Building code enforcement in question anew after Mindanao quake
MANILA, Philippines — The magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck Mindanao has put building-code enforcement back under scrutiny, after the Office of Civil Defense said recovery should include a renewed push to implement the country’s building and structural standards.
OCD spokesperson Junie Castillo said Tuesday, June 9, that while the government’s immediate focus was relief and emergency response, long-term recovery should include the rehabilitation of critical facilities and stricter attention to the National Building Code and the Structural Code of the Philippines.
"When it comes to long-term plans and long-term solutions, first is the recovery and rehabilitation of infrastructure, especially critical facilities. Those should be planned for, repaired and funded," Castillo said in Filipino in a PTV "Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon" interview.
The country also needs to catch up on implementation of structural standards meant to make buildings more resilient to strong earthquakes, Castillo said.
"With the structural code, what is stated there is that it could withstand a magnitude 8 earthquake, so that is where we need to catch up in implementation," he added.
Castillo did not say which damaged structures may have failed to comply with building standards or whether authorities had identified specific construction violations, but footage of the wreckage in General Santos City and other parts of Mindanao point to the lack of structural integrity of several buildings, including schools, commercial centers and other public spaces.
As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, OCD said 47 infrastructure facilities had been damaged by the quake.
Damage assessment
The agency recorded 2,505 damaged houses, including 460 totally damaged homes and more than 2,000 partially damaged houses.
The quake has affected 32,926 families, or around 145,000 people, across 163 barangays in Regions 9, 11, 12 and the Bangsamoro region, according to OCD.
Of the affected population, 8,725 families, or 31,700 people, were staying in 54 evacuation centers. Another 1,804 families, or around 8,900 people, were staying outside evacuation centers.
Castillo said the areas that sustained significant damage were in Regions 11 and 12, particularly General Santos City and Sarangani.
Hospitals, homes affected
The quake also disrupted some health facilities, with patients moved to tents outside hospitals while authorities assessed building safety and dealt with power outages and aftershocks.
Castillo said generator sets and fuel supply were prioritized for affected hospitals, while the Department of Health led the response to medical needs.
He said the OCD, DSWD, DOH and other agencies were coordinating under activated response clusters to address shelter, food, medical and other emergency needs.
The DSWD had distributed 2,045 family food packs, 2,705 ready-to-eat food packs and more than 300 non-food items, according to OCD. The cost of DSWD humanitarian assistance had reached more than P4 million.
Castillo said the government was not yet seeing shortages in supplies or personnel, with local government units and regional offices leading response operations and national agencies on standby for augmentation.
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