MANILA, Philippines — To prepare communities for the threat of strong earthquakes, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has ordered local government units (LGUs) to conduct comprehensive infrastructure audits on public and private buildings in their jurisdictions.
In issuing the directive, the DILG said yesterday assessing the structural integrity of buildings is crucial to ensuring public safety and minimizing casualties and damage during major earthquakes.
Apart from government facilities such as hospitals, schools, offices and emergency response centers, the DILG said the audit must also include privately owned structures.
“With the increasing frequency and intensity of earthquakes, proactive preparedness is our best defense,” the DILG said in a statement.
The DILG partnered with key government agencies and stakeholders in 2024, including the Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines and the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers to develop the Harmonized Infrastructure Audit Tool (HIAT), which provides a standardized framework for evaluating building resilience and identifying potential vulnerabilities before seismic disasters.
A total of 18 high-risk LGUs in Metro Manila, Calabarzon and Central Luzon, areas covered by the West Valley Fault, were trained to carry out infrastructure audits.
As of Oct. 15, 32 LGUs in Metro Manila and Cavite which are outside the WVF corridor, have completed a similar training. Ten more LGUs in Central Luzon will get the same training within the year.
The DILG has developed a corps of trained coaches composed of technical experts from professional organizations, academic institutions and local government functionaries from 74 LGUs nationwide.
These coaches are equipped to mentor local audit teams and cascade the use of HIAT across their respective regions.