GROUNDBREAKING. Sec. Mark Villar (center) leads the groundbreaking rites for 7ID headquarters. With him are 7ID commander Major Gen. Lenard Agustin, Gen. Tinio Mayor Isidro Pajarillaga, and DPWH-3 director Roseller Tolentino. Photo by Armand M. Galang
FORT RAMON MAGSAYSAY, Palayan City –– Public Works Secretary Mark Villar led the groundbreaking of the P40.9-million two-storey headquarters with tactical operations center of the 7th Infantry Division hereFriday, Feb. 28.
Villar said the project is part of a P200-million package for military bases to be constructed under the agency’s Tatag ng Imprastruktura Para sa Kapayapaan at Seguridad (Tikas), which in turn is under the Duterte administration’s Build, Build, Build program.
The public works secretary was accompanied by DPWH Central Luzon director Roseller Tolentino, asst. regional director Denise Maria Ayag, Nueva Ecija 2nd Engineering District Engr. Ricardo Puno, and welcomed by Major Gen. Lenard Agustin, 7IDcommander.
“Ito po ay concept ni Pangulong Dutere at ngayon po ay makikita po natin sa lahat ng mga bases meron pong infrastructure projects,” Villar said, noting that the Armed Forces of the Philippines is in dire need of constructing and renovating facilities.
“Dahil kung titingnan po ninyo yung mga facilities nila, kulang na kulang yung barracks, lumang–luma na,” Villar said.
Military infrastructure has been a part of the comprehensive Build, Build, Build program, he said: “Dapat lahat kasama rin ang ating AFP, meron pong tourism.”
“Comprehensive po talaga at actually ngayon lang nagkaroon ng ganitong proyekto. Dati po kasi walang programa para sa military,” he stressed.
The program, he pointed out, is aimed at securing the soldiers and making sure they have enough facilities:“Napakalaki ng sakripisyo nila para sa bayan. Ito.po kung tutuusin ang ginagawa nating infrastructure ay maliit lang kumpara sa sakripisyo nila.”
The old 7ID headquarters which is over 50 years old will be transformed into a museum for military artifacts.
The new building that is expected to be completed by December 2020, Villar said, will be furnished with basic equipment and furnishings, including air-conditioning units.
Aside from the headquarters, the DPWH is set to construct five other facilities inside this vast military camp, according to Tolentino. These include a two-storey administration building and a four-storey transient facility at the Light Reaction Regiment (LRR), a hangar which is necessary for maintenance, repair, manufacture, assembly, and storage of aircraft at the Aviation Regiment (AR), two units of one-storey and two-storey buildings enlisted personnel barracks for the Special Forces Regiment (Airborne).
“We will also develop a 7.261-kilometer road network and will eventually connect the LRR to SF to Molave Complex,” Villar said.
Agustin, on the other hand, said the projects were “another milestone” in the history of the 7ID. He said the this can be considered “a prize for our hard work.”
