Due to its present location at the center of the West Valley Fault Line, the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute broke ground at the agency’s South Complex in Bicutan, Taguig City, which will be their new home for the next few years.

The FNRI’s current location in the agency’s North Complex is seated at the top of the WVF, according to a DoST key official.

“Organizations are very important. When we mapped in DoST-Phivolcs that the West Valley Fault seems to pass through Bicutan, we looked at different places here, in particular in the DoST compound. We saw that (FNRI) stands on top of the West Valley Fault,” said Monday by Science Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. in Filipino during the groundbreaking.

“It’s not their fault that they built a building in the old days because their knowledge about the fault was not there yet,” he added.

Meanwhile, DoST-FNRI director Dr. Imelda Angeles-Agdeppa said that their relocation to a safer place feels like she has gotten a thorn out of her.

“If you ask me, I really got a thorn out. How much more with our staff, who are actually there?” she said. 

“We are always there. We are working in the laboratory, and we have flammable agents. If that is shaken, it’s quite dangerous,” she added, saying that she felt relieved that they would now be moved away from the dangerous geological fault.

The WVF transcends Bulacan, Rizal, Metro Manila, Cavite and Laguna, which can produce a magnitude of 7.2 earthquakes, or “The Big One” as referred to, that creates a serious threat to people, infrastructure, and livelihoods, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

Following this proactive measure, Solidum encouraged public agencies and private establishments to consider relocating areas if they are near the fault line.

“Not only for government organizations but also for private buildings or houses. In fact, in our work in the beginning, including schools that will pass through the West Valley Fault, we have been given guidance not to continue the construction or plan so that the lives of those who use the building will not be put in danger,” he said

The new FNRI building, which is projected to be “modern, functional, safer, earthquake-resistant, and green,” requires P2 billion for construction and will take three to five years to finish, said the agency.