(PHOTO COURTESY)
TACLOBAN CITY– The residents of two villages in Calbayog City are grateful for a project funded by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) that is benefiting local farmers.
The DAR regional office recently inaugurated two ‘PBBM Bridges or “Pang-Agraryomg Tulay para sa Bagong Bayanihan ng mga Magsasaka” projects in the villages of Barral and Sigo, approximately 40 minutes from the city proper.
Previous floodings destroyed the two bridges, making them impassable for vehicles and affecting the delivery of goods, particularly farmers’ products like rice.
In 2021, DAR-8 released funding for the construction of new bridges, and they were inaugurated last month led by Mayor Raymund Uy and DAR Regional Director Robert Anthony Yu.
“Before this bridge was completed, we had a hard time delivering farm produce, especially when it was flooding. We couldn’t cross to the other side because the bridge was submerged,” said Roque Meronio, 52, of Barangay Barral.
Now, even trucks can reach their interior village, facilitating the transport of construction materials for road projects connecting the city to Bobon in Northern Samar province, he added.
At least seven other villages, including Roxas 2, the city’s rice granary, will also benefit from the completion of these two bridges, according to Dick Torrijas, Agrarian Reform Program Office 1 development facilitator.
Torrijas noted that the previous bridge was only one lane wide, and during floods, vehicles had to be ferried across by a “balsa” to reach the other side.
“These bridges are helpful for us development facilitators because we can reach our clients easily, even during floods,” Torrijas shared.
During President Ferdinand Marcos’ visit to Tacloban City on Monday(May 20), where he led the distribution of certificates of land ownership wward (CLOA), he also turned over the completed bridge project to Mayor Uy.
The Barral Bridge cost P13.447 million, while the Sigo Bridge cost P10.620 million, benefiting more than 8,000 residents from nine villages, including 1,126 agrarian reform beneficiaries.
Aside from facilitating the transport of goods, these two bridges also aid in delivering government services and responding to calamities and disasters, according to Mayor Uy.
“We are thankful to the President for these projects,” Mayor Uy said.
He added that the bridges would also help address the insurgency problem affecting some villages in the area.
The mayor mentioned that they have requested DAR to fund the construction of three additional bridges in the villages of Palanas, Patong, and Mawacat. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
