PEACE-MAKER
Jose de Venecia Jr.
Former Speaker of the House
More than 23,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands injured following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Türkiye and Syria last Monday. Two Filipinos were among those who died in Türkiye.
Reports say that the Feb. 6 earthquake is one of the strongest and deadliest to hit Türkiye in 80 years. A powerful quake killed some 33,000 people in 1939, while 17,000 died in a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in 1999.
The Türkiye-Syria border is said to be one of the world’s most active earthquake zones.
The catastrophic quake that hit these countries reminded us of the powerful earthquake that devastated Central and Northern Luzon on July 16, 1990 which resulted in the death of 2,500 people, thousands injured, and an estimated ₱20 billion worth of damages.
Our own hometown Dagupan City was a scene of massive destruction and looked condemned to extinction when the 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit the city.
Buildings sank by one meter, a bridge collapsed, roads cracked open and trapped many vehicles inside, electric poles crushed, liquid mud emitted because of liquefaction, and a number of people killed and injured.
There was pandemonium, fear, despair, and confusion all around the city. People were running back home or looking for their children as the earthquake hit around 4:30 p.m., when classes had just been dismissed.
The national government considered condemning Dagupan City but we, as then representative of the fourth district of Pangasinan, together with then Dagupan City Mayor Liberato Reyna Sr., Vice Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr., our fellow Dagupenos, and our constituents of the fourth district of Pangasinan pleaded with President Cory Aquino to help us rebuild the city. She did and for which we were most grateful.
Together with the late Camarines Sur Representative Rolando Andaya Sr., we authored the Earthquake Rehabilitation Fund Law which completely rebuilt Dagupan City in two years, as well as paved the way for the rebuilding of Baguio City, Cabanatuan City, and other areas of Pangasinan, La Union, and Tarlac that were destroyed by the powerful earthquake.
We hope that many of us have now realized the necessity of a nationwide preparation in the event of an earthquake and other natural disasters.
Our country is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, being in the so-called “Pacific Ring of Fire” or “Circum-Pacific Belt,” an area around the Pacific Ocean where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.