24,000 school buildings unsafe says DPWH
By Tonette Orejas
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:53:00 07/25/2008
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – About 30 percent of 80,000 buildings in the country’s public elementary and secondary schools were old and poorly maintained when the Department of Public Works and Highways conducted a study in 2005.
The current number of school buildings that are structurally safe or resistant to earthquakes and typhoons has to be updated, according to Emmanuel Cuntapay, director of the National Building Code Development Office (NBCDO) of the Department of Public Works and Highways.
The NBCDO has no current data since a task force of the Department of Education has assumed the inspection work, Cuntapay said at the sideline of a workshop here on building inspection.
DepEd action
Reached by phone in Metro Manila, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said the agency has condemned or abandoned those buildings found to be structurally unsafe by the DPWH and city or town engineers.
“In Manila, for example, some 60 school buildings were condemned due to earthquakes after a DPWH evaluation,” he said. “Demolition and replacement buildings have been done or are being done.”
According to Lapus, a World Bank study showed that about 15 percent of old schools need repairs costing P48 billion.
DepEd has repaired at least 10,000 classrooms since 2007 and provided minor repair funds to schools yearly.
In Central Luzon, most schools have been replaced following the 1991 eruptions of Mt. Pinatubo.
“Much of these now conform to the 2000 National Structural Code,” Cuntapay said.
Subdivisions mushroom
He found it alarming that many residential subdivisions have sprouted in Bulacan.
The construction permits for these mostly socialized housing projects were issued by the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, and not by building officials.
Cuntapay said the Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines is helping draw up new guidelines in the inspection of residential buildings.
During the workshop, Cuntapay learned that many of the 200 participating building officials have not yet implemented Memorandum Order No. 5.
Issued on Nov. 28, 2007 by Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., the order requires building officials as well as city and town engineers to conduct “an annual inspection of all buildings in your areas of jurisdiction to ensure structural stability and that all architectural, electrical, mechanical, plumbing/sanitary and fire safety facilities and features are properly provided/installed prior to the issuance of renewal of certificates of occupancy.”
Explaining the delay, the participants said they were busy issuing permits and helping implement the taxation programs of local governments.
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