DAR turns-over P317M-bridge project in Aurora Province

SOME 2,000 farmers and residents in Maria Aurora, Aurora Province erupted in

jubilation Thursday after Agrarian Reform Secretary Gil de los Reyes and Japanese
Ambassador Makoto Katsura inaugurated a P317-million bridge that now links at
least two isolated barangays to the town proper.

De los Reyes said the 110-linear meter bridge seeks to improve trade and commerce
as well as the economic well-being of the people in barangays Bazal and Malasin as
transportation of farm goods would become easier and cheaper, much unlike before
when farmers had to make a long detour just to bring their goods to the town proper
by foot.

“This bridge is a wise investment because it will greatly help reduce cost of
transportation as well as travel time in bringing agricultural outputs to trading
centers and, at the same time, increase farmers’ income,” Delos Reyes said in a speech
shortly after the inauguration also graced by Sen. Edgardo Angara, Gov. Bella Angara-
Castillo and Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, among others.

De los Reyes cited the provincial government of Aurora for its contribution, through
the counterpart equity equivalent to about 20 percent of the project’s total cost, which
made the implementation of the project possible.

Japanese Ambassador Katsura said the bridge, funded by the Japanese International
for Cooperation Agency (JICA) through the Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Support
Project Phase II (ARISP2), will greatly benefit surrounding communities especially
in barangays Bazal and Malasin, which used to find themselves isolated during heavy
rains.

Governor Bella Angara-Castillo echoed the same sentiment, saying that her
administration can now easily reach out to her constituents in the area, especially in
bringing relief goods to them and when evacuating them to safer places during rainy
season.

She expressed thanks to the DAR for making her province a beneficiary of such a huge
project that has a wide-ranging benefits not only in Maria Aurora town, but also in
other nearby localities.

Maria Aurora Mayor Ariel Bitong, for his part, said that students will also have easier
time going to and from their school.