Cebu City pushes for road recovery, expansion

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City government is looking at putting more efforts in road recovery and expansion projects, Councilor Jerry Guardo said as the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) urged local government units to continue and follow-through on the implementation of nationwide road clearing initiatives.

Guardo said recovering the original width of the city’s roads has already begun in two sitios of Barangay Sambag 1, Tangkungan, and Urgello.

Guardo is familiar with the situation in Sambag 1 being its former barangay captain. The current captain, Alien, is his wife.

He said he saw how dangerous some of the streets in the barangay have become with roads getting narrower and public utility vehicles getting bigger.

“It has become high risk or dangerous kay gagmay kaayo ang dan unya dagko kaayo ning mga modernized jeepneys… nya nakakita ko, duha ka mini bus nagsugat, kuyaw kaayo maligsan, walay side walk… mao na nga upon checking sa bureau of lands, na-recover nato ang original width,” Guardo said.

It was found that some residential houses and business buildings that have encroached the roads such that the roads have become only five meters wide instead of the original eight to nine meters.

Guardo said they will work on the roads in neighboring Sambag 2 and Guadalupe.

“We intend to recover what belongs to the city lang gyud kay if we go beyond sa ilang private properties, madugo na sad na, mag expropriation proceeding pa,” Guardo said.

Road clearing

Meanwhile, Interior Seretary Eduardo Año urged local government units (LGUs) to continue and follow through on the implementation of the nationwide Road Clearing Operation (RCO) and campaign against tricycles on national highways to protect children from road accidents, especially with the return to face-to-face classes.

“The Road Clearing Ops and ‘no trike on national highway’ campaign have to be sustained. Hindi puwedeng ningas-kugon. We urge our LGUs to continue and sustain their successes to protect our children from road accidents, lalo na ngayong papalapit na ang face-to-face classes,” Año said.

Out of 41,365 barangays covered by the RCO initiative, 93.53 percent or 38,690 barangays continue to respond to the call to clear streets of obstructions for the month of March 2022 with the latest data submitted on May 6, 2022.

Año noted that all regions are above the 80 percent adherence rate.

“Malaking tagumpay ito [RCO] sa pagtiyak natin na magiging ligtas ang ating mga anak sa kalsada. Hinihikayat natin ang mga LGU na protektahan ang mga bata sa pamamagitan ng pagpapatutuloy ng mga nasimulan ng programang ito sa susunod na administrasyon,” Año added.

DILG said LGUs should also ensure that their tricycle task force is activated and is separate from the tricycle regulatory boards to formulate or review the tricycle route plan.

“Kadalasang tricycle ang sinasakyan ng mga bata sa pagpasok sa eskuwela kaya naman mahalaga na tiyaking ng mga LGUs na ligtas ang daan at sumusunod ang mga drayber sa mga limitasyon nila,”Año said.

Newly-elected officials (NEOs) are also expected to formulate policies that lead to the protection of children from road accidents for this will play a critical role in ensuring that they are safe on the streets and far from road traffic injuries.

Año encouraged the new officials to include in their priority programs and/or continue existing road safety initiatives.

“As the influx of children travel on roadways going and back from their schools, children are exposed to road accidents. These policies on road safety can save lives and reduce road collision deaths and injuries,” he said.

LGUs are also urged to participate in the Nationwide Child Road Safety Law Enforcement Visibility activities where the government’s effort on road safety for children will be highlighted.

“We are likewise encouraging all LGUs nationwide to join us in Nationwide Child Road Safety Law Enforcement Visibility activities and participate by initiating parallel activities, advocacy efforts, and related programs in preparation for the opening of classes,” said DILG Undersecretary and Spokesperson Jonathan Malaya. – JMO (FREEMAN)