Honorable Congresswoman Bellaflor Angara-Castillo
Lone District, Aurora Province
Honorable Congressman Wilfrido Mark M. Enverga
First District, Quezon Province
Honorable Governor Gerardo Noveras
Aurora Province
Honorable Undersecretary Jerry E. Pacturan
Department of Agrarian Reform
Honorable Mayor Zenaida Q. Padiernos
Municipality of Dingalan, Aurora Province
Honorable Mayor Leovigildo R. Ruzol
Municipality of General Nakar, Quezon Province
Senior Representative Sachiko Takeda
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Philippines
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Magandang umaga sa inyong lahat. (Good morning to everyone.)
First of all, before referring to today’s main topic, taking this opportunity, I would like to express my deepest sympathy and condolences for the loss of lives and damage to properties brought by Typhoon Yolanda. Japan, as the Philippines’ longtime friend, has extended emergency and various forms of assistance to satisfy the needs of the victims affected. And also we will continue our assistance in the reconstruction stage to “build back better” the affected areas.
(By the way,)
This is my first visit to your province and I am impressed by its beautiful scenery. Last year, my predecessor attended the groundbreaking ceremony for this project. And in this time, today, after exactly one year, on behalf of Japanese ambassador Mr. Toshinao Urabe, I am here very luckily to attend this turnover ceremony for the completed Umiray Bridge. So, in this occasion I would like to express my sincere congratulation with my respectfulness on all the people involved who have contributed to lead this project to the success
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Japan has provided many forms of assistance to the Aurora until now. We assisted the construction of two training centers to improve medical services and facilities with the upgrading of the Maria Aurora Community Hospital five years ago. In addition, three years ago, we provided medical facilities with the construction of the Aurora Memorial Hospital, and improved accessibility with the completion of Bazal Bridge.
However, agriculture is one of the key sectors to develop the Philippine’s economy toward the future. Along this line, Japan has continuously assisted various programs with grant aid as well as soft loan projects in your country through the Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Program III (ARISPIII) for many years.
As a part of it, this Umiray Bridge project has been completed as the project for Expanded Agrarian Reform Communities Development, Phase Ⅱ by a grant assistance from Japan totaling approximately 1.4 Billion Yen or around 760 million Pesos. This Bridge is intended to connect the towns of General Nakar in Quezon and Dingalan in Aurora.
Ladies and Gentlemen
A large part of the agrarian reform communities in the eastern sector of Quezon are separated from the Aurora mainland by the Umiray River. These communities become physically isolated from all social and medical services especially during heavy rains. I can almost see the joys and hopes of these communities when they cross this bridge during the rainy season.
So, I am assured that the completed Umiray bridge will benefit around 13,700 people in four Agrarian Reform Communities and about 36,000 people in 18 other barangays of Quezon and Aurora. And also It will help agricultural development of around 11,000 hectares of farmland. Furthermore, it will provide critical access for farmers to transport their products to the market, and will facilitate accessibility for merchants, students, government workers and the people affected in case of emergencies.
Accordingly we sincerely hope that the Umiray Bridge will improve the living conditions of the beneficiary-communities thus ensuring human security.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Lastly but not least, I wish to express our appreciation to the Department of Agrarian Reform as well as the Provincial Governments of Aurora and Quezon, and Municipalities of General Nakar and Dingalan for their most invaluable help in the preparation of this project. We firmly believe that with your dedication, the project will be successfully implemented and everybody will benefit from this Bridge. I earnestly hope that this project will be a testimony of the longstanding friendship and strategic cooperation between our two countries and people.
Maraming salamat. Mabuhay tayong lahat.
(Thank you very much. Cheers to us all.)
