Duterte tells LGUs: Check integrity of buildings

MANILA,Philippines — With a swarm of earthquakes hitting Mindanao, President Duterte has told local government officials to inspect all buildings to ensure that these can withstand quakes.

While earthquakes are unpredictable, Duterte said local government units (LGUs) should intensify building inspections, including structures given permits under the National Building Code.

Duterte issued the order before he flew to Bangkok yesterday to attend the ASEAN summit.

From his Davao City residence, Duterte called on local officials to inspect all buildings and infrastructure whose integrity was already weakened by the three successive tremors, all occurring in October.

He directed all agencies and LGUs to provide the necessary assistance and immediate relief to those affected by last Thursday’s tremor.

The third strong earthquake, measured at magnitude 6.5, killed five people, injured several others and destroyed buildings that were already damaged by the earlier magnitude 6.3 earthquake that struck on Oct. 16 and another 6.6 quake on Oct. 29.

In Duterte’s hometown, a five-story condominium partly crashed down on its basement and rescue workers scrambled to bring out nine residents, one of whom was injured and brought to hospital.

The residents of the 56-room building had been urged to evacuate after it was damaged by the earlier quake on Tuesday but some defied the warning.

Lawmakers are focusing on the possibility that substandard construction materials had “compromised” the integrity of the buildings and infrastructure in the quake stricken areas in Mindanao.

Agusan del Norte Rep. Lawrence Lemuel Fortun has filed a resolution calling for an inquiry into the manufacture, importation and proliferation of substandard steel products.

Fortun said the use of low-grade steel bars in construction projects might have led to “structurally compromised” buildings, homes and infrastructure that could not withstand quakes and typhoons.

Deputy Speaker Mikee Romero of 1-Pacman and Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza supported the planned inquiry.

Romero said he received complaints from beneficiaries of government housing projects that contractors were using below-par materials, including undersized steel bars.

In fact, he said some congressmen led by then Negros Occidental congressman Albee Benitez, who inspected a Yolanda housing site in Eastern Samar during the last Congress, discovered that the contractor used substandard steel products.

“The use of poor-quality materials in these projects is one of the reasons why intended beneficiaries do not want to accept and occupy the dwelling units,” he said.

Romero called on the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and LGUs to launch frequent inspection and testing of steel products.

ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Eric Go Yap believed that the structural integrity of buildings in the country may have been jeopardized due to rampant importation of substandard steel products that he personally investigated and verified.

“Substandard materials continue to proliferate in the market, particularly steel products, and I strongly condemn these actions that endanger the lives of our people,” he stressed.

Yap said the recent string of strong earthquakes in Mindanao had shown the susceptibility of buildings in the country to damage.

Sen. Christopher Go, on the other hand, wanted a review and amendment of the National Building Code to ensure safety amid recurring natural disasters.

Go earlier filed Senate Bill 205 or the proposed Disaster Resilience Act of 2019, which seeks to establish “an empowered, highly specialized and responsive Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR) with clear unity of command.”

Go is pushing for the creation of a department that will have the full authority and resources to swiftly respond to disasters as well as make communities more resilient to calamities.

The department will provide faster government response to natural disasters and calamities, such as typhoons and earthquakes, by putting together all related agencies under a single office, he said.

The measure also mandates LGUs to build permanent and dedicated evacuation centers that are comfortable and complete with all necessary supplies needed by evacuees. –Jess Diaz, Paolo Romero, Edu Punay