BIEN UNIDO, Bohol (PIA)—Bien Unido residents would need at least a quarter of an hour to cover the 19 kilometers of looping highway to Talibon, but things may change soon.
This as the government is set to open a P96 million 4-lane jumbo bridge that connects Bien Unido to the bustling supply center in the northeast of Bohol.
Separated by some 19 kilometers of highway that skirts Ipil River, Bien Unido and Talibon may be on the opposite banks of the same Ipil River but the treacherous currents especially during tidal changes, discourage the bravest, to cross the water and make the shortest distance to Talibon.
Congresswoman Maria Vanessa Aumentado (CVA) herself told media that the bridge would be completed by this year.
When we were younger and do not have the money for fares, we simply walk and hail a paddle boat to cross to San Isidro, and we would be in Talibon in 10 minutes, shares Bien Unido information Officer Manuelito Item.
Item, who was born in Nueva Esperanza in Bien Unido, said it was then Congressman Erico B. Aumentado, the governor’s father who laid out the foundations for the opening of a new road that ends in a riprap at the river bank.
The riprap, along with a wider highway that apparently leads to nowhere during the incubation of the bridge project, has been among the political promises that only a few Bien Unido residents took seriously.
Before that, residents would have to take the tricycle to Trinidad for P25.00 and pick another ride to Talibon for P20.00. and then take the same way back.
Two hours, it would take about two hours for us to get to Talibon top but supplies and back.
A shorter route would have been from Nueva Esperanza in Bien Unido to San Isidro in Talibon, where the trip would be about half the distance.
Many said it was too ambitious, Nueva Esperanza residents also agree, knowing that Talibon can hardly profit from the bridge with Bien Unido still struggling as among Bohol’s forgotten towns.
We really were not so serious about the plan for the bridge, we know how huge the amount would be needed to build that and there are a lot more towns that deserve that, Edito Casulocan, 55 years old and crane operator said.
Born in Nueva Esperanza, Casulocan and still several more workers from the barangay are now hired in the construction works of the ongoing bridge project.
I am happy that I have contributed to the project as a crane operator, Casulocan added, noting that his workplace, is not far from where his family lives.
Such is because the contract includes a provision on hiring 50 % unskilled and 30% skilled local workers.
Built under the government’s convergence and special support Program for Sustainable Infrastructure Project Alleviating Gaps (SIPAG) like access roads and bridges from national roads leading to strategic public facilities, the 96 million bridge is now set from completion this December.
A part of the 7 kilometer access roads and bridge that would cut travel time from Nueva Esperanza to San Isidro Talibon by nearly 20 minutes, the bridge, about 800 including its approaches is equipped with standard amenities.
The biggest effect however is now visible in the Bien Unido side.
A gasoline station is now strategically located a few hundred meters from the jumbo bridge, and more and more investors are buying lands especially along the new road.
Economically, Bien Unido can profit from the new development, Item, who still goes home to his house in San Agustin, Talibon added.
Cutting the travel time significantly improves production, and that means more income for people whose lost time is now made available for other tasks, he added.
When then congressman Erico Aristotle Aumentado broke ground to the project in 2011, that was when people of Nueva Esperanza started to believe the project was not just any political pronouncement to attract votes.
With the General Appropriations Act apportioning the P96,500,000, that was when work has not stopped since the contractor received the notice to proceed last March of 2023. (RAHC/PIA_7/Bohol)
