Pag-IBIG workers evacuate 'shaking' building

Manila, Philippines - Employees at the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) headquarters evacuated the Atrium Building in Makati City at around noon yesterday after they felt the building “shaking.”

Employees said the shaking was most pronounced at the building’s sixth and seventh floors, in the offices facing Makati Avenue. They said the shaking was also felt at around 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Engineer Roden Baldedara of the Pag-IBIG Fund’s building administration unit said the tremors caused several hairline cracks to appear at the ceiling of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) office on the fifth floor of the eight-story Atrium building, which was constructed in 1981.

Following the tremors, the building was inspected by structural engineers from the RS Caparros and Associates engineering firm, accompanied by Pag-IBIG Fund engineers. Their findings are expected to be released today.

According to Baldedara, the tremors could be attributed to vibrations caused by thermal expansion that happens to buildings when concrete gets hot and vibrations caused by the simultaneous operation of air conditioning units.

Work at the Pag-IBIG Fund office will be suspended today as the inspection of the building will continue, said Delia Bernardo, the agency’s vice president for facilities management and general services. She said some of the processes will be transferred temporarily to the Pag-IBIG Fund’s Justine building along Gil Puyat Avenue.

Bernardo said the tremors are localized and did not compromise the building’s structural integrity.

Baldedara said the exact cause of the tremors has yet to be determined as the Makati City engineer’s office will have to perform its own inspection of the building.