Northern Samar is fortunate to be a recipient of millions of pesos Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) road project, specifically, the town of Silvino Lubos, a once isolated, poverty stricken, social services-deprived community because of its inaccessibility.
Part of the PAMANA Road that is still in the construction phase to Silvino Lubos. (T. Cardenas/PIA 8-N Samar)
Silvino Lubos known as little Baguio or “Summer Capital of Northern Samar” because of its verdant hilly terrains and cold climate, is potential for growing high altitude vegetable crops and rich in abaca. It is also a source of other raw materials but remained the poorest of all towns in Northern Samar being an armed conflict area.
In response, PAMANA, a program under the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), funded almost P 1 Billion for road network which is soon to be finished, its completion will finally mean less armed encounter, less rebels and more services.
With the construction of the Cagpanita-an Road and Cagpanita-an Bridge in Mondragon, and the on-going road opening with concreting and construction of Sulong Bridge along Mondragon-Silvino Road Section, the town can be reached in one hour and thirty minutes, said Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator Engr. Romeo M. Cardenas.
Cardenas said this road network will transform marginalized areas to economically thriving and develop communities.
Stretching to a total of 12 kilometers, the road will benefit seven barangays, namely: Brgy. Cagpanita-an and Brgy. De Maria of Mondragon.
This will also pass through Sitio Naperes, Poblacion 3; Sitio Sulong, Poblacion 3; Deit De Suba, Deit de Turag, and Casapa, all are barangays of Silvino Lubos.
"The road concreting projects are poised to pave way for development in the hinterlands by boosting agricultural productivity and trade," Cardenas said.
Bartolome Atencio of Silvino Lubos, a senior citizen, during the PAMANA social preparation dialogue, expressed gratitude to President Rodrigo Duterte for funding the project to its completion, he said, his dream to see and ride a four-wheel car and reach the capital town of the province will soon come true, and he can then die peacefully, he jested.
The planning officer narrated that years ago the town can only be reached through a six to eight hours upstream motor boat from the municipality of Pambujan during rainy season and by land accessible only during summer via-Bugko-Silvino Lubos Road stopping at Barangay San Antonio (Cagpanita-an), Mondragon and trekking the long and mountainous Cagpanitaan-Silvino Lubos Road for several hours.
The new road to the said municipality would propel the development of its potential agricultural lands and forest resources. This would also facilitate the movement of goods and delivery of services and would realize the area’s full economic potential thereby stimulating growth and reducing its high poverty incidence as well as suppress the insurgency problem in the area, he added.
http://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1011876
PAyapa at MAsaganang PamayaNAn or PAMANA is the national government’s convergence program that extends development to isolated, hard-to-reach and conflict-affected communities, ensuring that they are not left behind.
ReplyDeleteA complementary track to peace negotiations, the program is anchored on the strategy of winning the peace by forging strategic partnerships with national agencies in promoting convergent delivery of goods and services, and addressing regional development challenges in conflict-affected and vulnerable areas. The design and delivery of PAMANA is conflict-sensitive and peace-promoting to avoid the recurrence of any source of conflict.