Provincial governments in Region XII (SOCCSKSARGEN)  have pledged to improve their respective Local Road Asset Management (LRAM) as the Department of the Interior and Local Government XII campaigns for a more efficient local road and public financial management in local governments.

"Not all provincial roads and bridges were booked as assets,  and the roads' life cycle management is not generally evident. The implication is that the PLGUs have weak financial management related to roads," DILG XII  Director Josephine Cabrido-Leysa, CESO III, said in a virtual meeting.

"The importance of LRAM cannot be emphasized enough for all the LGUs. These LGUs should all manage their road assets by recording them properly in their respective book of accounts," Director Leysa said.

Road infrastructure is one of the government's most crucial public assets to help boost communities' economic growth and improve people's lives, she added.

LRAM is a systematic management cycle that can provide LGUs with data-based decision making, transparency, accountability, and citizen's participation that are crucial in the planning process.

The DILG, through its Project Development Management Unit (PDMU), conducted a four-day virtual seminar-workshop last week to capacitate provincial governments on LRAM.

This virtual seminar-workshop is part of the Department's capacity development training under the Conditional Matching Grant to Provinces (CMGP) Program, a good governance initiative of the government to provide LGUs with mechanisms to manage roads beyond construction and maintenance.

Members of the provinces' Local Road Management Teams (LRMTs) attended the said virtual seminar-workshop, PDMU XII said.

To date, the Department, in partnership with the United Nations Development Program,  is rolling-out the final manual of the Local Road Asset Management to guide LGUs in the systematic cycle of managing road assets.

"Despite all the challenges, we still have high hopes that the PLGUs will be able to deliver the best services and projects to their constituents," Director Leysa said.