DepEd to check integrity of central office buildings

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Education (DepEd) wants to determine the structural soundness of administrative buildings at its central office in Pasig City, an official said yesterday.

DepEd checked with the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology and found that the DepEd complex was only 450 meters away from the West Valley Fault.

Engineer Oliver Hernandez, officer-in-charge of the DepEd’s Administrative Service and chief of the Physical Facilities and Schools Engineering Division, said the department is considering hiring a private consultant to do the highly technical work of drawing up the “as-built” plans of at least six buildings in the DepEd complex such as the Rizal Buildings I and II, the Bonifacio building, and the Mabini building, as well as some dormitory buildings.

Hernandez said they found none of the buildings in the complex, built in the 1970s, have any “as-built” plans.