| PGMA
cites Ibajay bridge in Aklan as integral part of Panay Island
development
|
President
Arroyo is welcomed by (L-R) DPWH Secretary Hermogenes
Ebdane,Kalibo Mayor Raymar Rebaldo, Governor Carlito
Marquez and Congressman Florencio Miraflores during
her arrival for the inaugural of the Ibajay bridge.
(RENY PAMPOLINA/PCPO) |
The
newly-constructed P207-million, 246 linear meter double-lane
Ibajay bridge here “will be a key to the development
of Panay Island,” President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
said.
The
President made the announcement during her speech keynoting
the inauguration of said bridge built under the UK-assisted
DPWH Bridge Replacement Project, where she was joined by key
officials of Aklan led by Gov. Carlito S. Marquez and Rep.
Miraflores.
The
President said that aside from providing a gateway to the
world-renowned Boracay Island, Ibajay Bridge also serves as
an alternative access road for the Western portion of the
Strong Republic National Highway (SRNH).
The
completion of the Ibajay bridge forms part of the Medium Term
Public Investment Program “to invest in social and physical
infrastructure which includes billions of pesos in education,
healthcare and training along with billions in new bridges
like this P200-million bridge, roads like the beautiful roads
we have now here on this nautical highway and ports to upgrade
the competitiveness of the Philippines,” she pointed
out.
The
President also noted that the construction of the Ibajay bridge
is “in line with our Super Regions Plan which aims to
create five major regions including Central Philippines as
a tourism center to spread development away from an inequitable
concentration in Metro Manila.”
She
likened the tourism boom that Boracay has accorded on Aklan
to that experienced by Bali, Indonesia with its famous Kota
beach.
She
said just like Kota beach whose per capita income has outgrown
the per capita income of Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta,
“this Ibajay bridge is going to be a key to the development
of Panay (Island).”
“The
favorite tourist destination in the Philippines is still Boracay
but there are many other sites also worth visiting here,”
the President said.
What
the tourists could do is to stay in the resorts around Northern
Panay such as those in Ibajay, Pandan and Libertad in Antique
during the day then to go to Boracay for the nightlife there.”
To
address the lack of ferry boats travelling to and from Boracay
at night, the President said she has instructed Tourism Sec.
Durano to purchase a “pump boat that will bring back
the night lifers at three o’clock a.m. from Boracay
back to the mainland so that they can sleep in the different
resorts here.”
“PTA
(Philippine Tourism Authority) will buy that boat and then
they will ask the Aklan Chamber of Commerce to operate it,”
the President said.
“So,
that is another investment,” she added. (PIA-MMIO)
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