Was there an earthquake in Cebu on Tuesday, March 6?
There was none in Cebu City or anywhere in the Visayas at the time when a major mishap happened in the city close to 3 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).
But J.E. Abraham Lee Construction and Development Inc. (JEALCDI), the owner of the bunkhouse in Barangay Lahug, Cebu City that collapsed on Tuesday and killed five workers and critically injured four others, said an earthquake and the lack of clamps, which were used to strengthen or hold together its steel bar foundations, were the initial causes why the structure collapsed.
These were the statements that came from the construction company.
These were what Abraham Lee, the company’s owner, and Butchie Abaya, JEALCDI’s structural engineer and project manager, told Cyril Ticao, the regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment in Central Visayas (DOLE-7), in a closed-door conference yesterday morning.
“Isa sa inisyal na tinitingnan daw nila yung ibang clamps nawala … yung ibang clamp dun sa tubo nawala daw. According to him (Abraham), meron daw earthquake … tiningnan nila, kung sino kumuha nung kulang na mga clamp, and there is daw an earthquake, may magnitude 4 something daw, at that time, pero yung initial na tiningnan talaga nila is yung sa clamp,” Ticao told reporters.
(One of the things they were looking into was the disappearance of some of the clamps … the clamps that held together the steel bars. According to Abraham, there was an earthquake … they were looking into who took the clamps. And then he claimed there was an earthquake, allegedly magnitude 4 at that time. But their initial investigation pointed to the loss of the clamps.)
Phivolcs bulletin
A check on the Phivolcs website however showed that while there was a 2.1 magnitude earthquake recorded at 2:43 a.m. on March 6, Tuesday, it occurred east of Baras, Catanduanes in Southern Luzon. It was followed by another 2.1 magnitude quake on the same day at 7:03 a.m. east of Sagay City in Negros Occidental.
In both incidents, there were no recorded intensities, which meant the tremors were not felt on the ground.
On the other hand, the bunkhouse, a four-storey structure, collapsed at 2:57 a.m., according to the information released on Tuesday by the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CCDRRMO).
Ticao said the two JEALCDI officials informed him that the bunkhouse was designed by their company’s structural engineer, but they admitted that they failed to regularly inspect the bunkhouse.
Ticao said he asked JEALCDI to submit by Friday a detailed incident report and an analysis on the design of the bunkhouse and what caused it to collapse.
Safety violations
An initial investigation conducted by DOLE-7, on the other hand, showed that six out of the 30 construction workers interviewed by DOLE personnel yesterday were found to be underpaid and did not receive night shift differential and overtime pay.
Ticao said the company would need to pay to the six persons a total of P45,384.60 in back wages and other benefits, which he said the construction firm has promised to comply with.
The underpaid workers belonged to a subcontractor of JEALCDI but, as principal, it is equally liable and has thus promised to pay the differentials of these workers, added Ticao.
He said the DOLE inspectors also found out that the construction firm has no DOLE Accredited Safety Practitioner, No DOLE-approved Construction Safety and Health Program, No approved Structural Analysis for the temporary structure (scaffolds) by a structural engineer; violated the Labor law that required companies to provide suitable living accommodation for workers; and has no skilled workers certification from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).
He said JEALCDI was given 10 days to remedy the underpayment, and 30 days to comply with the violation on Occupational Safety and Health Standards.
Ticao, meanwhile, noted that the company has taken care of the injured and provided P20,000 as initial financial assistance to each of the families of the five workers who died in the incident, in addition to shouldering the burial cost of the fatalities.
Those who survived the mishap each received cash aid of P13,000, according to Junrey Turan, 23, one of the construction workers who received the assistance yesterday.
Ticao said the company was also required to continue paying the workers’ salaries even if the work on their construction sites had been halted while the construction firm would be correcting violations on wages and benefits and on compliance with safety standards.