DILG forms teams to check road clearing compliance

MANILA, Philippines–Interior Secretary Eduardo Año has ordered the creation of multiagency validation teams that will check on the compliance of local governments on the President’s order to clear the roads within their respective jurisdictions of obstructions.

The validation teams, Año said, will go around the country to check the accomplishment reports submitted by local officials. The teams will be composed of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and members of civil society.

2 weeks to go

“With more than two weeks to go before the deadline on Sept. 29, the DILG enjoins all [local government units] in the country, not just those in Metro Manila, to sustain the clearing of the roads for the benefit of the general public,” he said in a statement.

The DILG on Friday clarified that it had not declared any LGU to be 100-percent compliant of the President’s “road clearing” directive amid reports of claims by a number of local officials in various parts of the country.

“We have not made any determination on which LGUs are fully compliant because the assessment of all LGUs will come after the 60-day deadline, which will be on Sept. 29, 2019,” Año said.

According to the DILG, a local government’s 100-percent compliance does not only entail road clearing operations on primary and secondary roads.

“For an LGU to be declared as fully compliant, they should also enact or revisit ordinances related to road clearing and banning of illegal construction; prepare an inventory of roads within their jurisdiction; develop and implement displacement strategies; and cause the rehabilitation of recovered public roads,” it said.

Weekly performance reports are submitted by LGUs to their DILG regional offices, which, in turn, submit a consolidated report to the DILG central office, through the Bureau of Local Government Supervision.

“Hence, the data on the national summary of compliance with the [memorandum circular] is only based on ‘what is reported by the LGU’ and is subject to validation by an assessment team from the DILG,” the department said.