P1B Fund Each For Some Cong. Districts

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

STA. BARBARA – Some Pangasinan congressional districts have an average of P1 billion allocation each from the national government this year.
 Fourth District Engineering Office's District Engineer Simplicio D. Gonzales of the Department of Public Works & Highways (DPWH) has an allotment of P1.1 billion this year for the Third Congressional District that is represented by Representative Rosemarie Arenas. 
Major projects to be funded by the amount will be slope protection, road widening, and others.
His office that is based here prepares the construction of the P13 million egress drainage that could end the perennial flooding in Calasiao town proper whenever there is downpour.
The drainage problem in this burgeoning town started in 2017 when the owner of a land where a creek is located at the Judge Jose de Venecia Highway back filled it to elevate his property. The back filling however impeded the flow of the drainage water that run to the Banaoang River. 
 
 BRASS - Department of Public Works & Highway Fourth and Third Congressional Districts' District Engineers (DE) Edita L. Manuel (left) and Simplicio Gonzales.

Gonzales said another factor that aggravated the problem here was the construction several years ago of the sewerage that was not tilting to the exit in the Banaoang River. He explained that part of the P13 million budget was the reconstruction of a more than kilometer long concrete canal system.
In the year 2021 national budget he will propose to construct another egress of water from the same drainage system that will exit at the Parongking River. 
 
He said the construction of the projects will materialize after the 2020 General Appropriation Act was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte that saw his (Gonzales) funds downloaded by the Department of Budget Management to his office.

Second Pangasinan Engineering District Engineer Edita Manuel of the DPWH told this writer that each of the Second and Fourth Congressional District has an allocation of P800 million this year.
She could not explain when prodded by this newspaper why the two districts have smaller allocation compared to the other four congressional districts in Pangasinan.
A congressional district in Eastern Pangasinan has a P1.5 billion budget this year.
“Ang prino propose namin more than one billion pesos (per district). Depende kasi iyon sa ceiling kung may pera. Magkano talaga ang kagaya niyan ano lang iyong na approve na pang DPWH. Siyempre e divide divide. Saka meron din iyong malapit sa kusina,” she chuckled while citing the amount to this writer.
Manuel sees  to it a high standard of construction by contractors on projects in the one city and 12 towns' two districts.
She wants that thickness of a concrete highway is point 23 or almost one foot. She added that buildings should be typhoon resistant that could withstand a magnitude 6 earthquake.
“Typhoon resilient earthquake resilient ang pagka design niya kaya ang 270 kilometer per hour na hangin”.
The allocation of the DBM to each of the district will balloon this year  after the region and national offices of the DPWH will implement their own funded projects.

The procurement manual of the DPWH says that the district, regional, and national offices will oversee bidding among contractors if the amounts of the infrastructure are P50 million below, P50 to P100 million and P100 million above, respectively.