Killer quake might strike Metro Manila

The killer earthquake that struck Bohol and Cebu provinces was unexpected as these places are seldom visited by strong tremors.

People in Metro Manila and other areas in Luzon should be prepared for a big earthquake since a fault underneath the earth cuts through Marikina and surrounding areas of the city.

The Bohol and Cebu earthquake, described as one with the energy of 32 Hiroshima bombs, killed at least 93 persons (as per Inquirer’s report of Wednesday’s count), toppled old churches and buildings and destroyed bridges and highways.

If that 7.2-magnitude tremor shook Metro Manila and other areas in Luzon, it would have wrought more damage and killed more people than the Bohol-Cebu quake.

On February 8, 1990, during a 6.8-magnitude quake, a school building collapsed in Cabanatuan City killing many students, a first-class hotel toppled over in Baguio City that buried many guests and downtown Dagupan City sank several feet deep below the surface.

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Despite the exposé in several newspapers and on television news—and mention in this column—of the illegal five-story structure under construction on Santolan Road in Quezon City, City Hall has not moved to stop it.

The building was given a permit for two floors but the owner added three more without the supervision of a civil engineer.

During an earthquake, even less strong than the one that struck Bohol and Cebu, the building could topple over on nearby shacks in a squatters neighborhood and kill many residents.

I am told the owner of the building is related to a City Hall official, the reason it cannot be touched.

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Members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Highway Patrol Group (HPG) in Cebu has a new way of making a lot of money: Apprehend vehicles with old stickers, impound them and demand P200,000 each for their release.

The reason given for impounding those vehicles is for “verification” which takes a very long time if the owner doesn’t come across.

The Cebu Daily News, in its Oct. 12 issue, said that a 24-year-old businesswoman, Jane Katherine O denounced SPO1 Aldrin Gulingan of HPG-7, for allegedly demanding P200,000 from her for the release of her impounded car.

Some businessmen from Cebu City, whom I won’t name, came to Manila to report to this columnist the extortion activities of the HPG cops in Cebu.

They cited the same modus operandi applied to them that SPO1 Gulingan did to Ms O.

They identified the HPG-7 personnel involved in the racket as Senior Insp. Joselito Lerion, PO2 Romeo Guirigay, PO1 Alex Bacani, PO1 Jonard Dagangan, PO1 Edwardson Masanque and PO1 Erlando Metante Jr.

They complained that Supt. Romualdo Iglesia, HPG-7 chief, didn’t act on their complaint against his men. That’s why they came to me all the way from Cebu.

I immediately called the office of Director General Alan Purisima, PNP chief, and reported the Cebu businessmen’s complaint to one of his aides, Senior Supt. Guillermo Eleazar.

Eleazar said he would forward the complaint to the PNP chief.