Del Mar, Abellanosa blame RDC for cut in DPWH 7 budget

Rep. Raul V. Del Mar (Cebu City, north) yesterday said the allocation for his district would have been P16 billion more had the Regional Development Council (RDC) not removed the amount for the construction of underground tunnels in three traffic-congested road sections.

“Their reason was the lack of a feasibility study despite my informing them that it’s already being undertaken for completion before the end of the year. We would be needing the funding for the construction next year,” Del Mar said.

Based on 2019 programs, activities and projects (PAPs), del Mar said the total allocation for Region 7, which was submitted by Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 7 to its central office, is P92.5 billion.

He said that under the 2019 National Expenditure Program (NEP), the total allocation for Region 7 is P18.7 billion; Cebu Province P10.5 billion; Cebu City, north P850.3 million; and Cebu City, south P792.7 million.

“Nevertheless, we will request the inclusion of this project in the list of multi-year projects. The above-mentioned allocations for Cebu are for the regular infrastructure projects and do not yet include the big ticket projects from other sources,” Del Mar said.

For his part, Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa (Cebu City, south) said that the RDC, with the blessing from or on order of Presidential Assistant Michael Dino, are blocking big ticket projects of Cebu congressmen.

“They have caused DPWH 7 to drop, for example, my district’s P1-billion proposal to start next year the Cebu City South Coastal Blvd. from Sawang Calero to Inayawan to ease traffic on Natalio Bacalso Ave.,” Abellanosa said.

However, Glenn Soco, chairman of RDC’s Infrastructure Development Committee (IDC), denied the allegation.

He said they endorsed a total of P129 billion worth of projects for inclusion in the 2019 DPWH’s budget. But of the amount, only P7 billion was listed by DPWH central office.

“DPWH 7 was the one making the endorsement. So, why only that amount?” Soco said.

Soco denied that RDC caused the project to be taken out. He said they only modified the underground project for feasibility study as proposed by DPWH 7.

He said former DPWH 7 director Ador Canlas did not include projects that are important to Metro Cebu, such as the Guadalupe-Lahug Bypass Road, which is parallel to Escario St., Cebu City; and the Mandaue-Consolacion-Liloan Bypass Road, which is parallel to the Cebu North Road, among others. /