Cadiz City’s quest for sustainable peace and order, and rural and upland development, got a boost with P78.9 million worth of projects.
The projects are set to be turned over by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) today, Oct. 9.
These include the P26 million concrete road, grouted riprap, and storm drainages from Barangay Celestino Villacin proper to Sitio 19A; P30 million concrete road from Barangay V.F. Gustilo (Sewahon 3) to Sitio Alimatoc in Barangay Celestino Villacin;
About P20 million concrete road from Sitio Tangili to Sitio Huebesan in Barangay Celestino Villacin; and P2.9 million Kapatiran Para sa Progreso ng Panlipunan (Kapatiran) Multi-Purpose Center in Sitio Huebesan, also in the barangay.
OPAPRU Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento will grace the turnover ceremony, to be held at the Cadiz Arena at 10:30 a.m.
The projects have 73 former rebels as beneficiaries. They were former members of the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawang Pilipino/Revolutionary Proletarian Army Alex Bongcayao Brigade-Tabara Paduano Group, who later joined the Kapatiran.
Cadiz is the second local government unit in northern Negros Occidental to have a Kapatiran Multi-Purpose Center, following San Carlos City.
Cadiz Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. said he is thankful to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Sarmiento for choosing Cadiz for these projects.
“In fact, not only our rebel returnees in Cadiz can benefit from these projects, but the more than 5,000 residents in barangays Celestino Villacin and V.F. Gustilo as well,” the mayor said.
The road projects are also a boon for the city’s two-year-old coffee industry at Nakar Estate in Barangay V.F. Gustilo.
Cadiz devotes 2,500 hectares of the Nakar Estate to its coffee venture.
Currently, the city has 600,000 full-grown coffee trees, which are sustained by 700 rural and upland farmers from barangays V.F. Gustilo, Jerusalem, Luna, Caduha-an, Magsaysay, Mabini, and Celestino Villacin.
Cadiz aims to plant a total of one million coffee trees over the next eight years, supported by the upcoming P12 million coffee processing plant in V.F. Gustilo.
Aside from coffee, Cadiz is also diversifying into coconut and pineapple ventures.
“The OPAPRU projects are a blessing that will provide farmers with easy access to transport their harvest,” Escalante said in a statement Oct. 8.
“While we secure peaceful communities for our former rebel friends, we also introduce rural and upland developments for them to thrive via peace and economic gains,” he added. ||
