Get the engineers

One of the anecdotes I remember in my Philosophy I class is that of a debate in Athens on the question if whether the mule has upper teeth or not. The debate among the philosophers reached fever pitch and attracted a crowd that reveled at the clash of intellects, but there was no resolution.

Comes a peasant dragging a mule and he, too, joined the crowd and when the discussions dragged on, the peasant drew his mule in front of the crowd and opened its mouth.

The peasant ended the discussion.

The discussion on whether Governor Alfredo Marañon is right to say that the P1.6 million per classroom is correct because he is constructing the foundation of a four storey building or Vice Governor Genaro is right in saying that the classroom costs only P650 thousand at most, can readily be resolved if we call in the civil engineers and contractors to compute who is right.

Members of media in the payroll of Alvarez, especially those most recently mobilized, have been giving their own computations which, as expected, echo the claim of Alvarez.

Marañon, who is a civil engineer says that the higher cost of the classrooms is due to the strong foundation needed for a multi-storey building. If the classroom is only one floor, then Alvarez who is not a civil engineer, is right.

The SP members allied with Alvarez are absent. All have excuses - they are in “official business” but did not say what business they were into. I could be wrong to believe that their priority business is to attend the sessions so that this issue can be resolved since they are paid for being SP members.

They should not have run for public office if their official business is something different. I think taxpayers deserve an explanation on what kind of official business they were in that makes their attendance in their regular session last priority.

Alvarez was also absent last week because he was sick but did not specify what sickness he had. I wonder why he is usually sick when it is Wednesday, the session day, and why his people are usually absent together with him.

This smacks of a boycott conspiracy.

If they believe that they are right, they should attend the session and show that the governor is wrong. I suspect they know they are wrong and the only way to prevent approval of the proposed appropriation is to sabotage it by being absent, feigning sickness and official business.

Who was the wise guy who said “nothing is coincidence”? Come on. Give the people of this province a little recognition for their intelligence.

A contractor who called during Vic Mercado’s program said that the straight line computation is P18,000/square meter. Alvarez’s classroom at P650 thousand would be thus smaller than his garage.

But, as I said, this discussion can go on ad nauseam so the best thing to do is get the civil engineers and give them the specifications of the building that is being constructed. The association of civil engineers and contractors would readily be able to give an intelligent computation.

Of course I do not expect Alvarez and his stable of SP members to do that because then they would be exposed. It is best to just let their media people keep on repeating the same twisted computation until perhaps they can make people believe their tale.

There is this ridiculous claim that the money should be used instead outside Bacolod. Why in the first place did they approve it? The answer surely is that, at the time they were statesmen and, now they are cavorting politicians.

Suddenly Alvarez and company have become bright. Did they consult an engineer who studied the specifications before saying politics has nothing to do with it?

In the meantime, the English classes in NOHS can continue holding classes under the trees. They are victims of political maneuvers. The students, their parents and relatives in the province should keep in mind when they vote May next year and junk those who are stalling the completion of their classrooms.

The statement of the NOHS faculty can only evoke sympathy but if they are really pissed off, they should not let this situation go without taking positive action. There are thousands of NOHS alumni out there who can be mobilized to punish the saboteurs.

Then there is another ridiculous statement from the Alvarez camp. They ask, why prepare for a four story building when that need will come later? Does that deserve an answer? Why, indeed, should we not construct now when prices are going up and land areas are becoming a premium and the number of students is increasing?

It would be naïve, if not stupid, not to prepare now. *

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