Construction in the Philippines is a mess. It's mostly bricolage and jury-rigging. It's a surprise anything works. Especially egregious is the lack of safety on so many construction sites. Take a look at this guy moving heavy cement drains while wearing nothing but slippers.
The man could lose his foot and apparently not even he cares. Certainly his supervisor doesn't care or he would have provided boots or spent him home. You can watch the full video here:
I have written at length about how construction sites in the Philippines are very unsafe. From not wearing harnesses to wearing flip flops instead of boots a premium is not put on safety. A recent DOLE report says more than half of 100 construction sites inspected in Manila are violating safety rules.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1207975 |
More than half of close to 100 construction projects inspected in Metro Manila are not compliant with occupational safety and health (OSH) standards, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported on Wednesday.
Based on the report of the Bureau of Working Conditions (BWC), the DOLE said 52 of 95 construction projects it has inspected since from Aug. 1 to 15 were found to have violations.
Among the top violations recorded are non-submission or no copy of the Construction Safety and Health Program in the workplace and the absence of or inadequate designated OSH personnel, such as safety officers and first aiders.
Other top violations are non-conduct of mandatory OSH training for all workers, including toolbox meetings; absence of a safety and health committee; and non-issuance of personal protective equipment (PPE) to workers and inadequate or improper use of PPE.
The 20 construction sites that are found to have violations of PPE are advised to implement immediate correction.
Furthermore, an authority to inspect will be issued immediately for a complete inspection of the said sites, while the remaining sites will be continuously monitored by the team.
Those with findings on OSH personnel are referred to appropriate training, such as the 40-hour Construction Occupational Safety and Health Training provided by OSHC or any DOLE-accredited safety training organization and the Standard First Aid and Basic Life Support Training provided by any first aid training provider for first aid certification.
The site visits by the DOLE team, composed of personnel from the BWC and Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC), and labor inspectors from the DOLE-National Capital Region on ongoing construction projects in the region started on the first week of August.
On the other hand, the DOLE reminded construction sites to strictly comply with OSH standards to ensure safe and healthful working conditions.
It noted that major accidents resulting in disability or death, or major illnesses are likely to occur among high-risk establishments if no preventive or control measures are in place, the guidelines further state.
Safety violations have consequences. A day after this report was published a wall at Quezon City hall collapsed.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2023/8/18/1-dead-4-hurt-as-wall-collapse-in-qc-hall-construction-site |
A construction worker died while four others were hurt after a wall at a construction site at the Quezon City Hall compound collapsed on Thursday evening, Aug. 17.
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said that rescuers responded to the area after the wall collapsed at the Civic Center B Building, Quezon City Hall at around 10:14 p.m.
The fatality was identified as Russel Guezo, 20, who was trapped under the collapsed wall.
The BFP said his body was retrieved at around 11:51 p.m.
The three injured victims were identified as Russel Erezo, 22, of Siargao Del Norte; Erwin Ramos, 32, and Joshua Garcia, 23, both from Novaliches, Quezon City; and Christian Mamposte, 20, of Barangay Krus Na Ligas, in the city.
"The local government has instructed the City Engineering Department to investigate the collapsed part of the wall this evening at the construction site at the Civic Center B Building of Quezon City Hall," the local government said in a statement.
"Based on the initial report, a part of the wall of the building collapsed where the private contractor was supposed to place a scenic elevator," it added.
The city government said that among the factors it will investigate are the system implemented by the contractor at the construction site and whether it gave importance to the aspect of occupational safety.
What a coincidence! Or is it? It's not clear why this wall collapsed. It could have been anything from lack of safety measures to using substandard materials. The fact is Philippine construction sites remain dangerous and that is a bona fide measurable fact acknowledged by no less than the DOLE.
Why are bridges in the Philippines collapsing? Let's take a look at five cases from this year and see what we can learn. We shall do this in chronological order.
April 29th, 2022
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| https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/dead-philippine-bridge-collapses-heavy-traffic-84365680 |
An old, earthquake-damaged bridge collapsed under heavy traffic in a central Philippine town, sending about a dozen vehicles plummeting into the river below and killing at least four people, officials said Thursday.
Regional police chief Brig. Gen. Roque Eduardo Vega said an initial investigation showed the bridge gave way under the weight of vehicles stuck in a traffic jam on it, including a truck loaded with sand and gravel to be used in the construction of a nearby bridge.
“The weight of the truck and its cargo caused serious tension to the bridge that caused its collapse,” Vega told reporters.
The bridge that collapsed had been damaged by a 2013 earthquake that devastated Bohol, but authorities allowed its temporary use while another bridge was being constructed, police said.
This bridge was earthquake-damaged but was still allowed to be used while another bridge was being constructed. The nature of the damage is not stated but how is it that in 9 years a new bridge had not been built or the old one fixed? That is unconscionable. The straw that broke the bridge's back was a truck which may or may not have been overloaded but certainly strained the bridge to the point of collapsing.
June 15, 2022
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1176828 |
A personnel of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and its two on-the-job trainees (OJTs) were injured after a hanging bridge they were crossing collapsed in Barangay Latazon in the Municipality of Laua-an on Wednesday.
Antique Trade and Industry development specialist Glen Fernando, in an interview on Thursday, identified the injured as information technology personnel John Michael Villabert and OJTs Arlene Bangcaya of Barangay Necesito and Allyn Joy Necor of Barangay Intao, all from the said municipality.
Antique Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (PDRRM) Officer Broderick Train, in a separate interview, said the Municipal DRRMO of Laua-an was able to respond immediately to the scene.
“The cemented post of the hanging bridge toppled while its cable wire has collapsed that caused the accident,” he said.
The bridge collapsed due to overloading, according to Train.
“Villabert and the two OJTs were crossing the hanging bridge ahead of (Provincial) Director Dinda Tamayo when the Latazon hanging bridge gave way that caused the accident,” Fernando said in an interview.
This was only a pedestrian bridge but the cause given for the collapse is that it was overloaded. If a suspension bridge cannot be built that can handle the weight of three people that is definitely a problem.
June 16, 2022
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| https://mb.com.ph/2022/06/16/another-bridge-collapses-in-bohol-2nd-in-less-than-2-months/ |
Nobody was harmed as the Borja Bridge in Barangay Algeria, Catigbian, Bohol buckled while a 12-wheel truck was passing Thursday, June 16.
The Catigbian Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CMDRRMO) said the truck bound for Ubay was loaded with sand when it crossed the bridge.
According to Jake Maglajos of the CMDRRMO, the truck was believed to be over the bridge’s weight limit of 20 tons, causing the structure to collapse. The driver of the truck escaped unscathed.
Maglajos said the bridge is already old and half of its lane was closed after a one-inch gap in its abutment was discovered.
The bridge, which was damaged when a strong earthquake rocked Bohol in 2013, collapsed less than two months after that in Loay, Bohol.
This is another earthquake-damaged bridge which was allowed to be in use despite authorities knowing the bridge was unsafe. Like the previous bridge it collapsed under the weight of an overloaded truck.
September 26, 2022
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1184655 |
A 10-wheeler truck transporting tons of quarry materials is being linked to the collapse of a steel bridge at the boundary of Sibalom and Hamtic towns in Antique province on Monday.
The truck driven by Eljohn Orbigoso was on its way to Pavia town in Iloilo province from Sibalom when it passed by the Buhang-Egaña bridge around 3 a.m. Monday, said Sibalom Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer (MDRRMO) Joel Odango in an interview.
The bridge load limit is said to be only up to 10 tons, but the truck was reportedly carrying around 30 tons of quarry materials.
“The truckload was over tonnage,” Odango said.
“We are still waiting for the DPWH investigation, which we hope would soon release its report, about the real cause of the collapse of the bridge so to know the liability of the driver or the person that had hired the truck,” he said.
The reason for collapse is said to be an overloaded truck but the MDRRMO spokesman says they are waiting fo the full DPWH investigation so they can know the real cause of the collapse. Perhaps it was not structurally sound.
October 20, 2022
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| https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2022/10/21/Pangasinan-bridge-collapses-due-to-overloaded-trucks--says-mayor.html |
A portion of a bridge in Bayambang, Pangasinan has collapsed due to overloaded trucks crossing the bridge, the city mayor said on Thursday.
Two trucks were on the Carlos P. Romulo Bridge when it caved in at 3:37 p.m. in Barangay Wawa, according to Bayambang Mayor Niña Jose-Quiambao.
“Ang nangyari pong insidenteng ito ay dahil sa overload ng trucks na dumadaan sa ating bridge,” the mayor said in a Facebook video.
[Translation: This incident happened due to the overload of trucks passing over our bridge.]
"We also ask for the patience and cooperation of each and everyone as we rise above the situation,” she added.
What does it mean they will "rise above the situation?" Will the companies who own the overloaded trucks be held responsible? Will the DPWH launch a thorough investigation into the structural integrity of the bridge to rule out all causes? Will anyone be held accountable for a situation that need not have happened?
Let's look at one more collapsed bridge from last year.
August 2, 2021
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| https://mb.com.ph/2021/08/02/old-steel-bridge-collapses-in-negros-1-hurt-15-rescued/ |
A bridge in Barangay Balabag, La Carlota City, Negros Occidental was temporarily closed to people and motorists pending its repair after it collapsed while three vehicles were crossing last Sunday, Aug. 1.
The incident was first reported to be in Hacienda La Plata, Purok Bagumbayan, Barangay Don Jorge L. Araneta, Bago City, but upon the conversation of Bago City Mayor Nicholas Yulo and La Carlota City Mayor Dr. Rex Jalando-on, it was found out that it is not in the inventory of bridges under the City of Bago.
A girl suffered minor injuries while 15 persons were rescued from three vehicles crossing the bridge.
Police Lt. Joseph Jaro, deputy police chief of Bago City, said the three vehicles were on a convoy from Pontevedra, Negros Occidental to Barangay Don Jorge L. Araneta for a ministry event when the bridge collapsed while they were in the middle.
The convoy was composed of three vehicles, Jaro said – an Isuzu Crosswind with six persons onboard driven by Christopher Trupa; a Hyundai Accent sedan driven by Anthony Ciocon with no passengers; and an Isuzu pickup truck driven by Ruel Magallanes with six passengers.
Jaro said the bridge could no longer carry more than one vehicle because it was already dilapidated. He said there was no sign placed near the bridge warning motorists to refrain from passing beyond the allowed weight of a vehicle.
He said a girl, who was crossing the bridge, sustained minor injuries, as she was walking in the middle when it collapsed. She was taken and later discharged from the hospital.
This bridge also collapsed due to overloading. However, the authorities knew it to be structurally unsound but no warning sign was placed near the bridge.
Two footbridges collapsed in Iloilo in 2017. The first in February and the second in November. On April 27, 2018 in Zamboanga two bridges collapsed due to the use of substandard materials.
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| https://www.cnnphilippines.com/regional/2018/04/27/zamboanga-bridge-collapse-NHA.html |
Zamboanga City Mayor Beng Climaco blames the National Housing Authority (NHA) for a bridge mishap at a housing site.
Climaco was inspecting projects under the Zamboanga City Roadmap to Recovery and Reconstruction (Z3R) in Brgy. Mariki when a portion of a wooden footbridge collapsed.
The Mayor fell into the water with Negros Occidental Representative Albee Benitez, Zamboanga City Rep. Celso Lobregat, and other local officials.
In an interview on CNN Philippines Balitaan, Climaco said what happened to them was not the only mishap in the housing area.
"A few minutes later, another bridge fell in that same site," she explained.
Climaco said she does not want these to happen to recipients of the units.
"We became ourselves, first-hand victims of the utilization of substandard materials and building projects," she said.
During the recent typhoon Paeng seven bridges in the Western Visayas collapsed .
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| https://www.panaynews.net/storm-puts-spotlight-on-fragility-of-wv-bridges-7-fail-to-withstand-torrential-rains-floods/ |
Are bridges in Western Visayas robust and climate-resilient?
At least seven bridges in the region were damaged by Tropical Storm “Paeng” over the weekend.
One bridge in Aklan, four in Antique, one in Iloilo, and another in Negros Occidental incurred varying degrees of damage due to flooding caused by torrential rains, initial data from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) showed.
It was unclear as of this writing how old those damaged bridges were.
DPWH Region 6 has also yet to clarify how often does it inspect bridges and how regular does it conduct bridge maintenance activities.
It seems the biggest contributing factor to bridges collapsing is overloading. The truck companies which own the overloaded trucks must be held accountable for allowing such a dangerous practice. The second problem is the lack of structural integrity. That bridges damaged by earthquakes are allowed to be in operation 9 years after the fact is unconscionable. The solution is for the DPWH to run an annual or bi-annual check on all bridges to make sure they are safe. That is what Senator Pimentel is calling for.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1683900/pimentel-wants-safety-review-on-bridges-after-bridge-collapse-in-pangasinan |
Senate Minority Floor Leader Koko Pimentel is calling for a safety inspection of the bridges nationwide following the recent collapse of a bridge in Pangasinan which left four persons injured.
“Are all our bridges still safe?” Pimentel said in a statement as he cited other cases of bridges collapsing like the Borja Bridge in Catigbian, Kulafu River Bridge in Davao City, a bridge in Majayjay, Laguna and Clarin Bridge over Lobo River in Loay, Bohol.
“I am worried. The incidents are very alarming. They put doubt on the structural integrity and safety of all our bridges. It is time to evaluate the safety of our bridges,” he added.
According to Pimentel, the government should start ordering an investigation especially after the collapse of Clarin Bridge in Bohol that killed four people and injured 15 more.
“Whether it is a local bridge or a DPWH-constructed and -maintained bridge, the government should order a probe and a thorough and detailed assessment of the overall safety of our bridges led by the DPWH,” Pimentel said.
He added that a regular assessment by the DPWH could prevent any similar incidents from occurring again, as he explained that nothing prevents the DPWH from setting aside some funds from their budget to inspect and rehabilitate local bridges.
With proper engineering and safety measures in place there really is no excuse for bridges in the Philippines to collapse.
It's always shocking to see construction workers in the Philippines not observing basic safety protocols like wearing closed toed shoes instead of slippers while on the job site. The most head scratching violators has to be welders who do not use welding helmets. Instead they wear sunglasses or nothing at all. Here is a welder I recently saw doing something rather stupid and unsafe.
He is not using a helmet or sunglasses to protect his eyes. Instead, he is holding up what looks like a broken phone screen to look through. How is it that these guys can afford the machine but not the proper equipment like a helmet so the machine can be safely operated?
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1236992/worker-dies-after-his-jackhammer-hits-live-wire-during-dig-for-water-utility |
Lt. Col. Aldwin Gamboa, city police chief, said in a report that Mark Renier Cardel, 26, was operating a jack hammer to bore into a concrete pavement when he accidentally hit a live electric wire inside a PVC pipe at the village of San Roque around 4 p.m.
Cordel was with four other workers of the Legazpi City Water District during the accident.
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| https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1798594 |
He said the agency’s corruption often happened during the implementation of road projects. District engineers (DE) reportedly connived with politicians, including the representatives of the Lower House.
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| https://www.philstar.com/cebu-news/2007/01/22/381277/dpwh-adopts-code-sms-stop-graft-corruption |
To curb graft and corruption, the Department of Public Works and Highways reminded all its officials and employees to strictly abide by the recently approved DPWH Code of Conduct for Officials and Employees.
The agency formulated the code in support of the government's thrust to stop the practice of graft and corruption among public agencies. This is the first time that the officials and employees of a government agency themselves made their own code of conduct to follow.
DPWH is known as among the most corrupt agencies of the government. In fact, surveys conducted by the Social Weather Stations, always include DPWH in the top five list. In the 1999 and 2000 survey of the SWS, it was tagged as the most corrupt among government agencies
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1072275/reenacted-budget-woes-dpwh-workers-greet-new-year-jobless |
Records from the Region 8 office of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) showed that 3,786 workers—personnel listed as contractuals or under the job order (JO) category—have been told not to report for duty starting Jan. 1, as the agency could no longer pay their salaries.
Tonette Lim, DPWH regional information officer, said it would be unfair to ask JO workers to report for work without pay while the proposed P3.8-trillion 2019 national budget remained pending in Congress.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1076437 |
“This is in support to the call of the President to ease traffic not just in Metro Manila but in the whole country as he cited in his SONA that the country is losing billions of pesos a month due to traffic congestion. Especially here in San Juan, we know that the area is crowded, we have many PCPs that are in sidewalks. And because the people see that these are in sidewalks, they will imitate them and build structures. We don't want that,” Albayalde told reporters, who personally demolished the PCP 6 together with National Capital Region Police Office director, Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar and San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1149164/ncrpo-to-demolish-35-more-police-precincts-that-obstruct-roads-sidewalks |
In an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel, Eleazar said 24 of the police offices are on sidewalks, six are on center islands, while five are encroaching public roads.
There were initially 37 police offices within Metro Manila that were obstructing public roads, but two of them — a PCP in San Juan City and a Compac in Malabon City — were already demolished, the NCRPO said.
Eleazar said however the NCRPO cannot just remove the precincts without ensuring relocation sites.
“We do not want to sacrifice or compromise the peace and order in the locality,” he said.
While the order of President Rodrigo Duterte is to reclaim public roads being used for private purposes, Eleazar said the NCRPO decided to also demolish its precincts and compacs that are obstructing roads to serve as an example to the public.
(We still have to correct it. These offices have been there since the 80s and was not flagged. For whatever reason reason that it was there and since there was no strong political will in the past, [we still have to demolish it].)
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/943244/news-mmda-pasay-city-obstruction-sidewalk |
Lim said they decided to demolish the outpost themselves after barangay officials took no action despite the three notices sent to them.
According to Barangay Chair Dexter Mangorangca, they were just being cautious because they did not want to be asked by the Commission on Audit why the outpost was demolished a year after its construction.
He added that they spent around P200,000 to build the structure, which was meant to provide additional security in the area.
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| https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/05/19/roads-sidewalks-cleared-of-obstructions-in-barangay-206-in-tondo-manila/ |
Personnel from the Sidewalk Clearing Operations Group and Task Force Special Operations spearheaded by MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim inspected Dinalupihan Street in Tondo under the jurisdiction of Barangay 206, Zone 19, District II in Manila.
Illegally parked vehicles, mostly privately owned, were towed, and sidewalks were cleared of obstructions like canopies and ambulant stores.
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| https://www.philstar.com/metro/2004/07/24/258605/mmda-resume-sidewalk-clearing |
Last February, Fernando temporarily shelved the program after reportedly receiving criticisms and minimal support from city and municipal officials.
"But later, we received a direct request to conduct sidewalk clearing operations from Valenzuela, Caloocan and Muntinlupa. In other areas, some barangay officials sent requests through their mayors," Esquivel said.
He said newly elected Valenzuela Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian has asked the MMDA to assist them in removing obstructions along the sidewalk. The MMDA began clearing roads in Valenzuela three weeks ago.
Last month, the MMDA confiscated a Komatsu 12 bulldozer that was parked at the 7th Avenue and Baltazar street in Caloocan City. They learned it was owned by a barangay captain who happens to own a junk shop.
Esquivel said the impounding of the bulldozer should serve as a lesson to erring officials. They would bill him for the personnel and equipment utilized, including a crane and trailer bed that haul off the heavy utility vehicle.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/689492/cops-wrecking-crew-stinky-after-qc-slum-demolition |
ROCKS, bottles and plastic bags containing human waste rained down on a police-backed demolition team before it could secure and begin tearing down an informal settler community in Barangay (village) South Triangle, Quezon City, on Tuesday.
Despite the conduct of a “predemolition conference” between the residents and the local government to prevent any untoward incident, violence still marked the clearing operation in an estimated 2,000-square-meter private property at the corner of Mother Ignacia and Scout Bayoran Street, hurting a policeman and a demolition crew member.
According to Quezon City Public Affairs and Information Services Office (Paiso) officer in charge Regina Samson, the structures in the area were earlier declared illegal by the city building office and were also considered fire hazards by the Bureau of Fire Protection.
Samson said the city government had also been conducting dialogues with the settlers for the past two years regarding their eventual eviction from the property, which is owned by the firm Service Leasing.
As many as 300 families had occupied the area but around 200 already relocated and were given financial assistance by the city government, she said. Only 87 families remained as of Tuesday’s demolition.
The city government had identified this section of South Triangle for possible tourism-related developments, Samson added.
