Recently, Central Luzon and other
nearby areas felt the power of a 5.7 magnitude earthquake that hit the
archipelago with its epicenter in the town of Castillejos, Zambales. The
earthquake started at approximately 5:05 in the afternoon of that fateful day
as it struck damage to homes and establishments in Metro Manila, Pampanga and
other nearby areas. The damage brought about with this disaster cost some
millions of pesos in damages to properties and loss of countless lives and
livelihood in the town of Porac, Lubao and Floridablanca, Pampanga.
The collapsed of the four storey
building commercial building in Chuzon Supermarket located in the downtown of
Porac town in barangay Cangatba which killed a number of people and injured
some of the shoppers. This avoidable incident is an eye opener for local
officials in terms of proper implementation and inspection of building and compliance
on the National Building Code of the Philippines. Thus, it reflects the
non-compliance of the owner and the contractor of that particular establishment
putting the public in danger. Right now, the Chuzon supermarkets are totally
closed with the orders of President Rodrigo Duterte a week after the incident
and it is undergoing investigation by different government agency particularly,
Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
In the outskirts of Porac town’s
barangay in Planas and Camias which also felt the tremors affecting the lives
of the local Aeta (katutubo) tribal people in the area where reported to have
losses by local disaster and risk reduction management offices administered
local government units of Porac and other nearby towns of Floridablanca and
Lubao. It was also learned through observations of rescuer in the hills of
Porac where the katutubo lived the structure are constructed with concrete
hollow blocks but they have no reinforced steel bars to support the structures
against earthquake which believed the observers caused the death of the victims in that
particular area. Thus, this shows non-compliance on the basic standard of
construction from the National Building Code.
In Metro Manila, there was damage
on a building located in Taft Avenue which is one of the buildings inside the
campus of Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC). The tilting of the building was
believed to be caused by liquefaction on the ground (loosening of the soil)
where this building stands. DPWH also mentioned in their reports that the
building should immediately evacuated and not to be used at that time. The UN
Residences Building located beside the EAC have no damages however, it is a
danger to the residents of the said building if another aftershock happens it
could destroy the nearby building and might create havoc in the neighborhood.
For Real Estate Professionals
like us who market properties, we usually ask the developers for clearance with
PHIVOLCS because of some of the areas of Pampanga where affected by lahar in
the early to mid-1990s particularly parts of Bacolor, Porac, Floridablanca and
Mabalacat City. We also look on the geohazards and flood maps provided by local agencies in determining the right property for our clientele.
The bottom line on this incident reflects to possible home buyer on how value of properties can go lower if the location of the place are affected by such preventable catastrophes that can happen in our future. Example of these are doing due diligence in the part of the buyer including the real estate sales person or real estate broker selling a properties to prospective buyer. In an ABS-CBN article published in 2009 shows how a homeowner was affected by rampaging waters from Marikina River and the treacherous Tropical Storm Ketsana ("ONDOY) wherein it greatly affected the communities leaving their homes from this tragedy.
To be continued on our next article on Part 2.
C. F. Baluyut Realty is an accredited realty firm that adheres to the highest possible satisfaction on our real estate services in Pampanga, Philippines. We pay a lot of attention to details in getting the right property for you at the right time in the right price. For more information on our real estate portfolio available in Pampanga, Metro Manila or nearby areas. You can visit our website at https://www.cfbaluyutrealty.com.