AFTER clearing national and city roads, the Mandaue City Legal Enforcement Unit (MCLEU) will go after barangay roads.
Edwin Jumao-as, MCLEU head, said they already sent a memo to the city’s 27 barangays to comply with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) directive and get rid of all obstructions along the sidewalks within their jurisdiction.
Jumao-as pointed out that all sidewalks on barangay roads, whether private or not, as long as these are being used by the public will have to measure 1.2 meters, as mandated by the law.
Jumao-as said barangay tanods will conduct the clearing operation with the help of MCLEU personnel.
During their final inspection last Oct. 3, 2019, they discovered that barangay roads had the most obstructions, said Ernesto Bongo, chief of operations of MCLEU.
The Association of Barangay Councils president Ernie Manatad, in a separate interview, said he supports the directive and has advised his fellow barangay captains to comply and submit their reports.
“I will also advise all 27 punong barangay to issue an executive order constituting and activating our respective Barangay Clearing Operation Team to carry out the intensified implementation of road clearing and undertake other related tasks at hand with the assistance of the City Legal Enforcement Unit,” Manatad said.
He said he will personally call the attention of barangay captains who ignore this directive.
“I’m sure the DILG director will also monitor our respective progress reports related to the implementation of the clearing operation order,” he said.
Barangay captains who do not clear their roads will be sanctioned for dereliction of duty.
However, there will be due process, Manatad said.
They will have to submit an explanation why they should not be sanctioned, suspended or be meted a 60-day preventive suspension, he said.
The development has placed some barangays in a dilemma. Barangay Tabok, for example, doesn’t have parking spaces for its vehicles.
Barangay Councilor Emil Rosal told SunStar Cebu that they have difficulty buying or renting parking spaces for barangay vehicles because their area is industrialized.
The barangay has two garbage trucks, one ambulance, one fire truck and two pickup vehicles, some of which park along the sidewalk.
According to Rosal, they have been negotiating with private owners who are willing to sell their lots to the barangay.
Tabok is but one of 13 barangays that do not have parking spaces, said Manatad.
“Ang remedy ana adto sa layo iparking kanang naay space or private parking lot iparking (The remedy is to park the vehicles somewhere far where there is space or park the vehicles in a private parking lot),” he said.
The 60-day mandate of President Rodrigo Duterte to clear roads and sidewalks of obstructions in all local government units nationwide ended last Sept. 29.
The Mandaue City Government has passed City Ordinance 2001-003, or the Anti-Use of Sidewalk, but it may have difficulty sustaining the operation.
However, Jumao-as said Mandaue City’s clearing operation received positive feedback from the DILG and passed the agency’s final validation. (KFD)