AFF hails Dagupeños’ fighting spirit
1990 QUAKE AFTERMATH
UNITY, resiliency and the undying spirit of Dagupeños brought forth the city’s rise from the rubble of the Intensity 7.7 killer earthquake that struck in 1990.
Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr., then the vice mayor when the killer quake struck 19 years ago, hailed the city citizens “fighting spirit” as he led a memorial on Thursday in front of the One-Stop-Shop on A.B. Fernandez Avenue to remember and pray for those who lost their lives in that tragedy.
People all over the city paused for a silent prayer when the siren atop the city hall wailed for 60 seconds at 3:26 p.m. on July 16 to mark the exact time when the earth trembled and devastated the city.
As mayor of Dagupan from 1992 to 2001, Fernandez presided over the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the city from the ruins of the quake.
The mayor recalled that the earthquake nearly wiped out Dagupan from the map. But the people rallied together to rebuild their city from the rubbles.
The mayor recalled a rallying cry “Dagupan is unsinkable, to leave is impossible” that was painted on a placard posted in front of one of the damaged old houses on Perez Boulevard.
About 20 people are believed to have perished from the quake, at least 1,200 houses completely destroyed and 3,325 others damaged. The condemned houses and buildings numbered around 600.
The Magsaysay Bridge on Perez Boulevard collapsed, leaving only the Quintos Bridge to absorb the heavy north-south traffic, thus it suffered what Fernandez called “traffic fatigue” and had to be reconstructed later.
Approximately, 80 percent of the city’s roads were also destroyed then, making Dagupan look like “a war zone”, the mayor added.
Fernandez recalled that the city’s situation was aggravated when Manila-bound vehicles (and vice versa) from the north had to pass through Dagupan as the Plaridel Bridge in Carmen, Rosales, then the longest bridge in Luzon, also collapsed.
Now with the city’s modern and much sturdier infrastructure such as the Jose R. de Venecia Sr. Expressway Extension with a bridge span that is considered as one of the most modern in the country today, he said “Dagupan can truly say it has gotten back on its feet and has come out stronger.”—LM
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