School rehab delays feared with transfer of funds

27 August 2007

LEGAZPI CITY—THE PLANNED TRANSFER of funds for the rehabilitation of school buildings from the Department of Education to the Department of Public Works and Highways might have legal repercussions since most of the projects are already being implemented and have already undergone bidding, a top DepEd regional official said.

DepEd Bicol Director Celedonio Layon said the transfer of funds might mess up the agency’s ongoing rehabilitation projects because it might raise some legal issues since the different school principals had already conducted bidding for the projects.

The problem cropped up after President Macapagal-Arroyo, in an informal assembly with various national and local government officials and residents of the Barangay Anislag Resettlement Site in Daraga, Albay, chided the DepEd for the slow rehabilitation of schools damaged by typhoons late last year.

Due to classroom shortage, students are made to fit in classes conducted in shifts while others have to hold classes in tents or makeshift classrooms.

The President cited reports from Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya that only seven percent of the rehabilitation projects of the DepEd under the Calamity Assistance Rehabilitation Effort (Care) fund had been completed.

But Layon told her that the projects were being implemented by the school principals, an explanation cited by the President as the possible reason behind the slow-paced rehabilitation of schools.

Arroyo then instructed that the funds formerly allotted to the DepEd be rechanneled to the DPWH as suggested by 1st District Albay Rep. Reno Lim.

Layon, however, said it was not true that only seven percent of the projects had been implemented by the DepEd under the Care fund.

Furnishing the Inquirer with a copy of accomplishment figures, Layon said that, 42.44 percent of the rehabilitation of 485 public schools in three Albay districts had been accomplished with a total funding of P368.3 million.

“The President could have just been misinformed or she has not seen our percentage of accomplishments but I do not have a problem with Ms Arroyo’s instruction to transfer the DepEd Care fund to the DPWH,” Layon said.

In a mobile phone interview with DepEd Secretary Jesli Lapus, however, he stressed that the Care fund came from the World Bank and therefore, its application is subject to the bank’s requirements.

“A principal-led implementation is always faster compared to the regular school program of the DPWH, which is dependent on the efficiency of the congressmen to identify schools. In contrast, the DepEd can easily identify schools to be constructed depending on the shortages per school,” Lapus explained.

In any case, he added, the amounts involved in the rehabilitation of the schools that have been contracted can no longer be reversed.

There are 2,238 schools in Bicol being rehabilitated by the DepEd with a special allotment release order of P1.2 billion from the P2-billion Care fund for the repair of schools.

A total of 6,562 classrooms have to be repaired while 733 have to be constructed.

Distribution

Ms Arroyo said the Bicol Care Commission formed during the Cabinet-level meeting at the Albay Capitol last July 3 will supervise the rehabilitation work designated to different government agencies.

She and Albay Gov. Joey Salceda visited the Barangay Anislag Resettlement Site to distribute certificates of occupancy to 61 families from Barangay Binitayan here, who were displaced from their homes by the series of typhoons last year.

The certificates serve as ownership titles for 61 core shelter units worth P70,000 each.

These units were only the first of the 201 shelters to be completed under the Department of Social Welfare and Development, using the Care rehabilitation fund.

A total of 193 sacks of rice, 21 containers of oil, and 18 bags of mongo beans from the United Nations World Food Program were distributed by the President.

Livelihood assistance worth P300,000 was turned over to three select groups from the resettlement area, which have proposed buy-and-sell and tailoring businesses in the area.

Most of the shelter gap had already been earlier undertaken by non-government organizations like the Gawad Kalinga, Daughters of Charity, Compassion International, and Cope Foundation, all of which had built a total of 761 houses in the area.

However, a total of 6,304 housing units are still needed to accommodate the 10,076 displaced families in Albay, combined reports by the provincial government showed.

The shortage in housing units is particularly high in Daraga town, where 3,304 more units are needed to accommodate the 4,679 displaced families in the area.

Of the total P8 billion additional budget intended to augment the P10 billion Care fund, P5.5 billion had already been released by the government while 2.5 billion is still yet to be released depending on the proposals of concerned agencies. Jaymee T. Gamil and Ephraim Aguilar, Inquirer Southern Luzon