Camarines Sur Representatives Migz Villafuerte (5th District) and Luigi Villafuerte (2nd District) are calling for the passage of a bill that seeks to overhaul the Philippine Building Code (PBC), which has been in effect since 1977. The proposal comes in light of the recent series of strong earthquakes that have rocked several parts of the country.
The Villafuerte brothers also expressed support for the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in their plan to update their two-decade-old study on the potential impact of “The Big One” earthquake in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.
“As we express our deepest sympathies for the victims of the recent earthquakes in various provinces from Cebu to Ilocos Norte, we hope this spate of tremors would give impetus to the Congress to act timely on a consolidated version of the House-approved bill in the 19th Congress meant to overhaul our Philippine Building Code (PBC), which was issued in 1977, yet,” the Villafuertes said in a joint statement.
The Philippine Building Code, created through Presidential Decree (PD) 1096 in 1977, sets the standards and requirements for building design and construction in the country. The lawmakers stressed that updating the decades-old code is vital to ensure that structures across the Philippines are built to withstand stronger earthquakes and other natural disasters brought by modern-day challenges and climate change.