SENATE PUBLIC APPROVES HOUSE
BILLS CREATING NEW ENGINEERING DISTRICTS
The Senate Committee on Public
Works, chaired by Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr., on Tuesday,
September 15, 2015, approved nine bills
from the House of Representatives, mostly seeking the creation of new district
engineering offices in different provinces of the country.
Marcos said that the creation of
new engineering districts may be necessary to ensure more efficient
implementation of public works projects.
“There was no impediment to the
creation of the engineering districts.
As long as these proposals satisfy the minimum requirements for the
creation of new engineering districts, I don’t see any reason why we should not
allow it,” he said.
The Department of Public Works
and Highways (DPWH) requires new engineering districts to have at least 100
kilometers of national roads, a land area of 100 square kilometers, and a
population of at least 250,000, among other factors.
By far, three of the nine bills
have been approved either in the committee level or up to the second reading
stage in both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the previous
Congress.
“We don’t have to start from
scratch in all these legislative proposals. We can take note of the hearings
that went before, so the findings of the appropriate committees can be part of
our committee report,” Marcos said.
During the hearing,
representatives from the DPWH and the Department of Budget and Management did
not object to the bills as long as they complied with the minimum requirements.
The House bills approved in Tuesday’s
hearing included bills establishing new engineering offices in the following
areas: Pangasinan; Labo, Camarines
Norte; Lapu Lapu City; Bukidnon; Compostela Valley; and Matalam, North
Cotabato.
Also approved are bills
transferring the Sorsogon Second District Engineering Office; upgrading the
Bohol Sub-District Engineering Office; and defining the jurisdiction of the
First District Engineering Office in Bohol./MP
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