Quake-weary but ready, schools await class opening
The Department of Education (DepEd) isn’t leaving to chance the safety of students and teachers, particularly in the schools transected by the West Valley Fault (WVF) amid persistent worries that it might rupture into a major earthquake.
Before the opening of school year (SY) 2015-2016 for public schools Monday, Education Secretary Armin Luistro had personally visited and inspected three schools in Muntinlupa City that sit directly on top of the WVF to help determine which buildings are still safe for use.
Luistro went to Pedro E. Diaz High School (PEDHS), Alabang Elementary School, and Buli Elementary School (BES) and met with its school officials to get updates on the status of school buildings and Monday’s opening of classes.
Upon consultation with the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) as well as engineers on the structural integrity of the school buildings, Luistro said that classes in PEDHS will open as scheduled on Monday, June 1 despite having five of 11 buildings off-limits due to the fault. Classes in Alabang ES will also reopen on Monday.
“Kung mapatunayan ng engineers na nasa ibabaw ng fault [ang building], ito ay titibagin. Kung malapit o nasa buffer zone, ire-retrofit ang mga building (If engineers confirm that the building is on top of the fault, it will be torn down. If it’s just near the fault or within the buffer zone, it will undergo retrofitting),” Luistro said.
The remaining open space, he explained, will have permanent markers to warn the public that these will be offlimits. “The permanent markers also include information on Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRRM),” he noted.
No effect Meanwhile, PEDHS Principal Estrella Aseron said the declaration of some of their buildings as unsafe won’t affect the re-opening of their classes.
“Academic classes will be held at PEDHS while technical-vocational classes will be at the nearby Alternative Learning System (ALS) center,” she added.
DepEd-Muntinlupa Schools Division Superintendent Mauro de Gulan bared that the affected buildings will be closed down to ensure the safety of both students and faculty.
Meanwhile, Luistro announced that classes in Buli ES will start on June 8 even as DepEd rushed to prepare makeshift classrooms or Temporary Learning Spaces (TLS) to accommodate students. “Classes at Buli ES will start a week after the opening of classes in all public schools because the school has to ensure necessary preparations for the required number of classrooms,” he said.
Meanwhile, De Gulan said that a Senior High School (SHS) will be set up in Buli Elementary School.
As per Phivolcs, the WVF traverses 42 barangays in Quezon City, Marikina, Pasig, Makati, Taguig, Muntinlupa, and another 30 barangays in Bulacan, Laguna and Cavite. DepEd said that there are also 140 public schools located in various barangays straddling the Valley Fault system.
Movement within the WVF – which the Seismology bureau claims is “long overdue” – will result to a 7.2-magnitude earthquake. Experts said that an earthquake of such strength would level Metro Manila.