“Napakalaking tulong talaga ng pondo na galing sa DILG na ibinababa sa mga LGUs, lalo na para sa aming mga munisipyong napakahirap,” thus spoke San Nicolas Mayor William Enriquez to DILG monitoring team who visited and inspected projects under the Local Government Support Fund – Assistance to Disadvantaged Municipalities (LGSF-ADM).
To ensure that LGSF-ADM projects are implemented effectively in the province of Batangas, the DILG provincial office has been conducting regular site validation in all of its 194 projects, 141 of which are local access roads, 43 are potable water systems, and 10 are evacuation facilities.
Monitoring records as of March 31, 2018, revealed that 134 or 69-percent of the said projects were already completed; 46 are ongoing while 14 projects have yet to start implementation.
The monitoring team composed of the DILG Batangas Engineer, LGSF-ADM project coordinators, and DILG field officer visited the municipalities of Balete and San Nicolas for an onsite inspection and validation of projects. Among the projects inspected by the team were the local access roads connecting three barangays in San Nicolas amounting to P3-million and the P5-million worth waterworks system project that is expected to benefit 5,181 residents of the barangays of Balete Poblacion and. Balukbaluk.
As for the completed projects, the team is fortunate enough to have witnessed elementary students and residents with packs and sacks of goods traversing the roads funded by LGSF-ADM.
Asked about the impact of the project, one of the students claimed that going to school is now easier and more convenient. They also shared the excitement of having roads going to their houses as they believed that services are now accessible from their end.
Municipalities near the coastal areas and mountains focused on projects giving potable water supply to its residents. Balete and San Juan, for instance, are ecstatic to know that after the completion of the project, they will no longer go to neighboring municipalities to buy drinking water.
The remaining ongoing and pipelined ADM 2017 projects are expected to be completed by this year as the ADM 2018 prepares to take-off and continues to capacitate and nurture municipalities through programs that promote local development and people’s access to social services. — R4A/DILG Batangas
Covering 1,373 municipalities nationwide, the ADM program provides a “catch-up mechanism” to assist municipal governments in increasing citizens’ access to basic facilities and ensures participation of civil society organizations (CSOs) in local governance. Project types funded by ADM program are water system, evacuation facility, local access roads, small water impounding, and sanitation and health facilities.
