GMA opens road linking NV, Benguet

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya — "Thank you for making our dream a reality. Thank you for the road, Madame President."

With these words, a 75-year-old woman expressed her gratitude to President Arroyo for the completion of the Aritao-Baguio stretch of the Nueva Vizcaya-Benguet road, which she formally opened to the public yesterday.

"I have pledged to finish this 30-year-old project as a part of the implementation of my vision in connecting the regions of Cagayan Valley and the Cordillera into a North Luzon Super Region," she replied.

Residents of Barangay Pingkian in the mountain town of Kayapa welcomed the President in what was her first official working day for 2007.

The Pingkian folk were joined by natives from the villages of Pingkian, Baan, Binalian, Babadi, Latbang, Cabanglasan, Mapayao and other far-flung mountain barangays who had to trek for an average of two hours just to catch a glimpse of the President inaugurating the Nueva Vizcaya section of the P2-billion, 107-kilometer Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya-Baguio-Benguet Road.

In the native Iluko dialect, the President said the highway is part of her efforts to boost the economic development of provinces through the creation of "super regions."

Accompanying the President were First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, Public Works and Highways Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., Nueva Vizcaya Gov. Luisa Lloren-Cuaresma, and Rep. Rodolfo Agbayani.