The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) wants all local government building officials to undertake a rapid assessment of buildings in their respective localities in the wake of the destruction wrought by the magnitude 6.9 earthquake in Cebu province.
‘We focus on this first, then we deal with the resiliency designs and enforcement of the building code,’ Arrey Perez, newly appointed DPWH Undersecretary for technical services, National Building Code Development Office and operations for external convergence projects, said in a text message to The STAR.
Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon rushed to Cebu province yesterday morning – on President Marcos’ orders – after inspecting the devastation in Masbate caused by Typhoon Opong.
At a briefing, Dizon said the DPWH was fast-tracking the conduct of structural assessment, especially of the bridges in the province.
‘Right now, obviously, we’re still reeling from this very tragic event yesterday, which struck in the middle of the night,’ he said.
‘The instructions to us by the President, apart from making the initial assessment, is to respond immediately to the needs of Bogo and the other LGUs in northern Cebu which were severely hit by this,’ Dizon said. ‘For DPWH, our task was to, first of all, clear the roads. So all the national roads are being cleared right now. A lot of them have already been cleared.’
‘The national highways that got disfigured, a lot of them have already been flattened so that the goods and the essential services heading to the north, especially in Bogo City, will be unhampered,’ the DPWH chief said.
‘So we are working round the clock, 24/7 tayo dyan. We will be working overnight to make sure that your roads are cleared.’
Bacolod Rep. Albee Benitez also called on the government to conduct a thorough review of the country’s infrastructure facilities to ensure they would be able to withstand natural disasters.
‘Even as we have yet to assess the full extent of the destruction caused by the earthquake, it is also urgent that the government conduct a thorough review of the disaster-worthiness of all public infrastructure,’ Benitez said.
‘First expose the shoddy work, punish those guilty for it, then take the necessary steps to ensure that no public building, road or bridge will contribute to loss of life, injury and damage to property,’ he said.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM), for its part, has called on agencies to activate their Quick Response Fund in response to the earthquake in Cebu.
With P8 billion still in the budget pile as of Oct. 1, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (NDRRM) Fund is on standby for support in repairing earthquake damage in the region.
‘We also have the NDRRM Fund on standby for larger-scale needs, including the repair of damaged facilities and heritage sites, to help ensure that our communities can rise again as quickly as possible,’ the budget secretary said.
‘Likewise, DBM’s regional offices in Central and Eastern Visayas were instructed to coordinate with their regional counterparts from the OCD to identify requirements where DBM assistance may be extended,’ she said.
Speaking to reporters at the House of Representatives, Science Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. said thousands could be killed if an earthquake similar to the one that hit Cebu strikes at the heart of Metro Manila.
A hypothetical magnitude 6.5 quake in the metropolis would be deadly because of the region’s many buildings and dense population, Solidum said.
‘It is a reminder of the seriousness of the efforts that we need to do, ensuring that your family and the community are prepared in your areas,’ he said.
Metro Manila residents have long feared the arrival of ‘The Big One,’ or a magnitude 7.2 earthquake that experts say can happen as early as 2058 or as late as 2258.