MOD Filipina Vol. 24 Nos. 1048, 1049
& 1050, October 4, 11 and 18, 1991 On the covers: (From left to right) Alma Concepcion, Jeanette Chavez Ipapo, and Bernadette Cruz |
In the middle of 1991, just after Mt.
Pinatubo’s eruption, broadcast journalist Lito Villarosa began a series of
exposé regarding the controversial Marikina Valley Fault System. According to
Villarosa, he saw a bunch of documents in the defunct Ministry of Human
Settlement on its way to the junk bin. When he tried to read the contents, it
turned out to be a 1976 commissioned report of the United Nations Disaster Relief Organization
(UNDRO) Coordinator to the former Ministry of Human Settlement headed by then First Lady Imelda R. Marcos, detailing a
systematic vulnerability analysis of Metro Manila area with regard to disasters
like earthquake and flood. There was also a comprehensive study regarding the
Marikina Valley Fault System. To cut the story short, he gave me a copy of this
report, which was very interesting to me because it is related to my profession
as a structural engineer – knowing areas where earthquake damage can be
prominent is an important part of structural design.
Together, we conducted extensive
research on the subject and simultaneously revealed to the public what we have
uncovered: Villarosa through the broadcast media and me through the pages of MOD Filipina magazine as an exclusive three-part
special report titled The Philippines Land of Earthquakes and Volcanoes (SEE the posted version
in https://erneelawagan.blogspot.com/2009/09/philippines-land-of-earthquakes-and.html).
Exactly a year after, the article won
for me the grand prize in the Second Annual Science and Technology JournalismAward sponsored by the Philippine Press Institute and the Philippine Geothermal
Inc (SEE the story featured in MOD November 13, 1992 issue).
Part I – A Study of
Our Restless Terrain
Part II – The Marikina
Fault System: The Truth
Conclusion – The Marikina Fault System: The Consequences
“And in that hour a
great earthquake occurred, and a tenth of the city fell; and seven thousand
persons were killed by the earthquake, and the rest became frightened and gave
glory to GOD of heaven.” – Revelation 11:13, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.
No comments:
Post a Comment