“We people in the barangay feel a sense of ownership since monitoring is cascaded down to our level,” says Michael Uy-oco, Association of Barangay Captains President in Liloan, Southern Leyte. Residents hope S. Leyte LGU replicates applied geotagging in other gov’t projects
After the successful conduct of Citizens Monitoring Training/Workshop for the Rehabilitation/Improvement of San Roque – Bahay farm-to-market road of the Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) in Liloan, Southern Leyte, residents clamor for the adaption of the applied geotagging by the local government unit (LGU).
“I encourage our LGU, especially those under Municipal Solid Waste Implementation to replicate geotagging in monitoring solid waste disposal. Through geotagging, we are provided a visual and actual proof. In doing so, we are ensured that the job is done accordingly,” said Brgy. Captain/President Michael Uy-oco.
Science-based tools such as applied geotagging among others are a monitoring initiatives by the Philippine Rural Development Project to strengthen good governance and transparency at all stages of the project cycle.
Such statement was backed by Uy-oco saying that through AGT, anomalies in doing government projects are prevented.
“I was amazed with the technology used by PRDP. What we see on the photos are not just plain visuals of the subproject – it contains barcodes and coordinates, it’s site specific,” ended Uy-oco.
As to the CMT implementation, Clenton Yadao, a 5th year student at SLSU, “the CMT was an eye-opening experience. In school, it’s all theoretical. During CMT, we were exposed to high-calibered-equipment and got to witness the conduct of a real field density test.”
“Being future engineers, we get to acquire knowledge about issues that are usually tackled by implementing agencies and concerned contractors,” Yadao said.
Rural Infrastructure Engineer from the Project Support Office – Visayas Cluster Engr. Ereberto Merelos shows engineering students from Southern Leyte State University the actual application of geotagging during the conduct of the Citizens Monitoring Training in Liloan, Southern, Leyte.
With support from officials from the academe, the SLSU hopes the activity be replicated in other offices in the province for a wider coverage and application. (September Noon A. Macahilo, Writer, PSO Visayas)
