MORE NEWS, BAGUIO CITY

SCTEX boosts tourism, economic development in Northern Luzon BAGUIO CITY August 08 – Tourism and economic development in Northern Central and Luzon, including the Cordillera, is bullish following the full operation of the 94-kilometer Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) recently.

The Clark-Tarlac segment officially opened last July 25th, while the Subic-Clark portion began commercial operations last April 28th.

Mayor Reinaldo A. Bautista, Jr. said providing a fast, safe and convenient access is integral to the country’s tourism business, especially in the case of this mountain resort city where tourism is a major income generator, thus, the SCTEX would surely be a big help in improving the accessibility from Central to Northern Luzon for the benefit of the tourists and residents alike.

Motorists going to northern parts of Luzon, particularly Baguio , Benguet and Pangasinan, now save almost an hour-and-a-half, passing through the Clark-to-Tarlac segment of the expressway.

Based on the gathered SCTEX traffic volume data, so far close half a million motorists have used the expressway since it opened last April. Majority of motorists have found the SCTEX as a fast and convenient access to both Subic and Clark from all the major points in Luzon, including Metro Manila and Baguio .
This upward trend of the traffic volume is expected to continue because there are now more entertainment choices and alternatives made available to travelers visiting Central Luzon and Northern Luzon.

According to Bautista, visitors from Clark and Subic who want to take a breather and enjoy the cool and romantic weather of the city could easily come up to Baguio and go back to their hotels right on the same day without any jostle passing through the SCTEX.

On the other hand, the mayor also noted that tourists from Northern Luzon provinces such as La Union and Pangasinan can now visit Central Luzon more frequently because of the shorter travel time and excellent road conditions.

Local businessmen in the city are hopeful that the SCTEX will provide the much-awaited boost to Central and Northern Luzon ’s tourism and economic activities.

He said tourism is one of the strong potentials of the country to usher in the much-needed development. "Central and Northern Luzon have tourist spots with similar appeal or better than any other place in Asia . The SCTEX provides an efficient and fast transportation system to entice tourists in visiting the region, thus providing more employment and investment opportunities for the Filipinos,” he said.

For his part, Benguet Rep. Samuel Dangwa pointed out the SCTEX would surely result in a significant boom in the local agriculture industry due to the expected faster delivery of semi-temperate vegetables to Central Luzon and Metro Manila. Benguet has been known to be the Salad Bowl of the Philippines and it supplies at least 70 percent of the country’s demand for vegetables.

SCTEX connects three economic powerhouses in the region the Subic Bay Freeport, Clark Special Economic Zone, and the Luisita Industrial Park.

Economists viewed that all infrastructures there, plus the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark and the seaport in Subic, are bound to help make Central Luzon a “Little China”.

What’s more, the SCTEX will also be connected to the 85-kilometer four-lane Tarlac-La Union expressway, which is currently under construction, and is expected to boost trade, tourism, and speed up transportation in the provinces of Tarlac, Eastern Pangasinan, La Union and the Cordillera, particularly Baguio City and Benguet.

With the recent completion of the SCTEX, Central and Northern Luzon appears to be ready to create a more progressive stance aimed at propelling the country to, at the very least, compete in the fast-rising global economy – Dexter A. See


Benguet-Vizcaya 103-km road rehab completed
By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY – The P1.7-billion rehabilitation of the Benguet-Nueva Vizcaya road, which links the Cordillera to Cagayan Valley, has been completed and is now ready for inauguration by President Arroyo.

This was announced by Engineer Mariano Alquiza, director of the Department of Public Works and Highways in the Cordillera.

He said the improvement of the 103-km highway is expected to spur economic activities in rural areas of Benguet and Nueva Vizcaya which are traversed by the road.

The rehabilitation of the road was done for three-and-half years. The project was implemented under the Regional Development Council’s Cordillera Road Improvement Project (CRIP) which was funded with a "soft loan" granted by the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC).

Alquiza said all road-right-of-way claims in Benguet, which delayed the completion of the project for several months, had been settled, paving the way for the contractor to do the finishing touches at the critical portions of the road.

Alquiza said the well paved road has significantly reduced the time of travel from this mountain resort city to Ifugao from eight hours to five hours.

It has also facilitated the flow of trade and commerce between the Cordillera and the neighboring provinces of Region II, such as Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela, and Quirino. RDC has embarked on a long-term infrastructure program called CRIP with the purpose of securing sufficient national and international attention by concerned institutions which are tapped to support the development of all roads in the region.

The ultimate goal is to speed up the economic development of the upland region. Alquiza, chairman of RDC’s infrastructure committee, cited the significant gains in the region’s infrastructure condition during the Arroyo administration.

This came about as a result of the inclusion of major roads in the Super Region program of the President. Starting in Baguio City, the Benguet-Nueva Vizcaya Road passes through the towns of Itogon and Bokod in Benguet and Kayapa and Bambang in Nueva Vizcaya.

Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. has constantly monitored the progress of the work on the vital road because of earlier reports of alleged negative slippages in some sections.

After 19 years of seeking adequate national government’s support for infrastructure development, the RDC has been successful in securing foreign and local funds for the region’s infrastructure development.

With the newly rehabilitated Benguet-Nueva Vizcaya Road, motorists in Cordillera no longer have to take the circuitous Pangasinan route to reach Region II The quality of the road is said to be at par with national roads in the lowlands.