P.5-B Ecija-Aurora road project set

ALFONSO CASTAÑEDA, Nueva Vizcaya — The long-delayed construction and rehabilitation of a mountain highway linking Aurora to the rest of Luzon through this highland municipality is expected to start next year.

This, after the government has allocated in next year’s proposed national budget its counterpart fund for the construction of the 58-kilometer Nueva Ecija-Aurora Road, which would pass through Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija and this mountain town in Nueva Vizcaya’s southeastern portion.

Alfonso Castañeda Mayor Alfredo Castillo said the counterpart fund represents 15 percent of the road project’s estimated P558-million cost, as stipulated in the financing agreement between the Philippines and Japan three years ago.

The bulk of the funding, according to Castillo, would be given as a grant through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

The road project, which falls under the Philippine-Japan Highway Project, "could not take off despite the JBIC funding approval because the government (still had) no funds to meet the 15 percent counterpart (fund)," said Castillo, whose town hosts the US-owned, multimillion-peso Casecnan multi-purpose irrigation and power project.

When fully completed, the road, which would link Baler, Aurora to San Jose City, Nueva Ecija and eventually to the rest of Luzon, would lessen travel time by almost an hour.

Castillo said the road would pass through Pantabangan town, home of the mammoth Pantabangan Dam, and Alfonso Castañeda, which are both situated on the Caraballo mountain ranges.