Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino senatorial candidate Juan Ponce Enrile on Tuesday stressed the need to establish a strong building code following the earthquakes that rattled Metro Manila, Central Luzon, and Eastern Visayas this week.
Enrile, who had just concluded his Northern Luzon campaign in Nueva Ecija on Tuesday, said the recent tremor is a wake-up call for Filipinos that the country is within the earthquake belt.
“I commiserate with the people affected by the last earthquake that happened in Metro Manila and in Central Luzon, especially in Pampanga. I think this is a wake-up call for us to realize that we are within the so-called earthquake belt of this planet and we have to accept that,” Enrile said in an interview.
“We must prepare for it, and one of the preparations that we should make right now, not tomorrow, is to establish a strong building code that can meet any kind of earthquake,” Enrile added.
The former Senate president noted that the deadly impact of recent tremors should be a warning for future instances of stronger earthquakes especially in Metro Manila.
Referring to what officials of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) call the “Big One”, Enrile warned that buildings and other infrastructure might collapse that could produce a deadly calamity.