ZAMBOANGA CITY — The Tulay ng Pangulo special management unit (SMU) of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) based in Zamboanga City denied a news report on the realignment of five modular steel bridges intended for the municipality of Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte.
SMU said the municipal government of Sibuco did not submit any proposal-request for bridges to the DPWH for technical evaluation and subsequent approval by the Office of the President.
Engineer Kagim Jajurie, project director of the Tulay ng Pangulo sa SZOPAD, in a letter sent to Director Emil Sadain, assistant program director for Planning and Operations, stated that his office did not receive any order from the DPWH to construct modular bridges in Sibuco.
The report of Gov. Rolando Yebes, 3rd District Rep. Celso Jalosjos and Sibuco Mayor Norbi Edding of Zamboanga del Norte to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in Dipolog City, he said, may have been based on the allocation by the Regional Development Council (RDC) of five bridges to Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte during the RDC meeting held last February in Pagadian City.
Jajurie said the RDC approval of allocation of bridges to municipalities is still "water under the bridge" because that is only the first of several steps for the proponent to take towards implementation. Hence, there is no realignment, he said.
