CEBU City Mayor Edgardo Labella has been challenged to work harder to clear public roads of obstruction after the City received a “medium compliance” rating by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Labella was surprised by the result released by the DILG on Friday, Oct. 11, 2019, since DILG personnel had told him the City was highly compliant, adding that DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III even commended the City during his inspection.
“We will continue to work hard to comply with the order of the President,” Labella said.
He said the DILG might have had a change of heart, but he vowed that he would act according to the directive of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Aside from Cebu City, the cities of Mandaue and Talisay and Consolacion town also received a “medium compliance” rating.
Local government units (LGUs) that received a “medium compliance” rating got scores of between 81 and 90 percent.
The City of Naga was the only LGU in Metro Cebu that got a “high compliance” rating, or a score of between 91 and 100 percent, while Lapu-Lapu City and Minglanilla received a “low compliance” rating, or a grade of between 71 and 80 percent.
Carcar City and the towns of Badian, Carmen, Ginatilan, Compostela, Pinamungajan and Moalboal failed the DILG’s assessment.
All in all, 12 LGUs in Central Visayas failed in the road clearing assessment.
Aside from the seven LGUs in Cebu, the towns of Antequera, Garcia Hernandez, Talibon and Valencia in Bohol also failed, as well as the town of Larena in Siquijor.
Nationwide, 97 LGUs failed the assessment.
DILG 7 Director Leocadio Trovela was satisfied with the results, as 89 percent of the cities and municipalities in the region were compliant.
In an official statement released by the DILG 7, Trovela said the DILG will be strict in imposing the corresponding sanctions against non-compliant LGUs.
City and municipal mayors concerned will be issued show-cause orders. They have five days to explain. Their names will be submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman.
Local chief executives may face charges, such as dereliction of duty and negligence, if they fail to respond or if their reason is not acceptable.
Of the 1,246 LGUs in the country, 1,148 passed Duterte’s directive. Some 388 LGUs are still being validated.
In total, the LGUs cleared 6,899 national and city roads.
On July 29, the DILG issued a memorandum directing all LGUs to reclaim public roads from obstruction, such as illegal vending, illegal parking and illegal structures.
DILG Undersecretary Martin Diño recently announced that the responsibility to monitor and sustain obstruction-free roads falls on barangay captains.
Meanwhile, the Mandaue City Government agreed with its rating evaluation.
“We are also happy that the DILG also saw our efforts to comply... What’s good about it is there is still room for improvement because, at least, we can aim for a higher compliance next time,” City Administrator Jamaal Calipayan said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
As a highly urbanized city, “medium compliance” is already a big accomplishment since it was expected that there would be a lot of obstruction unlike in the case of some municipalities, he said.
Edwin Jumao-as, head of the Mandaue City Legal Enforcement Unit, said they are continuing to clear barangay roads, adding that they’ve started in Barangays Looc, Centro and Alang-Alang. / (JJL, KFD)