Cebu gets P35M to repair roads

• Source:http://www.philstar.com/cebu-news/2016/04/11/1571691/cebu-gets-p35m-repair-roads
• Monday, April 11, 2016 12:00 am

By Kristine B. Quintas (The Freeman)

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu provincial government is set to receive P35.5 million from the national government for the improvement, development and rehabilitation of various provincial roads.

The money will be shelled out as part of the implementation of the "Konkreto at Ayos na Lansangan at Daan Tungo sa Pangkalahatang Kaunlaran (KALSADA)" project, in which Cebu was included as one of the 73 recipients out of 81 provinces in the country.

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) has already asked the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to release to Cebu province the P35.5 million intended for road improvements under the Kalsada program.

In its letter dated March 18, the DILG informed DBM Secretary Butch Abad that the Province of Cebu has already complied with the requirements set in the special provisions of the 2016 General Appropriations Act along with the Province of Batanes.

The Department of Budget and Management set aside P6.5 billion from this year's P3-trillion national spending plan for the road rehabilitation project.

The funds will be directly downloaded to local government units that meet "good governance standards, social development benchmarks and established monitoring and evaluation mechanisms." Freeman ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch:

Under the program, the province is required to provide a counter fund of more than P15 million, raising the total amount to nearly P51 million, according to Cebu Provincial Information Officer Ethel Natera.

Natera said total allocation for Cebu's Kalsada program is not P59 million, as earlier reported.

"There was an error sa amount given by DILG. It is actually P51 million and P15 million of which will come from Cebu province as counterpart fund," she said.

The offices of Provincial Engineering and Planning and Development have identified the 3.7-kilometer portion of Barangay Dakit, Bogo City to Barangay, Nipa Cayaan Tabogon road in northern Cebu as the project's beneficiary.

A feasibility study by the two offices shows that the Bogo-Tabogon beltway is among the busiest lanes in the province, serving as link to numerous businesses and tourist spots in the north.

A whopping P338.5 million road improvements stretching to 17 kilometers await Cebu province in next year's implementation of the Kalsada program.

Cebu province and other 72 provinces were selected based on their compliance with DILG's Seal of Good Financial Housekeeping and submission of their Local Public Financial Management Assessment Report to the DBM.

Cebu province won the Seal of Good Governance of the DILG for two consecutive years starting in 2014. In the same years, the province also topped the list of richest provinces of the country in the Annual Financial Report of the Commission on Audit.

According to the Official Gazette, the KALSADA project aims to increase the LGUs' "ability to bring their road networks to sustainably maintainable condition through renovation or rehabilitation of strategic road networks linking national roads to areas of development such as agriculture, tourism, health and education."

The KALSADA project is among the road projects received by Cebu Province from national government agencies.