97 LGUs non-compliant with road clearing ops: DILG

FILE: SEARCH FOR NEXT PNP CHIEF. Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Friday (Oct. 11, 2019) says he will submit three to five names of police officials whom he will recommend to President Rodrigo Duterte as candidates for the next Philippine National Police (PNP) chief. Among the possible contenders for the post are Deputy Chief for Administration, Lt. Gen. Archie Francisco Gamboa; Deputy Chief for Operations, Lt. Gen. Camilo Cascolan; and Directorial Staff Chief, Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar. (PNA photo by Joey O. Razon)

MANILA — A total of 97 local government units (LGUs) failed to comply with the campaign to clear roads and sidewalks of obstructions nationwide, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Friday.

“Following the strenuous validation efforts of the DILG, 97 LGUs all over the country which were non-compliant will be issued show cause orders today. These were LGUs that garnered a failed rating in the validation conducted by the Department,” DILG Secretary Eduardo M. Año told reporters in a press conference at DILG office in Quezon City.

Of the 97 LGUs, 11 are from Ilocos Region, one each from Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon, seven from Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan), 10 from Region 5 (Bicol Region), one from Western Visayas, 12 from Central Visayas, nine from Eastern Visayas, 18 from Zamboanga Peninsula, 13 from Northern Mindanao, three each from Davao Region and Soccsksargen, and four each from Caraga and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

“As clearly stated by the President in his SONA (State of the Nation Address), sa kabila ng ating tagumpay, mahalaga din na makita ng ating mga kababayan na dapat may managot sa hindi pagtupad sa kautusan ng Pangulo (despite our victories, the public needs to see that those who did not follow the President’s order will be held liable),” said Año.

“They can be charged with dereliction of duty, negligence – administratively, possible suspension depends on the Ombudsman,” he added.

The DILG Secretary said the non-compliant LGUs are given five days from receipt of the show cause orders for them to explain their non-compliance, otherwise, the DILG will submit their names to the President and file the necessary complaints with the Office of the Ombudsman.

“We hope that their reasons are acceptable so that we do not need to file cases against them,” he said.

He said the non-compliance or underperformance of the 97 LGUs must not outweigh the outstanding performance of most LGUs led by the cities in Metro Manila.

He noted that the nationwide road clearing efforts by LGUs have been “generally successful”.

“We congratulate the LGUs for their commitment. Sa totoo lang, mahirap itong trabahong ito (Honestly, this is a difficult job) but despite this, we have achieved resounding participation and compliance from a greater number of LGUs,” he added.

He, however, said despite the significant success in road clearing, “we must be strict and abide by our own pronouncement of imposing corresponding sanctions to non-compliant LGUs.”

Año said in terms of nationwide compliance to DILG MC 2019-121, a total of 1,148 have passed the DILG validation with 328 registering High Compliance rating, followed by 497 for Medium Compliance, and 323 under Low Compliance.

He said among the highly compliant regions are Regions II (Cagayan Valley), III (Central Luzon), VI (Calabarzon), XII (Soccsksargen) and CAR.

“The regions did not disappoint. We are happy to share that our road clearing campaign is also thriving in all parts of the country as mirrored through the numbers from our validation efforts,” he said.

“Based on the report from the 1,148 LGUs, 6,873 streets across the country have been returned for public use due to the cooperation of the local governments,” he added.

According to the data collected by the DILG Validation Teams, 13 of the Metro Manila LGUs have a High Compliance rating, three LGUs have Medium Compliance rating, while one LGU has registered a Low Compliance rate.

Despite many issues confronted, all of them were quick to enact or revise ordinances and conduct an inventory of roads to be cleared, among other indicators, Año said.

Garnering a high compliance rating are the cities of Manila, Caloocan, Las Piñas, Makati, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Navotas, Parañaque, Pasay, Valenzuela, Pateros, and San Juan.

On the other hand, the cities of Muntinlupa, Pasig and Quezon City got a Medium Compliance rating, while Taguig City received a Low Compliance rating.

“Taguig is still compliant and it passed our rating system but we will (make recommendations) on areas that need focus and strategies,” he said.

He said the Metro Manila LGUs cleared a total of 612 roads that are now passable and can be used by the public.

Año said this is a great platform for other traffic management initiatives that call for LGU-participation and a huge contribution to the efforts of the government to alleviate the traffic problem in the metropolis.

He said given the significant success of the road clearing, the nationwide road clearing program of the DILG will continue and that the validation of the DILG will now be done quarterly.

He urged the public to report to the DILG all village chiefs who are negligent or otherwise non-compliant with Presidential directive as the department can issue show cause orders against these officials.

“We, therefore, urge the public to continue reporting and be vigilant and cooperate to ensure the long-term success of the program,” he said.