After Bohol quake, a nagging question: Are condos ready for The Big One?

After a destructive 7.2 magnitude quake jolted Cebu and Bohol last October 15, what assurance is there for condominium residents that their developers are ready for The Big One, or a cataclysmic tremor that could damage high-rise buildings?

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) director Renato Solidum Jr. told GMA News Online last July that the next big earthquake in Metro Manila could occur “within our lifetime” if there is a major movement in the West Valley Fault running along Marikina and nearby towns.

Scary scenarios are never far from the minds of residents in Metro Manila – a densely populated metropolis of roughly 12 million people.

After all, it wasn’t too long ago when a 7.7 magnitude quake rocked the summer capital of Baguio City, toppling a number of buildings including the five-star Hyatt Terraces Plaza and the luxurious Nevada Hotel. The 1990 earthquake took nearly 2,000 lives but Solidum said more buildings were left standing compared to those that collapsed.

Major condominium developers are quick to assure residents that in the event of a major temblor, their buildings are generally safe.

“We are earthquake-prone, so we compared Philippine buildings versus the other ASEAN countries like the ones in Singapore and ours are designed to withstand intensity 8 earthquakes,” said Ronald Paulo, vice president for operations at Megawide Construction Corporation.

The firm is a major contractor of well-known residential builders like SM Development Corp. (SMDC), Rockwell Land Corp. and Filinvest Land Inc.

“The structural engineers in the Philippines... took that into consideration already. And every certain number of years, they review and revisit the specifications,” said Paulo.

Condo safety

This is good news for people like Rose Cabacang, who has been living for over a year now with her mother at Greenhills Heights, developed by Megaworld Corp. in San Juan City.

She cited proximity to work and church, as well as access to transportation, as reasons for purchasing a unit. “And yung pagiging low-rise, kasi takot din si mama sa matataas na buildings,” Cabacang added.

In recent years, residents in the metro have shifted their preference towards condominiums, given the rising cost of limited house and lots and the need for proximity to business districts.

Dawn Zoleta and her husband also considered safety and location in their decision to buy a unit in Phinma Properties Inc.'s Fountain Breeze in Parañaque City, after renting an apartment in the area.

“I've read na may fault line sa East Service Road so we chose the other side, sa West Service Road,” she said. “Malapit din sa work and sa gitna kami ng two families namin,” she said.

The West Valley Fault runs from the Sierra Madre Mountains down to Laguna, crossing the key Metro Manila cities of Quezon, Pasig, Makati, Taguig, Marikina, and Muntinlupa.

Resilient to Intensity 8 quake

On August 2, 1968, a magnitude 7.3 quake with epicenter in Casiguran, Aurora was felt at Intensity 7 in Manila, toppling several buildings including the six-storey Ruby Tower, where 268 people were killed.

The disaster highlighted the threats facing the country, which is prone to earthquakes due to its location on the western perimeter of the Pacific Ring of Fire, and the need to have building standards for residential developers.

Major developers like Ayala Land Inc. and SMDC say they follow the National Building Code, which was signed by then-President Ferdinand Marcos on February 19, 1977. Also known as Presidential Decree No. 1096, it sets stringent rules and requirements for the construction of buildings and private houses.

In 1992, the National Structural Code of the Philippines was implemented, requiring developers to check the location of the building and the load combination it can withstand to ensure safety, the Makati City Engineering Office said.

“Our buildings are designed according to the National Building Code, which stipulates that structures must be built to be resilient to an Intensity 8 earthquake,” Ayala Land sustainability manager Anna Maria Gonzales said in an e-mail.

Structural engineer Bow Moreno said buildings that are compliant with the law could sustain cracks on its beams and columns, but will not collapse in an Intensity 7.5 to 8 earthquake.

Know your developer

The key to a resident’s peace of mind when it comes to protection from earthquake disasters is in knowing the building developer, and making sure that they follow government guidelines.

“First, start in awareness. Buildings should have structural soundness certification – look for them, and if there's none, ask,” Moreno said.

The certification is a guarantee that contractors and engineers are strictly following the guidelines of the building code.

Moreno said these are public documents, and should be displayed near the entrance of a building.

Julius Guevara, associate director for advisory and research at Colliers International Philippines, said buildings can be checked using engineering benchmarks, but these can be costly.

“You have to go building to building and do core tests. It's very expensive, but of course, the owner has to really want to do it,” said Guevara, who works for a global property consultancy firm.

It is important for homebuyers to stick with top developers and contractors because they “will manage their buildings and their construction and keep in mind their risks,” he added.

In the case of Ayala Land, Gonzales said the company conducts “technical due diligence processes that assess suitability of sites and provide guidelines to ensure that design safety measures are in place.”

Meanwhile, SM Prime Holdings Inc. executive vice president and chief finance officer Jeffrey Lim said, “We conduct earthquake drills and we comply with the building code.”

Yearly monitoring

Despite the building code, Phivolcs has said many structures in the nation's burgeoning capital have not been assessed for physical integrity.

A national monitoring system is supposed to be in place so local governments can determine if buildings are far from an earthquake fault or designed properly, as poorly constructed buildings will still be vulnerable to destruction.

“The issue though is some of the buildings are non-engineered and most likely walang permit so they have to focus on that also,” Phivolcs' Solidum said.

Atty. Mar Angelo delos Santos of Department of the Interior and Local Government's Legal Services said the National Building Code is enforced by the city and municipal engineering offices of local government units (LGUs).

“LGUs check the requirements submitted by developers in applying for a business permit and if they complied with the safety standards of sanitation, health and fire. But it's the task of the city's engineering offices, in particular, to check if they are compliant with the building code,” he said.

For now, there's no way to tell when or where an earthquake may happen, so experts say residents should take the initiative of ensuring that their buildings are inspected regularly for structural soundness.

“The law is good, but the problem is in implementation. How sure are we if the guidelines in constructing are strictly followed?” notes Engineer Moreno, a structural design specialist.

“Parang human body, dapat may yearly executive check-up. Yearly dapat ang inspection sa buildings,” Moreno added.

Condo resident Cabacang, however, said she doesn’t think earthquake inspections are “necessary kasi never naman na-hit ang San Juan ng earthquakes.”

But they do have an in-house engineer who can be contacted through the condominium administration if there are any problems in a homeowner's unit.

Janice Evangelista, who moved to CHMI Land Inc.'s Kassel Residences in Parañaque City three years ago because of its amenities and tight security, meanwhile said their association of homeowners conducts quarterly inspections of the building clusters. – YA, GMA News