Construction of P5M edifices above board - Dion

LINGAYEN – The chief of the Department of Public Works & Highway based here explained that out of the P5 million allocations given by Senator Allan Peter Cayetano for Dagupan City only three classrooms have been constructed by the contractor commissioned by his office. Eng. Rodolfo “Boy” Dion, chief of the 2nd Engineering District of the DPWH, said that each of the three edifices is a two-storey building that if quantified would become six school buildings worth P830 thousand each. He cited that the foundation in the ground floor of the three edifices are more solid, that it has more time-beam and has more iron reinforcement compared to the standard one school room built by private contractors contracted by the public works. Dion denied that there was anomaly in the construction of the buildings in Dagupan City. He said that he sent already the program of works and the reports of the bidding to the office of Senator Cayetano and to the editor of a provincial newspaper. “Iba ang plano na iyan kesa doon sa standard (school building). Mas malaki ang cost ng two storey,” he stressed. The news reports made a dig at the projects in Dagupan City with the following statements: “The senator has expressed disappointment that the initial P5 million released to the project only yielded 3 classrooms. Based on DPWH’s standard computation of a classroom (P650,000 per classroom), P5 million should have yielded at least 6 classrooms” . Dion said he even explained to the writer, after the latter called him through the phone, the specifications of the edifices. As of press time he said the provincial newspaper has not published his side of the story (Mortz C. Ortigoza).