DILG extends anew deadline for road clearing ops to Feb. 15

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Saturday extended anew the deadline of its road clearing operations to February 15, in consideration of local governments' preparation for their inoculation programs against COVID-19.

“The Department is fully cognizant of the urgency for LGUs to prepare their vaccination plans against COVID-19 that’s why the road clearing timeline is extended anew. This is, however, the last extension to be granted by the DILG,”  DILG spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said in a statement.

The DILG recently tasked local government units (LGUs) to create local vaccination plans.

It must contain preparation of risk communication plans, early vaccine communication campaign,  a master list of priority vaccines, identification of possible vaccine centers, available cold chain storages, other logistical requirements, and a master list of existing human resources and personnel needed in the vaccination program, the DILG said.

“We need to give LGUs time to focus on their local vaccination plans so we are giving them more time to undertake their road-clearing operations,” he added.

The original deadline was on January 15 but was extended until January 22.

Malaya also said the DILG’s validation of the compliance of LGUs was also moved from January 18 to February 16 to March 2.

"The deadline of the submission of all consolidated validation reports from the DILG regional offices will be one week after the end of the validation period or on March 9, 2021.  We will not allow any modification in the report after submission," he said.

Regional offices (ROs) of the DILG are required to designate one road clearing focal person whose names should be submitted to the DILG Central Office by February 2.

A directory of the validation team members for each province, city, and municipality with their respective regions must also be submitted by the ROs by February 9.

LGUs under general community quarantine will be assessed on whether road obstructions exist along or within the entirety of the selected roads as well as the compliance with the ban of tricycles on national highways.

LGUs under modified general community quarantine will, meanwhile, be assessed based on their full implementation of road clearing operations.

This includes the removal of road obstructions, enactment of an enabling ordinance, the conduct of an inventory of road obstructions, crafting and implementation of a displacement plan, rehabilitation of cleared roads, creation of a grievance mechanism, and compliance with the ban on tricycles along national roads.

“Inaasahan po ng DILG ang full cooperation ng LGUs para sa maayos na validation process. Within the validation period, LGUs shall submit reports detailing their compliance to the components of road clearing to the Validation Team. Strictly no report, no score,” Malaya said. -Joahna Lei Casilao/MDM, GMA News