The Department of Education (DepEd) said it is prepared to close unsafe school buildings that are vulnerable to earthquakes to prevent what happened in Haiti recently.

DepEd Undersecretary for Plans and Programs Vilma Labrador said they are still waiting for the final assessment of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the agency tasked to inspect the structural integrity of buildings.

“We are waiting for their final report, and we will listen to whatever their recommendations are since they are the expert in these things,” Labrador said.

In the meantime, the official said the education agency is doing its part to prevent catastrophes by strengthening and retro-fitting of existing school buildings.

Labrador also said that DepEd is also prepared to transfer affected students to schools near their localities if their school buildings are found to be unsafe.

Earlier, DepEd National Capital Region Teresita Domalanta assured parents and students in Metro Manila that their schools can cope with a Haiti-type earthquake.

“NCR school buildings are built to withstand Intensity 10 earthquakes,” Domalanta said.

Aside from the hardening of schools, the official said DepEd has also trained 127 civil engineers to undertake the Quick Response Project to continually asses the structural integrity of schools. The training was conducted under the auspices of DPWH, local government units, and the Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines (ASEP).

The DepEd said not only in Metro Manila were the preparation for a “big quake” taking place as it has already constructed “earthquake- and typhoon-resistant schools” in calamity-prone areas of the country like in the Bicol region where more than two dozen such buildings were set up.