MBTF’S P13.4-M VS. MBSL’S P30-M LYING-IN CLINIC –  During the last session of the Dagupan City council on July 24 a comparison was made between the Diagnostic Center and Lying-in Clinic being built by Mayor Belen Fernandez and the ambitious but unsuccessful Maternal and Child-Care Hospital and Lying-in Center planned by the Lim administration when Vice Mayor Brian Lim discussed the issue

In his talk, Lim said the Diagnostic Center and Lying-in Clinic being built at Herrero-Perez beside the City Health Office, saying “was a project in the making as early as five years ago.” Apparently, he wanted the credit for the idea to go to his father’s administration.

He recalled to mind the circumstances of the past city project when the city council was approving a draft resolution endorsing the establishment of the Diagnostic Center and its Lying-in Clinic component filed by Councilor Dennis Canto.

VM Lim said the project of the previous administration was projected to have a P30 million budget and quite likely it was for the building alone. With that huge outlay, there is no doubt that the former project could have dwarfed the present one that is being built by Mayor Belen as the latter’s funding was just P13.4 million.

The lying-in clinic of the upcoming diagnostic center is only from two to five beds, whereas the aborted project, according to Brian, was designed to have 20 beds for birthing mothers. He said with only five beds, the clinic personnel would have to turn away five pregnant mothers if there are 10 mothers giving birth in just one day.

What was not mentioned was the big difference between the two.

The Fernandez project set to be completed and operational by the end of this year, is bankrolled by the Department of Health. The city government would spend its money only when it acquires equipment and facilities not included in the list of equipment and facilities to be donated too by DOH. In the case of the Lim project, the full cost of the construction will be shouldered by the city government.

A controversial issue that was raised was the plan to construct the Maternal and Child-Care Hospital and Lying-in Clinic in the lot being occupied by the Juan P. Guadiz Elementary School in Poblacion Oeste, and to relocate the school to a three-storey building inside the City Engineering Office (CEO) compound, while the CEO will be transferred to Bonuan.

But DepEd decided a three-storey building was not suitable for grade school children and ordered pupils and teachers of Juan P. Guadiz Elementary School to stay put.

This belies the charge of Vice Mayor Brian that politics stood in the way of the project and that it was Belen who lobbied hard with DepEd to reject the swap.

Consequently, the city of Dagupan lost a huge sum of money for the construction of the building because it did not secure DepEd’s approval before the construction began.

So tell me, who had the smarter plan?

To make the most of the situation, Mayor Belen transferred the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office to the unused 3-storey building. – Leonardo Micua

 

COSTLY WRONG TIMING – Construction workers scraped the asphalt topping of the national road along Manat until the approach to a small bridge leading to the market in Binmaley.

“Wow pera na naman”, many commuters and drivers were heard saying.

Well, the road link appears still okay from the viewpoint of laymen.

Second District Pangasinan Engineering District Rodolfo Dion said the asphalt overlay has been in existence many years ago and it is thus timely to replace it.

The ongoing road work has slowed down traffic. Ok lang yun basta okay ang pagkakagawa, people say.

But intermittent heavy rains poured when workers began working on the asphalt overlay.

Ang galing naman ng timing.

When I saw DE Dion in a consultative meeting for a DENR event on Thursday, I asked him about the timing of the work. He looked surprise.

Di ba ayaw na ayaw ng aspalto ang ulan?, I asked him as more rain was dumped by storm ‘Gorio’.

Hayun, more babad sa ulan, more destruction to the asphalt overlay. More repair means more government funds used.

“Di nila siguro na anticipate yung ulan,” said Dion.

Haaaay, look up, look up din sa langit pag may time naman sana para di sayang ang pera ng bayan.  –Tita Roces

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