By PNA and U.S. News Agency / Asian

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has completed the repair of over 50 percent of the reported national, city and municipal roads in Metro Manila following the launching of the Aquino administration’s social media campaign #Lubak2normal.

The social media campaign was launched last Aug. 10, 2012 after the Metro Manila and nearby provinces were hit by floods spawned by heavy rains and floods of Habagat 2012 last month. The floods damaged several roads.

The Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO) has partnered with the DPWH to engage the public, via social networking sites, in a campaign to report the damage sustained by national roads during the Southwest Monsoon.

“As of August 30, 2012, the #Lubak2normal social media campaign of the PCDSPO and the DPWH has received a total of 3,459 tweets,” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said during the regular press briefing in Malacañang on Tuesday.

“Since then, there have been a total of 241 reports on specific national road locations within Metro Manila that were in need of repair,” Valte said.

Of these 241 national roads, Valte said 125 or 51.87 percent have already been fixed by the DPWH as of Thursday last week.

“Though the campaign covered only national roads in Metro Manila damaged as a result of the monsoon rains in early August, infrastructure under the jurisdiction of local governments within the National Capital Region were also affected,” she said.

“#Lubak2normal received reports on city and municipal roads in need of fixing. As of the latest report from DPWH, 50 percent of these roads have already been repaired,” she said.

Valte also noted that #Lubak2normal received reports on damaged roads under the jurisdiction of provincial governments, of which 37 percent have already been addressed according to the DPWH.

“The #Lubak2normal campaign has resulted in a convergence between citizen’s engagement through reports and the assessment of road repair initiatives by government,” she said.

“More than just a campaign, it has evolved into a partnership among agencies. More importantly, it has demonstrated a shared commitment between the government and the public to ensure better roads and to strengthen the mechanisms of public accountability,” she said.