Senators on Tuesday, October 10 urged Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Manuel Bonoan to make a decisive move as they question the agency’s inability to relocate electric posts in the middle of widened roads.

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Sec. Manuel Bonoan presents the proposed P822.2 billion budget of the agency for next year during the Finance Subcommittee A hearing Tuesday, October 10, 2023. (Senate PRIB Photo)

Sen. Nancy Binay expressed her concern over the non-relocation of electric posts which are supposedly part of the DPWH’s road widening projects, noting that these are being used as parking lots for tricycles and similar vehicles.

“I think you have a budget of P2-billion for the relocation of the (electric) poles,” Binay pointed out during the Senate finance committee’s hearing on the budget of the DPWH.

Bonoan admitted, however, that relocating these electric posts “is actually one of the challenges” facing the agency.

“It’s been our challenge over the years, we’ve been coordinating with (electric) cooperatives, Mr. Chairman, particularly, one is the valuation of the cost of transferring the posts and the second is the ability of the cooperatives to transfer it by themselves,” Bonoan said.

Asked if they advise electric cooperatives about any road widening projects in advance, Bonoan said yes.

“Actually, even when they started their poles, they already have a conditionality on the relocation of their poles whenever the department would need to widen the roads. But it’s easier said than done, because of the intricacies in the valuation and relocating the electric poles,” he explained.

But because of this predicament, Bonoan assured that the DPWH has sat down with the National Electrification Administration (NEA) to resolve the issue.

Sen. Mark Villar, a former DPWH secretary, acknowledged such concerns, noting that these cooperatives also face “cash flow issues, therefore, they’re not always able to do it.”

“Technically they are supposed to do it, but with cash flow issues, they ‘re not always able to do it, so hence…but the project has to be finished in a certain time period .. but oftentimes these cooperatives don’t have the means to,” Villar noted.

“So hihintayin mo lang, kasi (you just have to wait, because) you can’t just bulldozer the lines kasi syempre kuryente yan magkaka-brownout if something happens to the lines. So DPWH can’t just arbitrarily remove it, “ he explained.

But Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa told the DPWH it is their primary concern and responsibility should there be any accident.

“Naiintindihan natin yan (we understand that) but maybe DPWH should make a bold move to solve this problem,” Dela Rosa pointed out.

“Kasi alam mo pag may namatay dyan, hindi cooperative ang sinisisi, kayo naman (If someone dies in an accident due to those electric posts, it’s not the cooperative that would be blamed, but the agency),” the senator stressed.