P328M for Cagayan roads lost as officials bicker

Farmers benefit from this newly built road and bridge in Tuao town in Cagayan province. —MELVIN GASCON

TUGUEGARAO CITY — As much as P328.7 million meant for road projects in Cagayan province has been forfeited by the national government due to compliance issues stemming from a political rift involving local officials.

The grant was part of the province’s share from the Conditional Matching Grant to Provinces (CMGP), a national government program that helps local governments repair and rehabilitate roads and bridges.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) approved the amount for the concreting of 28.9 kilometers of roads in 13 Cagayan towns.

But the allotment was revoked due to the province’s failure to submit an approved 2017 budget ordinance which would have indicated that the province had sufficient road maintenance funds, said Daisy Salacup, CMGP program manager, in a Dec. 21 letter to Gov. Manuel Mamba.

Budget feud

Mamba and the provincial board, led by Vice Gov. Melvin Vargas Jr., have been feuding over the passage of the 2017 provincial budget, which led to lawsuits. Early in December, a court ordered the board to pass the budget.

The province also failed to render a performance report on its 2016 road projects that used P100 million allocated by the national government, due to the provincial board’s failure to appropriate the required P43 million counterpart. Under the law, no supplemental appropriation may be passed without the prior approval of the principal budget for 2017.

In a June 13 resolution, the provincial board had asked for more time to submit the requirements of the Kongkreto at Ayos na Lansangan ang Daan Tungo sa Pangkalahatang Kaunlaran (Kalsada) program, a precursor of the CMGP. But the province still failed to meet the new Sept. 15 deadline.

Rosalina Ilaya, acting DILG assistant director of the Office of the Project Development Services, said no second extension of the deadline would be granted to the province.

‘Unfair’

On Wednesday, Mamba appealed to provincial officials to set aside infighting, saying: “Large amounts of funds from the national government that would have otherwise provided benefit for the people of

Cagayan were lost due to this political bickering.”

But the board members said it was unfair for Mamba to pass the blame on the Sangguniang Panlalawigan for the scuttled release of CMGP funds.

In a statement on Sunday, they said the board could not pass the 2017 budget due to what they described as “questionable” realignment of the 2016 Kalsada funds from other towns to benefit the governor’s hometown of Tuao.

The board had not approved funds meant as the 2016 Kalsada counterpart because this item was not included by the executive department when it proposed the 2017 budget.

“We [will] closely watch over the use of funds [allocated for Cagayan by] the national government. We assure him that the Sangguniang Panlalawigan will be more incisive in monitoring the implementation of the annual budget, and funds received by the province of Cagayan,” the statement said.