Labella lifts suspension of operations at Qimonda IT Center complex

Architect Florante Catalan (4th from right), Office of the Building Official; engineer Ariel dela Cruz (3rd from right), OBO consultant; and Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella (2nd from right) inspects documents submitted by Qimonda structural engineer-consultant. Also in photo are Judge Macaundas Hadjirasul (extreme right), Regional Trial Court executive judge, and representatives of Qimonda IT Center complex. | Irene R. Sino Cruz

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Work has resumed at the Quimonda IT Center complex located at the North Reclamation Area in Cebu City this morning, November 4, 2019.

Mayor Edgardo Labella ordered the lifting of the suspension of operations at the IT Center after the engineers from the Office of Building Officials (OBO) said that the building did not suffer structural defects from the mild earthquake on Thursday, October 31.

Engineer Ariel dela Cruz of the Office of the Building Officials (OBO) said they found hairline cracks on the walls of the building but these were non-structural in nature. These cracks could have been due to external causes such as the passing of heavy trucks in the area, which are considered as traffic-induced vibrations, he added.

Labella met with OBO officials; Judge Macaundas Hadjirasul, executive judge of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Cebu City; and the representatives of Qimonda IT Center earlier today to discuss the stability of the structure that houses the different courts in Cebu City.

Architect Florante Catalan, the OBO chief; engineers Dela Cruz, OBO structural consultant, and Edgar Velarde, structural engineer of the Qimonda IT Center; and Albert Go, a representative of the Qimonda owner, were also present during the Monday morning meeting at City Hall.

Labella ordered the suspension of operations at the IT Center after Hadjirasul informed him on Thursday, October 31, that the building had shaken around 10 a.m. Parts of the Visayas also felt the magnitude 6.6 earthquake that hit Mindanao then.

The mayor ordered the building vacated based on the recommendations of the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office.

“Per the recommendation of the mayor, I asked the security guards of Qimonda not to let the people in (the building),” said Hadjirasul.

He said that the suspension of work lasted only for less than two hours because the Cebu City RTC was observing the half day work order of the Supreme Court to also allow court officials and employees in the country to go home to their provinces for the All Saints’s and All Souls’ Day celebrations.

Work at the Quimonda IT Center resumed at around 9:30 a.m. today, November 4, after Labella, OBO, and Hadjirasul reached a consensus that it was safe to occupy the building.

Dela Cruz said that they did not see any structural cracks when they inspected the building. He added that the owner of Qimonda IT Center complez would also be conducting their own performance review in accordance with provisions of the updated building code.

According to dela Cruz, the owner also committed to use ground penetration radar and accelerograph or seismic instrumentation.

He also encouraged the Qimonda owner to construct a trench to minimize the impact on the structure caused by the vibration generated by passing heavy trucks. / dcb