The Department of the Interior and Local Government yesterday bared the nationwide road clearing efforts of local government units were generally successful with only 97 out of the 1,245 of the cities and municipalities in the country being branded as non-compliant to the presidential directive and will be issued show cause orders.
DILG Secretary Eduardo M. Año during a press briefing commended the concerned LGUs for coming up with a successful road clearing operation despite its extreme difficulty.
He thanked the LGUs for their full support and congratulating them for their resounding commitment, compliance, and cooperation.
But despite the significant success in road clearing, Año asserted “we must be strict and abide with our own pronouncement of imposing corresponding sanctions to non-compliant LGUs.”
“Following the strenuous validation efforts of the DILG, 97 LGUs all over the country which were non-compliant will be issued Show Cause Orders today. These were LGUs that garnered a failed rating in the validation conducted by the Department,” he said.
Of the 97 LGUs, 11 are from Region 1, one each from Region 2 and 3, seven from Region 4-B or Mimaropa, 10 from Region 5, one from Region 6, 12 from Region 7, nine from Region 8, 18 from Region 9, 13 from Region 10, three each from Region 11 and 12, and four each from 13 and CAR.
As clearly stated by President Duterte in his last State-of-the-Nation Address, Año asserted that LGUs did not comply with a lawful order should be made accountable.
The DILG Secretary said the 97 non-compliant LGUs are given five days from receipt of the Show Cause Orders for them to explain their non-compliance.
He added that “otherwise, the DILG will have no recourse but to submit their names to the President and file the necessary complaints with the Office of the Ombudsman.’’ (Chito Chavez)