Heritage Plaza in Silay City: Conservation, the Signing-and-Sealing Rule, and a Fee Dispute
The 0.8-hectare plaza in Silay City fronts a 1920s Gabaldon-style school and a 1930s church, both in the local heritage inventory and covered by RA 10066. The LGU wants to remove two 70-year-old acacia trees to make room for a 300 m² sunken interactive fountain, replace the original 1950s molded concrete benches with black granite, and mount a 6 m LED screen on the church side of the plaza. A councilor has asked you to sign and seal plans prepared by an unlicensed draftsman and to date them two months earlier so the project can be bid before the May elections. He has also proposed a 20% deduction from your fee because 'planting plans are just drawings.' The plaza is used daily by vendors and students, and an existing 1:12 ramp at the church entrance is used as a shortcut.
1. State your conservation position on the trees, the benches, the sunken fountain, and the LED screen, and identify the approvals needed.
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Apply the standard conservation sequence: retain first, repair second, replace last, and keep any new work reversible and distinguishable from the original fabric.
Trees. The two 70-year-old acacias are mature canopy in a plaza with little shade. Removal should be a last resort, requires a tree-cutting permit from the LGU (and DENR where applicable) plus replacement planting, and should be supported by an arborist's assessment. The fountain can be located elsewhere or made at grade.
Benches. The 1950s molded concrete benches are original fabric. Do not replace them with granite; repair and repaint, and add new seating in a clearly contemporary and reversible detail.
Sunken fountain. A 300 m² excavation inside a heritage setting damages archaeology, severs tree roots, creates a maintenance and safety liability, and is not reversible. Convert the idea into a shallow at-grade water feature or a dry plaza with lighting.
LED screen. A 6 m screen on the church elevation is a visual intrusion and a light-pollution problem. Refuse it in that location; offer discreet, timed lighting instead.
Approvals: NCCA and NHCP clearance for any modification of a property covered by RA 10066, local heritage council and LGU permits, a heritage impact assessment, and consultation with the parish and school. Put all of this in writing before design development.
2. The councilor asks you to sign and seal the draftsman's plans and to backdate them. How do you respond, and what is the basis?
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Refuse both requests, in writing, and copy the LGU planning office.
Signing and sealing another's work. Under RA 9053, landscape architecture plans must be prepared, signed, and sealed by a licensed landscape architect. Signing and sealing work you did not prepare and cannot verify is misrepresentation of professional responsibility, breaches the code of ethics, exposes you to liability for errors you did not make, and is a ground for administrative action before the PRC Board. There is no version of this where the seal is a formality.
Backdating. Altering the date on a sealed plan to fit a procurement schedule is falsification of a professional document. It also taints the bidding process and can expose both the LGU and the professional to protest or criminal complaint.
Constructive alternative: offer to take responsibility for the design properly - review and adopt the drawings through a documented process, redo the sheets under your supervision, and issue them with the correct date. If the schedule cannot accommodate that, the project is not ready to bid. Say so plainly and put it in the minutes.
3. How do you handle the 20% fee deduction demand, and how do you address the vendors, students, and the existing ramp in your design?
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Fee. The fee is compensation for professional design, specifications, coordination, construction administration, and professional liability - not for the physical act of drawing. A unilateral 20% deduction is a variation of the contract and should be answered by reference to the signed agreement and the professional fee schedule, not negotiated informally in a meeting. Offer to scope the work: if the LGU wants to remove construction administration, that is a documented reduction in scope with corresponding risk transferred to the LGU, not a discount on the same service.
Users. Vendors and students are the plaza's actual daily users. Removing them to produce a rendering-clean scheme will fail socially and politically. Survey them, provide designated vending bays with power and water, and keep the shortest desire lines open.
Ramp. A 1:12 ramp at the church entrance is at the maximum permitted slope under BP 344 and is being used as a general shortcut. Keep it, verify handrails, landings, and a level landing at both ends, and widen the approach so it works for both wheelchair users and the pedestrian traffic it now carries. Document accessibility compliance in the plan set.