Duterte orders LGUs to inspect buildings amid series of quakes

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte visits the grave of his mother Soledad at the Roman Catholic Cemetery in Davao City on October 31, 2019. JOEY DALUMPINES/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA — President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Thursday directed local government units (LGUs) to conduct an immediate inspection of buildings within their respective jurisdictions.

“Well, it is time for the LGUs to inspect all buildings.

 Umpisahan na nila ngayon (They should start now),” the President said in a chance interview in Davao City after his visit to his late parents’ tomb at the Roman Catholic Public Cemetery.

“The earthquake season has come. I don’t know if it will occur again between now and tomorrow.

 Ang problema nito, wala ako dito, sa Bangkok ako (The problem is I will not be around, I will fly to Bangkok) so I do not want disasters to happen when I am not around,” he added.

Duterte’s order came after another deadly quake jolted some areas in Mindanao on Thursday morning, the second in a week and the third in a month.

The directive was also issued a day before he leaves the country for his participation in the 35th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit and Related Summits on Nov. 2 to 4.

The President said he wanted to make sure that all facilities are “strong enough to withstand earthquakes”.

A total of 6,009 families or around 30,045 individuals from the Davao Region and Soccsksargen have been affected by both the magnitudes 6.6 and 6.5 earthquakes that struck several parts of Mindanao on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, according to a report as of 8 p.m. Thursday by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

Fourteen people, including two children, were confirmed dead, the NDRRMC said.

Around 403 people were wounded, while two are still missing, in the aftermath of the earthquake.

The NDRRMC also reported that the powerful tremor damaged a total of 2,817 infrastructures in Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao Region, Soccsksargen, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

On Thursday, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar called on Congress to amend Republic Act (RA) 6541 or the National Building Code of the Philippines, saying that the current framework of the “outdated” law is “very lax”.

The scope of RA 6541 includes “location, siting, design, quality of materials, construction, use, occupancy, and maintenance” of both private and public buildings.

“Let us not wait for a disaster to happen before we become strict in granting building permits,” Andanar said.