A 28.8-meter single-span double-lane bridge will soon benefit farmers and residents of Barangay Oraan East and its neighboring villages here following the groundbreaking held on Thursday.
The bridge, a project of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) under the Tulay ng Pangulo Para sa Kaunlarang Pang-Agraryo (TPKP), aims to promote rural development in agrarian reform communities, enhance productivity and income through reduced marketing cost, and alleviate poverty among agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) and agrarian reform areas, Pangasinan provincial agrarian reform program officer Maria Ana Francisco said.
In her speech during the groundbreaking program, Francisco said the project costs PHP13.4 million and is expected to be finished after two months.
DAR Secretary John Castriciones said the bridge will benefit over 8,000 residents, of them 490 are ARBs or farmers.
“Agriculture is the last frontier of our survival. Without farmers, there will be no food for the table,” Castriciones said in his speech as he commended the farmers whom he referred to as modern-day heroes especially during this pandemic.
ARBs expressed their excitement over the construction of the bridge to link the barangay to other neighboring villages and reduce travel time, cost, and effort.
“Nagpapasalamat kami kasi mabibigyan na kami ng tulay at hindi na mahihirapan ang mga magsasaka na mag-transport ng kanilang mga inani. Dalawang tulay pa daanan namin. Kaya kapag natapos na ito, malaking ginhawa (We are thankful because we will have a bridge here and farmers will not have a hard time transporting their harvest. We need to cross two bridges. So once the bridge is finished, it will be a relief for us),” Eunese Castillo, an ARB from Barangay Cabangbangan in this town, said in an interview with the Philippine News Agency.
Ernesto Abarcar of Barangay Oraan East, in a separate interview, admitted that due to the topography of their village, sometimes they needed to carry their harvest manually, especially when the road they passed through is flooded.
Manaoag Mayor Kim Michael Amador attested that the barangay used to experience flooding during the rainy season, or weather disturbances with a lot of rain.
“Aside from the bridge, the DPWH has also provided slope protection projects in the area. We are so thankful. This is a testament that the pandemic would not hinder the development in our town and in our country,” he said in his speech.
Pangasinan 4th District Representative Christopher De Venecia also thanked the local government agencies, DAR, and President Rodrigo Duterte for the projects that would benefit most especially the farmers.
Meanwhile, DAR also distributed farm inputs and fertilizers worth PHP970,000 to the different agrarian reform beneficiary organizations in the province, and a 50-horsepower tractor worth PHP1.5 million to an ARBO in Tayug town.
The farm inputs, fertilizers, and the tractor were under Convergence on Livelihood Assistance for ARBs Project and Climate Resilient Farm Productivity Support, respectively.
The funding was sourced from DAR Pangasinan’s savings in 2020. (PNA)
