BORONGAN CITY- The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-Eastern Samar District Engineering Office (ESDEO) is to implement 44 calamity resilient school buildings amounting to P 445.251 million under the Basic Education Facilities Fund (BEFF) Batch 1 for the year 2018, to address the need of Department of Education for more classrooms and to anchor the rights of every individual to education.
DepEd Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones wrote a letter on March 15, 2018 to the Secretary of Department of Budget and Management Benjamin E. Diokno for the release of Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) in favor to DPWH with an amount of P 44.114 billion.
The total amount requested will cover the construction of elementary and secondary classrooms in Region VIII and P445.251 million will be assigned to DPWH Eastern Samar.
District Engineer Manolo A. Rojas of Eastern Samar DEO disclosed in a statement through his public information officer Jayson Espeso that their office guarantees that the construction will meet the standards set by the DepEd and DPWH to ensure that the quality of the structure can withstand strong winds, typhoons and other calamities may occur.
“The building design complies with the National Structural Code of the Philippines which takes into the consideration various model codes or regulation for typhoon and earthquake resiliency to ensure safety and structural integrity,” DE Rojas added.
Out of 44 school buildings that are to be constructed, 31 are for high school and 13 are for elementary.
Allocation for each project varies according to the scope of work stated in the program of work (POW) prepared by DPWH-ESDEO and duly concurred by DepEd.
The high school buildings that are to be constructed are: six in Borongan City, five in Arteche, three in Llorente, two in Salcedo and one each for the municipality of Gen. Mac-Arthur, Dolores, Giporlos, Guiuan, Jipapad, Lawaan, Maslog, Merceds, Oras, San Policarpo, Sulat, Taft, Can-avid, San Julian and Balangiga.
For elementary school, three in Oras, two in Arteche, two in Jipapad and one each for the municipality of Lawaan, Giporlos, Quinapondan, Mercedes, Salcedo and San Policarpo.
The said project would provide additional facilities to aid innovative teaching and learning methods. This would also address the existing problem on classroom shortage and overcrowding that hinder conducive learning for students.
Presently, the projects are in the procurement mode, wherein project cost are assessed if it is responsive.
(JAYSON G. ESPESO, Engineer II/PIO-Designate)