The 7.2 earthquake destroyed this centuries old church. I have fond memories of this church.
The blog of a group of Filipino Catholics and their frank commentary on anything that affects their lives as a citizen of the Philippines and as a Roman Catholics.
In all things God be praised. May he strengthen the hearts of the people affected by this calamity and may their faith grow strong in Him who gives all these things to us.
ReplyDeleteAve Maria.
For sure the damages will be huge considering that this is the 1st time in years that Central Visayas is hit by a quake of this magnitude and the infrastructures are either old or ill-prepared to take the pressure.
ReplyDeleteI join you all in prayer for those who were affected, that the Lord may comfort them in their affliction. May the Blessed Mother intercede on their behalf that she may be 'at the foot of their crosses' in this time of trials.
For Manila, while the buildings may have been designed to withstand high magnitude earthquakes, it still is quite imprudent to have built those skyscrappers, especially those in Taguig, Makati, Ortigas, Libis. They may have quickly overlooked the fact that they are on a faultline that could disengage anytime and the higher is the structure, the wider will be its swing and distortion especially when the quake swings horizontally. I'd stick the design of buildings along Ayala in the late 60s to the late 80s when it was just 10 to 15 floors high. Los Angeles areas did the same saved for a few areas. Surely it pays to err on the side of prudence than risk it on the side of external development and real estate revenue. May the Lord protect us all from harm.
One last thing - while those physical Church structures may collapse, the true Church of Christ built on his mystical Body with Christ as its Invisible Head, with Peter's successor as its visible head, and all the Baptised its Mystical Body --- will persist to the ages and through all forms of sufferings such as these, and all forms of persecution.
Praised be Jesus Christ!