STA. BARBARA, Pangasinan ? The local government in this central Pangasinan town pooled and used funds to build classrooms at half the cost spent by the national government for the same projects.

Mayor Reynaldo Velasco, a retired police general, said for P250,000, the local government built a 7x7-m classroom that has a ceiling, jalousie windows and a toilet. The expenses covered painting, too.

In contrast, the national government spent P500,000 for the same project but for unpainted classrooms with no ceilings and jalousie windows.

?How can this town do it? By having contractors willing to earn ?tubong lugaw.? We tell them: Are you willing to earn just P10,000 to P15,000 per classroom?? Velasco said.

Usually, the contractors agreed, he said. This was because they were given not only one classroom to build.

?If it is just one classroom, the profit is small. For six weeks, the regular construction period, they just earn only P10,000. But we usually ask them to build six to 10 classrooms. So if there are 10 classrooms, they earn P150,000 in six weeks. Not a bad profit because contractors usually have simultaneous projects,? Velasco said.

He said no substandard materials were used in the school buildings. ?I?m good at computation and Math and I studied some engineering,? he said.

Since Velasco became mayor in June 2007, 250 classrooms had been built or repaired in the town. But not all were locally funded, he said.

He said 20 classrooms were built by the Department of Public Works and Highways, 10 by the Department of Education, and seven by the provincial government.

Velasco also tapped his schoolmates at the Philippine Military Academy to donate school buildings. Among them were Chief Superintendent Mario Sandiego, police director for Eastern Visayas; Chief Supt. Danny Emperad, police director for Northern Mindanao; and Chief Supt. Ramon Gatan, police director for Ilocos region.

Velasco sponsored a golf tournament which earned P750,000. A donor gave P200,000 and another gave P100,000.

?With over P1 million, we were able to repair eight classrooms, each with a comfort room and which all looked new,? he said.

Velasco said they spent P150,000 to P200,000 for the repair of the classrooms while they spent P250,000 for the construction of new ones. Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer Northern Luzon