Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines: Plans and Programs of the Present Administration of the Provincial Government of Nueva Vizcaya

.INFRASTRUCTURE.

With infrastructure development as one of the priority thrusts of the Cuaresma Administration, more than 40 kilometers of provincial roads were paved and concreted. This was made possible through the purchase of heavy equipment to augment the existing machineries of the Provincial Government.

More funds have been earmarked for the procurement of additional equipment to cope up with the programmed projects still to be implemented.

The bleachers of the Clisoc field (right and center wing) located in Bayombong, a venue for many sports activities in the province and the region, and devastated by typhoon Yoyong, have now been fully renovated.

.AGRICULTURE.

More funds have been allocated for the improvement of irrigation systems including counterparts for the maintenance of existing irrigation systems to improve farmer production. Heavy equipment augmentation was provided to farmers through their organizations/associations.

Specific offices have been designated to closely monitor the implementation of projects for the agriculture sector.

The Nueva Vizcaya Agricultural Terminal (NVAT) located in the municipality of Bambang has been improving its operations with fund augmentation from various national agencies and financial institution.

Various people’s organizations representing the marginalized sector have been provided livelihood programs and continuing technical and financial support with the assistance of from the Office of Congressman Carlos M. Padilla and various national agencies such as the Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Agriculture, among others.

.EDUCATION.

side from the Banti-type school buildings already constructed in the different municipalities of the province more are expected to be constructed. The Cuaresma administration also has vowed to continue its funding support for more than 430 provincially paid teachers to assure that municipal and barangay Special Educations funds will be utilized for the improvement of educational facilities and implementation of education-related projects.

This is the provincial leadership’s commitment of delivering quality education to school children.

An Academic Exchange Program with the Basque Country, Spain was completed last year and has opened more doors of opportunities for young Novo Vizcayanos. The finalization of the Twinning Agreement between the province of Nueva Vizcaya and Bizkaia, Spain has also created an avenue for more job opportunities.

.HEALTH.

The c

ompletion of the PhilHealth Building and Dialysis Center at the Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Hospital in the Municipality of Bambang is just one of the projects that the provincial government has undertaken to improve the quality of health care services that every Novo Vizcayano can avail of at a more affordable cost.

The Dialysis Center is providing services to Vizcayano renal patients at a much lower cost. Patients from nearby provinces are also serviced at a regular price.

Generally, the Provincial Government is continuously upgrading hospital facilities of all its district hospitals to assure that quality health service will be provided.

Aside from facilities improvement, the Provincial Government has increased funds for medicine for at least 50% to assure availability and easy access of medicines by patients.

.TOURISM.

Aside from the province’s already famous tourism destinations like the Capisaan Cave Systems in the municipality of Kasibu,

the 1,200-hectare Lower Magat Eco-Tourism park is being developed as a venue for youth camps and other outdoor activities.

The Eco-Park is envisioned to be the premier tourism destination not only in the province but in the entire region as well. A wide array of facilities had been constructed in the area that will cater to the needs of not only domestic tourists but foreign tourists as well.

The Provincial Capitol, in the capital town of Bayombong, also dubbed as the “Luneta of the North”, has also undergone a face lift. The provincial leadership undertook some physical improvements such as landscaping to enhance its aesthetic value and provide a more conducive work place to provincial employees.

Already a ONE-STOP-SHOP transaction area, the purchase of the adjacent Calderon compound will home other national offices not yet located at the capitol compound. This will make government transactions even more convenient and time saving to the public.

.HOUSING.

The local government’s socialized housing program has also been given a much needed boost through its tie up with the Gawad Kalinga. The first provincial government to embrace the GK Program, this linkaging has resulted in the creation of 4 GK sites and the construction of more than 200 houses for the less fortunate in the province.

Recently, GK 333 was launched, which is geared towards the construction of 3,000 houses in 30 sites in 3 years. The manifestation of support of various municipal local government units complemented by the continuous support of Gawad Kalinga and various national and foreign benefactors has assured the less fortunate in the province to have better lives in a new community of opportunities.

Livelihood programs, such as mushroom production is among the major assistance provided by the province in these GK sites.

In order to sustain all these, the Provincial Government has pro-actively intensified its tax collection, particularly with its real property tax collections, complemented by its continuous tax mapping activities in all the municipalities. Officials and employees were working together to assure that more taxes will be collected in order to implement the many programs and projects that will lead to Vizcaya’s development.