ILOILO City – There is more room for improvement.
The Department of Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) validating team gave the city government a rating of 83 percent in road clearing operations.
This rating is higher than the passing rate set by the DILG itself, 70 percent.
The other day, the Public Safety and Transportation Management Office (PSTMO) claimed having cleared 95 percent of the city’s roads and sidewalks.
Bacolod City DILG director Ma. Joy Maredith Madayag led the validating team that inspected Iloilo City on Monday and Tuesday.
There is still room for improvement, Madayag told DILG Iloilo City director Roy Defiño.
The DILG validators’ criteria were:
* road-clearing accomplishments – 50 percent
* related city ordinances, road inventory, displacement plan for those affected, rehabilitation plan of roads, among others – 50 percent
While the rating that DILG evaluators gave was lower than PSTMO’s self-rating, the city government still claimed success. Love Joy Hosenilla, head of PSTMO’s Task Force on Anti-Squatting and Illegal Structures that led the clearing operations, said the difference may be due to varying parameters.
He acknowledged that there are obstructions still to be removed from a few roads and sidewalk, most especially illegally parked vehicles.
Hosenilla also identified some barangays that his team would revisit for further road-clearing such as Tabuc Suba, Cubay, Benedicto, Fatima, and Montinola in Jaro district and Monica-Blumentritt and Muelley Loney in the City Proper, among others.
Mayor Jerry Treñas agreed there are still public roads and sidewalks in barangays yet to be cleared. He said he won’t be disbanding the team tasked to do the clearing.
“Sige-sigehon ta ini kay it has done so much good to the city, especially to the public nga nagalakat-lakat sa Calle Real,” said Treñas.
In September, Treñas appealed for the cooperation most especially of sidewalk vendors.
“This road and sidewalk clearing is happening all over the country as a result of President (Rodrigo) Duterte’s directive. We cannot do otherwise but follow,” he stressed./PN
