DIPOLOG CITY - President
Benigno Aquino III has vowed to allocate
more funds for infrastructures in Zamboanga del Norte to boost the province’s
tourism industry.
The
President together with Secretary Mar Roxas of the Department of Interior and
Local Government (DILG) and Mayor Evelyn Uy arrived at Barangay Cogon at around
10:50 a.m. Thursday morning to lead the groundbreaking of the road improvement
project from junction Barangay Cogon to OISCA Park and sungkilaw Falls in
Barangay Diwan.
President
Aquino was met by Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary
Romeo Momo, DPWH-9 Regional Director Jorge Sebastian, first engineering district
head Alexander Duhig and barangay captains Gene Ramayla and Alicia Maglinao of
barangays Cogon and Diwan, respectively.
In
his speech during the groundbreaking ceremony of the P335-million Cogon-Diwan
road upgrading project at Barangay Cogon, President Aquino disclosed that he
would allocate more funds for infrastructure projects in the province next year.
“Mula
2011 hanggang 2013, 21 billion piso ang inilaan nating pondo para sa
pagpapaayos ng ating tourism roads at balak pa nating maglaan ng karagdagang 13
bilyong piso sa 2014 upang mapabilis ang pagdaloy ng turismo’t pagkakaton sa
bawat sulok ng bansa. Ginagawa natin ito upang payabungin ang industriyang
bukal ng pagkakataon para sa marami nating kababayan, (From 2011 to 2013, we have
allotted P21 billion for tourism roads and we plan to add P13 billion more in
2014 to to take more tourists to all parts of the archipelago. We are doing
this to boost tourism industry for our people),” President Aquino said.
“Ang
target po natin sa domestic tourist arrivals ‘yung una 35 million, ang problema
ho palang naging 37 million na yung domestic tourist arrivals natin. Kaya bago
na po ‘yung target nating 56 ngayon (Initially we only targeted 35 million
domestic tourist arrivals, but it overshot to 37 million. So, we now have a new
target of 56 million),” he said.
The
President expressed confidence that once the road upgrading project is completed,
Dipolog City can contribute a lot to attain the country’s target of 56 million
tourist arrivals by 2016.
He
pointed out that the tourism industry serves as vehicles toward job creation
and countryside development.
Aside
from tourism, the completion of the road would also benefit the agricultural
sector and other industries in the province as it would facilitate the easy
transport of agricultural products to the market. (PIA9)