President Arroyo To Inspect Projects In Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines — Just hours after her arrival from Hong Kong, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is scheduled to visit Jose Abad Santos town in Davao del Sur province in Mindanao on Thursday to inspect a road project, according to the official Philippine News Agency.

The completion of the road project in the village of Balangonan will pave the way for the construction of the Kitayo-Balangonan and the Meybio in the towns of Jose Abad Santos and Glan. These road sections are part of the P30-million Davao del Sur-Sarangani Coastal Road.

Upon her arrival in Balangonan, Arroyo is expected to be briefed by Public Works and Highways Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane on the road project construction and development, according to Assistant Regional Director Reynaldo Tamayo of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Tamayo said the concreting of Davao del Sur-Sarangani Coastal Road (Kitayo-Balangonan section) in the village of Kitayo and Balangonan in Jose Abad Santos would make it easy for farmers to transport agricultural and other products to the agri-industrial center in General Santos City.

Started in August 2008, the Kitayo-Balangonan section is expected to be completed in July 2009.

If completed, the project will provide better linkages and access to other villages and hasten the economic development of the municipalities of Jose Abad Santos and Glan in Sarangani.

The clearing and construction of the Davao Del Sur-Sarangani Coastal Road (Meybio, Jose Abad Santos-Glan section), willl also provide access to the municipalities of Don Marcelino and Jose Abad Santos, both in Davao Del Sur, and Glan in Sarangani.

The DPWH said some 50,000 residents of the 16 isolated villages of Jose Abad Santos will directly benefit from the project.

Located in the village of Meybio and Balangonan here, the 21.420-kilometer road project has a total funding of P100 million.

The road is envisioned to provide a direct link between the agriculture-rich municipalities of Davao del Sur and Sarangani, particularly to the fast-growing General Santos City.

Once completed, the project will serve as an effective access to the communities in the interior parts of the two provinces whose potentials as agriculture production areas have remained largely untapped due to lack of roads.