Bohol is now set to upgrade and rehabilitate provincial roads as the Department of Budget and Management (DBM ) allocated P105 million for Bohol’s share of the national government’s multi-billion road development project which covers 73 provinces.

With the fund downloaded and ready, the said program dubbed Konkreto at Ayos na Lansangan ang Daan tungo sa Pangkalahatang Kaunlaran or Kalsada is now ready for implementation in the province, Engr. Ben Redulla, chief of the Provincial Engineer’s Office, said.

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) works with the DBM in the assignment of funds which has a total allocation of P6 billion and are funneled to provincial governments.

Provinces were selected based on their compliance with the requirements of the DILG for the Seal of Good Financial Housekeeping and the submission to DBM of their Local Public Financial Management Assessment Report.

According to Redulla, the Kalsada program was designed to rehabilitate and upgrade provincial roads while the local government will be tasked to maintain these in the long run.

The said program will also be used to develop the Provincial Road Network Development Plan (PRNDP) in each province.

Under the Kalsada initiative, the government will maintain an online open data portal to serve as means to monitor and evaluate the provincial roads.

The program will greatly benefit Bohol as the province is still reeling from the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that jolted the island and damaged many of its infrastructures in 2013, Redulla added.

In January this year, cabinet members of the Aquino administration visited Bohol to promote and spearhead the launch of the Kalsada program.

Present members were Department of Public Works and Highways Sec. Rogelio Singson, DBM Sec. Butch Abad, Department of Health Sec. Janette Garin, Department of Social Welfare and Development Sec. Dinky Soliman and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Sec. Mel Sarmiento. (with reports from Allen Doydora)