Southern Leyte gov’t on viral road complaint: ‘We’re doing something’

Aika Rey

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Southern Leyte gov’t on viral road complaint: ‘We’re doing something’
The Philippine Rural Development Project is set to fund a P232-million rehabilitation project, concreting 19.4-kilometer roads and 3 bridges in Liloan, Southern Leyte

MANILA, Philippines — Do you pass by unpaved roads on your day-to-day travels?

Last Tuesday, May 24, a netizen shared her thoughts about her hometown’s unforgiving roads, calling for government intervention on the matter.

Irnah Ticod Limen, a concerned overseas Filipino worker, posted on her Facebook account how difficult it is to travel in her hometown Pana-on Island in Liloan, Southern Leyte.

In response to the viral post which has been shared 1,669 times as of writing, an officer from Southern Leyte’s Provincial Planning and Development Office (SLPPDO) told Rappler that the government is “in fact doing something.”

Hindi nila pwedeng sabihin ‘yan dahil may ginagawa kami,” (They cannot say that because we are doing something) the officer who refused to be named told Rappler in a phone interview.

Turning a blind eye

Limen lamented that the government has been turning a blind eye on their situation.

[H]irap ng transportasyon namin doon na pinabayaan lang ng gobyerno, nagbubulag-bulagan lang ang mga nakaupo sa gobyerno. Ilang dekada na po kaming naghihirap,” she said on her post.

(Transportation is difficult in our area. It seems to have been forsaken by the government as those sitting in power are turning a blind eye. We have been suffering for decades.)

According to her, only one bus frequents their area because of the bumpy and often muddy roads.

LGU action

According to the SLPPDO officer, a road project is yet to be implemented in Limen’s hometown. 

As part of the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP), the World Bank and the Department of Agriculture (DA) will fund a P232-million ($4.97 million) rehabilitation project, concreting 19.4-kilometer (km) roads and 3 bridges.

The provincial road will connect barangays San Roque to Bahay in Liloan, Southern Leyte.

According to a source who refused to be named, the costs will be shouldered by a loan from the World Bank (80%), the DA (10%), and the Southern Leyte provincial government (10%).

The officer also told Rappler that the whole stretch runs along 14 barangays. Some 24 barangays in total will be benefitted from the project

“We are about to start the entire bidding process,” she said in a mix of English and Filipino. “We only received the No-Objection letter last May 16, 2016 but it it was issued on April 13,” the source told Rappler.

No-Objection letters serve as a go-signal to proceed with procurement and awarding to contractors.

“We already started in 2013 but there were issues on right-of-way,” she said.

In January 2016, DA – Eastern Visayas announced that the PRDP will implement the P232-million project in Liloan and will benefit roughly 12,000 citizens. — Rappler.com

*$1 = P46.67

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Aika Rey

Aika Rey is a business reporter for Rappler. She covered the Senate of the Philippines before fully diving into numbers and companies. Got tips? Find her on Twitter at @reyaika or shoot her an email at aika.rey@rappler.com.