BACOLOD CITY – The project engineer of the controversial Halandumon Tower denied allegations that the P4.8 million project is overpriced.
Engineer Loben Rafael Ceballos, in a news conference today, said the materials used for the Halandumon Tower were not substandard as alleged by netizens criticizing the hollow structure of the said project.
Netizens bashed the Halandumon Tower at Gonzaga-Gatuslao streets after a vehicle driven by a Korean national crashed into its barriers and damaged a portion of it.
Ceballos explained that the tower is made of lightweight concrete that is ideal for the structure.
“It should not be a solid concrete because it will make the foundation bigger. Second, it should be hollow for maintenance purposes. It is where our electrical wires and pipes are seen. Our panel board and controller are found inside,” Ceballos said.
The structure is made of steel materials, and the column cover is made of lightweight concrete.
Questions were also raised why it is only now that they have presented the structural design of the tower.
“We presented the structural design today because after the unfortunate incident, it was only at this time that people are questioning its design,” Ceballos pointed out.
Ceballos added that the public should not compare the price of the tower to residential buildings because the materials used were not the same.
The civil works for the said project costs more than P3.7 million, electrical works at P989,990 and painting works at P154,610.
“We, at the City Engineers Office (CEO) together with the professionals who helped us build this structure (Halandumon Tower), we are betting our integrity here. I am betting my 28 years of government service here. We are betting our careers here. And so, we stand with our estimates and design. We did not work for the government to steal, ” said Ceballos.
