Cebu Reps. Benhur Salimbangon and Nerissa Soon-Ruiz wanted to have own engineering district in their respective areas.
This developed as Salimbangon and Ruiz have jointly sponsored a bill in Congress seeking to divide the First Engineering District Department of Public Works and Highways. At present, Salimbangon’s fourth district and Ruiz’s sixth district belong to the First Engineering District.
House Bill No. 2940 provides that Cebu’s First Engineering District Office shall comprise the city of Bogo and the municipalities of Tabogon, Tabuelan, San Remegio, Medellin, Daanbantayan, Sta. Fe, Madridejos and Bantayan.
It also called for the creation of the Sixth Engineering District that comprises the cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu and the municipalities of Consolacion and Cordova.
Each of the engineering districts shall be headed by a district engineer and the personnel, resources and equipment of the existing First Engineering District Office shall be divided between the two engineering offices in accordance with existing laws and regulations.
The two legislators expressed concerns over the inadequacy of service of the existing engineering district office, “thus resulting to the unnecessary bureaucratic delays and other related problems in the implementation of public works projects.”
They said the present setup is also faced with problems that hamper the engineering district office’s ability to deliver services effectively and efficiently.
The bill also intends to afford easy monitoring and implementation of projects, thereby ensuring a “sensible and judicious spending of public funds.” — Gregg M. Rubio/LPM