IN the aftermath of last Sunday’s tragic building collapse in Angeles City, Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon issued an order to immediately conduct a review of the Philippines’ almost 50-year-old National Building Code. Safety standards are written in blood, and the Angeles disaster is a particularly painful example of this. Nevertheless, Dizon’s quick and proactive reaction, particularly given that the Department of Public Works and Highways was in no way involved in or responsible for the failed construction project, is quite welcome. There are, however, many more critical reforms that need to be made.
The nine-story building under construction collapsed in the predawn hours of Sunday, May 24, also partially collapsing an adjacent apartelle. Twenty-six people, nearly all of them construction workers, were rescued from the wreckage, but four people were confirmed dead, with another 16 missing and presumed dead when rescue efforts were called off and shifted to recovery on Tuesday. A police manhunt is now under way for the building’s owner and contractor, who disappeared after the accident and took no part in the rescue or recovery efforts.
Whether or not the building was actually compliant with the National Building Code and local regulations still needs to be determined. Secretary Dizon’s position seems to be that if the building code — which was issued in 1977, and has not undergone any meaningful review since 2005 — was up-to-date, the accident likely would not have happened. That is an entirely sensible point of view, because one or both of two things must be true about the accident: Either the building was compliant with the building code and other relevant regulations, and its collapse has just revealed a glaring shortcoming in them, or compliance was not adequately enforced and needs to be strengthened.
It has also been pointed out that in the 21 years since the implementing rules and regulations of the National Building Code were last revised, the national environment has changed dramatically. The 2005 review occurred before modern digital and communications technology became something that needed to be integrated into building designs and not simply added on later. The understanding of seismic risks has also greatly improved since then, as has the understanding of requirements for climate resiliency. Even if the Angeles tragedy had not happened, there would be a critical need to review and update the building code; it is simply an unfortunate part of human nature that we often need a tragedy to be prodded to action.
Along with addressing those modern realities, Dizon’s review of the building code reportedly also intends to tackle the chronic problem of regulatory bottlenecks and inconsistent rules and enforcement across local government units, both to ensure uniformity of safety standards and to improve the ease of doing business. There is also reportedly a push to craft a comprehensive “Building Act” in the Senate, which would replace outdated regulations and improve developer accountability. Whether any progress will be made toward that given the Senate’s distraction with unproductive internal politics remains to be seen.
Quite apart from concerns with building regulations are potential flaws in occupational and workplace safety regulations and enforcement, which fall under the purview of the Department of Labor and Employment. Just days into his job, newly appointed Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino has the unenviable task of addressing this aspect of the Angeles tragedy, but to his credit, he has acknowledged that and taken some initial steps to find out what went wrong.
His immediate findings, delivered in a press conference on Wednesday, were alarming to say the least. The reason the death toll from the collapse was so high is that the construction workers were using the unfinished building as a barracks; a practice that is ubiquitous across the Philippines, but is actually prohibited by law. Tolentino also said that it appears the site lacked required emergency equipment, medical treatment provisions, designated safety personnel and that worker records were incomplete or missing.
The cynical among us may say that no amount of regulation in the world is enough when regulating officials are willing to look the other way, or accept favors to sign off on a substandard design or unacceptable working conditions. That is why another critical area of reform, one that has not yet been mentioned, is improving official accountability. Investigations into the authorization trail of the failed Angeles building need to be swift and thorough, and consequences for those at fault, if any, must be equally swift and exemplary.
