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Friday, March 29, 2024

Lantud hits cousin Dimaporo over Lanao del Norte road network

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Eleanor Dimaporo-Lantud, the former mayor of Pantao Ragat, Lanao del Norte, has protested her cousin Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo’s seeming obstruction to the completion of a major infrastructure project.

Lantud says Dimaporo has been telling the Department of Public Works and Highways to discontinue the Lanao del Norte Interior Circumferential Road.

She said that during her term, the project was classified as a provincial road. Dimaporo then authored a bill, which later became a law, that converted the project into a 29.8-kilometer national road during the Arroyo administration.

Estimated to cost P420.3 million, the circumferential road was envisioned as the main access of inland communities to the markets in the town center to accelerate Lanao del Norte’s economic growth. The road was designed to start from Iligan National Highway in Iligan to Malabang Tukuran National Highway in Sultan Naga Dimaporo.

The road was meant to span 10 municipalities. However, only the first three towns, including Pantao Raga were covered. 

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Lantud contends that only a fraction of the projects was done in her hometown of Pantao Raga.

“I may not hold office any more, but the people look up to me as their mother. I also want to help my husband, Lacson Lantud, who is now mayor of Pantao Ragat. I feel sorry when the farmers work very hard to harvest vegetables. Many perish along the way because of the bad roads,” she says.

Lantud recalls that the rift with Dimaporo began several years ago when the Lantuds and the Dimaporos clashed over political loyalties during the impeachment of President Joseph Estrada in 2000.

When Lantud was mayor, Dimaporo tried to block a couple of her projects: the construction of a school and of farm-to-market roads in Pantao Ragat. Despite the lack of financial support from the national and provincial government during her three terms, Lantud was able improve the road networks in Pantao Ragat and won her battle in finishing the school.

The rift worsened when Lantud shifted her party loyalties from the Liberal Party, which Dimaporo is loyal to, to the United Nationalist Alliance when she ran for governor last year.

According to Lantud, Dimaporo has been “misusing his influence on DPWH officials:” to terminate the Lanao del Norte Interior Circumferential Road. She alleged that Dimaporo states that the public funds meant for this project are his own money as the congressman of the area, and the usage of such funds is therefore left solely to his discretion.

“Public funds are received from the people, given by the people, and are expected to be used for the people, not to fill the pockets of our politicians. They are owned by the State and its people, not just certain individuals. We pray for the end of this political vindication in lieu of the needs of the people,” Lantud said. 

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