CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – A grant of P50 million was handed over Friday by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. to the city government for the construction of a multi-purpose evacuation center inside the Pampanga High School here.
PAGCor chair and CEO Andrea Domingo, former representative of the 3rd District of Pampanga and PHS alumna, personally turned over the P50-million check to Mayor Edwin “EdSa” Santiago. This was followed by the ground-breaking and time capsule laying ceremony also joined in by Pampanga Gov. Dennis “Delta” Pineda and school officials.
Domingo said the project is under the government’s long-term response to climate change which aims to promote resiliency among the Filipinos, including the people of Pampanga and San Fernando.
“The reason why we are concentrating on building evacuation centers, which could also be used for other purposes, is because, from our experience here in Pampanga, we always have floods,” she said. “Mayroon din tayong earthquakes. When I assumed the office [PAGCor] in 2016, we thought that we should go into this project.”
For his part, Santiago said the project is a major gift to the city and for the youth.
“Alam natin na panahon ngayon ng pasasalamat sa gitna ng pagsubok na ating hinaharap. Pasasalamat sa mga tao at grupong tumutulong sa mga adhikain natin. Katulad ngayon, biniyayaan tayo ng PAGCor ng isang gusali at ito ay isang malaking regalo sa Siyudad at sa mga kabataan,” he said.
He assured PAGCor of well-organized procedures for the construction of the building: “Ang San Fernando ay isang process-oriented city. Mayroon tayong sinusundang proseso para sa mga donasyon. Naniniwala tayo na alam din ito ng ating mga katuwang kaya maraming biyaya ang dumarating sa atin.”
This was seconded by city engineer Anele David, who explained that her office is currently working on the succeeding procedures to meet the given timeline for the completion of the project.
“Sa kasalukuyan, yung ating opisina, inihahanda na natin yung complete set of plan at program of work para maging ready na tayo at mapa-bid na natin yung project. Yung bidding process, nasa 45 days ang itatagal at kapag nagkaroon na ng notice to proceed yung winning bidder natin, mayroon tayong 140 calendar days to finish the project,” explained David.
She added that the contractor of the project will be assisted by the city project engineers to monitor the progress of the building, while PAGCor will be deploying technical consultants to check the quality of the project.
PAGCor’s multi-purpose evacuation centers are “two-storey full scale centers with complete facility, packed room for goods, and a badminton-type area on the second floor.”
