Samar road now links remote town to urban areas

ARTECHE, Eastern Samar—Basilla Yulas was eagerly listening to the speech of President Aquino inside the municipal gymnasium past noon on Friday.

After all, Mr. Aquino was the country’s first President to visit Arteche, a third-class municipality with an annual income of P68 million.

She was also excited to listen to the update on a road project that would finally connect their municipality to nearby towns of Eastern Samar province.

“I am glad that I will be able to see our town having a concrete road. It will now be easy for us to travel to the nearby town of Oras and even to Borongan City,” said Yulas, 65, and a mother of 10 children.

President Aquino was in Arteche to assess one of major infrastructure projects of Samar Island during the 50th founding anniversary celebration of Eastern Samar.

The Samar Road Rehabilitation Project spans 222.23 kilometers, connecting the three Samar provinces—Samar, Eastern Samar and Northern Samar.

The project includes rehabilitation and construction of 61 bridges, slope protection, drainage structures and the installation of road safety measures which will be completed in May 2016.

Arteche is considered one of the farthest towns of Eastern Samar and is close to Lapinig town in Northern Samar.

It is about 70 km from the town of Oras, Eastern Samar, the center of trade and commerce in the northern part of the province and is about 160 km away from the provincial capital of Borongan.

The residents of this town go to Oras on board motorboats.

In his speech, President Aquino said connecting the rural and urban areas would not only boost local commerce and economy, it would also hasten the delivery of services to the residents.

Since Arteche was no longer isolated, he added, it would be easier for rescue teams to respond to disasters.

President Aquino, the first Chief Executive to visit here, arrived in Arteche about 10:30 a.m. on board a helicopter from the airport in Borongan City.

He was accompanied by Health Secretary Janette Garin and Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson. The visit lasted shorter than two hours.

Arteche Mayor Rolando Evardone, cousin of Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone, said he was happy that the road project was almost complete.

“This will not only help my people have an easy and fast transport but also help our economy for us to be the center of trade in this side of our province,” he told the Inquirer.

Representative Evardone said opening the road that connected Arteche to Oras town was initiated during the term of President Corazon Aquino. The road was never concreted because it was not given focus by succeeding administrations until now, he added.