Day: April 15, 2024

LEGAZPI CITY: Thousands of villagers in the towns of Guinobatan, Oas, Polangui, and the City of Ligao, all in Albay province, are set to benefit from PHP866 million worth of infrastructure projects set to start construction this April.

Albay 3rd District Rep. Fernando Cabredo on Monday thanked and commended President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. for prioritizing the implementation of the projects along the Maharlika Highway road sections that will provide convenience to the public in going to and from various destinations, not only within the province and region but also in Visayas and Mindanao.

In a phone interview, Cabredo said the PHP866 million would fund a total of 15 projects that were included in the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) annual infrastructure program and funded under the General Appropriations Act of 2024.

“I am grateful for the continued support of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, and DPWH Secretary Manny Bonoan. The President cares for th
e people of Bicol,” Cabredo said in the local dialect.

“Naka-focus sa Maharlika Highway ang projects, 15 projects ito na may rehabilitation, reconstruction, upgrading of damaged paved roads, road widening, preventive maintenance, off-carriageway, and intersection improvements. Madami siyang gagawin and nakikita natin na pag natapos ito mas madali at maayos na ang daan patungo at papuntang Luzon, Visayas at Mindanao (The projects are focused on the Maharlika Highway, these are 15 projects with rehabilitation, reconstruction, upgrading of damaged paved roads, road widening, preventive maintenance, off-carriageway and intersection improvements. There is a lot to be done and we can see that when these are finished, going to and from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao would be much easier),” he added.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s ‘no wang-wang’ (sirens) policy and Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez’s ‘8’ protocol plates prohibition provide motorists with a level of playing field amid the crippling traffic situation, particularly in Metro Manila.

Cagayan De Oro City 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez on Monday said the use of sirens and police escorts ‘are a symbol of entitlement of power and privileges, which our people frown upon and do not accept.’

‘Let us have a level playing field in suffering the terrible traffic situation. All officials must go early to their appointments taking into account the traffic. No one should be above the traffic crisis,’ Rodriguez said in a statement.

He said the people regard public officials who flaunt their position, power and influence as arrogant and they should not be emulated.

Public officials, he added, should heed the admonition in the Code of Conduct for Public Officials and Employees that they should, at all times, be accountable to the people a
nd ‘shall discharge their duties with utmost responsibility, integrity, competence, and loyalty, act with patriotism and justice, lead modest lives, and uphold public interest over personal interest.’

‘We are not leading or living modest lives if we demand that we should be entitled to certain privileges as public servants,’ he said.

Rodriguez proposed that only the President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court can use protocol plates.

He said other members of Congress, Cabinet members and other officials should use regular plates.

‘I have never used No. 8 since I became a congressman in 2007. I could not understand why many officials, including undersecretaries, judges and prosecutors, are using low-numbered plates,’ Rodriguez said.

In an advisory to House members, Romualdez said ‘in view of the issuance by the President of Executive Order (EO) No. 56 last March 25, we are not authorized to use the protocol ‘8’ plates.’

He sa
id the House would coordinate with the Land Transportation Office and the Metro Manila Development Authority on the use of protocol plates once the rules implementing EO 56 are issued.

Under the President’s Order, those allowed to use low-numbered plates are the President, Vice President, Senate president, Speaker, chief justice and associate justices of the Supreme Court, Cabinet members, senators, House members, presiding justice of the Court of Appeals, Court of Tax Appeals and Sandiganbayan, solicitor general, chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police chief, Ombudsman, and chairpersons of constitutional commissions.

Source: Philippines News Agency