Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año said the application of permits to build cell towers by 1,502 out of the 1,930 telecom companies have been approved by the local government units (LGUs).
With 428 applications still pending, Año assured that strict monitoring will be done to ensure that no unnecessary delays will occur.
He issued the report during Monday’s late night briefing with President Duterte.
The DILG chief said the application process had already been shortened to 16 days with the required documents now down to eight.
“Sa susunod na linggo, babantayan namin ang mga pending na ito at sisiguraduhin na dapat maaprubahan at kung hindi naman, dapat malaman kung bakit hindi (Next week, we will be closely monitoring the pending applications to ensure their approval and if not, we should be informed why is this so),” Año said.
Last week, Malacañang ordered the LGUs to approve within three days the application of telecommunication companies to build cell towers.
President Duterte asked the prosecutors to file charges against local officials who delay the release of the necessary papers within the prescribed period.
Año said the unnecessary delays in the issuance of permits have been the source of corruption that hampered the construction of the cell towers.