The Historic Fire Guts Manila Post Office Building

Manila’s Central Post Office, one of the Philippine capital’s most historic buildings, has been destroyed by fire overnight, officials said Monday morning.

The shell of the neoclassical style building, built in 1926, was still standing. But Postmaster General Luis Carlos said the building was completely gutted, “from the basement to the ground floor all the way up to the fifth floor.”

“The building is still there, but the ceiling has fallen down,” Carlos told reporters.

Firefighters said they were trying to determine the cause of the blaze, which started in the basement on Sunday night. At least one person was injured in the fire, police said.

Located along the Pasig River near Manila Bay, the Post Office is one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks. Designed by two Filipino architects, Juan Arellano and Tomas Mapua, it was partially destroyed during the Battle of Manila in World War II, but was restored in 1946.

The facility was the main hub for mail distribution in the capital. Mr Carlos said it was unclear how many parcels and letters were lost. Among the many items believed to have been destroyed in the blaze were valuable works of art that were copied for stamps, Mr Carlos said.

One historian, Manuel L. Quezon III, whose namesake grandfather was the president-in-exile of the Philippines when Japan occupied the country during World War II, said the fire was just the final blow to Manila’s architectural heritage. He said many buildings that survived the war had not been properly restored.

Mr. Quezon proposed that the post office shell be retained and used to house an expansion of the National Museum of the Philippines.

“The post office has been a white elephant for decades,” he said. “But the sturdy shell can be saved and rebuilt for the National Museum.”