CANDABA, Pampanga – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has released some P38 million for the rehabilitation of major roads here and their completion is seen to boost the agricultural and livestock productions of this town, including the ducks’ eggs industry which produces annual gross sales of P1.42 billion.
Gov. Lilia Pineda, Pampanga Mayors’ League (PML) President and Apalit Mayor Oscar “Jun” Tetangcco, Fourth District Rep. Juan Pablo Bondoc and Mayor Rene Mayor Rene Maglanque on Wednesday joined Engr. Enrico Guillas, head of the Pampanga 1st District Engineering Office, during the ground-breaking ceremony for the P18,144,950 upgrading of the Baliwag-Candaba-Sta.Ana Road in Barangay San Agustin. Fourth District Board Members Nestor Tolentino and Ric Yabut, who hails from Candaba, also graced the twin ground-breaking ceremony. The DPWH will also upgrade the 700-meter portion of the San Miguel-Candaba and it allotted P19,800,000 million.
DPWH Pampanga 1st District Engineering Office Assistant District Engr. Willy Bustos, who briefed Pineda and the other officials, said the one-kilometer portion of the national road will complete the repair of the 10-kilometer access road connecting Candaba’s town proper to the so-called Tagalog Region.
The Tagalog Region composed of 14 barangays is adjacent to Baliwag, Bulacan province. The region has 2,471 farmers and is the major producer of duck eggs in the country, according to Municipal Agriculturist Mario Concepcion.
Gov. Pineda stressed that there should be cooperation between officials and politics should be set aside to allow more projects to come in Pampanga. She said that her government’s vision to sustain the vibrant economy and improve the general welfare of the some 32,000 farmers in Pampanga “is easy to achieve with support of the DPWH and other government agencies and offices.”
Mayor Maglanque said that when the roads have yet to be improved, the residents of the Tagalog Region use other access roads, including the ones in San Luis town, to reach the town proper of Candaba. He added that it takes them about an hour to reach Poblacion Region where the municipal hall is.
“In a few months, my people will be more than willing to regularly visit the town proper in Poblacion to do business and other concerns. They can reach the Poblacion Region within minutes of land travel,” said Maglanque in the dialect.
The San Miguel-Candaba Road will be elevated by at least one-meter to allow its accessibility when perennial floods affect almost all the 33 villages of the town. The road leads to the San Miguel, Bulacan and Candaba’s Kapampangan Region composed eight barangays.
The Kapampangan Region has P2,183 farmers. The region is the major producer of rice and contributes to the total palay harvest of Candaba.
In the 2013 accomplishment prepared by Concepcion, the Candaba rice farmers produce 82,189,195 metric tons of palay (unhusked rice grains).
Vice Mayor Normita Evangelista and other town and barangay officials also welcomed Pineda. (30)
By Joey Pavia
