By Lovely A. Carillo
DAVAO CITY, Jan. 14 (PNA) — The construction of the P20-million archives building that will house all important records and documents of the city is the first in the Philippines initiated by a local government unit.
“We will focus on the construction of the archives building this year since we need better storage of our documents,” Atty. Melchor Quitain, Davao City Administrator said.
He added that having a secure storage facility for a city will help residents and even researchers look for historical and other important data about the place now and in the future.
The city is set to build the archives building, the first of its kind in any local government unit in the Philippines, near the previous location of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Ecoland, far from City Hall. This will ensure that all the records of the city are safe from fire and flooding.
At present, most of the city’s records are kept at the Motorpool area which is highly susceptible to flooding. Quitain admitted that some documents stored in the said area have already been spoiled because of previous floods but they are trying to retrieve the records.
“Some of the records especially those with the Local Civil Registrar are already computerized but we do not simply rely on digital records since there are cases when we actually need the hard copy of these documents,” he said.
Once built, he said, Davao will be the first LGU with a building solely dedicated for archives.Meanwhile, the P52-million City Hall Annex is also up for completion this year after encountering several delays due to unfavorable weather conditions. Construction of the City Hall Annex started on March 29, 2013 but the contractor, Dacodeco, has completed Phase 1 of the project only in February, 2014.
Phase 1, which had an original appropriation of P38 million but was later bidded out for only P35,854,881.81, involved the construction of the structure itself and was supposed to have been built in 180 days. Phase 2, with a contract amount of P17 million, will soon start but will take lesser time to complete since it only involves the construction of the complete fixtures, comfort rooms, partitions, painting and electrical wirings.
He said the City Hall Annex consists of five floors including the roof deck and will have a combined total floor area of 1,600 square meters.
The City Hall Annex will house various offices of City Hall which were displaced a few years ago. These are some divisions of the City Health Office at the first floor; City Social Services and Development Office (CSSDO) at the second floor; and the City Cooperative Office and City Agriculture Office at the third floor.
The existing City Hall building is 82 years old but was built using sturdy material making it generally safe despite its age and the corresponding wear and tear according to the City Engineer’s Office. City Engineer Roland Reyes said the present foundation of the Davao City Hall is generally safe.
But while City Hall is generally safe, he said, it is a very old building and does not have any structural plan. What we have is only a floor plan based on recent renovations which were made around 2004, he added. He said the existing City Hall building is already part of Davao’s history so it has not been touched during former Mayor Sara Duterte Carpio’s term except for some paint and minor works.
He added the National Historical Commission has placed a seal at the entrance of the Davao City Hall declaring that it was built in 1926, destroyed during the war in 1945 but rebuilt in 1947 following the original design. (PNA)