2012 State of the Province Address
By Oscar Moreno, Governor of Misamis Oriental, Philippines

INVESTMENT IN INFRASTRUCTURE

(The accomplishments on the physical works related to schools will be mentioned under the Education agenda, the infrastructure support related to farming and agriculture under the Agricultural Productivity agenda, and the rehabilitation activities undertaken for the hospitals and barangays health centers under the Hospital and Health Systems agenda.)

The bigger bulk of infrastructure works cover the provincial roads and bridges, water system and utilities, public buildings and other infrastructure projects. The implementation of the infrastructure projects is aided by our friends from the national government and the private sector, like the Department of Public Works and Highways or the DPWH and the PRMF. The counterpart-sharing scheme or the ‘kurambus’ system is adopted also in most projects we implemented.

We also improved the physical connectivity of adjoining barangays and municipalities of the Province, and provided the people a better access to the basic services, facilities and utilities through provincial roads opening and reopening, provincial road rehabilitation and provincial road concreting works.

We also opened the way for ingress and egress of some parts of the Misamis Oriental to our neighbor provinces. We provided support also to make water available in the many water-scarce areas. We also helped develop various government structures and recreational facilities.

The Provincial Roads Condition. Road opening and reopening activities resulted to a provincial roads length of 1,066 kilometers. This represents an increase of 53 percent compared to the 520 kilometers in 2004. The road rehabilitation, the routine and periodic maintenance forms the bigger load of the road works. In the Global Positioning System or the GPS survey conducted by our Provincial Engineering Office recently, good roads now comprise a total length of about 60 percent of these roads, while the fair-conditioned roads have a total length of about 25 percent.

The Provincial Roads Concreting. All our concreting activities along the provincial roads amounted to PhP191.05M for the total 43.69 kilometers length. For the first half of 2012, the concreting activities, when fully completed will have a length of 8.02 kilometers worth PhP 41.99M. This is along 18 road sections: Tuod-Mahayahay, Patag and Paniangan (Manticao), Mat-i- Lubilan (Naawan), Talisay-Gingoog-Mahayahay (Magsaysay), Anakan-Tagpako (Gingoog City), Lapinig-Kauswagan (Balingoan), Salubsob-Campo (Kinoguitan), Baliwagan-Linabu (Balingasag), Natubo-Gumaod (Jasaan), Cogon-Dalayap (El Salvador), Lapad-Lourdes (Laguindingan), Gimangpang (Initao), Nabataan-Salagsag-Yungod (Salay), Umagos (Lagonglong), Malanang (Opol), Mandahilag-Macopa (Talisayan) and Bulahan (Claveria).

Relatedly, the Phividec Industrial Estate partners with us for a road concreting project along Sta. Cruz (Tagoloan)-Malitbog section for 1.56 kilometers worth PhP14.0M, while the DA will fund concreting activities in Tup-on (Medina), Salagsag (Salay) and Gasi (Languindingan) of 1.2 kilometer-road worth PhP6.9M. These proposed projects are already scheduled for bidding.

The Philippine Provincial Road Management Facility Project. The first road rehabilitated under this project was completed with a total length of 9.1 kilometers along the Opol-Basak-Tingalan section. Also along the same road stretch, rehabilitation will be continued for more than 13 kilometers, to be considered as the Year 2 road project. The bidding for said project has already been completed and the awarding is on-going. The third road to be rehabilitated will be the Baliwagan-Impakibil Road (Balingasag), being a part of the Year 3 target. On the maintenance by contract counterpart, road works have started along portion of Baliwagan-Pelaez-Impakibil (Balingasag), Katipunan Highway Dayawan-Mambuaya Road (Villanueva), Poblacion Opol-Bagocboc Road, Libertad-Tancub Road.

Using the untied fund we got as a reward for accomplishing the targets for the Year 1, the road sections considered to be concreted include: Bulahan Road, (Claveria) Patag Road (Manticao) Mandahilag-Macopa (Talisayan) Benigwayan Road (Alubijid) and Tangcub-Libertad Road.

The Tulay Ng Pangulo Program. Partnering with the DPWH for the Tulay Ng Pangulo Program, the Province provided bags of cement as counterpart for the completion of 43 units of bridges.

Water System And Support Utilities. Our water system projects include development of spring; installation of level 1 water system; putting up of water reservoir; support to water system installation through well drilling, purchase of hand pumps and polyethylene pipes; and construction of rain water tanks. From 2004 to 2012, PhP16.54M has been utilized by the Provincial Government for these projects. This figure does not include the bags of cement we have turned over to the local government units for projects undertaken by them directly. Also, this amount excluded the value of drilling projects we undertook directly.

Other Public Improvements. Renovation works were undertaken for the main Capitol building and the offices of some Capitol departments. The landscape of the Capitol Park was improved and monuments or landmarks dedicated as the Heritage of Misamis Oriental as well as dedicated for people who worked in the media were built. The Lasang Forest Park was developed. The Pelaez Sports Center was refurbished to capacitate us as host to national, regional and local events. Other construction works include other recreational structures (basketball court/solar driers, gymnasium, municipal park) and government buildings (multi-purpose hall, covered courts, barangay hall, municipal hall, quarantine station, Bahay Pagasa).

Support to housing and provision of settlement was extended in the form of road works for entrance road development for the San Martin (Villanueva) Relocation site undertaken. [Next: MISORTEL Resuscitation]

Introduction | Poverty Alleviation | Revenue Generation | Investment in Infrastructure | MISORTEL Resuscitation | Education | Environmental Protection and Management | Hospital and Health Systems | Agricultural Productivity | Teamwork and Streamlined Bureaucracy | Conclusion