INTRODUCTION
“Everyone”, so a proverb goes, “speaks well of the bridge which carries him over.” without a doubt, a bridge can be so all-important in bringing people and communities closer together.

And if a single bridge can evoke praises and thanks from many who use it to cross over, how much more a string of 11 bridges?

It is therefore with great delight and a profound sense of appreciation that we gather today for the turnover of the eleven bridges completed with technical and full-grant assistance in the amount of p466.0 million from the Japanese government, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

These bridges are part of a five-year program focused on the construction of bridges along rural roads to promote economic development in the Philippine countryside.

These structures are crucial in themselves for the time-saving and distance-eating convenience that they provide day to day for the people in the areas they serve. Beyond this, each of these eleven bridges will greatly enhance the business and economic potentials and growth in the region, as they already have since the first day of their construction.
250 BRIDGES ALL IN ALL
These structures are part of the 250 bridges envisioned to be constructed under the five-year program which are expected to dramatically improve mobility and interaction in the communities where they are located.

One could only imagine the explosion of progress and development happening and bound to happen in these 250 different places all over the country.

They will surely have a favorable and lasting impact on boosting trade, commerce, transportation, travel and tourism in the Philippine countryside. They will mean increased production and incomes in agricultural areas.

Above all, these bridges will significantly help bring hitherto distant communities closer to each other and with the rest of the country, thus advancing the cause of social cohesion, national unity and peace which we all seek.
OUR THANKS TO THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT
In behalf of the Filipino people and the Philippines government, let me thus extend, through ambassador Yoshifumi Matsuda, our thanks and appreciation to the government and the people of Japan for their invaluable assistance in making this truly important bridge projects possible.

This assistance we consider all the more significant, knowing that the people of Japan, especially those in Kobe, are in the midst of disaster as a result of the devastating earthquake of two weeks ago.

Our people, who are no strangers to natural calamities themselves, feel the pain that our Japanese neighbors are suffering. We offer to the people of Japan our sympathies and prayers, and whatever little help we can give.

At any rate, these bridges mark another great milestone in the bilateral assistance program between the Philippines and Japan. These bridges will be the symbol of the continuing friendship, cooperation and mutual support between our two countries.

To our Japanese friends, arigato gozaimasta, maraming salamat po!

Mabuhay ang Philippine-Japan friendship!!!

Mabuhay kayong lahat!