Iloilo City has passed the evaluation of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on its order to reclaim public roads from private users within 60 days.
The city got a score of 83 percent for its road clearing operations.
Its accomplishment report was checked by a multiagency validation team created by the DILG
The team was headed by DILG-Bacolod City Director Ma. Maredith Madayag. Its members included representatives of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Philippine National Police (PNP), and civil society organizations.
The city’s rating was higher than the 70-percent passing rate set by the DILG as the cut-off score.
In a report by state-run Philippine News Agency, DILG-6 Director Ariel O. Iglesia said “any accomplishment lower than 70 percent could be a basis for the issuance of a show-cause order against the local government unit (LGU) to explain why it fails to achieve the required rating.”
The deadline of the 60-day period, which began on July 29, ended on September 29.
Prior to the evaluation, Mayor Jerry P. Treñas claimed that 90 to 95 percent of the city’s roads have been cleared.
Love Joy Hosenilla, head of the Anti-Squatting and lllegal Structures Division of the city government’s Public Safety and Transportation Management Office (PSTMO), said the mayor was only referring to the road clearing.
There are other road obstructions, as well as ordinances that need to be amended, according to Hosenilla.
He said they would continue with their operations. “We have to revisit barangays Tabuc Suba, Cubay, Fatima, Montinola and Benedicto in Jaro district; Ma. Clara and several waterfront barangays in the City Proper district; and Yulo Drive in Arevalo.” IMT
PHOTO CREDITS: RMN-Iloilo
