Capitol roads need to be cleared: DILG.

By SHIELA MAE BUTLIG, Correspondent

THE roads and sidewalks within the capitol compound need to be cleared and whoever claims to have jurisdiction over these should follow President Duterte’s order.

Marisia Naybe, head of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in Misamis Oriental, said all the structures and obstructions on the capitol compound’s sidewalks and roads should be removed based on DILG’s Memorandum Circular 2020-27.

Naybe said the capitol compound is not exempted from the clearing operations despite questions on which local government has jurisdiction over the government-owned roads and sidewalks.

The latest DILG directive, dated Feb. 6,  2020 and issued by Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, ordered the reclamation of roads for public use within 75 days.

This time, barangay officials were directed to lead in the clearing operations in coordination with concerned local governments as part of the continued implementation of Duterte’s order to remove illegal road obstructions.

“Road Clearing 2.0” took effect Feb. 17 and would be carried out until April 30 .

The DILG memorandum was addressed to all provincial governors, mayors, barangay chairpersons, local legislatures, and DILG regional directors, among others.

Nayve said barangays would play important roles in the road-clearing operations. She said the barangays would need to submit a report on compliance to the DILG office.

She said a team, composed of representatives from the DILG, police, Bureau of Fire Protection, local government engineers, and members of civil society organizations, would assess the road-clearing operations.

Naybe also said all government-owned roads would be inventoried, and areas with obstructions would be listed.

She said the DILG would also check if local governments have ordinances or are crafting local laws pertaining to the road-clearing operations.

Naybe said she has discussed a question on jurisdiction on the capitol compound with her Cagayan de Oro counterpart in the DILG. If there is a question on jurisdiction, Naybe said, then “they need to establish” that immediately.

In the event that the capitol establishes its jurisdiction over the compound, she said, the provincial government may opt to close the roads to vehicular traffic but, still, the obstructions need to go “kay (government-owned) road man.”

“If ma-establish nga ila, (ang) province na ang mag-clear. Pero kung subdivision, sila na man g’yud ga-agi, depende na dayon sa province kung paagian pa ba niya or dili or what. Kung compound siya, depende ra gyud ni province kay iya man siya,” said Naybe. “But it needs to be cleared.”

The question on jurisdiction, however, is no longer an issue because no one is raising it now. According to Naybe, Antonio Resma, the head of city hall’s clearing operations, was not questioning the capitol’s assertion that the provincial government has jurisdiction over the roads and sidewalks in the compound.

Naybe said Resma has stated that his road-clearing team respects the provincial government’s jurisdiction claim, leaving the capitol with the responsibility of removing the obstructions.

“Ang instruction ni President sa DILG nga i-clear lang nato ang naay mga obstruction nga mga sidewalks. Wala nay sukod-sukod,” she said. “I-clear ang mga sidewalks para libre moagi ang mga tao, para dili siya moagi didto sa daplin sa karsada, madisgrasya unya siya.”

Many of the obstructions on the capitol compound roads and sidewalks are extensions of stalls built and being subleased by a woman identified as Rhea Ritzie P. Nueva who bagged a lease agreement with the capitol in September 2013. The three-year agreement was reportedly renewed in 2016. The status of the agreement has remained unclear.

Capitol officials have yet to say exactly who Nueva is, speak about how she managed to bag the deal, and why they are not removing the sidewalk and road obstructions in the compound.