Philippines: Arroyo to inspect priority infrastructure project in Caraga

BUTUAN CITY— Barely two weeks before she delivers her 7th State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) on July 23, President Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo will visit Butuan City Tuesday to inspect another priority infrastructure project in the CARAGA Region that is vital to the realization of her Super Regions economic development plan.

The President will check on the recently-inaugurated P2.2-billion Diosdado Macapagal Bridge and the Butuan City Bypass Road Project that stand to enhance the urban transport needs for commerce and industries in the CARAGA region through the efficient movement of people, goods and services among the major growth centers in the eastern part of Mindanao.

The Diosdado Macapagal Bridge and the Butuan Bypass Road Project, funded through a Special Yen Loan Package from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), was inaugurated in April this year or one month ahead of the project completion target date–May.

The project consists of two major construction works: the bypass road inclusive of its linkages to the existing Iligan-Cagayan-Butuan City Road and Surigao-Butuan Road, with a length of about 10.30 kilometers and, the Diosdado Macapagal Bridge which has a length of 907.6 meters.

The Diosdado Macapagal Bridge that crosses the Agusan River about three kilometers apart from the existing Magsaysay Bridge, will provide a more reliable infrastructure with a greater design capacity and safer traffic measures than the existing bridge while the Butuan Bypass Road will divert the traffic passing through the center of the city.

Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Manuel Bonoan said the bridge project is among the many physical infrastructure projects the Arroyo administration has invested in for the development of the Mindanao Super Region as the country’s “Agribusiness Center in the South.”

In her 2006 SONA, the President bared her new economic development plan through the “Super Regions” category. The Super Regions economic plan grouped the country’s 17 regions into four super regions namely the North Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle, Metro Luzon Urban Beltway, Central Philippines Tourism Center and Mindanao as the “Agribusiness Center in the South.” The fifth Super Region—the IT Corridor, cuts across the north in Baguio City to the south in the cities of Zamboanga and Davao

The Super Region economic development plan is intended to develop the “natural competitiveness” of each super region in a move to spur economic development in the entire country.

While in Butuan City, the President is also scheduled to have lunch with Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos as the Butuan Diocese celebrates its Ruby Jubilee tomorrow.

The Diocese of Butuan was created on July 10, 1967 with Archbishop Emeritus Carmelo Morelos as the first bishop.