Army’s 7th Infantry Division reaffirms commitment in maintenance of lasting peace in Central Luzon

From the Philippine Information Agency (Dec 9): Army’s 7th Infantry Division reaffirms commitment in maintenance of lasting peace in Central Luzon

The 7th Infantry Division (7ID) of the Philippine Army reaffirmed its commitment in maintaining lasting peace in Central Luzon to ensure its continued progress. “We are primarily securing areas where there are the most number of big ticket foreign and domestic investors. These are the Freeports and Special Economic Zones of Aurora, Subic, Bataan, and Clark whose airport is being eyed to be a complementary to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, ” 7ID commander Brigadier General Gregorio Pio Catapang said.

7ID is also beefing up efforts in guarding the ongoing construction of the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX) and the soon to commence construction of Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEX). The 89 kilometer-TPLEX would be linked with the existing North Luzon and Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressways to provide seamless travel to and from the Ilocos, Cordillera and Central Luzon regions.  The project is expected to spur further economic growth to Northern Luzon provinces which are known as food baskets of the country. It is initially eyed to have two lanes and subsequently be expanded to four lanes when capacity reaches to 25,000 vehicles per day.

The proposed 66.6 kilometer CLLEX on the other hand seeks to improve access to the food baskets of Cagayan Valley, the province of Aurora, and the eastern part of Cordillera for safer, faster and more predictable movement of people and goods going to and from Metro Manila and Central Luzon. It will connect from the terminus of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway in Tarlac City, then move eastward to Cabanatuan City, and finally climb northward to its ending point in San Jose City in Nueva Ecija. “Four freeports and special economic zones and two upcoming world-class expressways. Truly, Region 3 has the best of both worlds and it is so that we needed to heighten our security levels, ” Catapang added.

As for addressing global warming, the 7ID commander bared that they are now focused in the protection of Mount Arayat- a stratovolcano in Luzon.  “This is being guarded by about 100 men and various planting of fruit bearing trees have been done in line with the National Greening Program (NGP), and also, an anti-illegal task force has been formed.” Catapang said. NGP was created under Executive Order No.26 of President Benigno Aquino III to pursue sustainable development for poverty reduction, food security, biodiversity conservation, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.  It aims to plant 1.5 billion trees covering about 1.5 million hectares for a period of six years (2011-2016) in lands of public domain. These lands include forestlands, mangrove and protected areas, ancestral domains, civil and military reservations and urban areas.

http://www.pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?article=551354685308