CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — Pres. Aquino’s speech during his visit to Victoria, Tarlac last Wednesday turned out to be a state-of-the-province address, as he gave out details on what his administration has accomplished so far in his home province.
In his speech before community leaders and residents of Victoria town, Aquino said “a total of 36,304 indigent households are currently beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program of Department of Social Welfare and Development in Tarlac which is way above our 31,991 target. From this figure, 1,800 are from Victoria.”
Pantawid Pamilya provides indigent families cash grants of P1,400 per month during school months from June to March and P500 per month during non-school months from April to May or P300 per child per month as education grant and P500 per household per month as health grant to household beneficiaries.
Aquino also reported that the ”Department of Education is on track in addressing classroom shortage in public schools by December 2013 as new structures were built including 600 that benefit Tarlaqueño students.”
The National Electrification Administration has likewise electrified more than 144 target sitios in Tarlac under the Sitio Electrification program at a cheaper price, he also said.
In infrastructure, Aquino noted the ”completion of the 88.15 kilometer Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEx) would cut travel time from Tarlac City to Rosario, La Union from three and a half hours to an hour.”
The P12.469-billion road is initially eyed to have two lanes and subsequently expanded to four when capacity reaches 25,000 vehicles per day and once fully operational, it will provide seamless travel to Ilocos, Cordillera, and Central Luzon regions as it will be linked to the North Luzon and Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressways, he said.
The President also told his audience that the construction of Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEx) which would make travel easier to Nueva Ecija, Aurora, and Cagayan Valley, is expected to commence next year.
He said Phase 1 of the P34-billion CLLEx is due for completion by 2016 while Phase 2A opens in 2017 and Phase 2B in 2021, adding that the 30.7-kilometer first phase starts in Tarlac City and ends in Cabanatuan City whereas the 35.7-kilometer second phase commences in Cabanatuan City and concludes in San Jose City.
The President also said that in the field of agriculture, hundreds of farmers in the towns of Capas, La Paz, Concepcion, Gerona, San Jose and Victoria and Tarlac City now benefit from the completion of 12 farm-to-market roads.
He noted that a total of 19 irrigation projects have been or are being constructed to benefit around 2,300 hectares of land in San Jose, Mayantoc, Capas, La Paz, Paniqui, Moncada, Camiling, Concepcion and Tarlac City.
He also said that many Tarlac farmers have been given flatbed dryers, harvesters, threshers, and other post-harvest equipment.
