LUNA, Apayao – The municipal government here has made available some 131 hectares from its institutional reservation to be donated to the different government agencies for the establishment of their provincial offices in the province.
Mayor Josephine Bangsil presented during the joint meeting of the Regional Peace and |Order Council (RPOC) and the Regional Development Council (RDC) Resolution No. 84, series of 2017 that provided for the allocation and subsequent donation of some 131 hectares of land from the Luna municipal reservation to the different government agencies for the construction of their provincial field offices to boost the delivery of government services to the people of Apayao.
Bangsil explained the lots that will be donated to the interested government agencies are portions of a classified alienable and disposable land of the town’s public domain as part of the extension area for Luna’s townsite containing some 402 hectares situated in barangays Turod and San Gregorio declared through Presidential Decree 1088 signed by former President Ferdinand E. Marcos.
The local chief executive pointed out that the said move of the Luna municipal government and the provincial government of Apayao led by Gov. Elias C. Bulut, Jr. to donate available lots to government agencies will encourage the different agencies to establish their provincial field offices or expand their existing spaces to enhance the delivery of effective and efficient services to the people of Apayao in the future.
According to her, for a lot to be donated, concerned government agencies must comply with certain requirements, including a request to the municipal mayor signifying their intention to put up their provincial field offices in the province and a site development plan for the said offices among others.
Earlier, the municipal government allocated, awarded and designated certain lands within its institutional reservation to some government agencies that established their provincial field offices in the province through several municipal council resolutions.
Bulut had time and again called on various government agencies to service the people of Apayao who had been neglected in terms of development over the past several years after it was created with the separation of Kalinga-Apayao to two independent provinces by virtue of Republic Act (RA) 7878 on February 14, 1995.
Bulut underscored that by bringing in the different government offices, particularly those in charge of the frontline services, nearer to the people, the aspirations of local officials and the people for a progressive and dynamic province can be realized sooner.
The governor raised to the RDC and RPOC the absence of the operation of the provincial offices of some government agencies which continue to deprive the people the enhanced delivery of basic services, thus, he requested the region’s policy-making body to pass a resolution endorsing his request to national government agencies to set up their offices in the province through the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and to copy furnish the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for their immediate action.
By HENT
