BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson is encouraging the 31 local government units (LGUs) in Negros Occidental to impose stricter building codes.
The Feb. 6 magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Turkey and Syria that killed over 44,000 people triggered fresh calls from lawmakers to overhaul the 46-year-old National Building Code, and prepare the country for the “Big One.”
In Turkey, a large number of structures collapsed following the quake due to poor building standards, lax policing of building codes, and alleged corruption between local governments and building contractors.
According to Lacson, while contractors are following the building code and are compliant with the required permits before construction, even LGUs are now requiring establishments to secure occupancy permit before operating.
“It’s a matter of implementation lang. I would really like to encourage our LGUs nga wala dapat shortcuts because any shortcuts could lead to disaster,” Lacson said.
In 2018, Dr. Renato Solidum, Department of Science and Technology (DOST) secretary and concurrent Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) director, said LGUs in Negros island should seriously look into building new earthquake-resistant structures as well as retrofitting the existing ones.
He explained buildings should be constructed with hollow blocks that are six-inches thick and use vertical steel bars with a spaced diameter of 10 millimeters, or 40 centimeters to each other.
Over the past few years, several new fault lines were also discovered not just in Negros but also in neighboring Panay Island, capable of generating strong tremors.
Last week, Solidum urged LGUs in Western Visayas to update their earthquake disaster assessment response.
The strongest earthquake to jolt Western Visayas was the magnitude 8.2 “Lady Caycay” on Jan. 25, 1948. It destroyed 55 Spanish-era churches and even triggered a tsunami./PN
