ILOILO CITY — The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has allotted PHP31.956 billion for the implementation of various infrastructure projects in Western Visayas.
In an interview Wednesday, DPWH-Western Visayas regional director Wenceslao M. Leaño Jr. said that this year’s budget increased by approximately 37 percent when compared with the PHP23.310 billion budget in 2017.
Leaño said that the Negros Occidental First District Engineering Office got the highest budget this year with PHP5 billion while the 1st District Engineering Office of Capiz suffered a huge cut in their budget from PHP1.6 billion in 2017 to less than PHP100 million this year.
Leaño said that the projects would still focus on road and bridge widening, flood control projects, improvement of the roads to provide accessibility to ports and airports and roads leading to tourism destinations.
Aside from these, he added that there would be also road projects leading to trade and industries and economic zones in the region.
“We hope that these projects will all be implemented and will be completed this year,” he said.
Last year, the department has completed 727 of the 1,084 infrastructure projects intended for the region.
Meanwhile, 342 are still ongoing while 15 projects are yet to be started.
But Leaño assured that they were already taking all the necessary actions to fast-track the implementation and completion of these projects. (Cindy Ferrer/PNA)
