In light of the destructive earthquake that hit Myanmar and Thailand, a legislator pushed for the enactment of a bill approved by the House of Representatives meant to make Philippine infrastructure more resilient against natural disasters.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte appealed to the Senate to prioritize House Bill 8500 or the proposed “New Philippine Building Act,” which aims to prepare the country for the so-called “Big One” — an earthquake that experts warn could at anytime knock down at least 10 percent of structures in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces.
“As we express our sympathy and support for tremor-devastated Myanmar and Thailand, I am hoping that last week’s magnitude-7 tremblor that sadly shook our two Southeast Asian neighbors would serve as a strong impetus for our senators to pass their counterpart to the House-approved climate-proofing overhaul of the Philippine Building Act,” Villafuerte said.
The House-approved bill aims to amend the country’s 47-year-old building code.
According to Villafuerte, who co-authored the bill, it preserves the power of local government units (LGUs) to issue their own statutes or regulations concerning buildings in their respective localities as long as these ordinances jibe with the proposed law.
Over the weekend, authorities reported that the 7.7-magnitude quake in Myanmar and Thailand thus far claimed the lives of at least 2,000 and injured more than 3,000 others.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that four Filipino professionals were unaccounted for and among the missing individuals in Myanmar.