ILOILO City – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has restored a safeguard scrapped in the previous administration — requiring clearance from local governments before national infrastructure projects can be declared “completed.”
The move, welcomed by Mayor Raisa Treñas and business leaders here, is seen as a crucial step to end defective turnovers and ensure taxpayers’ money is not wasted.
Treñas described the order as a “very important safeguard” that reestablishes a Local Government Code provision long ignored.
“This will make sure projects are not only finished on paper, but are actually complete, functional, and beneficial to our communities,” she said. “We in the local government are the ones who maintain these facilities after the turnover, so it is only right that we are given the authority to formally accept projects before they are considered finished.”
She cited the case of the Jalandoni Street pumping station, turned over by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) but riddled with defects, forcing the city to spend an extra P10 million to make it usable.
“With this directive from the President, we can now avoid situations like this. It will ensure that before a project is accepted, it already meets the standards of quality and is ready for actual use by the people,” Treñas added.
The business sector backed the new rule. Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI)–Iloilo president Engr. Fulbert Woo said transparency in project acceptance will directly benefit the economy.
“I think this plan of PBBM is fair enough for transparency as well. If the LGU is involved in finalizing projects, the business sector will fully support that,” Woo said. “At the end of the day, the problem of our community is to make sure that the business sector has a good business environment — no floods, reliable power, and steady water supply. Those are basic needs. The ecosystem will be better if transparency is there.”
Alongside the reinstated clearance rule, Marcos also ordered the reactivation of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to investigate alleged anomalies in flood control projects over the past decade. While it cannot prosecute, the ICI will recommend actions against irregularities.
The President said giving LGUs a decisive role in project acceptance puts oversight where it matters most — on the ground, with officials who can confirm whether concrete is thick enough, structures are sound, and flood-control systems actually work./PN
