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SEVERAL vehicles were damaged when the wall of an
abandoned building in Binondo, Manila collapsed Wednesday.
Fortunately, nobody was hurt or killed in the incident.
According to police reports,
debris fell from the sixth and eighth floors of the abandoned
Philtrust Building located at the corner of Quintin Paredes and
Cervantes Streets about 12:20 p.m. yesterday, hitting vehicles on
the street. Heavy traffic ensued in the area until the debris was
cleared.
The Manila Engineering Office is
studying ways on how to prevent the rest of the building from
crumbling.
Vehicles that were badly damaged
were identified as a blue Toyota pick up (with plate number BGF 814)
and three Nissans (WAX 527, XAX 802 and UUY 667). Around eight other
vehicles suffered from broken mirrors or windows but the owners were
able to drive them away.
ABS-CBN Interactive reported that
two vehicles—a Honda Civic and Mitsubishi L200 pick-up—were
reportedly wrecked.
Officials of the Manila City
Engineering and Building offices said they are still determining if
the building had been checked last year and given the necessary
permits.
Two months ago, the City Council
of Manila passed a resolution ordering the demolition of condemned
buildings and structures in the city.
The resolution, authored by 6th
District Councilor Ma. Lourdes Isip-Garcia, urged the city
engineer’s office to come up with the list of condemned buildings
and structures so that the city government can immediately
coordinate with the property owners on planned demolitions.
“Manila has many condemned
buildings which are still standing and are dangerous to the public.
Anytime, [these] might collapse and harm or kill people, and cause
damage to nearby vehicles, buildings, or other properties,” Garcia
said.
The councilors also noted that
“these condemned buildings sometimes attract the homeless, curious
little children [who go there to play], and others, and thus pose a
danger to these uninvited entrants.”
Despite this, the city government
vowed to cooperate with the National Historical Institute in its
efforts to restore and preserve several condemned buildings that
should not be demolished because of their historical value.
--Rommel C. Lontayao
and Katrice R. Jalbuena
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