THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Cordillera is set to allot P20 billion worth of infrastructure projects in the Cordillera Administration Region for 2020 under the "Build, Build, Build" program of the National Government.
Engineer Clifton Valencerina, head of the construction division of DPWH-Cordillera, said close to P8 billion will be used by the agency for road reblocking, preventive maintenance, slope protection and road overlay.
"Flood management projects have been estimated to be around P2 billion, while convergence projects of the said department in the region together with the Department of Tourism (DOT) with focus on maintaining road networks leading to tourists destinations in the region was estimated to be around P2 billion," Valencerina said.
Around P5 billion is being eyed by DPWH for infrastructure projects of local government units in the Cordillera.
Big ticket projects in the region comprising of the Baguio-La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba-Tublay (Blistt) network projects and the Apayao-Ilocos Norte road project has a budget of P1.7 billion.
Although 94 percent of the road networks in the region are already cemented, some 132.52 kilometers of road network have yet to be totally concreted.
Meanwhile, close to 6,000 jobs have been provided by DPWH Cordillera under the infrastructure agenda of the government or Build, Build, Build project in 2019.
"(About) 6,711 jobs were generated starting July until December last year after the approval and release of almost P13 billion capital outlay for the Cordillera Region in 2019 for 832 projects," Valencerina added.
Although some delays in the implementation of projects were observed, 6,711 workers were provided with jobs despite the non-implementation of projects starting January to March 2019 due to delays in the release of the 2019 budget.