By Mario Casayuran
Neophyte Senator Maria Imelda Josefa ‘’Imee’’ Marcos has sought congressional approval of her measures that seek to increase national government funding for the construction, rehabilitation, maintenance, and upgrade of local roads neglected by past administrations.
Senator Imee Marcos (FACEBOOK / MANILA BULLETIN)
Marcos, a former Ilocos Norte governor, said one of her bills would remedy the ‘’underinvestment’’ of local roads by past administrations.
She said the present allocation for local roads averages only P10 million per local government unit (LGU), which was only "enough to cover only half the cost of repairs for one kilometer of concrete road.’’
Adding to her priority bills aimed at poverty reduction, Marcos filed Senate Bill 224 to "institutionalize" the Conditional Matching Grant to Provinces (CMGP) program of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
"Twenty years of underinvestment has left local roads in poor-to-bad condition and in a disconnected state," she pointed out.
The lady lawmaker explained that the measly allocation for local roads comes from a mere five percent of road users' fees collected by the Land Transportation Office, turned over to the Special Local Road Fund, and apportioned to local government units (LGUs) according to their road length and vehicle count.
"We must link cities with far-flung areas to enhance the mobility of people and the transport of goods and services that will maximize the gains that could be made in local trade, agriculture, and tourism," she added.
The responsibility over local roads and bridges was devolved to LGUs through the Local Government Code of 1991, but limited budgets and the lack of reliable road inventories have delayed the expansion of provincial road networks.