THE City Government of Bacolod is still waiting for the guidelines from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in conducting the road clearing operations at various barangays.

City Administrator Atty. Pacifico Maghari III said yesterday, November 23, that there’s already a directive to sustain the road clearing operations, but they need the guidelines to determine the specific requirements for the road clearing.

“Once the guideline is out, we will go down to the barangays. For now, we are clearing the areas with complaints,” he said.

He added the barangays should also monitor their areas of jurisdiction to remove the illegal structures.

The Bacolod Traffic Authority Office (BTAO) earlier sought the assistance of the City Legal Office (CLO) to demolish the illegal structures along Lopez Jaena and AB Parreño Streets near the City Health Office (CHO) and the area in front of the STI - West Negros University.

Major Junji Liba, head of BTAO, said the CLO’s demolition team already removed the illegal structures along Lopez Jaena Street.

“We will continue to monitor the area including at the downtown to address the traffic congestion especially, during peak hours,” he said.

The demolition of illegal structures is pursuant to DILG Memorandum Circular 2019-121 dated July 29, 2019 directing local government officials, from the mayors down to barangay captains, to implement road clearing.

In October 2019, about 94.07 percent of all the 11,799 illegal structures were demolished in Bacolod City.

DILG-Bacolod Ma. Joy Maredith Madayag earlier said they have an existing memorandum issued by the DILG National Office to sustain the road clearing operations that started during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

She said all local government units (LGUs) were directed to clear the roads from illegal structures, adding that the major roads and highways should again be used by the public.

“It has been observed that some of the illegal structures that were already demolished by the demolition team can still be seen occupying the roads,” Madayag disclosed.*