Mayor mulls sanctions on barangays that flunked road clearing works

By Emme Rose Santiagudo

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas will impose administrative sanctions against barangays that failed to comply with the road clearing order.

Forty-six of the 139 barangays that underwent evaluation failed the initial road-clearing validation of the city government, according to Treñas.

“While I do not want to impose administrative sanctions, but if there will be a recommendation from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) then I don’t have a choice but to do so,” he said in an interview Wednesday.

The city government evaluated the road clearing efforts of the barangays following the second round of clearing ordered by the national government.

Treñas said most of the barangays lacked ordinances concerning traffic and road laws.

“Ang ginhatag sakon nga papel was only ‘pass and fail’ so it does not really show kon diin sila na aspect nag-fail but I was told 25 % ang portion para sa approved ordinances of the barangays and iban sa ila wala approved ordinance,” he said.

The mayor said the barangays committed to ramping up their road clearing efforts before the deadline on April 30.

“I told them ubrahon nila tanan nga maubra nila para maplastar na nila tanan ang ila barangay. They promised to do everything and to be compliant on or before April 30,” Treñas said.

Forty-one barangays in the city are yet to be evaluated by the city government.

The mayor said he will meet with the barangay officials next week to identify areas where the city government can extend help.

“May 41 pa nga i-evaluate and wala ta kabalo kon kapasa ni sila pero I will meet with them together with the Public Safety and Management Office (PSTMO) to see what we can do to help,” he noted.