Senator Robin Padilla on Thursday asked officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to look into the damaged schools in Gapan, Nueva Ecija following the onslaught of Typhoon Karding.
At the Senate hearing on the department’s budget, Padilla showed photos of Malimba Elementary School in Gapan, Nueva Ecija which was flattened by the typhoon.
He asked the DPWH officials if the materials used in the school were substandard.
“Nagkagutay-gutay po yung paaralan, yun pong mga katabi niyang bahay karamihan po dyan ay walang arkitekto, walang engineer. ‘Yun pong paaralan at gym nabalikuko po lahat ang mga bakal. Parang dumaan po dyan ang kalaban ni Superman at umikot-ikot. Wala po ba tayong paraan para alamin kung ito pong mga materyal na ito ay substandard,” Padilla said in Lei Alviz’s “24 Oras” report on Thursday.
DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan said that the agency will investigate the matter, adding that it will not tolerate the use of substandard materials.
“Kung ganito ang nangyari sa lugar na ito, kailangan po namin imbestigahan ito kung talaga pong ano ang nangyari dito. We cannot tolerate actually, hindi naman po natin papabayaan na substandard po yung ginagamit,” he said.
Senator Francis Tolentino said he also saw similar damaged structures in General Tinio and San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija which were also destroyed due to Karding.
Senator Cynthia Villar said the officials must determine if the damaged schools were built by the DPWH or local government units.
Tolentino also grilled the DPWH officials over projects that were either delayed or not implemented as well as unobligated and undisbursed funds.
Citing a Commission on Audit report, Tolentino said the DPWH was unable to establish the technical viability of projects, resulting in delayed completion and non-implementation of 3,440 infrastructure projects worth around P255 billion.
He said there were also 437 projects amounting to P10.9 billion that were not started at all as well as 12 foreign-assisted projects that were restructured.
In response, Bonoan said there were “intervening reasons” behind the delay of the projects.
“There have been projects included in the 2021 budget that needed to be— we call for later release and this has to be approved by the Office of the President. It took some time for some of these projects to be processed and approved,” Bonoan said.
Further, he said, there were also “operational bottlenecks” for the final execution of the projects.
The DPWH proposed a P718.36 billion budget for next year.—LDF, GMA News
Robin urges probe on Karding-hit school, ‘as if Superman’s foe passed by”
Source: Balita News
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