DAVAO CITY — Davao City mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio has ordered the creation of an inter-agency task force for the Davao City High Priority Bus System (HPBS) Project.
The order was contained in an Executive Order (E.O.) No. 3 which seeks to ensure the successful integration and effective implementation of the HPBS project, and, to properly manage and coordinate with all relevant agencies.
The Davao City HPBS Task Force, also known as TF HPBS, shall be composed of the city mayor as chairperson and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) as co-chairperson.
The members of the special body are the vice mayor, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Environment and Natural Resources -Environment Management Bureau, City Planning and Development Office, City Engineer’s Office, Office of the City Building Official, City Legal Office, City Transport and Traffic Management Office, City Social Welfare and Development Office, Barangay and Cultural Communities Affairs Division, Assistant City Administrator for Administration, HPBS Project consultant/s, and the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc.
Duterte-Carpio directed all members of the TF HPBS to name their respective alternate and permanent representatives, who shall take their places in their absence.
The mayor included the national agencies in the TF HPBS, citing Section 2 (paragraph c) of Republic Act (R.A.) No. 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991 that mandates all national agencies and offices “to conduct periodic consultations with appropriate local government units (LGUs), non-governmental and people’s organizations, and other concerned sectors of the community before any project or program is implemented in their respective jurisdictions”.
She also referred to Section 455 (paragraph 16) of the Code, which empowers mayors, “to call upon national official or employee stationed in or assigned to the city to advise him on matters affecting the city and to make recommendations thereon; coordinate with said official or employee in the formulation and implementation of plans, programs and projects; and, when appropriate, initiate an administrative or judicial action against a national government official or employee who may have committed an offense in the performance of his official duties while stationed in or assigned to the city”.
Duterte, in Section 2 of E.O. 3, added, “The TF HPBS is primarily tasked to plan, coordinate, implement, and align across agencies all project components of the HPBS Project.” The group will meet once a month.
The City Administrator’s Office is mandated to be the TF HPBS Secretariat that will handle all administrative and secretarial functions.
The operating costs of the TF HPBS will be sourced from the available funds of the City Government of Davao, or the project itself, subject to usual accounting and auditing rules and regulations.-CIO
