Cebu City building project suspended after wall collapse

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CEBU CITY, Philippines—An ongoing construction of a 10-story building on a province-owned lot in Salinas Drive, Barangay (village) Apas, this city, was ordered suspended on Monday following the collapse of the facility’s 20-meter wall early Sunday that damaged several houses.

The collapse of the wall damaged at least five houses in the village, which were constructed adjacent to the wall, according to Apas barangay captain Ramil Ayuman.

Ayuman said that at around 11 p.m. Saturday, Senior Police Officer 3 Zosimo Nigre, a resident of the village, informed him about the unstable condition of the wall.

The barangay officials then warned the occupants of nearby houses before the collapse at 2 a.m. Sunday. Ayuman said no one was hurt but portions of five houses were damaged.

Alvin Santillana, operations officer of the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said the Office of the Building Official (OBO) and the City Engineering Office had issued a cease-and-desist order against the Megawide Construction Corp., the company undertaking the construction of the building.

The 10-story building is among the structures that Filinvest plans to build on the 1.2-hectare property owned by the Cebu provincial government. Filinvest and the Cebu provincial government recently entered into a joint venture agreement for the development of the property.

Santillana said the collapse of the wall could be caused by the ongoing excavation for the slope protection of the project.

He said the contractor should implement safety measures required by the OBO and the city engineering officer if they were to continue with the project.

The measures include the temporary relocation of the affected families until the completion of the construction, Santillana said.

The other requirements would be based on the assessment and recommendation of the structural engineers of the Cebu City government, he added.