DILG to Cagayan LGU: Shape up or lose P90M

TUGUEGARAO CITY—The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is giving the Cagayan provincial government until April 30 to submit its plans or forfeit a P90-million grant for road improvement.

The road network plan and its approved annual budget are two of the requirements the provincial government lacks to get its share of the conditional matching grant to provinces (CMGP), a funding windfall from the DILG.

The deadline was relayed by the DILG’s office of project development services to Cagayan through Sandra Paredes, executive director of the League of Provinces of the Philippines.

Out of the five provinces in Cagayan Valley, only Cagayan and Batanes have yet to comply with the CMGP requirements, according to government documents.

Under the 2018 CMGP, Cagayan is set to receive funding for seven road projects while Batanes is getting funding for only one project.

Gov. Manuel Mamba asked the provincial board to approve the province’s five-year local road network development plan and the annual budget that details provincial funding for road maintenance.

Citing technicalities, the board said it had yet to approve the province’s 2018 budget, despite being ordered by a local court to tackle its passage in successive sessions. —Melvin Gascon