Outlines action for ‘unfinished’ public school bldg.

SILANG, Cavite – Mayor Alston Kevin Anarna’s viral post about an “unfinished” school building on his social media page on a day before his 100-day report held in front of the new municipal hall in Barangay Biga, Friday, October 7, 2022, was surrounded by “controversy”.

Anarna, on Wednesday, uploaded a Facebook photo of Lucsuhin Elementary School students sheltering under umbrellas while the rain fell inside the roofless 3-story building worth P37 million.

According to Anarna in a one-on-one interview, the students have to move to a covered court whenever there’s a downpour. Some students would fail to attend classes because they get sick after being drenched in the rain, and six of them were infected by dengue and are now recovering from the illness.

“Student with special needs or SPED [Special Education] are forced to hold classes at the canteen and very concerning iyong mga pictures na naka-payong pa iyong mga learners dahil hindi tapos iyong construction ng classroom nila. Ang nakapukaw sa aking damdamin and also the Department of Education (DepEd) on Friday,” Anarna said.

The DepEd is now coordinating with the Silang LGU (local government unit) and the new mayor to see what could be done during the Friday press conference of the said agency.

Meanwhile, Anarna said complaints would be filed against those responsible for the unfinished building.

“We are just waiting for the official report of the Special Technical Audit Team of the Commission on Audit (COA) about the school that was not completed but was paid in full,” he said.

Anarna also explained that there are many other local government projects left by the contractors that are not yet finished but have already obtained 95% payment, including Lucsuhin Elementary School, SPED building in Silang Central Elementary School, Rural Health Office, New PNP (Philippine National Police) building besides the new municipal hall and retention wall at the back of the municipal hall.

Anarna also said that the town was able to get savings within 100 days of his new administration due to a stepped-up drive against corruption; out of the P3 million budget for medicine, the local government spent only P900,000; P6 million for the procurement of 20,000 armchairs for students; the funding for the streetlights along Aguinaldo Highway from Dasmariñas to Tagaytay only cost P54 million.

“We have been able to buy school supplies, those are just savings, and now our senior citizens will receive financial assistance, they no longer need to go to the covered courts to [get] the assistance – the local government staff will [distribute it] house-to-house so that our grandparents and PWDs (persons with disabilities) will not get tired,” said Anarna.

The Silang local chief executive bared that the unfinished school buildings will be repaired due to the generosity of private donors.

“The legacy for my 1st 3-year term is to be transparent because anything will follow, including stopping corruption, you will have more projects and services that can be given to Silangeños, and at the same time, the government will be ‘clean,’” Anarna added.

Other programs and projects that the Silang mayor will undertake are augmenting local police equipment, including eight patrol cars, uniforms, and new guns; construction of satellite offices of the MDRRMO, police station, and Bureau of Fire along Santa Rosa-Tagaytay Road; boosting the tourism in Silang, providing additional scholarships with the help of Vice Mayor Ted Carranza and the Sangguniang Bayan, and full scholarship for medicine and law students.

At the end of the program, the officials of the said locality created a puzzle that forms the seal of the said town and gives recognition to the “Top 20 Business Taxpayers” led by Anarna.