Japan agency urges review of PH rules on buildings

DAVAO CITY—A Japanese aid agency is reviving a call it made to the Philippine government for a review of the Philippines’ national building code in the wake of the 7.2-magnitude quake that struck Bohol and other parts of the Visayas and Mindanao.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the day after the massive quake hit Bohol, the Japan International Coordinating Agency (Jica) quoted Tatsuo Narafu, a senior Jica adviser on architectural intervention for disasters, urging the Philippine government to review its building code.

The Jica statement quoted a speech delivered by Narafu, saying that among the steps needed to improve resiliency of public infrastructures is a review of building codes.

The speech being quoted was delivered by Narafu in a recent forum on infrastructure safety and resiliency that was sponsored by the World Bank.

In the speech, Narafu said resilient infrastructures did save lives.

“We recommend a review of the building codes in the Philippines, as well as enhancing the capacity of engineers and the private sector, to improve the resiliency of public infrastructure,” said Narafu in his speech.

Narafu, described by Jica as having “extensive experience in building resiliency initiatives in Japan,” said infrastructures could become resilient through better design and construction.

He also said that aside from ensuring the construction of more resilient infrastructure, the Philippine government also needed “to assess policies on billboards, water tanks and other materials, like beams and columns, which are hazards during strong typhoons and earthquakes.”