JOINT MEETING. Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Assistant Secetary for External and Legislative Affairs Ricojudge Javier Echiverri graces the first joint meeting of the Regional Development Council (RDC) and Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) meeting chaired by Cebu Govenor Hilario Davide III on Monday, March 11, 2019. Also in photo is Police Regional Office (PRO-7) Reigonal Director Debold Sinas. (Photo from Department of Agriculture Regional Director Salvador Diputado's Facebook page)
CEBU CITY — Regional officials in Central Visayas (CV) have discussed ways to construct school buildings in far-flung villages of Negros Oriental, where contractors who have won the bidding are afraid to go because of threats from armed groups.
Regional Development Council (RDC)-7 (Central Visayas) Chair Kenneth Cobonpue on Monday said among the agreed means of implementing the projects is allowing the Philippine Army Engineering Battalion in Negros Oriental to undertake the construction.
He admitted that school building projects have not been implemented in said province due to the resurgence of the New People's Army (NPA) in the hinterlands.
Cobonpue said the concern was raised during the joint meeting of the RDC and the Regional Peace and Order Council in the region headed by Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III.
Some of the project sites of those school-buildings are situated in rebel-infested areas, he said in an interview with the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
According to him, contractors who have won the bidding are afraid to go up to the project sites.
“It was resolved in the meeting that DepEd (Department of Education) should look for alternative means of constructing those school-buildings,” Cobonpue said.
“The joint body will inform DepEd of what we come up to ensure that education for the school-children in Negros Oriental are not hampered,” Cobonpue said.
Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH-7) Assistant Regional Director Mario Montejo, in a separate interview with PNA, confirmed there are “few” school-buildings which are left unconstructed due to the insurgency situation in Negros island.
“Gamay ra nuon na (It’s just a few of them). But we need to see how many (school) buildings were due for implementation but na-stall (being stalled),” Montejo said, adding that he could not, as of press time, secure exact data of the number of school-building projects left unimplemented in Negros Oriental, reiterating that “they are a few.”
He said there are school building projects that can no longer be implemented due to lack of sites or areas where they can be built.
He said he supports the view that DepEd needs to find alternative way of carrying out the project.
Montejo, however, urged proponents of the plan to turn over the project to the Army’s engineering unit to ensure its completion within the time frame.
He explained that the funds from DepEd will be transferred to the Department of National Defense (DND) which, in turn, will transfer it to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), then to the Philippine Army before it can reach the engineering battalion for project implementation.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1064245
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