Ancient building makeover folly

I took the photograph of the Vigan Cathedral at left sometime in 2008. Then I photographed the same church about eight years later in 2016 (right) from the opposite end. To me, this is one example of some people not knowing any better than to leave be what should be left alone. Before the church's walls were plastered and painted over in yellow latex, they were dressed in bare stone that have aged gracefully with a light deposit of green moss. The old stoneface is a second course, beneath it is the original masonry of bricks made from corral sand. It evoked the subtle influence of its baroque architectural origins dating back to the Spanish colonial era. The garish remake at right is only appropriate perhaps if you're endorsing some quick-dry cement product for making roughly-textured walls smooth and shiny.   This is a definite FAIL. The shiny plaster finish is 21st century cladding technology. The local stucco finish of yesteryears is period-correct for an old Spanish church. You shouldn't try to bring a 17th- or 18th-century church into the 21st century. You just don't do that, period.