Wednesday, October 18, 2006 Songsongon bridge not in budget: legislator By Ruby P. Silubrico
A LEGISLATOR said Tuesday that the creation of a concrete bridge in Songsongon in Igbaras was not in the budget so it could take some time before the project materializes.
First district Rep. Janet Garin was reacting to the call of Igbaras Mayor James Esmeralda for the immediate construction of a concrete Songsongon Bridge.
The Songsongon River was the site of a tragic accident last week, when a jeepney overloaded with some 40 passengers got stalled in the middle of the existing bridge and was swept away by a flashflood. Some 22 people were killed in the incident while 19 others remained missing.
Esmeralda and some Igbarasnons during the mass burial of fatalities on Tuesday demanded the immediate construction of a concrete bridge to prevent a repeat of the incident.
But because the construction of such facility has no funding in the budget, Garin said it was "impossible" to put it up this year.
She also said that no one was to blame for the incident, and Esmeralda should stop pointing to government as the culprit.
"What happened was an accident, so don't blame anybody. We should be ashamed...instead of helping them (survivors) we are adding insult to injury," Garin said.
Garin explained that it is impossible to construct a bridge in Sitio Songsongon, Barangay Barasan, Igbaras this year because the estimated budget is at P55 million.
She instead suggested that the local government unit give out due warning to the people especially during calamities.
The local government should ask 'tanod' members in the area to monitor the rise of the water especially when there are typhoons and floods and pass a resolution to regulate vehicles from overloading with passengers while crossing the overflow.
"How can we entice people to help us if we are not helping ourselves? Instead of blaming other persons for the failure to attend to your request, you should assess what you have done so far. If you have no help to give to your people, just keep your silence," Garin said.
"The cleaning of the overflow is the basic obligation of the LGU but until now, there's no solution to this. For the meantime, I don't know the repercussion. The people can't blame me because I'm doing my best as a representative. Maybe we should blame the local government unit for making drama out of this accident," she added.
Garin said Esmeralda did not coordinate with her on the request for the bridge.
"What they sent was a request for the repair of the municipal hall, improvement of the plaza, and road asphalting at Rizal St., and not for Songsongon," she added.
In a radio interview, Esmeralda said they are selling T-shirts worth P250 each to help raise funds. The proceeds from the T-shirts will go to the families of the casualties.
"It is our outcry in Igbaras and our expression to create the bridge sooner," Esmeralda said.
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