Honorable Senator Edgardo J. Angara

 

Honorable Secretary Virgilio R. Delos Reyes

Department of Agrarian Reform

 

Honorable Secretary Enrique Ona, M.D.

Department of Health

 

Honorable Secretary Jose De Jesus

Department of Transportation and Communications

 

Honorable Governor Bellaflor Angara-Castillo

Province of Aurora

 

Honorable Congressman Juan Edgardo M. Angara

Lone District of Aurora

 

Honorable Mayor Ariel S. Bitong

Municipality of Maria Aurora

 

Chief Representative Norio Matsuda

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Philippines

 

Distinguished Guests,

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

　Good morning to you all.

 

　First of all, let me thank you all for the warm welcome extended to my third visit to this beautiful P rovince of Aurora.

 

　It is my great honor and pleasure to be with you all in today's inauguration ceremony of the Bazal Bridge to further signify Japan's unwavering support to the poverty alleviation efforts of the Philippines .

 

　Japan, as the top donor of ODA (Official Development Assistance) to the Philippines, has provided assistance for the development of this Province in various fields and scales. Within the past four years, we assisted the construction of two centers in your Province, namely the Skills Training Center for Socially Disadvantaged Sectors and the Peoples Empowerment and Advancement Center for Employment (PEACE). In addition, we also supported the upgrading of the Maria Aurora Community Hospital in 2009, and today, I am going to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the Aurora Memorial Hospital. I strongly hope that these projects will benefit basic needs of the communities in this Province.

 

　Japan believes in the development goals of the Philippine Government's Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) as a mechanism to alleviate farmers' struggles by supporting projects aimed at strengthening infrastructure improvement and socio-economic development in rural areas . A major project we have assisted under the CARP through the Japanese Yen Loan scheme is the Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Support Project Three (ARISPIII), which has empowered farmer beneficiaries in around 358 agrarian reform communities (ARCs) nationwide.

 

　The Bazal Bridge project, which costs approximately 530 Million Japanese Yen or 270 Million Pesos, is funded under Japan's General Grant Aid Program as a support service to supplement the unmet needs of agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), not covered by the components of the ARISP III program. The project will drastically improve access between the target ARCs with other communities in Aurora. It 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. With the completion of this bridge, the local residents living in the surrounding barangays, including 2,000 residents in Bazal area, will have improved access to other ARCs, especially the students and staff of the Aurora State College of Technology Bazal Campus.

 

　I also believe that the communities within the municipality of Maria Aurora including the surrounding municipalities will substantially benefit especially during heavy rains and typhoon months. I am confident that this bridge will strengthen and improve self-sufficiency as well as spur economic development in this Province.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and the officials of the Aurora Province in their efforts for making the project a success. I am confident that you and all the other agencies involved will be able to ensure adequate support for the successful outcome of this project.

 

　In closing, I hope that the Bazal Bridge will contribute to the development of Aurora Province and that this project will be a testimony of further strengthening s trategic partnership between the Philippines and Japan.

 

　Thank you for your attention.