Manila, April 15 -- A House of Representatives leader on Tuesday called for the replacement of the country's decades-old National Building Code following the collapse of a concrete pillar at the Metro Rail Transit (MRT-7) construction site along West Avenue in Quezon City.

Manila 2nd District Rep. Rolando Valeriano, who chairs the Committee on Metro Manila Development, stressed the need to replace the outdated building code with a new National Construction Code that includes tighter enforcement and updated safety provisions.

"The last straw. That disastrous MRT-7 construction site collapse should be the real wake-up call for Congress so that finally the National Building Code must be replaced soon by a National Construction Code with st...