MAASIN CITY—The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) field office in Southern Leyte will build 55 two-story school buildings under the Basic Education Facilities Fund of the Department of Education (DepEd).
Bidding for the school buildings was completed last year before the expiration of the special allotment release order last December 31.
DPWH Southern Leyte district engineering chief Ma. Margarita C. Junia said the construction of the buildings will cost over P1 billion. Under the DepEd-approved project list, 22 units are included in batch 12 with P457.08-million budget, and 33 units under batch 13 budgeted at P576.57 million. These projects will be financed through the 2017 allocation for education facilities.
Junia said each unit will have an average of eight classrooms with upgraded designs enough to withstand typhoons and earthquakes.
Thirteen of the 55 buildings will be constructed in the provincial capital of Maasin; six in Bontoc; four each in Libagon, Saint Bernard, Pintuyan, Silago and Bontoc; three each in Liloan and Macrohon; two each in San Francisco, Sogod, Anahawan, Hinundayan, San Ricardo, San Juan and Malitbog; and one each in Hinunangan and Limasawa towns.
Aside from the high-rise school buildings, 13 one-story units worth P38.73 million are also included in batch 12. Two buildings are meant for each of the towns of Bontoc, Hinunangan and Saint Bernard; and one each in Silago, Libagon, San Francisco, Malitbog, Anahawan, Hinundayan and
Silago towns.
In the last quarter of the year, the district engineering office has already bid out 47 school-building projects under batch four and seven, which was initially included in the DepEd fund release.
Overall, the school-building projects for Southern Leyte will cost P1.21 billion covering construction of K to 12 classrooms and technical vocational laboratories.
Meanwhile, the DPWH Southern Leyte district office also reported an 85.03-percent accomplishment for the P1.73-billion projects allocated under the 2017 regular infrastructure program.
Junia said that, out of the 50 projects implemented, 38 have een completed and 12 are ongoing.
Completed projects include the five flood-control structures (P190 million), nine road-upgrading activities (P214 million), replacement of 18 permanent bridges (P141 million), five locally funded projects (P68 million) and a widening of a major highway (P34 million).
Junia said 11 of the 12 unfinished projects of 2017 are up for completion within the first three months of the year.
On top of regular projects, the DPWH field office also installed 15 rain-water collectors (P3.4 million), constructed seven farm-to-market roads (P129 million) and an ongoing implementation of 115 school-building projects (P1.2 billion).
For 2018 the district office is tasked to implement P2.3 billion worth of projects. Predetailed engineering activities for new project have been done to ensure that projects will kick off early in 2018.