In an effort to ensure the safety and convenience of the traveling public, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region 5 Regional Director Virgilio C. Eduarte tapped the services of the Regional and District Engineering Offices Public Information Officers (PIOs) region-wide to stop the increasing number of violators on the usage of the national road and its appurtenances.
In a memorandum issued to all District Engineers in Bicol, the director ordered the creation of a viber group tasks to monitor the illegal structures and obstructions within the right-of-way of the national highway in their respective area of responsibility (AOR).
"This viber group will be administered by PIOs who were given the go signal to tie-up with legitimate media practitioners and/or barangay officials purposely to deter would-be violators," said RD Eduarte during the recently conducted Regional Staff Meeting held at Albay 1st District Engineering Office Covered Court in Legazpi City.
According to the director, PIOs will be working closely with the Maintenance PointPerson (MPP) and were instructed to further strategize to gather timely and factual feedback. "It is really important that as soon as the start of the construction of a structure on the road right-of-way, it must be stopped immediately. That's why communication will play a vital role in this aspect," the director added.
In related story, OIC-Assistant Regional Director (ARD) Gerald A. Pacanan also urged the participation of the Regional Public Information Staff in the final inspection of infrastructure projects implemented by the regional office.
"We have to be proactive in our information dissemination drive particularly in this pandemic time that we discourage face-to-face interviews with our media partners," said ARD Pacanan during the meeting of the DPWH-5 Regional Office (RO) Key Officials on September 28, 2020.
Previously, PIO staff in the regional office was dependent on the pictures, videos and other data provided by project implementing offices (IO) as their source of reference for the creation of information materials to promote transparency in project implementation.
"Exposing them to what is really happening in the field can be an effective tool in delivering to the general public the right and timely information through media broadcast interviews, social media postings and news/photo releases,” ARD Pacanan said.