Senator flags P45.7-M ‘Gov’t Communication Academy’ in Bukidnon
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian on Saturday questioned the rationale behind the partnership agreement between the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for a P45.7-million infrastructure project that he said was outside the PCO’s domain.
PCO Secretary Dave Gomez was quick to point out that Gatchalian was right in calling out the project—a facility called the Government Communication Academy—but pointed fingers at the Duterte administration.
“The previous administration should have not engaged in such a public works project that falls outside our core responsibility,” Gomez said in a statement also on Saturday.
Gatchalian, in his statement, cited the Commission on Audit’s (COA) report in 2024, which revealed that the PCO had contracted the DPWH in 2019 for the construction of the academy in Bukidnon for its second phase.
Higher allocation
“Why does PCO have a communications office in Bukidnon?” Gatchalian, who also heads the Senate committee on finance, asked. “We’ve already spent P124 million, and the project is 90-percent complete. If we don’t finish this, it becomes a white elephant.”
The senator further noted that the COA’s report for the 2020-2023 period listed a similar project but with a higher amount at P79 million.
“The facility has no budget allocation for 2026, as funds have already been allotted for the completion of the remaining 10 percent of construction,” Gatchalian said.
The academy was reportedly intended to serve as a training center for the communications offices of Malacañang and its attached agencies.
According to him, the PCO already had plans to donate the facility to the Northern Bukidnon State College upon its completion.
Gomez confirmed this, saying it was already being finalized and touted how it will benefit students of the state college.
Restructure first
This was only one of the many projects that the DPWH had partnered with other government agencies. The department has been tangled in a web of controversies over anomalies surrounding faulty flood control projects.
Gatchalian had earlier proposed to abolish the DPWH because of the deeply entrenched corruption.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III, on the other hand, said it would be wiser to restructure the agency first.
“Perhaps a restructuring should be done first,” he said in an interview with dwIZ radio on Saturday. “If you ask me, my initial proposal would be to remove all district engineering offices and district engineers, and transfer their powers to the regional development council.”
He said the proposal to abolish the DPWH should be studied first, warning that it could result in certain implications to the government.
Sotto added that this would also weaken the authority of congressmen who have been taking over the projects in their respective districts.
“Anyway, it’s just an idea and we have to study it as well,” he pointed out. “If you will look at the problem, the entire nation was awakened by these anomalies when in fact, it has been happening for a very long time.” —WITH A REPORT FROM MARY JOY SALCEDO
