Lobbying failure or what

Like a child shortchanged, the Regional Development Council (RDC) 7’s infrastructure body cries foul over the region’s share of the Department of Public Works and Highways budget for 2019—P7 billion for four provinces: Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor and Negros Oriental, including the highly-urbanized cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu.

Infrastructure Development Committee (IDC) Chair Glenn Soco says the amount is in stark contrast to the shares Davao City (P45-60 billion) and Cagayan de Oro City (P30-40 billion) are getting.

Soco blames it on former DPWH 7 director Ador Canlas, who he says had been remiss in submitting to the IDC-RDC its Fiscal Year 2019 Infrastructure Program based on the National Expenditure Program (NEP).

Under Canlas, Soco says, the DPWH 7 under-performed. Canlas, now on floating position at the central office, refused to attend IDC meetings, says Soco.

For the P7 billion, the DPWH 7 handed a list of projects to the IDC-RDC for endorsement, which include P4.4 billion for national roads, P1.5 billion for flood control, P1.021 billion for a convergence and special support program, P212 million for a local program.

The list doesn’t quite capture the region’s wishes: the P50 billion Metro Cebu Expressway, Mandaue-Consolacion-Liloan Bypass Road, and Talisay-Minglanilla-Naga Bypass Road, among others.

The DPWH 7 share puts off hopes for the Metro Cebu Expressway to see the light of day anytime soon.

This is strange, says Soco, because the 73-kilometer project that links Carcar to Danao City was earmarked at P50 billion, but the total of P600 million from 2018 and 2019 budget only paves a good stretch of P2.7 kilometers.

Imagine the weight the public has to bear further because of the flimsiest of reasons—a lobbying failure, because what was pushed did not reflect the more substantial wish list.