Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Acting Secretary Roger Mercado led the ceremonial groundbreaking for the construction of a three-story office building of the Regional Project Management Office for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (RPMO-BARMM) inside the DPWH Zamboanga City District Engineering Office compound at Divisoria, Zamboanga City.
“When completed, the office building will serve as a bridge that will better connect the national government and BARMM,” Mercado said.
The DPWH RPMO-BARMM was created in 2021 to better monitor and address backlogs in infrastructure programs.
The public works chief was joined at the groundbreaking event by Undersecretary and Build Build Build Chief Implementer Emil Sadain; Undersecretary for Mindanao Operations Eugenio Pipo Jr.; Assistant Secretaries Ador Canlas, Antonio Molano Jr., Wilfredo Mallari, Mel John Verzosa and Rolito D. Manalo; Project Director Sharif Madsmo H. Hasim of DPWH Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Roads Management Cluster 2 (Multilateral); and RPMO-BARMM OIC Project Director Najib D. Dilangalen.
“The launching of construction of the three-story office building with additional basement facility will enable the DPWH to fulfill its mandate under Article 13 Section 37 of the Bangsamoro Organic Law.”
According to Sadain, in charge of DPWH UPMO Operations and focal person for BARMM Infra Projects, the launching of construction of the three-story office building with an additional basement facility will enable the DPWH to fulfill its mandate under Article 13 Section 37 of the Bangsamoro Organic Law or Republic Act 11054 signed in July 2018 by President Rodrigo Duterte.
With the approval by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) of the creation of new positions and to operationalize the DPWH RPMO-BARMM, an Office Placement Committee was created for the evaluation and selection of personnel to be appointed to the newly created first and second level positions including managerial positions for RPMO-BARMM.
The RPMO will handle the direct implementation of all DPWH national infra for BARMM funded thru the General Appropriations Act.
The RPMO will handle the direct implementation of all DPWH national infra for BARMM funded thru the General Appropriations Act (GAA).
DPWH is fully committed to implementing the construction of national roads and bridges, flood control structures, and other infrastructure that will benefit the people of Bangsamoro covering predominantly Muslim provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu, and Tawi‑Tawi including the cities of Marawi, Lamitan, and Cotabato.
Meanwhile, the public works head has signed Department Order 87 on May 30, 2022, declaring the Sulu Island Circumferential Road of the 1st and 2nd Legislative Districts into a National Road under the Jurisdiction of DPWH thru the RPMO-BARMM and DPWH Region 9.
This new order is pursuant to the provisions of Section 5, item (i) of Executive Order No. 124, dated 30 January 1987, authorizing the DPWH to classify roads and highways into national, provincial, city, and barangay roads.
“As a result of this conversion of the Sulu Island Circumferential Road into a national road, the DPWH is now responsible for its maintenance and can undertake better improvement which the people can look forward to, especially improved accessibility and reduced travel time leading to enhanced productivity in the province,” Sadain concluded.
