PARACELIS, Mt. Province – The groundbreaking ceremony for the Improvement of Poblacion – Bantay Farm-to-Market Road in the municipality of Paracelis was held last June 16, 2017.
The improvement worth P41M that covers a 3.198 km road sub-project is implemented under the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP).
The ceremony was led by Governor Bonifacio C. Lacwasan Jr., Paracelis Mayor Avelino C. Amangyen and Engr. Beverly T. Pekas, Agriculture Provincial Coordinating Officer for Mountain Province representing Dr. Lorenzo M. Caranguian, DA-CAR Regional Executive Director.
Also in attendance are DA-CAR Information Officer Robert L. Domoguen, Paracelis Barangay Captains Roy M. Gamonnac of Poblacion and Peter M. Wasigan of Bantay; and District 1 Board Members Cariño S. Tamang, Stephen V. Afuyog and Raul M. Lapon.
“Once the project is fully implemented, it will directly benefit more than 3000 residents in the area,” said Barangay Captain Peter M. Wasigan of Bantay.
The subproject is jointly funded by the World Bank, the national government through the Department of Agriculture and the provincial government of Mountain Province.
According to Lily Rose T. Kollin, Provincial Planning and Development Officer, one of the requirements for a subproject to be approved is the participating LGU’s equity contribution. In each project, 80% of the budget will come from the World Bank while the participating LGU and the DA will provide 10% each.
“This is a promising year for Mountain Province since more than P300M worth of subprojects under the PRDP’s I-Build component has been approved by the Department of Agriculture,” said Governor Lacwasan.
“We are hopeful that once this subproject is completed, communities that are directly affected will experience economic plus factor in the long run brought by the concreted roads,” he added.
Ms. Beverly Pekas in lieu of Director Caranguian, Gov. Lacwasan and the key officials in the place urged the different stakeholders to support and help oversee the implementation of the PRDP project.
Meanwhile, Mr. Caesar Capuyan, the project’s contractor committed to strictly comply with the work programmed before the officials and stakeholders during the simple program.
Other PRDP sub-projects in Mountain Province include the improvement of the Banata- Sumey-ang–Sadasadan Farm to Market Road (FMR) and the Besao-Nacawang and Tadian-Mabalite FMR.
The PRDP is an ongoing nationwide program focusing on agricultural infrastructure that covers the country’s identified agricultural producers.
In partnership with local government units and the private sector, the project provides key infrastructure, facilities, technology and information to raise income productivity and competitiveness in targeted areas.
By Erwin S. Batnag
