President Gloria Maca-pagal-Arroyo brought infrastructure projects to Western Visayas worth billions of pesos- more than the combined projects of her two predecessors, said Regional Director Rolando Asis of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

From 1992 to 2000 under the administrations of Presidents Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada, Region 6 received a total of P12.9 billion worth of infrastructure projects.

From 2001 to 2009 under Arroyo however, Western Visayas got P20.59 billion worth of infrastructures.

Under Arroyo from 2001 to 2009, Asis said about 1,204 kilometers of roads were constructed and rehabilitated in the region, equivalent to P8.83 billion.

On the other hand, from 1992 to 2000 under Ramos and Estrada, the region got only about 766 kilometers of roads worth roughly P3.6 billion.

Asis said Arroyo also completed bridges worth P1.38 billion; Ramos and Estrada only had a combined P337.2-million worth of bridges.

For the flood control pro-jects, Arroyo accomplished 884 projects amounting to P878.8 million; Ramos and Estrada, on the other hand, had a combined 292 flood control projects worth P830.1 million.

For farm-to-market roads built by the Department of Agriculture, Arroyo gave the region P846.2 million, equi-valent to 1,396 kilometers.

The two other presidents, meanwhile, from 1992 to 2000, had a total of only 865 kilometers farm-to-market roads worth P601.7 million.

For farm-to-market road built by Department of Agrarian Reform, Arroyo accomplished 121 kilometers totaling 199.8 million.

Under Ramos and Estrada, on the other hand, the depart-ment’s farm-to-market road projects only reached 66 kilometers worth P131.9 million.

Meanwhile, Regional Development Councils (RDCs) from all over the country, through the Private Sector Representatives (PSRs), will hold a three-day national conference on Feb. 11 to 13 at the Waterfront Insular Hotel in Davao City.

Louis Rabat, chair of the third PSR national conference, said the government and private sectors would share some of their good practices in policy planning during the event.

Rabat said different members of the RDCs in the different parts of the country were expected to participate in the affair.

He said the PSRs play a big role in policy formulation especially in terms of budgetting.

"The private sector has a say and we could ask the provincial government what their plans are. Given this, we want our voices to be heard," he said.

He said the conference is like a learning session and a showcase of developments in the Davao Region.

"If they are interested perhaps they can implement them," he said. PSR’s priority concerns for Davao, he said, deal with job generation.

With the theme "RDC Beyond 2010", the confirmed guests include Jose Ma. Concepcion III, president and CEO of RFM Corp.; Judge Dolores L. Español of Transparency International Philippines Chapter; Kenneth V. Tanate of NEDA; Assistant Secretary Leonilo B. Lariosa; and Ted Padova, author of Books on Adobe Acrobat and PDF.*