P20 million sprucing up hits snag

CEBU, Philippines — The planned renovation of the Cebu City Hall Legislative Building suffered a hitch at the City Council last week after members questioned its P19.8-million cost, with the largest chunk going to light installations.

In particular, City Councilor Nestor Archival, Sr. objected to City Councilor Jerry Guardo’s request for approval of his resolution, saying the budget for lighting fixtures is “too much”.

“We’re putting lights in City Hall that look very nice. So, I ask, ‘Is there an amount of the electricity cost that will be paid by the city government?’ I cannot find it,” said Archival.

He questioned that of the P19,828,121 budget, at least P13 million goes to the light installation which, to him, is “not advantageous” to the city.

Because of this, Guardo withdrew the proposal, saying he would just present two separate Programs of Works and Estimates (POWE) with the second one for the lights installation.

Previously, during an executive session, Lilibeth del Mar of the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW), said the scope of work includes the repainting of the whole legislative building, the replacement of the aluminum cladding at the rooftop, installation of the wall mount cabinets in the electrical rooms, and the electrical works.

It was also during that same discussion that Archival also questioned the 65 sets of RGB lights which cost around P100,000.

Del Mar, however, said that during the process of crafting the proposal a consultant from the Office of the Acting Mayor was present and that among those requested was to install these lights to beautify the building.

Del Mar said the lightning will have a controller software that will take control of the desired changes of the lighting and its mood that will be projected. Del Mar also presented a video that shows the vision of the building's facade once this lighting is installed.

Acting Vice Mayor Donaldo Hontiveros also noted that once this lighting system is installed it can be an added attraction to the building, which is, in itself, a tourist attraction.

He, however, said that DEPW should be ready to justify the costing, including the anticipated electrical cost onwards. — /RHM (FREEMAN)