LOCAL planners asked the Department of Agrarian Reform to help prioritize the construction of bridges in five Cebu City mountain barangays under the national government's Tulay ng Pangulo program.

A brief presented by the secretariat during the Regional Development Council (RDC) third quarter meeting held at the Negros Oriental Convention Center in Dumaguete City on Friday stated that the bridges would help raise income levels and quality of life among Cebu City residents.

About P1. 3 billion will be spent for pre-fabricated bridges and the rehabilitation of existing bridges in the Cebu City barangays under the Tulay ng Pangulo program, which falls under Agrarian Reform Communities and funded from the agency's Agrarian Reform Program.

?It will further improve mobility and access to goods and services supportive of economic development and open up the development potential of influence areas,? the brief said.

Bridges are proposed for barangays Sirao, Tagbao and Bonbon and two in Sapangdaku located in the southern part of Cebu City.

The RDC also passed a resolution during its Friday meeting endorsing bridge construction projects in the provinces of Negros Oriental, Bohol, Siquijor and Cebu. Bridges proposed for Cebu will be in Cebu City./Reporter Doris C. Bongcac