Officials present during the groundbreaking ceremonies were (third from left to right): DAR Region III Director Teofilo Inocencio, Maria Aurora Mayor Ariel S. Bitong, DAR Undersecretary Narciso B. Nieto, Aurora Governor Bellaflor J. Angara-Castillo, Embassy of Japan (EOJ) Minister and Head of Chancery Jiro Okuyama, EOJ Agricultural Attaché Takehiko Sakata and JICA Representative Ryutaro Kobayashi |
Unveiling of the marker were led by EOJ Minister Jiro Okuyama ((fourth from left) and DAR Undersecretary Narciso Nieto with (from left to right): Maria Aurora Vice Mayor Amado Geneta, Mayor Ariel Bitong, Governor Bellaflor Angara-Castillo, JICA Representative Ryutaro Kobayashi, CTI President Keiji Sasabe and Toyo Construction General Manager Shunsuke Su g imoto. |
In simple rites held at Barangay Maria Aurora in Aurora province on December 10, 2009, Embassy of Japan's Minister and Head of Chancery Jiro Okayama and Agrarian Reform Undersecretary Narciso B. Nieto led the groundbreaking ceremonies of the Bazal Bridge under the “Project for the Bridge Construction for Expanded Agrarian Reform Communities Development”. During the ceremonies, Undersecretary Nieto and Minister Okuyama also laid the time capsule and unveiled the Project Marker.
This construction of the Bazal Bridge is a collaborative project by the Provincial Government of Aurora, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the municipality of Maria Aurora. The cost for bridge construction is approximately 610 Million Japanese Yen or 321 Million Philippine Pesos at .5261Php/JPY funded under Japan's General Grant Aid Program. The project aims to improve access between the target agrarian reform communities (ARCs) with other expanded ARCs. The project also envisions generating additional income for farmer beneficiaries, improving the mobility of farm products and commercial goods as well as upgrading the socio-economic and environmental conditions in the area. The construction work is estimated to take 17 months. The bridge will be 110 meters long and will connect Barangays Bazal and Malasin, directly benefiting not only the students and staff of the Aurora State College Bazal Campus, but the more than 2,000 local residents in Bazal area and surrounding areas as well. Once it is completed, the municipality of Maria Aurora, including the surrounding municipalities will substantially benefit from it especially during heavy rains and typhoon months when some communities in Barangay Bazal become isolated.
In his speech, Minister Okuyama expressed his hope that the Bazal Bridge will accelerate socio-economic development in Aurora province and that the infrastructure will symbolize the bridge of longstanding friendship and cooperation shared between the Philippines and Japan.
Japan supports the development goals of the Philippine Government's Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) as a mechanism to alleviate farmers' struggles by assisting projects aimed at strengthening infrastructure improvement and socio-economic development in rural areas for many decades. A major project under CARP that is being assisted by the Japanese Government through its Yen loan scheme is the Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Project Three (ARISPIII), which has empowered farmer beneficiaries in around 130 ARCs nationwide. This Bazal bridge construction project is a support service to supplement the unmet needs of agrarian reform beneficiaries not covered by the ARISP III program.
The Government of Japan's assistance to the Philippines encompasses all sectors along the lines of the Philippine Government's Medium Term Development and Investment Plan. Japan is the Philippines' largest source of ODA and has been a long-time friend and partner in nationwide socio-economic development.
Speech of Minister Jiro Okuyama
Japanese Version
