Koronadal City- Newly installed DILG XII Regional Director Josephine C. Leysa commended Governor Daisy Avance-Fuentes’ efforts of reaching out to the far-flung communities in South Cotabato through its various programs.
Director Leysa described the provincial government’s campaign as ‘commendable’ as ‘it allows people to have access the various government programs and services’. Leysa’s reaction came as Governor Fuentes delivered her third State of the Province Address (SOPA) on Monday, February 18, 2019. Through the SOPA, the governor was able to outline her major accomplishments for 2018 before the jam-packed crowd at the South Cotabato Gym and Cultural Center.
Leysa was speaking mainly on Governor Fuentes’ Development Priority no. 3 which focused on ‘Accelerating Infrastructure Development, Fuentes stated that her administration ‘had made major investments in material infrastructures amounting to more than P960 million’ in 2018 alone.
Included in the said funds were the P300.9 million worth of road projects under the Conditional Matching Grant Program (CMGP) of the Department of the Interior and Local Government. The funds were spent mainly for the rehabilitation of roads and bridges, classrooms, flood control structure, among others. CMGP is a partnership program between the DILG and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for provincial governments.
CMGP is an enhanced version of the ‘KALSADA’ Program (Kongkreto at Ayos na LanSAngan ang DAan Tungo sa Pagkalahatang Kaunlaran) which was initiated in 2016. The program was an offshoot of the successful completion of the Australian Aid’s Provincial Road Management Facility which was piloted in 10 selected provinces in the Visayas and Mindanao. From an initial budget of P6.5 Billion in 2016 for KALSADA, covering 207 road projects, the DBM increased the CMGP allocation to P18.03 Billion in 2017 to fund 330 road projects under the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) component in the 2017 General Appropriations Act.
The CMGP is meant to ‘partly address the seemingly poor state of provincial roads across the country and to improve the capacity of provinces in local road management (LRM), incorporating reforms in public financial management (PFM).
“With #RoadsPaMore”, we see that the lives of our people in the hinterlands will become much easier, much better” Director Leysa added as she describes the convenience, change and progress that the new roads bring to the residents of a community. Testimonials from beneficiary communities were played out in between the speech of the Governor and they all highlighted the ‘joy and gratefulness of the people’ who were in tears upon seeing a four-wheel vehicle for the first time.
“I see genuine appreciation in the eyes of the people, especially the residents of Sito Blit, Barangay Ned in Lake Sebu, for something that they thought they wouldn’t see in their lifetime: a decent road that reached and went through their village,” Director Leysa clarified.
From 2016 to 2018, the CMGP has granted a total of P686.75 million for the construction of more than 58 kilometers of provincial roads all over South Cotabato. For 2019, the Department is set to download P134 million for the construction of six road projects in Tampakan, Koronadal City, Surallah, Polomolok, Tboli, Tantangan and Norala. That would bring the total CMGP funds to P814 million for 2019.
‘I know that our Department will always extend its hand to the LGUs in the region, especially those which implemented our programs effectively and efficiently in accordance with the provincial road map’, Leysa added. The Director, who hails from Koronadal City, believes that this is the national Government’s way of reaching out to South Cotabato.
“This is in line with our goal of making people feel that the Government is with them, for them and will work for their welfare,” Director Leysa said.
