MORE than a year from the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Murcia Mayor Victor Gerardo M. Rojas has continued to provide assistance to needy residents of the town. This time, the beneficiaries were indigents residing in remote, poverty-stricken mountain sitios of the municipality.
If beneficiaries would get their food packs at the town proper, they would have to spend money for their fare and would also unnecessarily expose themselves to possible infection from the Covid-19 virus.
“Instead of you going to the town proper, we will be the ones to come here and bring the food packs to you. We also want to see your situation here, so that we can implement programs which directly address your needs,” Mayor Rojas said recently during his food distribution in Sitio Monark, Barangay Canlandog.
The distribution kicked off in four sitios in Barangay Minoyan. Indigent families in remote sitios in far-flung barangays like Canlandog, Minoyan, Amayco and Buenavista received the food assistance, which was facilitated by Rojas from the Department of Social Welfare and Development–Regional Office IV.
Vice Mayor Johnny Reosura, Sangguniang Bayan members and barangay officials assisted the mayor in the food back distribution.
Aside from distributing food packs in Sitio Monark, the mayor also pledged to seek funds for concreting of the road from Barangay Canlandog proper to Sitio Monark and the Canlandog towers, a vital agricultural production hub and potential eco-tourism site.
Monark is about two kilometers from Canlandog proper, which is about 12 kilometers from the town proper. The barangay lies at the foot of Mount Canlandog, with an elevation of 3,238 feet above sea level, and the site for signal towers of several telecom companies.
While the road from the national highway to Canlandog proper is already concreted, the uphill road to Monark is rocky, slippery and dangerous during rainy season, making it difficult and expensive for Monark farmers to transport their produce to the town proper, and particularly for their children to go to school.
“I know that your greatest dream here in Monark is the concreting of the road leading to your sitio. I will seek help from Representative Kiko Benitez (3rd District – Negros Occidental) and Representative Stephen Paduano (Abang Lingkod) to allocate funds for the concreting of the road to Sitio Monark, all the way to Canlandog towers,” Rojas pledged.
“I will try my best to realize this dream under my administration. If we cannot do it during my first term, then perhaps during my second term,” he assured them.
Canlandog is praised for its lush greenery, photo-perfect views and cool climate, which are ideal for eco-tourism. Once the road gets concreted, the place will attract investors, who will put up coffee shops, restaurants, resorts and vacation houses, which will translate to employment for residents and income for the barangay, the mayor said.
The mayor also informed them of his projects, such as beautification of the town plaza, construction of the two-story building housing the senior citizens’ office, tourism office, library and museum, the two-story building for the Sangguniang Bayan, and the two-story building for command and monitoring center of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.
“In August, the Central Philippine State University (CPSU) will open its extension class in Murcia. Since this is a government university, your children will enjoy free tuition. Initially, there will be 140 students in Information Technology and Agribusiness courses. After five years, CPSU Murcia might become a full-pledged campus, and it can offer more courses and accommodate more students,” Rojas said.
He further said the town is implementing all these projects to benefit all Murciahanons and their children, and assured them that his office is always open to address their concerns and problems.
During the distribution, Rojas was accompanied by Canlandog Punong Barangay Reynaldo Gawan, Sitio Monark President Gina Gibara, Municipal Social Welfare and Development Officer Ana Naranja, OIC-Tourism Officer Estela Barbo, Abang Lingkod project coordinator Mario Jaruda, and a Philippine Army contingent led by Staff Sergeant Rixon Pahilanga, who accompanied the group in their ascent to the Canlandog towers. (PR)