MP capitol repair delay hurting public service

By March Fianza

BONTOC, Mountain Province – The unexpected issuance of a cease and desist order by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines that suspended renovation of the provincial capitol building has prolonged the agony of government workers and their clients here, and hampered smooth delivery of public service.

The CDO issued on April 25, 2013 by Dr. Maria Serena I. Diokno, NHCP Chair, baffled other provincial and local government officials because in the first place it was NHCP that gave its approval to the project a year earlier on March 23, 2012.

Gov. Leonard G. Mayaen said, “NHCP went against itself when it issued the CDO,” even while this has barred an impending reconstruction of the half front portion of the old and dilapidated provincial capitol building of Mountain Province.

He said with approval of the reconstruction project by the NHCP, the Sanggunian Panlalawigan issued Resolution 2013-26 on January 21, 2013 that authorized the Office of the Governor to proceed with the project.

Dr. Diokno hinged her CDO on the unauthorized demolition of the original brick wall foundation of the building as reported by a technical group that visited Bontoc 15 days earlier before the CDO.

But Mayaen said last week  the demolished facade of the building that was to be integrated in the proposed new building as earlier agreed on was not made of bricks but with cement that was designed to look like bricks by masons and painters who were hired to repair the front face of the capitol during the term of OIC Gov. Alfredo Lamen Jr. in 1989.  

The front portion of the old two-storey wooden capitol structure was built by the Americans sometime in 1907 while the back portion was built before the Second World War.

Although the capitol has not been formally declared as a heritage and cultural site, Section 5 of RA 10066 presumes all structures more than 50 years old as Important Cultural Property.

Mayaen said he agreed with Diokno on Sec. 5 of RA1006. But he added “there is no longer a capitol of Mountain Province that is 50 years old or more to speak of because repairs and constructions have altered the original form of the building.”

As proof, Mayaen cited that in 1989 onwards, the brick columns were changed into concrete and were finished with brick-like designs; the back of the capitol building was demolished in 2007 paving for the construction of two new four-floor concrete buildings; the floors, walls and ceilings of the old building were replaced with concrete, marble or new material.

In an earlier letter to Mayaen on September 13, 2011; Dr. Diokno suggested three options for the provincial government to choose from, relative to the reconstruction of the old dilapidated building.

The provincial LGU chose the third option which was: “Dismantle the wooden building wing and integrate its facade into the new (replacement) building.”

When the NHCP gave its approval of the reconstruction project on March 23, 2012; the Sanggunian Panlalawigan consequently authorized the governor through a resolution to make the necessary requirements while 80 percent of the provincial employees approved of the project.

Mayaen said, the province submitted a position paper two years ago as requested by the NHCP after it issued the CDO but they have yet to receive any significant reply, except for a letter reiterating the CDO.

According to Diokno, the suspension on the renovation works will be lifted “only upon the written authority of this Commission”.

As a consequence, provincial employees had to suffer for a longer period as important frontline service offices had to move and exchange rooms with other offices in order to squeeze in more government workers.   

The tourism and provincial administrator’s office share a room, the Public Information Office shares with the Social Welfare Office, while the PSWDO shares with security services office since half of the front of the capitol building was demolished in April of 2013.

Mayaen said, the province simply wanted to continue the past administration’s grand idea of constructing a bigger concrete capitol building to address the pressing need for more space to its ever-growing number of provincial personnel to include national line agencies like the Commission on Audit, National Bureau of Investigation, and Comelec.

The proposed construction was premised to the past administration’s honest assessment of the true sad state of the old building that it is a fire hazard and the wooden second floor creeks even when stepped on by a medium built individual.

Vibration in the building can be felt when vehicles pass the road and the grounds as well as the second floor level elevation are one meter lower than the floor levels of the newly constructed buildings at the back.

Water leaks through the roof on rainy days, particularly at the executive assistants tables of the governor’s office, and that explains the presence of a water pail in the room.