RCC extension on hold
The construction of the extension of a two-storey building with 16 private rooms in the Retreat and Conference Center (RCC) which started in February, is currently on hold due to the incorrect classification of the use of land as “Agricultural” instead of “Educational” as indicated in the land title.
According to the Buildings and Facilities Maintenance Office (BFMO) Director Arch. Dennis Pontanilla, the ”unfinished paperwork” in reclassifying the land use to the Land Management Bureau also caused the construction to be paused for the meantime.
“It is temporarily on hold, mayro’n lang kaming kino-comply na papers from the Dasmariñas [City] Engineering [Office] … Part of the building permit, mayro’n lang kaming corrections na ginagawa. Apparently, it was not corrected in the past, it’s being corrected right now,” Pontanilla said.
The BFMO Director furthered that the construction for the extension started despite the unfinished document required due to the late notice from the Land Management Bureau because of long working days for document processing.
Pontanilla added that this situation was foreseen in the past, and that the administration is arranging the necessary documents for the reclassification as indicated in the land title.
Moreover, the BFMO Director said that the extension will be fully operational in two months’ time in July once construction resumes.
As to why the additional rooms were initiated, Pontanilla explained that the demand for more rooms in the RCC increased due to various seminars, recollections, and retreats conducted.
“The need for more room to accommodate more … ‘yong mga panahon kasi ngayon nagsusunod-sunod ‘yong activities natin, like ‘yong retreat ng mga De La Salle Brothers, retreat ng mga local brothers from the Philippines. Not counting ‘yong mga nagre-rent from the outside, especially ‘yong mga retreat from the other schools,” Pontanilla said.
Meanwhile, RCC Head Marichu Tolentino explained that University Brother President Br. Augutine (Gus) Boquer, FSC decided to start constructing the extension in order to accommodate the 71 Lasallian Brothers coming from the different countries under Lasallian East Asia District (LEAD) such as Malaysia, Myanmar, Japan, and Philippines, to attend the 2018 Holy Week retreat last March.
However, since the RCC building construction failed to be done by the last week of March, some of the Lasallian Brothers stayed in the RCC while others were assigned to rooms in Hotel Rafael, Bahay Pag-Asa, and Residencia De La Salle.
Tolentino added that Br. Gus informed the administration of his vision for the RCC extension in 2012, however due to more pressing issues such as the construction of the building of the College of Engineering, Architecture, and Technology (CEAT), the plan for the additional extension was put on hold.
As of press time, the date for the resumption of the RCC extension remains undetermined due to the current correction of the use of land, as indicated in the land title to the Land Bureau Management.
