Road clearing ops subject to validation, DILG says

By: Emme Rose Santiagudo

Despite the pronouncements of local government units (LGUs) of their accomplishments on road clearing operations, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) reiterated that the reports will still be subjected to validation.

This was emphasized by Regional Director of DILG 6 Engr. Ariel Iglesia as the 60-day deadline for the mandatory road clearing works lapsed on Sept 29, 2019.

“After the deadline, we will be asking the report of respective LGUs and that’s the time we will validate the report of LGUs,” he said in an interview on Friday.

Iglesia said he already issued a memorandum to all provincial and city directors in the region relative to the creation of validation teams and in relation to the memorandum issued by DILG Secretary Eduardo Año on Sept 10, 2019.

“Relative to the memorandum issued by Secretary Año on the creation of validation teams to certify compliance and accomplishment of LGUs in the implementation of road clearing, all provincial directors are directed to validate all component cities and municipalities in their area of jurisdiction,” he said in his memorandum.

Iglesia said the validation team will be composed of representatives from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Philippine National Police (PNP), accredited civic society organization and DILG personnel cross posted from a different LGU.

“We will form a team purposely for validating the reports of the LGUs. Nagcross-posting ang mga DILG personnel natin, meaning yung naka-assign sa Iloilo, he will be validating another LGU,” he said.

Likewise, all city directors of Iloilo City and Bacolod City will be cross-posted to validate the accomplishment reports of the aforementioned LGUs together with the validation team.

For this reason, Iglesia refused to give an exact figure on the accomplishment of the entire region on the road clearing operations.

“I won’t give figures because the LGU will submit their reports, some LGUs claiming that they are 80% accomplished, merong 90% accomplished, that’s the thing we need to validate, we will give figures after the validation na lang,” he explained.

According to Iglesia, the LGU’s substantial accomplishment report should at least be 70% in rating based on the tool for the assessment.

He warned that LGUs whose accomplishments are lower than 70 percent will be asked to explain why they attained such rating.

“As per pronouncement of the secretary masasabi nating substantial is at least accomplished 70 percent, yan yung na-set ng department those lower than 70 percent, that could be a basis of show cause order to explain why the LGU did not attain the rating,” he emphasized.

In Iloilo City, Public Safety and Transportation Office (PSTMO) head Jeck Conlu said they are about 90% complete on their road clearing operations.

“Based sa amon assessment, although may gamay-gamay gabalik in terms of target roads na mga national roads, city roads and other barangay roads as of today hambal namon sa DILG mga 90% na kami. Hopefully ma-sustain namon ini sa validation and confident man kami makapasa ang siyudad,” he said.

In his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July 2019, Pres. Rodrigo Duterte gave a 60-day ultimatum to all local chief executives through DILG secretary Año to reclaim all public roads being used for private purposes and to clear all the illegal structures and road obstructions.

While the deadline ends on September 29, Iglesia reiterated that road clearing operation is a continuing responsibility not only for local officials but also barangay officials.

“It doesn’t mean after the deadline tapos na, this is a continuing responsibility of all the local officials not only city and municipal levels but also barangay officials kasi eto talaga yung trabaho nila,” he emphasized.

Iglesia stressed that maintenance is important after the road clearing operations.

“After the clearing, importante ang maintenance kasi after iniwan ito ng mga concerned officials, ang tendency babalik itong mga na-clear natin halimbawa sidewalk vendors,” he said.