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- IMAGE SLIDESHOW | THE BATASAN GETS A MAKEOVER
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- PUBLIC EYE | ROMULO L. NERI: CAN GOLF, REALPOLITIK WORK AT SSS?
- 2008 | ARROYO ALLIES LINKED TO 'GARCI' BEHIND MYSTERY FIRM IN PAGCOR 'TOURISM CITY'
- 2008 | ILLEGAL FISH OPERATIONS POISON TAAL LAKE
- PUBLIC EYE | ARROYO FAILS COA AUDIT
- 2008 | MAGUINDANAO, RP FALL BEHIND KEY INDICATORS FOR EDUCATION
- PUBLIC EYE | NO CURE FOR COSTLY MEDICINES? DRAFT LAW AFFIRMS PATENT RIGHTS OF DRUG FIRMS
- 2008 | NEW CSC CHIEF FACES PACK OF INELIGIBLE BUREAUCRATS
- 2008 | ODA SURGE SPARKS SCANDALS FOR ARROYO, DEBT WOES FOR RP
- 2008 | PRICE-CONTROL-BOARD
DEBATE MAY DELAY CHEAP DRUGS LAW
- 2007 | TOO MANY BUSES, TOO MANY
AGENCIES CLOG EDSA
- 2007 | ARROYO'S LEGACY MAY INCLUDE MORE MOTHERS PUT AT RISK
- 2007 | SPATE
OF ATTACKS ALARMS LOCAL INDIAN COMMUNITY
- ARCHIVES
The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism's latest report looks into the massive renovation project at the House of Representatives. While initial reports placed the tag price at P200 million, the PCIJ discovered that the prettified House will actually cost taxpayers some P1 billion.
THE 14TH Congress will open its second
regular session on Monday with a spit-polished image, amid massive renovation
efforts for the Marcos-era Batasang Pambansa building, home to the House
of Representatives.
About 400 laborers worked round the clock in the last six weeks to rush
the prettified House for Arroyo's eighth state of the nation address on
Monday.
To be sure, there is no specific funding in the 2008 budget for the House
renovation project launched by Davao City Rep. Prospero Nograles, a rabid
Arroyo ally and House Speaker of just six months.
The reconstruction binge started with just the need to repair the canopy
of the South Wing lobby that was damaged by a powerful bomb blast in November
2007. The initial bill: P9.7 million sourced from funds of the House in
February 2008.
In May, Nograles requested and days later secured “assistance from PGMA”
in the amount of P200 million to cover the repair, repainting, upgrade,
and landscaping of the main and North Wing buildings of the House. NO SARO? A senior budget official says the agency had not issued a SARO for the
House, but House officials said the P200 million is covered by a SARO
although they do not know its funding source.
Artemio Adasa Jr., deputy secretary general for operations and chair
of the House Bids and Awards Committee, says the beautification project
has two messages: the Nograles House enjoys Arroyo's full support and
represents “new leadership, new face, new radiance.”
“The decision to renovate was done in February... but we anticipated
na kung may pera mag-extend, nagkataon, at may target
tayong SONA. Instead of gloomy because of the bombing, now we
have a vibrant Congress,” Adasa adds. MORE, MORE, MORE
Largely cosmetic, the frenzied makeover has secured an initial funding of
P200 million from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, but once completed
will cost taxpayers almost a billion pesos.
THE Batasang Pambansa, which is home to the House of Representatives, has undergone a multimillion-peso makeover in time for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's 8th state of the nation address on Monday, July 28. [photo by Tita Valderama]
Where Arroyo sourced the money, even the leaders of the House are not
sure. Whether the amount is covered by a Special Allocation Release Order
(SARO), as it should be under the procurement law, is not clear.
Already the House had disbursed P99.7 million for the the initial structural
repair work but wants to spend more this year, even without full appropriations
cover:
- The House
engineering department is already finalizing the general services request
for Phase 2 of the project that will cost P110 million.
A new four-storey South Wing annex building will rise at a cost of P300 million, courtesy of the Department of Public Works and Highways. (The project was started under Pangasinan Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr, Nograles's predecessor.)
STREAMER announces the proposed four-storey South Wing Annex Building. [photo by Tita Valderama]
- Two units
of airconditioned buses with 55-seat capacity acquired in April 2008
at P5.8 million each, or P11.6 million in all.
- Eight laptop
units will be awarded in August at a cost of P1.2 million, or for a
curiously expensive price of P151,950 per unit.
- About 30
public comfort rooms worth up to P700,000 each, or at least P200 million
in all had been reconstructed.
- A total
of 135 units of fire extinguishers, including 100 units with 20-pound
capacity worth P20,720 each, inclusive of 12 percent value-added tax,
or over P2 million had been purchased.
- A P15-million biometric electronic voting system for members of the House to be supported by the “e-government fund” being managed by the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) under the Office of the President.
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