Cebu City s road concreting, asphalting works still at 40%

CEBU, Philippines — Following the implementation of massive asphalting and road concreting projects in Cebu City,

a legislator acknowledged that only 40 percent of the work has been completed so far, emphasizing that significant progress is still needed.

During last Wednesday s regular Cebu City Council session, the body approved resolutions filed by Councilor Jerry Guardo, chairman of the Committee on Infrastructure, for road concreting projects with drainage systems in Barangay Hipodromo.

The projects, covering interior roads, have allocated funding of P9.9 million and P9.3 million, respectively.

In an interview with The Freeman yesterday (Sunday), Guardo said the approved projects are focused on concreting the interior portions of the barangay and are funded by both the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Cebu City Government.

He noted that these projects also include the completion of repairs following the asphalting implementation.

Guardo emphasized that the massive road concreting and asphalting initiative by the Cebu City Government is in response to a backlog of requests that had reportedly remained unaddressed for years.

Regarding the prioritization of areas for roadwork, Guardo said it depends on which barangays can comply with all requirements and consents, which are then submitted for bidding. These projects are funded under the Local Development Fund (LDF).

Since the asphalting and road concreting efforts only began in October 2024, Guardo acknowledged that much work remains to be done.

He reiterated that the initiative started after the DPWH discovered a backlog of asphalting and road concreting requests that had been pending since 2003.

 For now, naa pa ta sa 40 percent, we are still continuing the massive implementation of asphalt overlay to address the request of the different barangays,  said Guardo.

He also admitted that a shortage of dump trucks is affecting progress. The city currently has only five dump trucks, each assigned to one of the five implementation teams.

Guardo explained that each team needs a truck simultaneously for efficient project execution.

To address this, he said they are in the process of requesting additional dump truck rentals to increase efficiency and speed up implementation. This initiative is supported by a P100 million budget recently approved by the council.

 Once it takes effect, the augmentation of dump trucks and other equipment will increase our efficiency,  said Guardo.

Guardo added that the rentals will undergo bidding next week, acknowledging that the overwhelming number of requests required this solution.

 Medyo dako-dako pa gyud ang trabaho, but at least, we have accomplished so much, especially in the major roads and thoroughfares,  he said.

With the so-called  asphalt storm  now underway, Mayor Raymond Alvin attributed the surge in roadwork to backlogged projects from previous administrations. He cited the overwhelming number of requests as a key factor in the delays.

Previously, some Cebu City Council members noted that the increased asphalting activity appears to coincide with the upcoming elections, despite the projects having been proposed years ago.

For his part, Garcia pointed out that no significant asphalting projects had been implemented in the past three years under previous administrations.

According to Garcia, many of the roads currently undergoing asphalting have not been repaired in over a decade. He attributed the backlog to the sheer volume of requests from barangays.

Recently, an additional P140 million was allocated for road repairs through asphalting under Supplemental Budget 1 (SB1).

Garcia emphasized that road asphalting has been one of his administration s key priorities since he assumed office.

He reiterated that the large-scale asphalting effort stemmed from numerous complaints about the lack of road repairs over the past three years, except for projects in the South Road Properties (SRP).

He also pointed out that the asphalting budget was slashed in the 2025 annual budget, which is why it was included in the proposed SB1. Given the large number of areas requiring asphalting, he said the city had to secure additional funds to support the projects.  ATO (CEBU NEWS)