The Capabilities of Infrastructures Around Metro Manila

Category:World, Government
Topic:Manila, Transportation

Pages: 3 (1545 words)

Grade: 5

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The Philippines is a country with over 7,000 islands. It is divided into 3 parts; according to National Geographic, the largest is Luzon which is located in the north (40,420 sq mi; 104,687 sq km), Mindanao which is located in the south (36,537 sq mi; 94,631 sq km), and Visayas (23,582 sq mi; 61,077 sq km). Philippines is located along the “Pacific Typhoon Belt”, which means that it is visited by an average of 15 to 20 typhoons every year. The Philippines is also located along the “Pacific Ring of Fire” which makes it more subject to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The geographical location of Philippines and its physical environment makes it more susceptibility to tsunami, high sea level, storm surge, landslides, flash floods, and drought.

Over the past years, different parts of the Philippines have been upgrading and utilizing its environment to keep up with the trends on other countries. We all know that our country is blessed with rich soil and natural resources. In addition to this are the beautiful cities that are still improving as the years go by. Inclined with it, different buildings and infrastructures are built to prove the competence of its nature as a city. And the center of this is in Metro Manila the pearl of the orient and the center of commerce and business. It is the ideal haven for future investments and business opportunities. Thus, it is where the trading industry of the country that is why there are many buildings that are constructed. There are various types, subtypes, and purposes of infrastructures that lie in Manila; Residential, Commercial, Retail (e.g. shopping malls, freestanding, etc.), Hotels (including Casino, Resort, etc.), Special-purpose (e.g. themes and amusement park, bowling alleys, museums, etc.), Manufacturing Factories, Warehouses, Waste transfer center, Power generation, Transportation Terminals, Government Facilities, and Military Facilities.

Here in the Philippines, specifically in the Metro, most of the buildings that are constructed had been standing for almost a decade and more. Building elements are important as those are the essentials to building a standard building. Building elements are like human feet, if there is only one single foot, humans will not be able to walk. Building element includes substructure, superstructure, foundation, roof, structural frame, floor, and different kinds of walls which are loadbearing walls, compartment walls, external walls, and retaining walls.

Those building elements have their functions and purposes to make the building durable and stand various natural disasters. First, a substructure is built below the ground level. It mostly consists of foundations for the building. Basically anything that is built beneath the ground level is called substructure such as basement parking lot. It is built to support the superstructure safely into the earth. Second, a superstructure is built above the ground level. It is basically the main building. Superstructure must be durable and be able to function for an acceptable period of time. Third, a foundation is the lowest part of a structure that is built below the ground level. It must be stable, durable, and strong for it is the foundation of the structure. Fourth, a roof is the covering on the uppermost part of the building. It provides protection from animals and various weather such as rain, sunlight, wind, and snow. Fifth is the structural frame. Concrete frame rests on foundation which the forces to the ground. It is built to help take care of horizontal forces on building such as wind and earthquakes. Sixth, a floor must have high strength and stability. Its strength depends on the properties of materials such as timber, reinforced concrete, and steel. Lastly, walls are built to support roofs, roofs, and ceilings; to enclose a space, and provide security. There are different types of materials used to construct a building. Every single type is used because of their quality and purpose. Those materials are timber, concrete, metal, masonry, glass, adobe, and composite. Nowadays, some of the companies use glass walling for a fancy and reflection effect look.

However, overall development outcomes over the last decades have fallen short of potential. Because the Philippines is lying over the Pacific Typhoon Belt and Pacific Ring of Fire, it is prone to many disasters. The infrastructures that are constructed are getting vulnerable to different disasters that hit the country. According to Inquirer, one of the biggest disaster that had caused major destruction of infrastructures in Manila is the “Bagyong Ondoy” (International Name: Typhoon Ketsana). It's been 5 years since Ondoy hit the country, yet it will always be remembered because of its impact. It is even often compared to other typhoons that have followed, yet most have failed to match Ondoy's record. With combined heavy rains and strong winds, Ondoy affected 993,227 families or 4,901,234 people, making it fourth in the list of worst natural disasters in the Philippines in terms of the number of people affected. Ondoy, then combined with the enhanced southwest monsoon, caused damages to infrastructure and agriculture at a cost of P11 billion. Numerous condo buildings, commercial buildings, houses, and even roads were eradicated. But in the year 2017, Quezon City and Manila start on facilitating and checking every infrastructure and building. Because there was a video that got viral in social media platforms, wherein an eight-story apartment building in Tondo, Manila has slipped off its foundation and collapsed. It has been standing for only 5 years. So, the government of Manila told the public and other construction companies to choose wisely on products and materials they used in building. Because of these circumstances, it was one of the things that President Duterte looked into and created the “build build build” Campaign.

As stated by the Worldbank, the Philippines enjoys tremendous endowments of natural, and human resources that provide great potential for economic development and poverty reduction. When President Rodrigo R. Duterte won the race to Malacañang last 2016, he didn’t just promise to wipe out the narcotics trade, criminality, and corruption — he also vowed to improve the country’s poor infrastructure to help spur the economy. After all, if the Philippines wanted to keep its growth engine humming, it needs to take care of, and even upgrade its roads, bridges, and airports. To address this, Mr. Duterte said he will upgrade the country’s dilapidated infrastructure, which his economic advisers qualified as one of the reasons why the Philippines, one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, had lagged behind its Southeast Asian peers for so long. Dubbed as “Build, Build, Build,” the Duterte government’s aggressive infrastructure program aims to jack up infrastructure and social spending to about 7.1% of gross domestic product until the end of its term, in a bid to boost the economy to 7-8% growth next year until 2022 from 6.9% in 2016, and slash poverty incidence to 13-15% from 21.6% in 2015. And indeed, the “build build build” campaign has started with the new Manila Metro Rail Transit System that has a route along Commonwealth, and another is that the Duterte Administration plans to build new factories on Clark Pampanga instead on Metro Manila.

According to the Official Gazette, Duterte made some investments and transactions to other countries that trade excellent quality of construction materials that will be used in the “build build build” campaign. One of the countries is Japan, the government of Japan gave a word that they will help in building strong bridges, transportation roads and systems, and even buildings. Japan is a well-known country for efficient and advanced technology for constructing and designing long-lasting infrastructures. In addition to this, because of the disasters and mostly flooding scenarios in Metro Manila, the administration also added five flood control facilities; and three redevelopment programs on the said campaign.

As the administration promised to build strong numerous infrastructures, it will surely make it 10 years after or more decades. With the materials that was imported from the other countries and selecting the good constructing companies, we can expect good outcomes and long-lasting infrastructures. For us, who will be future engineers and architects, we believe that every aspect of a building's design needs meticulous consideration. Making a building is not just a matter of coming up with something that looks good. It's about creating a structure that can survive all the strains of the modern world. Because creating a good structure will provide a safe and friendly environment for us Filipinos and for the future generation as well. As quoted by President Duterte, “Human rights to me means giving Filipinos, especially those at the society’s fringes, a decent and dignified future through social and physical infrastructures necessary to better their lives”.

The Capabilities of Infrastructures Around Metro Manila

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