REALIGNMENT OF FUNDS. Negros Oriental Governor Pryde Henry Teves, with DILG provincial director Farah Gentuya, during the provincial Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict meeting on Tuesday (Aug. 10, 2022). The governor said he is asking for the realignment of PHP30 million in government funds for the repair of two unusable bridges in Manjuyod and a drainage system in Sibulan. (Photo by Judy Flores Partlow)
DUMAGUETE CITY – Negros Oriental Governor Pryde Henry Teves is seeking the realignment of PHP30 million in government funds for the repair of two damaged bridges in Manjuyod, as well as a drainage system project in Sibulan town.
The amount was earlier allocated under the Local Government Support Fund-Financial Assistance to Local Government Units (LGSF-FALGUs) which was downloaded to the province last March, said Farah Gentuya, provincial director of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Wednesday.
The funding was originally intended for the continuation of the redevelopment of the Freedom Park fronting the Capitol at PHP24 million, and for the acquisition of 20 units of multi-cab vehicles, totaling PHP6 million, although both projects were not yet implemented.
Teves, in an interview with the Philippine News Agency, said he wrote to Secretary Amenah Pangandaman of the Department of Budget and Management seeking to realign these funds to infrastructure projects that are of immediate need.
The governor said he wants the funds realigned for the repair of two unusable bridges in Manjuyod costing PHP12 million each and the construction of a drainage system in Sibulan amounting to PHP6 million.
“People are passing through the rivers because the bridges located in provincial roads leading to Barangay Candabong in Manjuyod are broken,” he said in mixed English and Cebuano.
The bridges were badly damaged by Typhoon Odette which hit Negros Oriental and other parts of the Visayas in December 2021.
Teves said the provincial government had already allocated PHP38 million for the ongoing rehabilitation of the Freedom Park, “and that should be enough”. (PNA)
