DPWH, JICA inaugurate floodwall project in Oro

By URIEL QUILINGUING

Contributing Editor

CAGAYAN DE ORO -

Twelve years after typhoon Sendong left a trail of death and destruction in this city, a 2.3-kilometer flood-risk mitigation project along Cagayan River at Consolacion village here is set for inauguration on Friday, May 26, this year.

Secretary Manuel M. Bonoan of the Department of Public Works and Highways and Japan’s Ambassador to the Philippines

Kazuhiro Koshikawa are among the dignitaries who would grace the occasion and deliver messages, on behalf the Philippine and Japanese governments.

City Mayor Rolando A. Uy will publicly welcome them, after national anthems Lupang Hinirang (Chosen Land) and Kimigayo (Imperial Reign) have been played and sang. Inaugural rites for the imposing well-lighted (at night) and land-scaped twolane paved road, dubbed as “CDO Boulevard,” will start at 8 a.m.

Project Director Ramon

A. Arriola III of the DPWH Unified Project Management Office Flood Mitigation and Management Center (UPMO FMMC), who had his eyes on the project since 2018 will give a project briefing.

Funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the floodwall along Consolacion village is under Contract Package 2 of an P8.5-billion Flood Risk Management Project for Cagayan de Oro River (FRIMP-CDOR), conceptualized after the December 2011 massive flooding.

JICA Philippines Chief Representative Takema Sakamoto would give a “project appreciation” on behalf of his office.

FRIMP-CDOR is funded by a signed loan agreement (PH-P259) with JICA amounting to P5.01 Billion and counterpart fund of the Government of the Philippines, from annual fiscal allocation, amounting to P3.53 Billion.

The two other FRIMPCDOR components involve the construction of a 1.3-kilometer dike traversing Bonbon to Kauswagan villages (Contract Package 1), and flood-control structures traversing the villages of Kauswagan, Carmen, Balulang, Nazareth, and Macasandig.

Undersecretary Emil K. Sadain, DPWH’s “Build, Build, Build’ chief implementer and UPMO incharge, DPWH-10 Regional Director Zenaida T. Tan, and other DPWH-10 and Cagayan de Oro First Engineering District officials will be witnessing the historic event.

A project marker will be unveiled and a project walkthrough are included in the inaugural rites

COUNTRY’S DEFENDERS. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. witnesses the formation of the “long gray line” of cadets during the Philippine Military Academy commencement rites at Fort Del Pilar, Baguio City. Marcos told the 310 graduates of the MADASIGON (MAndirigmang May DAngal SImbolo ng Galing at PagbangON or Warriors with Dignity, Symbol of Excellence and Recovery) Class of 2023 to “diligently work for unity, respect for democratic ideals, institutions, and mechanisms, and the rule of law."