5 Bridges To Be Constructed Simultaneously In Two Towns By Quirico M. Gorpido,Jr.

Maasin City, Southern Leyte-Five bridges are going to be constructed simultaneously in two municipalities of this province with a total budget of P135M. This was the disclosure of Engr. Manolo Rojas during a recent presscon held at Kinamot sa Abgao Restaurant (tel. no. (053)381-3878 ;(053)570-8283) together with DPWH Regional Director Rolando M. Asis and Governor Damian Mercado. Rojas said the bidding will be held sometime in August and that the construction of the aforesaid infra projects shall be carried out either in September or October 2012, if there are no hitches.But surely, the simultaneous constructions shall start before the end of the current year, he assured. The Assistant District Engineer clarified that the abovementioned amount which is considered as grant is a soft loan from the Spanish Government.Soft loan here means that the interest is small compared to other loans on infra projects, he said. Two of these planned bridges are to be built in San Ricardo, while the three other bridges shall be constructed in the municipality of Silago, the last town of Southern Leyte. In a related development, our source further informed that theres an ongoing road project with a budget of P10M.It starts at the junction road of brgy. Lunas down to brgy.Pacu towards the direction of Bontoc town. The travel time from Maasin en route to Lunas down to Bontoc is less than an estimated 20 minutes compared to via Bato in going to Bontoc, he intimated as he said that the length of road concreting is more than one kilometer. On the other hand, Rojas told the press that his office is planning to convert Lunas to Bontoc road and Panaon Circumferential road as national highway. He said he already asked the barangay officials located along the said road to pass their respective resolutions and the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan in support of DPWHs plan to make their request strong in convincing the DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson for its approval. Asked by PIAs Marcelo Bong Pedalino if the Aquino Administrations quick release of infra funds would depend on political affiliation,RD Asis clarified that the quick release of infra funds would depend on how the program of works and pertinent papers were prepared and not on political color. Governor Mercado added: President Aquino does not look on political color of a requesting Representative from any of the provinces, but on how they have prepared the presentation of their program of works and some important documents regarding an infra projects.(Quirico M. Gorpido,Jr.)