Pasay mall safe, unaffected by eruption

MANILA, Philippines — Pasay City government engineers have assured the public that a popular mall in the city was safe to go to after chain messages last week claimed that the establishment’s foundation had been compromised following the eruption of Taal Volcano.

Based on the findings of a team of technical inspectors, Pasay City engineer Edwin Javaluyas said that all the buildings erected and still under construction on the 67-hectare SM Mall of Asia complex, including the grounds, pavements and rocks, remained “intact and [had] no sign of structural damage and cracks.”

“The piles of rock in the seawall are intact and [do not appear to have moved],” Javaluyas said in his report to Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano on Jan. 16.

Upon the mayor’s orders, technical inspectors from the city engineering office conducted a motu proprio inspection and investigation to check if the foundation of the complex had been affected and was in danger of collapsing on Jan. 14, two days after Taal Volcano erupted.

The move was prompted by a chain message being spread on social media telling the public to avoid the area, claiming the mall management had called on their engineers to fix the “broken foundation [of the complex], causing water from Manila Bay to enter from the underground.”

It added that the mall may collapse should the pumping system siphoning the water break down.

SM had denied the chain message, saying the complex was built on “concrete piles that reach the bedrock and [would] withstand extreme situations.”