Problems like a poor drainage system, narrow streets, dilapidated
infrastructure, inadequate irrigation facilities, and poor
farm to market roads faced Muñoz, Nueva Ecija. The
mayor considered several cost-efficient solutions, but he
ended up deciding to pool together some equipment to enable
the residents of the area to fix the infrastructure problems
themselves.
The mayor’s goal was to use these equipments to encourage
the development of the municipality, transforming it into
a center of trade, commerce, agro-industry, science, and
technology while being cost-efficient. Memorandum Receipts
and the transfer without cost from other government agencies
were ways wherein the municipality got hold of the equipments.
The pool consisted of 21 units of various equipments
and vehicles. Dump trucks, backhoes, loaders, bulldozers,
road graders, and drilling rigs were some of the equipments
that were utilized by the municipalities. Naturally, some
of the equipments were not functioning when they were acquired.
For these, the municipality spent P1.7 million as rehabilitation
cost. This amount, far from the Commission on Audit’s
appraisal of P36.5 million, has indeed illustrated how much
the municipality has already saved.
Moreover, being able to address the problems by themselves,
the municipality has saved more than P1 million for the
building of the bridges. Other infrastructure improvements,
such as road widening projects, improvement of drainage
systems, construction of barangay roads, were completed
at half their initial cost estimate. Savings did not only
stop at the infrastructure building process. In addition
to this, the municipality was able to rent out the said
equipments to generate income.
