Lacson pushes for stronger Building Code after devastating quakes

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake produced this harrowing tableau of Eva’s Hotel in Kidapawan City in October.  (Willamor Magbanua/Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines—Amid the devastation wrought by recent strong earthquakes in the country, Senator Panfilo Lacson pushes for the strengthening of the four-decade-old National Building Code of the Philippines.

Lacson, in his Senate Bill 1239, underscored the need to review the 1977 National Building Code to update the overall policy on how buildings and structures are built in the country

“Not to mention the country’s geographical location along the boundary of major tectonic plates and at the center of the typhoon belt, coupled by its socially and economically vulnerable population, it becomes even more imperative to review our four-decade-old National Building Code,” Lacson said in his bill.

Lacson pointed out that last Dec. 15, a deadly magnitude 6.9 quake hit Davao del Sur, causing the collapse of at least two buildings and a water reservoir.

SB 1239, which Lacson filed two days after the devastating quake, pushed for a multi-sectoral effort, led by the Department of Public Works and Highways, to make buildings resilient to other calamities such as fires and cyclones as well.

Reforms sought by the proposed new Philippine Building Act include:

• Streamlining the building classification and permit application process
• Consideration of multiple hazards and new factors in building design
• Creation of an inter-agency and multi-sectoral regulatory body
• Regulations for old buildings’ assessment and maintenance
• Incentives for retrofitting and use of environmentally sound and sustainable materials and technologies.

Last Sunday’s tremor killed 13 people and injured more than 200 others, totally and partially damaged 25,000 houses, and destroyed close to 600 schools and other private and public buildings in a large swath of Mindanao, which is still recovering from a string of deadly quakes in October.

The Philippines sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where continental plates collide causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.