Earthquake-proof buildings

Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III is correct in saying that repair of the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) needs to be done posthaste.

The center will be used in the meeting of world leaders in the 2015 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit and of Catholic delegates to the 2016 International Eucharistic Congress (IEC)

The Cebu archdiocese likewise needs to proceed with dispatch in raising funds to build the main venue of of the IEC sessions on space within the local seminaries.

But amid all the haste, civil and Church leaders cannot afford to overlook the need to tailor repair and building work to the reality that Cebu is vulnerable to earthquakes and typhoons.

The 15,000-seat IEC pavilion will cost P300 million, said Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, while P70 million is needed to repair the CICC according to Davide.

The Oct. 15, 2013 earthquake all but exposed the unsoundness of large-scale, expensive, publicly-funded infrastructure like the CICC compared with homes of lighter materials and other supposedly cheaper buildings in Cebu and Bohol provinces.

Does the P70 million price tag on rehabilitating the CICC and the P300 million for erecting the IEC pavilion come with the integration of earthquake-proofing into the buildings?

It would be good if the province and archdiocese presented a breakdown of the expenses. Money has to be allotted for safety measures in these buildings. A more transparent and rationalized budget would also encourage funding agencies and donors to put in their share in realizing these projects.

Taking measures to shield these buildings from damage during natural upheavals is an important way of ensuring value for money spent on them.

Far be it for an earthquake or other calamity to strike during the Apec summit and IEC. Nevertheless, it pays to take steps to guarantee disaster resilience in an island that sits within the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire.

This is not only to impress or maximize the security of guests from countries where the Catholic Church is present and our closest economic partners in the community of nations.

This is also for the benefit of Cebuanos and Filipinos in general who must be able use these edifices for various affairs long after the anticipated big events have gone down in history.

We do not want more young, supposedly modern structures like the CICC, built for a summit of Southeast Asian leaders only to turn into a money pit when the earth shook hard in less than a decade.