STA. RITA -- Residents of this town and nearby Porac have asked the Provincial Government to repair the Sta. Rita-Porac Road here that has been damaged by quarry trucks over the past several years.
Lina Mangiliman, a vegetable hauler from Barangay Diladila here, said the Sta. Rita-Porac road is a vital access route for vehicles coming from the second district of Pampanga going to Clark Freeport and Angeles City.
“Overloaded quarry trucks are partly to blame. But there is also the problem of other heavy vehicles. There are lesser trucks using the route now because Sta. Rita government has been apprehending overloaded trucks,” Mangiliman said in vernacular.
Meanwhile, a village chief who refused to be named for unclear reasons said that many motorists are discouraged from using the road due to its bad condition.
The village official further said that municipal governments of both Porac and Sta. Rita and the Provincial Government have instituted minor repairs but such “were not enough.”
For his part, Governor Eddie Panlilio said his administration has appropriated P50 million for the repair of Sta.Rita-Porac Road.
“However, the Provincial Board (PB) has yet to approve the budget. We have forwarded it as a supplemental budget in August 2009 but it has never been approved,” he said.
Panlilio said until the PB approves the budget, the Sta. Rita-Porac road will continue to deteriorate. He said he will continue to ask the PB to approve the fund for the road repair.
“The road should have been repaired by now. But the PB's approval is essential in rehabilitating the road structure,” Panlilio said.
Posters criticizing the non-approval of the road’s budget now hang along the roadside of the Sta. Rita-Porac road. Some residents told Sun.Star Pampanga that they were placed by Panlilio’s allies a few days ago. (IOF)