Road clearing to resume in Bacolod in transition to ‘new normal’

BACOLOD CITY—The city government will resume removing all obstructions on roads on Nov. 16 to heed an order by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

The DILG has issued Memorandum Circular No. 2020-145 giving all local government units 60 days, or from Nov. 16 to Jan. 15, 2021, to comply with a presidential directive to clear all roads of illegal structures and obstructions.

Ma. Joy Maredith Madayag, DILG Bacolod City director, had given 61 village chiefs in the city a briefing on the directive.

Mayor Evelio Leonardia said the road clearing operations will bring order to the streets of the city, which had earned a compliance rating of 87 percent in enforcement of the road-clearing order in October 2019.

Leonardia said village chiefs must comply with the directive or face sanctions from the DILG.

The Bayanihan to Recover as One Act required local governments to regulate all traffic on roads, streets and bridges, clear access to these and ban encroachments or obstacles.

The Local Government Code of 1991 mandated all provincial, city, municipal and village governments to keep roads obstruction-free.

Madayag discussed salient points of the DILG memo with the village chiefs, reiterating that the role of village governments in the campaign and their need to submit accomplishment reports.

She also reminded the villages chiefs of previous DILG orders and the need to coordinate with the national government effort to clear all roads.

She said continuing the road-clearing program was “also part of our transition to the new normal.” “We need to ensure that public roads do not have illegal obstructions and that they are kept safe,” she added.

Madayag said the enforcement of the program depended on the community quarantine status of local governments.

In Bacolod City, which is still on general community quarantine, the program would be limited to removing obstructions on roads and sidewalks deemed dangerous for motorists and pedestrians.

Once the city transitions to modified GCQ, however, full enforcement of the road-clearing order was expected, Madayag said.

TSB