CROWDED BARANGAYS: A TEST IN ROAD CLEARING

SAMBAG 1, Sambag 2, Pasil and Suba in Cebu City are the “most challenging barangays to be cleared” of road obstructions.

So said Raquel Arce, chief of the Prevention, Restoration, Order, Beautification and Enhancement (Probe), in an interview on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020.

Several residents in these villages, she said, put up stores in front of their houses, and these structures encroached on the public roads. Arce did not mention that the densely populated villages are the ones that are difficult to deal with.

The 10 most populated villages in Cebu City are Guadalupe (61, 238), Lahug (38,584), Tisa (37,766), Basak San Nicolas (35,422), Labangon (33,477), Mambaling (32,564), Talamban (32,139), Inayawan (30,707), Bulacao (30,450) and Kalunasan (26,756), according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) 2015 census.

Illegal parking

In Mandaue City, the villages of Looc, Tipolo, Banilad and Paknaan recorded the most illegal parking violations and encroachment, according to Mandaue City Legal Enforcement Unit (MCLEU) head Edwin Jumao-as.

The MCLEU also apprehended several illegal parking violators in the barangays of Opao and Umapad.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) issued guidelines last Friday, Feb. 7, tasking barangay officials to get rid of illegal structures along public roads in their jurisdictions starting on Sunday, Feb. 16. The road clearing operations will end on April 30.

In the 2015 PSA census, the 10 most populous barangays in Mandaue City are Paknaan (26,943), Banilad (22,771), Labogon (21,028), Pagsabungan (20,335), Canduman (18,852), Tipolo (18,840), Umapad (18,501), Tabok (18,167), Subangdaku (17,714) and Looc (17,143).

Jumao-as said the MCLEU has turned over the road-clearing responsibilities to the barangays.

Problem vendors

Tipolo Barangay Captain Romana Cuizon said they always have a hard time in clearing the public roads and sidewalks.

She said several vendors often return to the sidewalks after they were asked to leave.

Cuizon said several car owners do not have garages in their houses.

Helpful residents

In Cebu City, Sambag 2 Barangay Captain Ryan Aznar said most of his constituents understood the need to destroy the structures that encroached on the roads. The residents, he said, volunteered to dismantle the structures after their meeting in October 2019.

Arce said her office has received requests from barangay officials, asking the Probe to assist them in clearing their roads from obstructions.

The DILG Feb. 7, 2020 circular states that road clearing means the removal of illegal or unauthorized road obstructions along the road right-of-way, which encompasses the entire width of the road carriageway, and includes the travelway for motor vehicles and road shoulders and sidewalk.

Road obstructions include vehicles parked in prohibited places as specified in Section 46 of Republic Act 4136 (the Land Transportation Code): within an intersection; on a crosswalk; within six meters of the intersection of curb lines; within four meters of the driveway entrance to and fire station; within four meters of a fire hydrant; in front of a private driveway; on the roadway side of any vehicle stopped or parked at the curb or edge of the highway; and at any place where official signs have been erected prohibiting parking. /