By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
Variety News Staff

DEPARTMENT of Public Works director Larry Perez said yesterday he will immediately send Sen. Ben Pangelinan, D-Barrigada, the $250 invoice for the repair of the department’s heavy equipment, adding that he looks forward to receiving more donations from the senator.
“I’m not being sarcastic here, but in these times, we need a sense of humor,” Perez quipped.
“I’m grateful to the senator for offering to cover the cost of the equipment repair. We would appreciate it if he will let us know how much money he has that we can borrow, so we can send him more invoices from other vendors,” he added.
Perez was responding to Pangelinan’s offer to pull $250 out of his personal fund to buy the part needed to repair the bulldozer that DPW used for gathering and crushing of coral.
At the budget session on Monday, Perez told senators that the heavy equipment continues to languish at a private shop because the vendor has put all government projects on hold due to unpaid bills.
Pangelinan wrote to Perez yesterday, reminding him of his offer to foot the bill for the equipment repair.
“Since Monday, I have yet to receive any feedback from DPW and I continually wait to be contacted with the required information in order to make arrangements to obtain the part in question,” the senator stated in his letter to Perez.
“Each day that passed by costs the government hundreds if not thousands of dollars in equipment rental costs. Remember the old adage, for the want of a shoe, we lost the horse. For the lack of the purchase of a $250 part, we spend thousands of direly needed funds,” Pangelinan said.