Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Dave Gomez on Saturday agreed with the statement of Senator Sherwin ‘Win’ Gatchalian that PCO should not have engaged in projects with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Gomez was referring to Gatchalian’s earlier remark that an infrastructure project in Bukidnon worth P124 million, which was initiated in 2019 under the Duterte administration, fell outside the mandate of the PCO.
‘I completely agree with Sen. Gatchalian’s opinion. The previous administration should not have engaged in such a public works project that falls outside our core responsibility,’ Gomez said in a statement.
Earlier, Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance, mentioned that based on the 2024 Commission on Audit (COA) report, the PCO contracted the DPWH in 2019 for the construction of the Government Communications Academy in Bukidnon (Phase II), amounting to P45.7 million.
The academy was reportedly intended to serve as a training center for the communication offices of Malacañang and its attached agencies.
Gatchalian added that the report of the COA from 2020 to 2023 noted a similar project worth P79 million.
The senator said P124 million was already spent on the project, and it is already 90 percent complete.
Gomez, meanwhile, affirmed in the statement on Saturday that the facility will be donated to the Northern Bukidnon State College instead after it is finished.
‘The building’s donation to the Northern Bukidnon State College is already being finalized,’ Gomez said.
‘Many students in our state college in Bukidnon will benefit from this,’ he added. /mr