More PHL bridges need retrofitting — DPWH

Amid the powerful earthquake that hit parts of the Visayas earlier this week, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) admitted that more bridges around the country need retrofitting.

 

In a report aired over GMA News TV's "News To Go," reporter Cedric Castillo quoted the DPWH as saying that of the 33 bridges that were supposed to undergo repair, reconstruction, and retrofitting in the last six years, the work on two bridges have yet to begin. The government reportedly released P378,583,000 for the project in 2006.

The TV report did not mention where the two bridges are located.  

The DPWH also reportedly said that they have identified 24 more bridges that are "structurally unsound."  But the department supposedly plans to address this within the year.

 

"Nakikita namin yung urgency whether we are ready or not. Andyan yan eh, gagawa at gagawa kami ng mga dapat naming gawin para ma-strengthen itong ating mga structure," DPWH-National Capital Region (NCR) regional director Reynaldo Tagudando told Castillo in the report.

 

But he noted that they had asked for a P100-million budget last year and that only P41.5 million was granted.

 

"Sa susunod siguro irerequest namin ulit. Of course, kung ano yung macocover lang ng mabibigyan kami ng pondo, yun lang ang magagawa namin," he said.

 

Last Monday, a 6.9-magnitude quake hit a narrow strait between the heavily populated island provinces of Negros and Cebu. Local military officials said over 40 people died while dozens more are said to be injured or missing.   As of Friday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) placed the death toll at 35 while the number of missing persons was pegged at 71.  

 

Warning

 

Also on Thursday, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) Seismology Division officer-in-charge Ishmael Narag said that if there is a good example of a fault system that is "ripe" for a big earthquake, it would be the Valley Fault System that transects Metro Manila.

 

The Valley Fault System runs through the cities of Makati, Marikina, Paranaque, Pasig, and Taguig.

 

"Kung tutuuusin mga lagpas na ng ilang siglo na hindi ito gumagalaw so defintitely identified ito as an active fault," Narag said in the same News To Go report.

 

He likewise explained that with different land movements, different buildings will also be affected. He said "long period and low frequency" groundshaking and earthquakes coming from the sea would affect high-rise structures, like those in Metro Manila. 

 

"Andito ang seat of government... ito yung center of economic activity so kung mangyayari yung Valley Fault event, ang daming pwedeng guguho na mga buildings na hindi maayos ang pagkakagawa," Narag said.

 

Last year, Phivolcs also warned that  the West Valley fault line supposedly capable of producing a 7.2-magnitude earthquake is "ripe" for movement. The West Valley fault is a component of the Valley Fault System and supposedly moves every 200 to 400 years.

 

Phivolcs also said it is possible that a tsunami two to four meters high might occur along Manila Bay should the Manila Trench move. — with Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ, GMA News