ITOGON, Benguet – The municipal government will be using the PhP70 million earmarked by Rep. Eric Yap to put up a four-storey municipal building expansion to cater to the requirements of the local government and to provide convenience to the transacting public.
Mayor Bernard S. Waclin expressed the local government’s gratitude to Rep. Yap for providing for the needed funds to put up the necessary structure so that the municipality will not opt for a loan to realize this endeavor.
“We will maximize the use of the funds to complete the proposed four-storey municipal building because we need to expand our existing building to cater to the increasing number of workers and the people transacting with the different offices. We hope that the project will be realized the soonest,” Mayor Waclin stressed.
Earlier, the previous administration proposed to acquire a loan from a government financial institution to bankroll the construction of the annex building of the municipal hall which was vehemently opposed by various sectors in the municipality.
Upon assumption into office as the town’s local chief executive, Mayor Waclin ordered a review of the proposed loan to look into whether the same is feasible or not.
However, Yap learned about the desire of the municipal government to get a loan and immediately advised the local officials not to push through with this as he will be providing the needed funds for the project through the annual budget of the national government that will be readily available by next year.
According to the mayor, the first floor will serve as a parking area to address the inadequate parking spaces around the municipal compound, the second and third floor will be used for the offices of concerned government agencies and the municipal government while the fourth floor will be used as a gymnasium and multipurpose center.
He called on the people transacting business with the various government agencies and offices of the municipal government to be patient in dealing with the difficult situation of parking and the limited spaces in the municipal hall while awaiting for the completion of the expansion of the municipal hall which will be done the soonest as soon as the funds will be made available and the project will be bid out by the concerned government agencies.
Itogon is a first class town in southwestern Benguet that relies on mining as the major source of income used in the implementation of priority development projects and enhance the delivery of basic services to the people in the town’s nine barangays.
Waclin pointed out that the timely intervention of Yap in providing the needed funds for the construction of the municipal hall’s annex building helped the local government in giving up the proposed loan for the put up of the needed structure.
The mayor believes that the efforts of the lawmaker to provide the needs of local governments in terms of funding support for development projects and basic services is a clear illustration of collaboration and coordination among offices of the national and local governments to satisfy the needs of their constituents. By Dexter A. See
