Tarlac Gov. Victor Yap stresses a point with regards to the incomplete flood control project of the Department of Public Works and Highways in his province during the Central Luzon Regional Development Council full council meeting in Bulacan on Wednesday. Also in photo are (L-R) RDC-III Co-Chair and Health Representative Dr. Roberto Ramirez, Bataan Gov. Tet Garcia, Bulacan Gov. Willy Alvarado, City of San Fernando Mayor Oscar Rodriquez, and Zambales Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane. Photo by Dino Balabo
MALOLOS CITY—The Central Luzon Regional Development Council (RDC) has approved at least 15 land mark resolutions and endorsed for budgeting three major infrastructure projects in the region during the full council meeting held in Bulacan on Wednesday.
The council said that resolutions and infrastructure projects are long overdue for further development of Central Luzon.
It used to enjoy economic prominence until the devastation brought by a powerful earthquake, and the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo which led to the withdrawal of US bases more than 20 years ago.
Some of the landmark resolutions approved and endorsed by the council include requiring full compliance of business establishments in the region to secure clearances from the Social Security System (SSS), Philhealth, and the Pag-ibig fund before the issuance of a mayor’s permit; endorsement of the Central Luzon component of the national greening program, and inclusion of the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) regional director as non-voting member of the council.
The full council also approved and endorsed the P29-billion Central Luzon Link Expressway (CCLEx) that will link Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway and the Pan-Philippine Highway in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija; repair and rehabilitation of existing light stations or beacons in the coastal area of Bulacan, Pampanga and Bataan.
The council also approved and endorsed the proposed change in scope and increase in coast of the Pinatubo hazard Urgent Mitigation Project which used to address only the flooding problems in Pampanga.
After a deliberation, the council amended the scope of the project which now covers Bulacan, Bataan, Zambales and Tarlac as local officials claimed that flood waters from Mt. Pinatubo contributed to flooding in their localities during the rainy season.
While the above projects requires billions of pesos, the council also approved and endorsed resolutions to be implemented by all local officials in the region but requires less expenses.
These are the expansion of the membership of the RDC Special Committee on Solid Waste Management (SCSWM); the creation of the committee’s technical working group that will be tasked to study, analyze and propose amendment to enhance the implementation of the Republic Act 9003 or the ecological Solid Waste Management Act.
The council also enjoined all governors, mayors, and barangay chairmen in the region to conduct simultaneous regular clean-up activities every first Saturday of the month.
RDC-III Chair Oscar Rodriguez, the mayor of the City of San Fernando in Pampanga, said that the SCSWM’s resolution on simultaneous clean up in the region is the most notable and doable resolutions they approved.
He said that the region needs regular clean up activities to reduce waste production and conserve the environment.
The same was echoed by Gov. Wilhelmino Alvarado who initiated the same in Bulacan after he assumed office last year.
Alvarado stressed that economic development in the region is threatened by the fact that environment and natural resources are being abused.
During the meeting, council officers and members also hit the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for its failure to provide and itemized list of infrastructure projects in the region.
The said listing was demanded by the RDC in previous meetings as early as April, but the DPWH failed to present a copy until the full council meeting on Wednesday.
