ILOILO City – The Regional Development Council’s (RDC) committee on infrastructure passed a resolution endorsing the rehabilitation/restoration of damaged infrastructures in Western Visayas due to Severe Tropical Storm “Paeng”.
According to Iloilo City’s Mayor Jerry P. Treñas who chairs the infrastructure committee, the rehabilitation or restoration needed P1.8 billion.
Treñas said they are hopeful that the needed fund will get an allocation through the 2023 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
“Amo na ang ginalagas naton subong kay ti daw on the final stages na ang aton General Appropriations Act or ang proposed budget for next year. Basi pa man lang may mga portion sang budget nga ma-realign para diri,” said Treñas.
Citing the report of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Treñas said the bulk of funds will go to the province of Antique.
The resolution of the RDC-6 infrastructure committee will be submitted to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the House of Representatives through House Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, the Senate through Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, and the DPWH central office.
DPWH-6 director Nerie Bueno earlier reported to the President that 119 infrastructure projects were damaged by the typhoon region-wide. Sixty-eight of these were roads, 41 were bridges, and 10 were flood control structures.
For the two major bridges alone — the Paliwan Bridge in Antique and the Oyungan Bridge in Iloilo — the estimated cost of restoration amounts to P355 million and P321 million, respectively.
Bueno said the Antique District Engineering Office (DEO) has the biggest infrastructure damage, needing P497.033 million for the restoration, which includes the construction of a new bridge parallel to Paliwan Bridge.
Bueno proposed to the President to construct a new bridge as a replacement to the Paliwan Bridge because it is already weak at 48 years old.
The following are the costs of restoration needed for each DEO with reported infrastructure damage:
* Aklan DEO – P80 million
* Capiz 1st DEO – P150 million
* Capiz 2nd DEO – P76.860 million
* Iloilo 1st DEO – P215 million
* Iloilo 2nd DEO – P248 million
* Iloilo 3rd DEO – P95.235 million
* Iloilo 4th DEO – P70.600 million
* Negros Occidental 1st DEO – P16 million
* Negros Occidental 2nd DEO – P205.7 million
* Negros Occidental 3rd DEO – P9.670 million
* Negros Occidental Sub-DEO – P113.881-million./PN
