“Kalsada kuma. Uray tire path. Panagtutudo manen, marigatan manen dagiti luglugan agibyahe natnateng, sapay nangina krudo.” (How I wish, we could have a good road, even tire path will be appreciated. It’s rainy season again and going through rough and muddy road will cause damage to our transport vehicles, aggravated by the high fuel prices.)

This is the wish of Kyle Matulay, barangay treasurer of Mataddi, which he posted on his Facebook account (ELyke Mabridge) during the peak of the rainy season where he showed in his videos and photos the condition of their access road.

Barangay Treasurer Kyle said although some parts of their road were already cemented, the percentage of the unpaved parts is much bigger which is located on the main road.

Many stories have been heard and read about the farmers in Mataddi, Western Nagtipunan complaining about their huge losses due to high transport costs caused  by the poor road condition.

Thanks to the provincial government, municipal government of Nagtipunan, Department of Trade and Industry who readily assisted the farmers in transporting and marketing their products to prevent further losses.

During the I Love Quirino “Pinasayang” Caravan in the said barangay, Governor Dax Cua brought the most awaited good news for the barangay, the first barangay in Nagtipunan that was visited by the caravan.

“Apo kapitan, kas kunak tattay, kasapulan tayo pay iti panag-improve iti kalsada iti Mataddi. So adda iti naimbag nga damag nga this year, daytoy nga barangay ket makaala iti P15 million aggapo iti DPWH para iti panagsemento ti dalan."

(Apo Kapitan, as I have mentioned a while ago, we need to improve the road here in Mataddi and so this year, your barangay will be getting P15 million from the DPWH for the concreting of your road.)

Governor Cua further said he, together with Representative Midy Cua, will work doubly hard to request for an additional fund of P20 million and another P18 million from the DPWH.

“Nu matungpal ti amin apo, agdagop nga P53 million iti umay iti barangay Mataddi,” he announced. (If approved, Mataddi will be getting a total of P53 million.)

Aside from the road project, from the DPWH, a P45 million worth of irrigation project was also turned over by the National Irrigation Administration to the Mataddi Irrigator’s Association. The project covers 80 hectares of high value crops and vegetable plantation.

Furthermore, Governor Dax updated the residents on the proposed Master-planned Tourism Development for Mataddi, in collaboration with University of the Philippines, Diliman aimed at developing Mataddi for Agri-tourism, Eco-tourism and Educational Tourism.

These projects according to the governor are the fruits of the strong political unity in the province, a legacy of Former Congressman Junie Cua who is now the chairperson of the PCSO.

“Kas kuna ni tatang ko, kasapulan nga adda iti panagtitinnulong dagiti lideres. Kaya ngayong araw, marikna yo ti political unity, adda ditoy saan lang ti gobernador, kadwak amin nga sangguniang panlalawigan ken vice governor. Kadwa mi pay iti amin nga department heads iti probinsya tapno maasetgan yo panggep kadagiti serbisio nga mabalin yo nga maala ti probinsya,” Governor Dax said.

“It will surely improve the life of the Mataddi residents who are mostly vegetable farmers,” he said.

Meanwhile, Barangay Captain Jerome Gapuz thanked the provincial government for the programs and services that were brought to their barangay and for granting their wish to have a concrete road.