I advise Mr. Palafox NOT to promote his profession in the Philippines and make the Filipino people believe that urban planners are the ‘Solving Gods’ to all natural disasters. Urban planning has no business participating to mitigate damages from earthquake or other natural disasters. Natural disasters such as flooding and earthquake can be best explained and solved directly by scientists and engineers who study them with full support from the government for effective implementation.

FYI, urban planning is mainly critical at planning stages only for undeveloped areas. We call it ‘paper plan’. Construction is out of the equation. The following are the essential roles of an urban planner:

-Geometric layout of roadway systems and parcels as it relate to zoning / land use.
-Provide smart configuration of buildings with right accessibility and compliance to ‘Green Planning’. For more info, check link: http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=9925
-Geometric layout of parking lots, buildings, landscaping while working around on local zoning, land use, planning and design codes.
-Participate in local authorities discussions to identify proposed land use in an undeveloped area. These land use are identified such as:

• residential,
• highly residential,
• commercial / office
• mixed-use
• industrial
• heavy industrial
• institutional
• historical preservation
• agricultural
• environmentally sensitive areas such as wetlands and floodplains

Urban planners are essential during planning stages where you can practically ‘move’ mountains and man-made structures on a ‘paper plan’ in anticipation of population increase, demand in dwelling units, increase in business operations, traffic impact, etc.

THEY HELP ESTABLISH SETTING UP A COMMUNITY IN AN ORDERLY MANNER WITH ALL POSSIBLE IMPACTS CONSIDERED.

For Mr. Palafox to impose government agencies such as Phivolcs to identify areas prone to liquefaction or establish monuments on fault lines is beyond his expertise and it is PURE GRANDSTANDING for personal gain or better yet, helps promote his Company.

Doesn’t he know that such a demand is virtually impossible to implement? Here’s why:

LIQUEFACTION MAPPING:
Take Metro Manila as a whole for example. This is a highly urbanized area, one of the most densely populated major cities in the world. Would you think doing ground-testing spots at close intervals using sophisticated instruments could easily be carried out?

Let’s check what is ultimately involved here: HUMONGOUS BUDGET!

You hire team of geologists, soil scientists and field technician to go place to place, squatter areas, residential neighborhoods, parks, schools, dump sites, factories, basement parking lots of buildings to drill, gather soil samples and conduct tests. Oh, I forgot to mention to giving them an easy pass and sometimes security to trespass in someone’s property to do it. This is easier said than done.

Here’s my take:
Liquefaction testing (a.k.a. ground testing) is performed for a planned building construction to ensure underlying soil can withstand the weight of the structure, whether at standstill or at motion (earthquake). We call it ‘soil bearing capacity’. Metro Manila sits on various faults lines and thousands of existing structures are directly above it. The only mitigation involved here is no longer scientifically related but rather, carving out effective evacuation procedures to ensure safety of the populace during emergencies. This is another area of discussion wherein government’s involvement is critical especially the military.

EARTHQUAKE MONUMENTS
This is easier said than done and yet again, a close-to-impossibility solution. If we implement this, then expect ‘earthquake monuments’ erected all over La Vista, Ayala Heights, Loyola Grand Villas, Corinthian Gardens, Valle Verde, Acropolis, Green Meadows, White Plains, etc….THEY ALL SIT ALONG HE SLOPES OF THE ACTIVE MARIKINA FAULT!!! Also include existing buildings built decades ago that are directly on top of these still-dormant faults in Metro Manila. Now after identifying and erecting monuments, all of these structures must be demolished to create a buffer area along fault lines, right? Then if that’s the case, I dare Mr. Palafox to lead in demolishing 90% of Metro Manila residential and commercial structures.

Here’s my take:
Only if we have an honest government, non-corruptible government officials who could strictly implement existing building codes and regulations then it would be successful. Now that is the ultimate impossibility!!!

NOW HERE IS THE SOLUTION, (Keep urban planners off)
1. Eradicate corruption in the government.
2. Remove pork barrel funds to elected officials.
3. Provide substantial government funding to Phivolcs.
4. Increase base salaries of geologists and soil scientists to 20% ABOVE the equivalent salaries offered by multi-national corporations, Australia & New Zealand pay levels.
5. Acquire state-of-the-art monitoring and testing equipments to be scattered all over the archipelago, as identified by Phivolcs.
6. Assign dedicated team (composed of geologists, soil scientists/engineers, technicians) to every critical area for constant monitoring, recording, testing, mapping and identifying fault lines.
7. Establish relations with U.S. Geological Survey and other known institutions to ensure continuous training & technology/manpower exchange.
8. Give the agency the power to lead in calling out public warnings and offer direct solutions without the pressure from certain powerful individuals, group of individuals or politicians.

Mr. Palafox, leave it to the experts, please.