(UPSCANS), Professors and Diliman Residents in 1954 who went to mass daily for 365 days and contributed to the building fund. I am very proud to announce that my name is one of the 1000 names in the foundation of this historic landmark".

The University of the Philippines Chapel, also known as the Parish Church of the Holy Sacrifice in Diliman, Quezon City, has received initial restoration work to repaint its interior and exterior facades and repair its worn-out parts.

The 65-year-old circular structure with the unique dome is a national historical landmark and cultural treasure completed on December 20, 1955. Designed by national artist for architecture Leandro Locsin and built by Engr. David M. Consunji, the founder of DMCI group of companies, the chapel underwent initial restoration from July 2020 to December 2020.

After a series of consultations with UP officials and the UP Parish, DMCI Homes led a team that facilitated the repair of masonry cracks, de-clogging of downspouts and drains, and the installation of new electrical fixtures. Repainting work was performed on the chapel’s iconic dome and roof as well as its walls, columns, eaves, under slabs, ceilings, and railings.

The murals depicting the Stations of the Cross, the marble altar, the floor mural, and the cross at the center of the chapel – all handiworks of national artists – were left untouched during the rehabilitation.

In 2021, DMCI is scheduled to next restore the chapel’s ceiling or the underside of the dome.

University of the Philippines Chapel — Restored walls of the U.P. Chapel.

The UP Chapel is considered an important architectural landmark due to its unique and timeless design as it is the first circular chapel in the country with the altar in its center for a more personal and engaging community worship experience. It is also the first structure in the country to feature a remarkable thin-shell concrete dome, made possible through Engr. Consunji’s innovation in the mixing and delivery of concrete.

It is the only structure in the country to feature the works of five national artists:

Arturo Luz designed the floor mural, titled the “River of Life”, executed in terazzo and radiating from the altar
Napoleon Abueva created the giant wooden double-sided crucifix and the altar base
Vicente Manansala and Ang Kiukok painted the 15 murals of the Stations of the Cross
Leandro Locsin designed the chapel structure

These five men—Locsin, Luz, Abueva, Manansala, and Kiukok—were later on named National Artists of the Philippines, making the UP Chapel the only structure in the country to feature the works of five National Artists. With its unique and timeless architectural design, the UP Chapel has been recognized as a National Historical Landmark by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, and a Cultural Treasure by the National Museum of the Philippines.

More Historical Notes on the UP Chapel

The UP Chapel had its beginnings in 1954 when Fr. John Patrick Delaney, S.J., who was the UP chaplain during the transfer of the University’s campus from Manila to Diliman in 1949, saw the need for a more permanent structure to replace the sawali-bamboo building that until then had been serving as the house of worship for the Catholics in the UP community.

Fr. Delaney came up with the concept for the UP Church and commissioned young, up-and-coming UP artists, engineers, and an architect to build the structure. Architect Leandro Locsin designed the church according to Fr. Delaney’s vision of a Church centered on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, with the priest close to his parishioners in a spirit of oneness and communion—a Church whose doors would always be open to anyone seeking to talk to God.

Engr. Alfredo Juinio, who served as the structural engineer for the project, and Engr. David Consunji, founder of the DMCI Group of Companies, constructed it as the country’s first circular, concentrically arranged chapel with the altar at its center. It is also the first to have a thin shell concrete dome, supported by pillars located at the sides of the church; so there are no supports to block the space inside. The thin shell-dome was made possible through Engr. Consunji’s innovation in the mixing and delivery of concrete.

Churches around the Philippines have been undergoing restoration work in preparation for the 500th anniversary of the arrival of the Christian faith in the islands, including the San Agustin Church in Intramuros and the Barasoain Church in Bulacan.

Related Post:

The wedding cake Decor of our wedding-1:1000 miniature of the UP Chapel, May 8, 1957

https://theintellectualmigrant.blogspot.com/2016/12/remembering-up-chapel-of-holy-sacrifice.html

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Highlights of My Professional Career

In my more than 40 years of professional career, I have experienced both working rank and file, as well as supervising the work of subordinates. I have worked in four private firms and the Federal Government, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where I retired. I enjoyed the challenges and difficulties of both types of job situations. This is the highlights of my work experience story.

My first job after completing my doctorate degree was a Chemist for Chemagro Corporation in Kansas City, Missouri. It was a subsidiary of Bayer Corporation, a German conglomerate. I worked for the analytical chemistry department comprised of about fifty people; half that number was either chemists or biologists. My specific task was to develop analytical methods for the detection of pesticide residues in plant and animal tissues. I worked on my own, similar to six other bench chemists, and we all reported to the same supervisor.

The firm sponsored my visa conversion from a student to a permanent resident, and I was able to legally work and reside in the United States with my family. The company generously took care of its employees. At the end of each successful year, everyone received a 13th month salary bonus. The employees and their families celebrated wonderful annual Christmas parties in a downtown Kansas City hotel, with dancing and free drinks for the whole night.

Inasmuch as I enjoyed and loved working for Chemagro for five years, I found a new job which offered a substantially higher pay. Due to my exemplary work performance, my supervisor preferred and lobbied for me to stay with the company. I had to turn him down because they could not match the package presented by my new employer. It was also a chance for me and my family to move and live in the US west coast, where the mild winter climate is bearable compared to the Midwest.

My next job was at the agricultural research division of Shell Development Company in Modesto, California. I was a Research Chemist, and again I worked individually, same as five other chemists who all reported to a supervisor. My specific duty was similar to my previous job. I worked for them for five years, until the company decided to get out of the pesticide business. They closed their research facility affecting the jobs of more than 200 employees.

My third industrial job was with the agricultural research division of Stauffer chemical company, located in Richmond, California. I was a Senior Research Chemist doing the same project as my two previous jobs. I worked for twelve continuous years for the company, with outstanding annual job performance. I became a Principal Research Chemist, the highest attainable non-supervisory position.

One day in 1986, my supervisor informed me that my job had been eliminated, and I had one day to vacate the facility. It was the most dreadful lay off experience in my life. I felt anger, sadness and humiliation to be dismissed from work with one day notice, after all the years of hard work invested for the company. This was an unforgettable incident and was the gloomiest point in my professional career.
The company terminated sixty research employees, who were upset of the bad news.

One of the chemists was distressed and expressed his outrageous anger by threatening the company and its workers. He told his supervisor of his intention to bomb and burn down the laboratory. He was immediately escorted by the security staff out of the building and into his car. He was informed to leave behind his personal belongings; they will be mailed to his residence. He was warned never to show up again near the company premises or risk getting arrested.

My supervisor was kind and allowed me to take my time to pack up my belongings. It took me two days to clear up my workplace, after toiling for a long period in the same jobsite. We were provided clerical help and office space, in preparation to look for another job, such as updating our resumes, and using the computer and copy machine. We were given six weeks of separation pay plus benefits.

Fortunately, with the help of a friend who is a Church parishioner, I found another job thirty days after leaving Stauffer chemical company. He hired me as a senior research chemist and as a group leader with two technicians to supervise. It was in the same field as my expertise in my previous three jobs spanning the last twenty one years. My new employer was Chevron Chemical Company, and which was located in the same area as my former employer.

This job gave me the introduction and basic knowledge of managing the work of subordinates. I worked for Chevron Company for four and a half years. The company decided to consolidate their research facilities in Texas, and lay off all its research employees. This time I had enough distress and agony from working, and eventually getting laid off from several private companies. To avoid going through any more miserable layoffs, I made a vow that I would never again work for a private company.

In my work experiences, there were noticeable and unavoidable jobsite occurrences. One can never miss the office romantic relationships between co-workers, both illicit and permitted. Though it was frowned upon, there was a boss and staff relationship, which was used as a ploy to get ahead in the company. Some relationships had chemistry, no pun intended, but some never worked out. Oftentimes, there was a sense of distrust among bench chemists for some workers who unjustly obtained preferred work assignments.

Some employees resorted to bribing superiors to get special privileges, such as being able to attend choice conferences and meetings in exciting venues or locations. Likewise, politics was always present at the worksites. It was during an era when various forms of harassment, equal opportunity and discrimination laws were not yet enforced in the workplace. Occasionally, an unexpected chemical explosion happens in a laboratory setting, where luckily no one got seriously hurt.

In the three private companies I worked for, I was able to publish scientific journals for some of the research studies and analytical methods which I developed for the respective companies of Chemagro, Shell Development and Stauffer.

After deciding and making a vow to avoid working in the private sector, I made my new goal which was either to work for the state of California, or the Federal government in Washington, D.C. Four months after I lost my job in Chevron, I was lucky and joyful to be hired by the Food and Drug Administration as a review chemist in the fall of 1990.

In 1994 I was promoted as an Expert Research Chemist with a GS-14 rating. My expertise was on Anti-malarial and Anti-parasitic drug products. In 1997, I was again deservingly promoted to Chemistry team leader, supervising the work of six Chemistry reviewers including five with doctorate degrees.

As team leader, I was responsible for prioritizing, assigning, and assuring the technical accuracy of all chemistry, manufacturing and control issues for all new drug applications submitted to the Division of Anti-Infective Drug Products, Center of New Drugs.

It was part of my responsibility to give advice, instruct and promote high morale and teamwork in my group. My work in the FDA is confidential, until the drug patent on the products I worked on has expired. There are manufacturing supplements that I have approved that are now open for the public in the Internet.

In 1998, I won the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Award. The citation reads, “For outstanding accomplishments in fostering the objectives of the EEO Program by hiring minorities and encouraging their professional growth while providing excellent leadership.” I have received numerous certificates of appreciation, awards in leadership and communications, commendation for teamwork and excellence in the accomplishment of the FDA mission. I have also received several letters of appreciation from private industry for my review work.

There are many good things working as rank and file while enjoying doing one’s job individually. It is a humbling, satisfying and productive experience, if one can work in harmony with one’s immediate supervisor. Working individually develops one’s skills in goal setting and scheduling. But in general, the financial rewards are less than a person who has supervisory responsibilities.

Managing the work of others has its challenges. Moreover, it develops one’s skill in handling and developing people, and the compensation rewards and benefits are better. Due to additional duties, responsibilities and leadership, supervisory work can be more stressful than working as a subordinate. However, supervisory jobs give one more personal growth and satisfaction, based on my personal experience. My work in FDA as a team leader managing the work of six scientists had been the happiest and rewarding work experience in my career in Chemistry. You might also like:

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

Restoration of the Historic UP Chapel of the Holy Sacrifice in Diliman

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