It's unusual for a first-time congressman to rally colleagues in the plenary to get behind his or her pet measure in his or her first privilege speech, but that's exactly what Bulacan 6th district Rep. Salvador Pleyto did.
During a recent "privilege hour" in the House of Representatives, Pleyto underscored the importance of the immediate passage of his measure, House Bill (HB) No. 1180 or the Philippine Building Act of 2022, in light of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck Luzon.
"Two scientific studies of the possible effects of a major earthquake in Metro Manila--the Greater Metro Manila Area Risk Analysis Project and the Metro Manila Impact Reduction Study--have drawn similar scenes of apocalyptic doomsday: 35.000 deaths. 500,000 injuries, 500 simultaneous fires in 98,000 to 170,000 collapsed structures, and about P2.4 trillion in damage," he said in his privilege speech.
Pleyto cited the warning of then-Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) chief Renato Solidum that the West Valley Fault, which stretches from Bulacan through Quezon City and eastern parts of Metro Manila to Laguna and Cavite, could move anytime and trigger a massive earthquake.
The fault supposed "moves every 400 years on average", and it last moved in 1658 or 359 years ago.
"Stopping the natural phenomenon of earthquakes is certainly not humanly possible, but being prepared is all what mere mortals can do to possibly avoid extensive damage and loss of lives," Pleyto said, and engineer.
"I therefore am calling the attention of the honorable members of this august chamber to give special consideration, as a top legislative priority, to the enactment of House Bill No.1180," he said.
The full title of the bill is "An Act regulating the planning, design, construction, occupancy, maintenance, and demolition of buildings, promoting building resilience against earthquake, fire, flood, landslide, storm, volcano, and multiple hazards, enacting a new Philippine Building Act, thereby repealing Presidential Decree No. 1096, and for other purposes."
"Indeed, the enactment of a new Philippine Building Act to replace the antiquated 45-year-old P.D. 1096 titled 'Adopting a National Building Code of the Philippines (NBCP)'...is long overdue and will ensure that more precious lives and properties are saved and protected," Pleyto, who at 80 years old is among the oldest of the neophyte solons in the 19th Congress.
"While this privilege speech is not yet a sponsorship speech for the bill, I just would want to emphasize that, the bill embodies certain key provisions among others, Classification System, General Requirements for Design, General Requirements for Construction, General Requirements for Materials, and Provisions for Administration of the Philippine Building Act," he said.
Should the bill get enacted, the Philippines "will be better prepared to mitigate the loss of lives and damage to property. Our buildings, houses, and infrastructure will be more resilient in meeting the effects of earthquakes and other calamities,' Pleyto noted.
"A new building code for the Philippines is urgent and a must," he stressed.