Gravity takes down QC shantytown tower

THE 36-UNIT ‘apartment’ on NIA Road before it was reduced to a giant heap (photo below) on Friday. RAFFY LERMA

Described in some media reports as a “four-story residential building,” it was more of a patchwork of concrete, wooden slats, tarpaulin sheets and corrugated roofing that had managed to remain standing as home to more than 30 families for over a decade.

But gravity finally won and the structure collapsed Friday afternoon in one of Quezon City’s perennial shantytowns.

Luckily, the occupants got an early warning from the walls and floors themselves—which started to move and feel loose the previous night. Everybody was out—and was able to watch—by the time a large section of the apartment gave way around 1 p.m.

Quezon City officials said the “illegal structure,” which had stood undisturbed for 15 years along NIA Road in Barangay Pinyahan, was “unable to carry its own weight.”

It appeared that the owner used whatever material was available as he kept expanding the structure through the years, said Michael Marasigan of the city government’s disaster management office.

Friday’s collapse also showed that it did not have steel supports, which made it even weaker, Marasigan noted.

The Inquirer learned that around 150 occupants had been renting 36 units in the structure at P1,200 to P2,000 a month.

One of the residents, Enriqueta Bullecer, identified the landlord as Eladio Jardeniano, who she said was in Quezon province when his apartment fell apart.

A tenant for the last 13 years, Bullecer said her family of six had to make do with a small room where they had to lie close to each other like canned sardines when they sleep.

She recalled that the toilets on the second and third floors of the building started to show signs of weakening as early as 9 p.m. Thursday. By 3 a.m. the following day, fear had spread among the units and the residents started to pack.

By 9 a.m., a section of a wall had crumbled. Then the inevitable happened around 1 p.m.

Barangay Councilor Jonathan Bruce said the now homeless families would be provided tents or given temporary shelter at the village covered court. Rima Granali