By SAMMY JULIAN
Manila News Bureau Chief
MANILA – President Benigno Aquino III proudly presented one of the “beneficiaries” of the much-maligned Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP): a bridge and its connecting road networks in Cagayan.
“The fourth stage of the project which cost P145 million was sourced from DAP,” President Aquino said at the inauguration of the completed Ninoy Aquino Bridge in Barangay San Luis, Tuao, Cagayan.
The 360-meter bridge, which costs P599.40 million, extends across the Chico River and is connected to two other small bridges – the 40-meter Malummin and the 20-meter Angag bridge.
It connects Cagayan to the provinces of Kalinga and Apayao and serves as an inter-regional link between Regions I, II and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
“We did not only use the funds in an efficient way, through the effective management of Secretary Babes Singson at the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways), we were also able to save P33.7 million,” said the President.
The President was accompanied by Singson, Tuao municipal mayor Francisco Mamba Jr., Presidential Legislative Liaison Office head Manuel Mamba, and Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II.
The President called on government leaders to “first address the problems besetting our country because it is our obligation, regardless of political affiliation, to do what we can for our countrymen – not somewhere down the line but now.”
“When we read the newspapers these days, it appears that politicians are now on campaign mode, as if forgetting that we have problems to face,” he said. “If there are problems related to the 2016 elections, those are still for 2016.”
President Aquino, nevertheless, acknowledged that with or without him, the reforms that he initiated will continue.
“I have faith that regardless of whether I am on the scene or not, the Filipino people will continue to fight for their countrymen and will march in step toward a just and prosperous future,” he said./PN
