How Filipinos Can Mitigate the Unimaginable Damages that a “Mother of Natural Disasters” Will Cause |
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Sections - Ecology and the Environment | |||
Written by Bobby M. Reyes | |||
Saturday, 19 March 2011 14:20 | |||
Part IV of the Series, “Filipino Armageddon”
As if you're waiting for a mishap to happen T hus, Virgie Novanario-Atienza, a New Jersey-based granddaughter of Filipino revolutionary hero Don Belong de los Reyes, posted in the Facebook, after she read Part This writer replied to Ms. Virgie, who is a first cousin of his wife, Ceny de los Reyes: “While we can ask God to spare us from any calamity, the Almighty helps those who help themselves. You can read the suggested ways in Part 4 of my series on how we can mitigate the disastrous effects of the Big One, if it comes in our lifetime. Thanks for reading my essays, Bobby.” This series started with this writer’s assertion, if not a fearless forecast, that “A 9.0-Magnitude Quake Will Destroy Metro Manila and Kill At Least 5.53-million Inhabitants Even Without a Tsunami Following It.”
Metro A Filipino Version of “The H ere are again the suggested ways that the Filipino people and their government can do to prepare with the urgency of a Filipino version of “The Manhattan Project” for the coming of the Big One (as discussed primarily in this article, RP Must Undertake Earthquake-Education and Retrofitting Programs In View of Recent Quake-caused Disasters): 1.0 The people must not wait for their government, especially the local-government units (LGU), to implement “Earthquake Education and Preparedness Program” (E2P2). 1.1 As done in 1.2 The schools, parishes and congregations ( 1.3 The 2.0 The tenants of edifices, as may be assisted by LGU or NGA inspectors, must engage the services of structural engineers to inspect all buildings and infrastructures, identify the so-called “brittle buildings,” whether owned by private landlords or public entities and recommend ways and means to reduce the risks. This step will naturally include a review of architectural-design records and on-site inspections, if not testing of structural components. 2.1 Doing the building inspection and retrofitting programs will minimize damage and destruction when and if a strong earthquake or other natural disaster hits the homeland. The recommended programs can make the edifices and people working or living in them have better odds of surviving massive quakes or other natural calamities. 2.2 There should be a law that mandates the diversion of the office or apartment rentals to an “Inspection-and-Retrofitting Fund” when the building owners refuse to participate in the said activity. 2.3 The Philippine government and the private sector must tap local and Overseas-Filipino research scientists, engineers, educators, and the civil service to bridge the many gaps between earthquake research, emergency management, and the general public’s training and capability – before it is too late. 2.4 When estimates for retrofitting programs may be more-costly than in constructing new edifices, then a proposed consortium of public-and-private owners and the insurance industry may devise ways and means of funding the replacement of the “brittle buildings” with new quake-resistant edifices that are built with the latest state-of-the-art designs and construction methods. 2.5 There should be a new law that mandates the use of carbon-fiber meshes in wrapping concrete columns and walls, so as to hold them when the building is shaken during earthquakes or typhoons. 3.0 Funding the E2P2 and the Building Inspection-and-Retrofitting Program (BIRP). 3.1 The public must force the national policy-and-decision makers to use entirely the congressional pork-barrel expenditures of more-than PHPesos 32-billion (spelled with a “B” and worth about US$800-million @ $1:PHP 40) per annum to be used exclusively for the E2P2 and the BIRP. Doing this suggestion will boost the Philippine economy and in a matter of 10 years, the expenditure of 320-billion pesos will dramatically change the survival chance of people living in the 3.1.1 The country’s college and high-school students must lead the public in forcing the end of the congressional pork barrel and using the funds instead for the E2P2 and the BIRP. 3.2 The recommended fund of PHPesos 32-billion per year can be increased by levying owners of private buildings, which will be replaced with quake-resistant edifices, with mandatory contributions to the said fund. 3.3 The Overseas-Filipino communities may be persuaded to buy bonds for the said E2P2 and the BIRP. There will be more incentives for the Filipino expatriates if the assistance of multinational and multilateral agencies is secured in form of grants or outright assistance in technology and/or equipment. 3.4 There should be a crash program to build first earthquake-proof new homes at more-secure (elevated) sites for the families of the 4.0 There are other steps in generating more funding (for instance by cutting down on government waste and devoting the savings to the E2P2 and BIRP) and mechanisms that would balance the technical issues with the need to generate a political will among the people and their leaders (political issues). 4.1 Perhaps the President of the 4.2 The NECC can then proceed to make operational the suggestions in this series with the urgency of a Filipino version of “The Manhattan Project.” (To be continued . . .) To view Part I, please click this link: A 9.0-Magnitude Quake Will Destroy Metro Manila and Kill At Least 5.53-million Inhabitants Even Without a Tsunami Following It To read Part II, please go to: How and Why a 9.0-magnitude Quake May Wipe Out Metro Manila and Cause 5.530-million Deaths Here is Part
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