STRICT COMPLIANCE to building safety standards and disaster preparedness measures need to be reevaluated, said disaster responders and lawmakers alike following the devastating 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Japan last Friday that triggered tsunami warnings worldwide, including the Philippines.

Undersecretary Benito T. Ramos, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) executive director, has admitted that while Metro Manila’s newly built structures in particular can withstand a 7.0-magnitude quake, the older buildings need to be strengthened or "retrofitted."

"It is true that 25% of our buildings are not compliant with standards for a 7.0-magnitude earthquake and they could crumble," Mr. Ramos said in Filipino during a radio interview yesterday.

The National Building Code of 2000 had adopted and redefined safety standards to make buildings and structures to withstand earthquakes up to magnitude 7.0.

Currently, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has stopgap measures to retrofit bridges, interchanges, hospitals, schoolbuildings and other government buildings, said Mr. Ramos.

"It will take political will [for compliance]," he added.

At the Senate, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and senators Francis Joseph G. Escudero, Loren B. Legarda, Juan Miguel F. Zubiri and Edgardo J. Angara issued separate statements calling for disaster preparedness, particularly in shoring up building capacity.

Mr. Enrile, in a separate radio interview, noted Japan had precedents, though not of the same magnitude, from which they learned to be well-prepared.

"Their infrastructure is strong; in our case, we don’t know if our buildings have the structural capacity," said Mr. Enrile.

"We need to find out what our capabilities are to withstand a large quake and if it’s not adequate we should spend money to prepare. No excuses this time," Mr. Zubiri, meanwhile, said in a text message.

For their part, Ms. Legarda and Mr. Escudero referred to a study conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank that had warned that several buildings in Metro Manila would crumble in a 7.2-magnitude tremor.

The JICA study, presented last February at the hearing of the Senate committee on defense and security chaired by Mr. Escudero, said Metro Manila was not prepared to deal with a 7.2-magnitude earthquake in terms of existing resources and given old building structures around and within the metropolis, and a lack of fire hydrants particularly in Manila, Pasig and Quezon City.

Ms. Legarda, regional champion for the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, recommended that the authorities must ensure all critical infrastructure be evaluated and retrofitted.

Incorporating comprehensive disaster protection from earthquake and extreme climatic events into designs from the beginning will only add 4% to the cost, she pointed out in a statement.

"The DPWH, MMDA (Metropolitan Manila Development Authority) and LGUs (local government units) must... ensure that all public and private infrastructure are resilient," Ms. Legarda said in the same radio interview.

For his part, Mr. Escudero said he is endorsing a request by the MMDA to the Department of Budget and Management and the NDRRMC for an initial capital outlay of P200 million for training and acquisition of additional tools to cope with strong earthquakes and their aftermath such as fire and flooding.

"The amount is considerably small if compared with the gains it will reap in saving lives in an eventuality of disaster," said Mr. Escudero in a statement.

In a radio interview, MMDA Chairman Francis N. Tolentino also said the agency is identifying open spaces for evacuation centers in the event of an earthquake.

The MMDA is also expanding its training for disaster relief volunteers, currently numbering 700.