Umapela si Deputy Speaker Ralph Recto na maging maagap ang pamahalaan sa rehabilitasyon at restoration ng nasunog na National Post Office Building.
Aniya, sakaling kumatok ang post office sa pintuan ng Malacañang ay paglaanan ito ng pondo para sa pagsasaayos ng naturang historical landmark.
Maaari aniya i-tap ang ₱13 billion contingent fund.
Maaari din aniya gamitin ang NDRRMC o Calamity Fund.
Maaari din aniyang i-certify bilang disaster ang sunod sa post office building.
Dagdag pa nito na salig sa National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009, ang mga national historical landmark, site o monument ay entitled sa ‘priority government funding’ para sa kanilang proteksyon, conservation at restoration.
“Hindi kaya ng pondo ng Philippine Postal Corporation ang pagbangon. In 2020, net surplus nito ay negative P240 million, lugi pa. Noong 2021, nakapagtala ng positive net surplus na P106 million, kulang pa rin. The Post Office is an art work designed and built by Filipino geniuses. It was an architectural jewel of the bygone Pearl of the Orient.” saad ni Recto.
Paalala pa ng Batangas solon, hindi ito ang unang beses na nasira ang post office.
Aniya, nang bombahin ito ng US at Japanese forces noong Battle of Manila ay pinagtulugnan itong maitayo muli ng bagong tatag lamang noon na Philippine Republic kahit gipit sa pondo.
“But even though short of cash, the newly-born Philippine Republic made sure that it would rise from the ashes of war, because such would be proof of a new nation’s determination to rebuild. Because they believed then, as we must do now, that to let it physically disappear, is to purge it from our people’s memory.” dagdag ni Recto. | ulat ni Kathleen Jean Forbes
