By Emmanuel T. Erediano
Variety News Staff

REPRESENTATIVE Joseph P. Deleon Guerrero said on Saturday that after the $480,000 children’s park in Dandan was completed, the Department of Land and Natural Resources refused to accept responsibility for it because the park had no power.
He said he wrote a letter to DLNR Secretary Ignacio Dela Cruz expressing his concern on the matter, but it appears that DLNR cannot do anything about it because power was not included in its budget.
Deleon Guerrero said the children’s park “looks very nice — it has a restroom but nobody wants to go there at night because there’s no light.”
He added that the newly constructed facility will likely be vandalised due to lack of power in the evening.
He said he could not blame DLNR because funding for the project is beyond its control.
Dela Cruz, in a recent interview, said the parks and recreation division is still working on the park’s power connection.
The division he said, has to pay the $2,000 deposit for the electricity connection, and the park’s power bill is estimated to be $6,000 to $8,000 annually on top of the $40,000 needed for maintenance.
Dela Cruz earlier disclosed that they were provided $130,000 to pay DLNR’s utility expenses starting in fiscal year 2007, which started on Oct. 1, 2006.
Deleon Guerrero said he mentioned the matter to Esther Fleming, the governor’s special assistant for administration.
The lawmaker said he was told that the administration has to set priorities when it comes to funding, and it could not say whether power for the children’s park is among the priorities right now for the cash-strapped government.