By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Highway Patrol Group (HPG) in Negros Occidental started participating in the ongoing road clearing operations in the streets of the province and in Bacolod City following the resumption of the Department of the Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) Road-Clearing Operation 2.0.

HPG-Negros Occidental chief, Police Captain Robelito Mariano, said they will clear all obstructions in the streets not just in Bacolod City but the whole province.

Mariano said their men will join the other police officers and government agencies, and they will specifically target illegally parked vehicles.

He further added the road clearing operation is also based on R.A. 4136, or “An Act to Compile the Laws Relative to Land Transportation and Traffic Rules, and to create a Land Transportation Commission and for Other Purposes.”

Earlier, the DILG ordered the resumption of the road clearing operations last Monday, after the activity was temporarily suspended for seven months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The DILG has issued Memorandum Circular No. 2020-145 giving all local government units 60 days, from November 16, 2020 until January 15, 2021, to comply with the presidential directive to resume the clearing of roads of illegal structures and constructions./DGB, WDJ