No letup in road clearing – Labella

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City government will continue clearing roads of illegal obstructions even without the national government’s order, said Mayor Edgardo Labella.

The mayor made the statement following the issuance of a new Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) memorandum on clearing of barangay roads.

The barangays are given 75 days to clear roads and sidewalks of obstructions.

“Although the cities and the municipalities are doing their share, this is a welcome development in the sense that the responsibility also is being redirected,” said Labella.

Labella assured that the barangays will comply with the order. Cebu City has 80 barangays.

“We will continue with our road clearing efforts…Even without the guidelines from the DILG, we will still do it because it is the call of the day,” he said.

President Rodrigo Duterte made a directive during the State of the Nation Address on July 22, 2019 to reclaim public roads from private use. DILG also issued a memorandum last July 29 on this.

As the city complies with Duterte’s directive, Labella vowed that the vendors will not be deprived of their livelihood.

“We are looking for a good formula, while we can comply with the president’s directive, at the same time we can also provide livelihood for the vendors,” he said.

He earlier said it is important to provide balance—clearing sidewalks of obstruction so that pedestrians can walk conveniently and safely, while giving the vendors opportunity to make a living.

To recall, DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III inspected last October the city’s street, the day after the deadline set by Duterte for LGUs to reclaim public roads.

Densing was impressed by how Labella managed to transfer the vendors to a “more convenient place where they can earn a decent living.”

The DILG earlier announced that out of the 1,534 cities and municipalities, 101 failed during the road clearing assessment, 15 of which earned the lowest score.

In Cebu, among the local government units that were failed by DILG inspectors during their assessment last September 30 to October 4, 2019 were the city of Carcar and the towns of Badian, Carmen, Compostela, Ginatilan, Moalboal, and Pinamungajan.

Theses LGUs failed to comply with Duterte’s directive based on validation after the September 29, 2019 deadline.

The criteria for rating compliance include the passage of ordinances for road management, inventory and actual clearing of roads, and measures for displaced or affected vendors, among others.  KQD (FREEMAN)