Iloilo mayor forms infrastructure coordination body

By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan

Iloilo City Mayor Raisa Treñas-Chu on Tuesday, September 16, constituted the city government’s Infrastructure Coordination Committee to streamline public infrastructure projects and ensure transparency and accountability in budget and planning processes.

The mayor issued Executive Order No. 84, series of 2025, citing the urgent need to establish the committee “to avoid project duplication, planning, and budgetary inefficiency, [and] to promote transparency and accountability.”

The committee will be chaired by the mayor, with the regional directors of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as co-chairpersons.

Members include the heads of the offices of the City Engineer, City Architect, Building Official, City Environment and Natural Resources, Traffic and Transportation Management, City Legal, and City Planning and Development.

Barangay captains of concerned barangays will serve as ad hoc members.

The committee is tasked with validating the feasibility and practicability of proposed infrastructure projects, evaluating their consistency with the city’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan, and making final recommendations to the local chief executive.

Under the order, national government agencies and government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs) must coordinate with the city government through the committee, pursuant to Section 524(b) of Republic Act No. 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991.

This provision prohibits the implementation of infrastructure or community projects without informing the local chief executive and the sanggunian of the concerned local government unit.

Agencies and GOCCs must submit key details of proposed projects—including title, specific location, general scope of work, estimated project cost, and funding source—for initial coordination.

No infrastructure project may proceed without a Certificate of Coordination, which will be issued by the mayor based on the committee’s final recommendation.

The EO also covers infrastructure on city government-owned properties, properties donated to the city, all public schools (except state universities and colleges), road rehabilitation and improvements—whether on city or national roads within Iloilo City—and all uncompleted infrastructure projects.

Treñas-Chu said the order will ensure that “projects will be organized without doubling of work; agencies and projects will be transparent and accountable; the public and the environment will be protected; and projects will be swift and continuous.”

“This measure is important to ensure that the roads, schools, or even any infrastructure being built will truly benefit Ilonggos,” the mayor said in a Facebook post.

The executive order follows President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive requiring local government clearance for infrastructure projects.