The House Committee on Public Works and Highways, chaired by Surigao del Sur 1st District Rep. Romeo Momo, on Monday, Feb. 20, underscored the need for a new Philippine Building Act to ensure the safety of public and private infrastructures from devastations brought by natural calamities, such as typhoons and earthquakes.
Citing the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Turkïye and Syria earlier this month, as well as the Philippines’ own vulnerability to natural disasters, the lawmaker bemoaned the current National Building Code, which was promulgated in 1977.
“Needless to say, we should learn from the grim consequences of these catastrophes. We should urgently put into place effective measures to mitigate the impact of hazards. We may not be able to regulate the hazards of earthquakes and typhoons; but through legal measures we can regulate and mitigate the exposure and the vulnerability of our buildings and structures and their occupants to these hazards,” he said in his opening remarks during the initial deliberation for the proposed eight measures on the establishment of the new building code.
“One of these measures is to improve and strengthen our policies and rules to enhance the safety and integrity of our buildings, both public and private, and both existing and those still to be built. We, therefore, find it imperative for Congress to pass a new Philippine Building Act,” he added.
Momo shared that the proposed measure was also approved at the committee level during the previous 18th Congress, but had remained pending before the Committee on Appropriations “for lack of material time.”
“It is our respectful appeal to all our colleagues in this House of the people - nasa mga kamay natin ngayon, ang kaligtasan ng ating mga kababayan laban sa mapaminsalang mga sakuna (it is in our hands now the safety of our people against the devastations of such catastrophes) - that we immediately and urgently approve this vital measure to make the buildings in the Philippines much safer for our fellow Filipinos and more resistant to natural hazards, for the benefit of the present and future generations,” he told his colleagues.
While there is already a draft substitute bill to consolidate the measures filed by several solons, Momo said this has not been approved “to allow other comments.”
He is hopeful, however, this would be passed in the next committee meeting.
The substitute bill seeks to consolidate the following measures: House Bills (HBs) No. 815 by Rep. Michael Romero, 1180 by Rep. Salvador Pleyto, 1205 and 1207 by Rep. Faustino Michael Carlos Dy III, 1409 by Rep. Keith Micah Tan, 2392 by Rep. Marie Bernadette Escudero, 3442 by Momo, and 3686 by Reps. Luis Raymund Villafuerte, Jr., Miguel Luis Villafuerte, Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata, and Nicolas Enciso VIII.
HB 3442, or the “Philippine Building Act of 2022” by Momo seeks to establish a classification system for buildings, requirements for each type of construction, occupancy, location and zoning, hazard zones and special sites, and design.
It also wants the formation of a National Building Office to issue and promulgate rules, approve changes on the standards, issue appropriate orders, such as cease and desist and demolition, and appoint local building officials and Regional Building Appeals Board.
Pleyto, who proposed HB 1180, also highlighted the “urgency” of approving the Philippine Building Code of 2022 “the soonest possible time.”
“Thus, I call upon our colleagues with the assistance of those experts as our resource persons who are present today to work hand in hand in coming up with the building code that would encompass all the requirements for safe building whether bungalo or multi-level one,” he said.
Romero’s HB 815 underscored the purpose of a new building code.
His bill said it would, among others, “Safeguard life and protect people from injury; Ensure the health and well-being of the people who use them, without impinging on the safety of the general public or endangering the environment; Protect property from physical damage; and Reduce and manage hazards, exposures, and vulnerabilities, thereby minimizing disaster risk.”