Davao business leader calls for review of building code

DAVAO CITY – Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. president Arturo Milan called for a review of the four-decade-old Presidential Decree (1096) or the National Building Code of the Philippines to provide stricter regulations and standards on building applications.

During Wednesday’s “Habi at Kape,” he said it is time to amend the law, enacted on February 19, 1976 during the term of late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., to compel developers and residential owners to conform to building standards.

He said there should be a new set of standards on structural design and construction methodology, particularly in the construction of houses, as most of those who lost their homes due to the powerful earthquakes last month had their homes built without proper standards.

“There is a need to amend and review the Building Code to set standards on the structural design and construction methodology,” he said.

Milan said he saw several houses destroyed in Makilala, North Cotabato during a relief operation of the DCCCII.

“I saw a house in Makilala that was torn in half – that part of the kitchen and the other half the living room,” he said.

As of Tuesday, Milan said the Asia Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management Philippines (APAD Philippines),

a transnational aid alliance, recorded a total of 42,196 families or 260,286 individuals, 22,678 houses totally damaged, and 13,082 houses partially damaged in earthquakeaffected areas in Mindanao.

He said members of the local chapter of the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers are now conducting an inspection of all structures in Davao City.

Japheth Diones, vice president internal affairs of the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders Associations, Inc. (CREBA) Davao, said many of the prospective condominium unit buyers backed out from ongoing sales transactions after a five-story condo tower collapsed due to the magnitude 6.5 earthquake last October 31.