A netizen wrote a letter to Senate Minority leader Franklin Drilon after the latter questioned the amount spent by the government to build the cauldron for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.
The cauldron was designed by architect Francisco ‘Bobby’ Manosa and costs P50-M to construct.
On a Facebook post, blogger MJ Reyes said that she agreed with Drilon’s belief that building classrooms are important.
However, she said that why the opposition senator didn’t think of building classrooms instead of pushing for the building of the controversial Iloilo Convention Center.
Iloilo Convention Center
“Sang ayon po ako na mahalagang pagtuunan ng pansin ang pagpapatayo ng classrooms. Ang di ko maintindihan ay kung bakit hindi mo naisip yan noong gumastos kayo ng P730 Million para sa isang convention center sa Iloilo para kamo i-boost ang tourism ninyo at employment?” Reyes said.
“That’s 730M of public funds, 15x the cost of the 50M cauldron, equivalent to 750++ classrooms/school buildings” she added.
Cauldron built for 2019 SEA Games
She also mentioned the controversy faced by several Senators including Drilon during the late Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona’s impeachment.
“Noong nagpamudmod ng tig-50M sa mga senators sa kasagsagan ng Corona impeachment, pinigilan nyo ba ang BS Aquino admin at naisip nyo rin ba ang mga pagpapatayo ng classrooms at iba pang mga proyektong mas mapapakinabangan sana ng bayan?” Reyes stated.
“Sa mahigit 1.1 billion public funds na ipamudmod sa 20 senators ng BS Admin (where you belong), pray tell, ilang classrooms po ba ang naipatayo nyo mula sa nasabing pondo?” she added.
According to some reports, the building of the Iloilo Convention Center costs 730-M pesos, which gained the attention of some politicians claiming that it’s overpriced.
The said infrastructure was partly financed using the funds received by Sen. Drilon from the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).
Drilon faced a case to the Office of the Ombudsman but later on dismissed.