WHILE Congress is still working on a measure to overhaul the Philippine Building Code (PBC), two lawmakers have voiced support for the plan of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) to update their two-decade-old study on the possible impact of ‘The Big One’-a major earthquake projected to strike Metro Manila and nearby provinces.
While extending their sympathies to the victims of the recent earthquakes that rocked Cebu, La Union, Davao Oriental, Zambales, Surigao del Sur, Southern Leyte, Iloilo, and Ilocos Norte, Camarines Sur Reps. Migz Villafuerte and Luigi Villafuerte threw their support behind the Phivolcs-Jica plan to update the Metro Manila Earthquake Impact Reduction Study (MMEIRS), conducted in 2004 in collaboration with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).
Phivolcs Director Teresito Bacolcol recently confirmed that the review of the Jica study on ‘The Big One’ will begin next year, noting that the West Valley Fault (WVF), which stretches about 100 kilometers across Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, and Laguna, could trigger a catastrophic tremor similar to the 1976 Cotabato Trench earthquake that killed around 8,000 people.
Bacolcol also earlier warned that a potential movement in the Marikina Valley fault system could kill 50,000 people, injure 100,000 more, and damage over 10 percent of residential buildings in the capital region.
The Villafuertes in a statement said that the recent magnitude 6.9 earthquake in northern Cebu on September 30, which killed 76 people and injured more than 1,200 others, further underscores the urgency of revisiting the JICA study and passing a new building code. The tremor was traced to a newly discovered Bogo Bay Fault Line-the first major quake recorded in Cebu in 400 years.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the quake affected 128,294 families, or 457,554 individuals, and damaged over 18,000 houses in Central Visayas.
Following that incident, several other earthquakes struck Luzon and Mindanao, including La Union, Davao Oriental, Zambales, Surigao del Sur, Southern Leyte, Iloilo, and Ilocos Norte, further reinforcing the need for long-term measures to strengthen public safety and disaster resilience.
New building code
These incidents, according to the lawmakers, should serve as a catalyst for Congress to finally enact a new, climate-proof Philippine Building Code.
‘As we express our deepest sympathies for the victims of the recent earthquakes in various provinces from Cebu to Ilocos Norte, we hope this spate of tremors will give impetus to the Congress to act timely on a consolidated version of the House-approved bill in the 19th Congress meant to overhaul our Philippine Building Code [PBC], which was issued in 1997,’ the two lawmakers said in a joint statement.
‘Given the fast-evolving developments, including the emergence of the Philippines as one of the countries most vulnerable to the impact of natural disasters touched off by climate change, we need a new building code aligned with the most modern engineering standards and attuned to the worsening climate-induced environmental calamities,’ they added.
The PBC was established through President Decree (PD) No. 1096 that was issued in 1977 to set standards for the design, construction, and maintenance of structures in the country.
In the 20th Congress, Migz Villafuerte, along with Luigi Villafuerte and Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon and Camarines Sur Rep. Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata, introduced HB 2396, which proposes the New Philippine Building Act.
The proposed law aims to strengthen the country’s resilience against earthquakes, fires, floods, landslides, storms, and volcanic eruptions. It also recognizes the Philippines’ vulnerability, citing a global risk assessment that ranked the country first worldwide as the most disaster-prone nation with a Risk Index of 46.91 percent, significantly higher than its 2018 score of 26.70 percent.
The lawmakers also cited a joint review by the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, which found that the Philippines must modernize its outdated building code to include design provisions for strong wind events, flooding, seismic isolation systems, and vernacular timber buildings.
HB 2396 also seeks to prepare the country for ‘The Big One.’ A counterpart measure is currently pending in the Senate.